Marc Maron Is Ending His Longtime Podcast 'WTF with Marc Maron' After 16 Years

Last week, Marc Maron teased a big announcement for Monday’s episode of WTF, prompting speculation that ranged from a directorial debut to a cancer diagnosis. Instead, he revealed something that felt inevitable: after 16 years, WTF with Marc Maron is coming to an end. Maron broke the news during a candid conversation with guest John Mulaney. “WTF is coming to an end, and it’s our decision,” he said. “We’ll have our final episode sometime in the fall.”

Maron explained that the decision was his and producer Brendan McDonald’s alone, after more than 1,600 episodes. “It was not some kind of difficult decision, necessarily,” Maron said. “Neither me nor Brendan, who are the only people in charge of this operation on every level … we both realized together that we were done.”

As a longtime listener, the news isn’t exactly shocking. Maron helped pioneer the confessional celebrity podcast and has accomplished more than most: he’s interviewed both Barack Obama and Lorne Michaels, shaped an entire genre, and publicly grieved the death of his girlfriend, Lynn Shelton, during the pandemic in a way that was raw, honest, and deeply human.

Lately, many of his guests have been more under-the-radar, not because he can’t book bigger names, but because he’s already interviewed nearly everyone. His career is thriving elsewhere: he co-stars in the new Apple TV+ series Stick alongside Owen Wilson, and it’s likely he’ll step behind the camera before long.

You could sense he was winding down. He’s grown weary of politics (he’s been threatening to move to Canada for years) and disillusioned by the rise of reactionary comedy podcasters like Joe Rogan. The only thing seemingly left on his bucket list — if it even matters anymore — is reconciling with Jon Stewart, who has repeatedly declined to appear on the show.

“We’re tired, we’re burnt out, and we are utterly satisfied with the work we’ve done,” Maron told Mulaney. “We’ve done great work.”

He has. And he deserves to walk away on his own terms, at the top of his game. He’s come a long way—from a cantankerous grump to a cantankerous teddy bear. Personally, I’ve learned a lot from his show. It was the last celebrity podcast I stuck with (because so many have otherwise become as banal as the old talk-show interviews), and those bi-weekly episodes got me through more than just the pandemic. The way he processed Shelton’s death helped me process and cope with my son’s cancer.

I’ll miss WTF, but I look forward to seeing Maron continue playing Marc Maron-types on screen for years to come. He will be missed by his millions of “what-the-fuck buddies.”