WTF with Marc Maron is a weekly podcast and radio show hosted by stand-up comedian Marc Maron. The show was launched in September 2009. The show is produced by Maron's former Air America co-worker Brendan McDonald.
WTF with Marc Maron | |
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Presentation | |
Hosted by | Marc Maron |
Genre | Comedy, interview |
Language | English |
Length | 60–120 minutes |
Production | |
No. of episodes | 1,512 as of February 19, 2024 |
Publication | |
Original release | September 1, 2009 | –present
Provider | Midroll Media |
The show's title stems from the Internet 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 of the show are generally recorded in Maron's home garage, nicknamed "the Cat Ranch", in Los Angeles. He ends most podcasts with the phrase "Boomer lives" in honour of a cat he brought from New York who went missing. The phrase became a hashtag and his production company name.[1]
Occasionally shows are recorded in Maron's various hotel rooms (while on the road performing stand-up), the offices of his guests, or other locations. Every show opens with an audio sample of one of Maron's lines from the film Almost Famous: "Lock the gates!"[2]
It began being distributed to radio by Public Radio Exchange in 2012.[3]
WTF has received generally positive reviews, including positive write-ups in The New York Times[4] and Entertainment Weekly.[5] On average, it receives over 443,000 downloads per episode, with the show purportedly surpassing 600 million downloads by July 2022.[6] In 2014, Rolling Stone listed WTF #1 on their list of The 20 Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now.[7] 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.[8][9]
Award | Year | Category | Result | Ref. |
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Academy of Podcasters | 2015 | Comedy | Finalist | [10] |
2017 | Finalist | [11] | ||
2016 | Won | [12] | ||
Ambies | 2021 | Governors Award | Won | [13][14] |
iHeartRadio Podcast Awards | 2019 | Best Comedy Podcast | Nominated | [15] |
Inaugural Governors Award by the Podcast Academy | 2021 | Excellence in Audio | Won | [16] |
Finally, Lewis sat down with comedian Marc Maron last August for Maron's WTF podcast. Maron held off airing the interview for several months because it initially seemed like such a disaster.