Semi-OT: WTF podcast packing it in

[Kevin M.]

I recall I was working at a job 16 years ago that required me to take at least an hour long lunch. I was the youngest of four siblings, so I basically eat food like a convict: fast and defensively. So after my lunch was finished, I had to find something to do for the remaining 56 minutes. At the time, there were not as many podcasts… basically Ricky Gervais, Penn Jillette, and Marc Maron flooded my ears. 

Gervais is unlistenable now, Jillette became intolerable, but I still enjoy WTF. I don’t listen to every episode (lunch breaks, if I get them, rarely last 15 minutes), but at least one or two a month. I will miss them.

https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/marc-maron-end-wtf-podcast-1236415478/

Kevin M. (RPCV)

[Diner]

Wow. I was just thinking about WTF the other day, and how I had gotten out of the habit of listening and need to catch up. The last episode I can remember listening to was the one in 2020 where he broke down talking about the sudden death of his partner Lynn Shelton. I will definitely go back and catch up now. (Though I have dozens of other podcasts I need to catch up on too....)

-Tim

[Bob Jersey]

Now the question becomes, how much of an archive do they maintain, and for how long?

Administrivia: My reply to the OAN goil being canned got spam-flagged, not by GG, just by my email.

Kevin M, June 2nd:

[Tom Wolper]

I listened to all of the first 1500 episodes. There was a lot to learn there about the psychological and emotional makeup of creative people and how enjoyable to listen to them talk when they’re not pushing product. There was an opportunity to take some pop culture artifact I had always ignored and learn the intentions and process of the person who created it. The show also took a lot of people on pedestals and gave them time to talk about themselves and be relatable.

I listen to podcasts while I walk through a large city park near my home. I had some health issues that kept me from my daily walk and podcast episodes backed up on me. When I got back to walking I looked at the WTF episodes I missed and realized I had no interest in most of those guests and I found myself listening to one out of every ten episodes.

I’ll miss the show when it’s gone but I won’t have the sense of loss that I would have if he’d given it up five years ago. The best thing I heard about it from outside was in a Fresh Air interview with Taylor Tomlinson. Tonya asked her what her big standup influences were and she said listening to Maron talk to standups was a master class in learning how the business works and how to break in.

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[Kevin M.]

If you haven’t listened to Marc Maron making the rounds on various podcasts to promote his HBO special, he’s getting noticed for pointing out that right wing comedy is — at this point — abusive. Paraphrasing, trans people and immigrants are being physically abused and are in fear for their lives… but the right is still making jokes about them? At what point is the anti-woke going to be satisfied?

He isn’t saying anything especially new or revelatory, but it is interesting to hear the awkward silences he’s facing on the podcasts of others. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)

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