Marc Maron announces end of ‘WTF' podcast after 16 years

Yahoo

2 days ago

Comedian Marc Maron announced on the latest episode of his 'WTF' podcast that he was ending the show after a 16-year run.
Maron, 61, broke the news at the top of Monday's episode before an interview with guest John Mulaney.
'This podcast will turn 16 years old on Sept. 1. That's a couple months away. Sixteen years, it's a long time,' Maron said. 'It's a long time to do anything, and it's certainly — I've said recently that while I'm living it, I don't feel like time is passing by quickly, but all of a sudden, you're old and you realize you've been doing something for a long time.
'This started in the old garage. No one knew what a podcast was. I was coming out of a horrendous divorce. I was wanting to figure out how to continue living my life.
'Sixteen years we've been doing this and we've decided that we had a great run and now, basically, it's time, folks, It's time.'
He added that it was a choice he made alongside longtime producer Brendan McDonald and 'was not some kind of difficult decision.'
'We always said how do we know when we're done? And I always said, 'Whenever Brendan says so.' And he always said, 'If Mark is finished, then we're finished,'' Maron said.
'And thankfully we both realized together that we were done, and there was no convincing or pushback or arguing. We were done. And it's OK, it's OK for things to end… This was a show that started when there were no podcasts. And now, there is nothing but podcasts.'
Maron launched 'WTF' in 2009, making it one of the longest-running podcasts, leading to around 2,000 episodes and more than 1 billion downloads. Some of the guests have included other comedians like late 'SNL' comedian Norm Macdonald and former late-night host Conan O'Brien as well as figures like former president Barack Obama and conservationist Jane Goodall.
The show revitalized Maron's career, leading to 'Maron,' a sitcom based on his life and roles in Netflix's 'GLOW,' Apple TV's 'Stick,' 'The Bad Guys' animated films and many others.
He is also making a new comedy special for HBO that will air in the fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Maron teased on the podcast that the upcoming 'home stretch' would bring as many people onto the show as possible.
'It really comes down to the fact that we have put up a new show every Monday and Thursday for almost 16 years and we're tired and we're burnt out, and we are utterly satisfied with the work we've done,' he said. 'We've done great work.'
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