Marc Maron interviewed former president Barack Obama on the 1,686th and final episode of his pioneering “WTF” podcast.
Obama was previously a guest on the show while still in office in 2015, marking a milestone for “WTF” and helping legitimize podcasts in general as a political platform. A decade ago, Obama recorded the interview in Maron’s garage in Los Angeles; for the final episode of the podcast, Maron traveled to his office in Washington, D.C.
“First of all, congratulations. Second of all, I’m honored to be on your last show,” Obama said, then asking Maron how he is feeling about moving on from a “defining” part of his career and life.
“I feel OK. I feel like I’m sort of ready for the break,” Maron said. “But there is sort of a fear of: ‘What do I do now?’”
Obama asked Maron how old he is, and then gave the 62-year-old comedian advice. “You’ve still got a couple of chapters left,” Obama said. “Don’t rush into what the next thing is. Take a beat. Take some satisfaction looking backwards. … Just be a little brain-dead for a while.”
Over the course of an hour-long interview, the two spoke about the state of the world and how to stay optimistic amid political strife and chaos. Obama referenced Maron’s stand-up bit about how liberals “annoyed the average American into fascism.”
“You can’t just be a scold all the time,” Obama said. “You can’t constantly lecture people without acknowledging that you’ve got some blind spots too, and that life’s messy.”
At the end of the interview, Obama took a moment to praise Maron and acknowledge the impact of “WTF,” which has boasted guests like Paul McCartney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robin Williams and Lynn Shelton, who Maron would go on to marry.
“Part of the reason you had such a big fan base during this 16-year run is there is a core decency to you and the conversations you had … that I think speaks to who we are,” Obama said. “We can’t take this stuff for granted, but my experience is: Most people are really decent. And I think that’s why, when they hear somebody else who is, it gives them courage. It gives them hope. And you should be proud of having done that.”
The final episode of “WTF” was not an emotional farewell. Maron got that out of the way in the penultimate episode, which did not feature a guest. Maron recapped his 16 years hosting the show and explained why it made him “more empathetic of others” and taught him to “surrender my selfishness.” “I imagine that some of you took some of that away from this,” Maron said.
“I’m grateful to have been part of your lives,” Maron said on Thursday’s episode. “We’ve been through a lot of stuff together. A lot of breakups. Death. Cats. The world.” Holding back tears, he named the pets he lost over the years and ended the episode by saying: “Cat angels everywhere.”
