WTF with Marc Maron

Background

The show's title stems from the slang abbreviation WTF (for "What the fuck?"). WTF launched in September 2009 following the cancellation of Maron's Air America terrestrial radio program Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder. Maron retained his Air America building keycard and, without permission, used their studios to record the first several episodes of WTF.

After the first episodes, Maron moved from New York to California. Most episodes were generally recorded in Maron's home garage, nicknamed "the Cat Ranch", in Los Angeles. He ended most podcasts with the phrase "Boomer lives" in honor of a cat he brought from New York who went missing. The phrase became a hashtag and his production company name.

Occasionally shows were recorded in Maron's various hotel rooms (while on the road performing stand-up), the offices of his guests, or other locations. Every show opened with an audio sample of one of Maron's lines from the film Almost Famous: "Lock the gates!"

WTF began being distributed to radio by Public Radio Exchange in 2012. On the episode released on June 2, 2025, Maron announced that WTF would end later that year. Maron interviewed Barack Obama again for the final episode, released on October 13, 2025.

Reception

WTF has received generally positive reviews, including positive write-ups in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. On average, it receives over 443,000 downloads per episode, with the show purportedly surpassing 600 million downloads by July 2022. In 2014, Rolling Stone listed WTF #1 on their list of The 20 Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now. In 2022, the episode featuring Robin Williams from April 26, 2010, was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant," becoming the first recording from the 2010s to be inducted.

Notable podcasts

Episode 67: Robin Williams (April 26, 2010),Remembering Robin Williams (August 11, 2014):

Williams discusses contemplating suicide. In response to the news of Williams' death on August 11, 2014, Maron reposted the original conversation later that day—complete with new host segments describing how much the episode had shaped the entire show and impacted his own personal life. In 2022, this episode was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.

Episode 75: Carlos Mencia (May 24, 2010),Episode 76: Willie Barcena / Steve Treviño / Carlos responds (May 27, 2010):

Mencia discusses the accusations of plagiarism that had been following him since a 2005 post by Joe Rogan. After the recording session, Maron thought that "something didn't feel right," and the very next episode began with interviews with comedians Willie Barcena and Steve Treviño, who both offered accounts of Mencia stealing material. Maron contacted Mencia for a rebuttal prior to its release and he immediately returned for a reprise which aired as the last segment of that episode. In it, he admits to "having an agenda" when recording the initial interview, and discusses the allegations and his reputation in a much less guarded and more forthright manner.

Episode 111: Louis CK part 1 (October 4, 2010),Episode 112: Louis CK part 2 (October 7, 2010):

A two-episode interview during which Louis C.K. and Maron publicly reveal that they previously had a falling out, then discuss and eventually rekindle their old friendship. During the podcast, C.K. became audibly emotional when talking about the birth of his first daughter. Slate called the interview the greatest podcast episode of all time in a 2014 list.

Episode 141: Kevin Smith (January 17, 2011):

Smith details his acrimonious working relationship with Bruce Willis on the set of his film Cop Out, which triggered a public feud between the two of them.