MARC MARON

He changed podcasting forever - then bowed out on top

- David Fear

Wait, Kit, what was that headline again?” Marc Maron is sitting on the porch of his house in Glendale, California, calling to his girlfriend. A muffled voice from just outside the video-call frame says something, and the 62-year-old stand-up cracks up. “‘Marc Maron Pioneers Not Having a Podcast.’ That’s funny.”

Here’s another joke, albeit less ha-ha: Maron spent decades as a comic working venues ranging from laundrettes to LA’s Largo at the Coronet, as well as doing a brief stint in political talk radio. He felt his career had hit a brick wall. Then he revolutionised modern media. For the past 16 years, Maron ran his groundbreaking podcast, WTF With Marc Maron, from various home garages around the greater Los Angeles area, chatting with everyone from his comedy-club peers to A-list actors. WTF became vital listening and a mandatory stop on press tours. He’s credited for not just legitimising the format – see his 2015 episode with then-sitting President Barack Obama – but kick-starting the DIY digital-conversation boom.