Marc Maron to end his 'WTF' podcast after 15 years of interviewing comics, actors, musicians, Obama

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comic and actor Marc Maron said Monday that he's ending his popular and influential podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” after nearly 16 years.

Maron said on a newly released episode that the last of the nearly 2,000 episodes he has hosted will be released later this year.

“Sixteen years we’ve been doing this, and we’ve decided that we had a great run,” Maron said. “Now, basically, it’s time, folks. It’s time. ‘WTF’ is coming to an end. It’s our decision. We’ll have our final episode sometime in the fall.”

The 61-year-old Maron said he and producing partner Brendan McDonald are “tired” and “burnt out” but “utterly satisfied with the work we've done.”

Maron was a veteran stand-up comic who had dabbled in radio when he started the show in 2009, at a time when stand-ups were trying out the form in big numbers, and many listeners still downloaded episodes on to iPods.

The show early on was often about Maron talking through his beefs with fellow comedians, but it soon stood out and became a widely heard and medium-defining show with its thoughtful, probing longform interviews of cultural figures.

It became a key stop on press tours for authors, actors and musicians and reached a peak when then- President Barack Obama visited Maron's makeshift Los Angeles garage studio for an episode in 2015.

Maron used a simple interview style to get guests to share stories they'd rarely told elsewhere. Seeking to know the biggest influences on their lives and careers, Maron would ask, “Who are your guys?”

Other memorable episodes include a 2010 personal and emotional interview with Robin Williams that was re-posted and widely listened to after Williams' death in 2014. The episode earned a place in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Maron kept doing standup specials and expanded his acting career while the show aired, including a three-season run on the Netflix series “GLOW.”

The show's guitar-rock theme song opened with a clip of Maron shouting, “Lock the gates!” in his role as a promoter in the film “Almost Famous.”

The solo episode openings became a confessional space for Maron where he talked about his life, relationships, years of doing stand-up comedy and struggles with drug addiction.

Maron gave tearful tribute to his girlfriend, director Lynn Shelton, in the episode after her death in 2020.

“People who listen to the podcast know me pretty well, and it’s all good. They have a relationship with me that’s one sided, but it’s real and I try to be as gracious about that as possible,” Maron told The Associated Press in 2019. “My particular little slice of the show business world is very me specific and it’s very personal and usually that’s a good thing. But I’ve had to learn how to balance how much of my life I reveal and what I keep to myself, and try to find a little space.”

Marc Maron, a cast member in the Apple TV+ series "Stick," arrives at the premiere of the series on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Marc Maron, a cast member in the Apple TV+ series "Stick," arrives at the premiere of "Stick" on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

FILE - Marc Maron arrives at the premiere of "Stick" on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she has “no issue” with her country hosting Iran's World Cup team after its training base was moved from the United States to Mexico for the summer soccer competition.

The team will still play its matches in the U.S. but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, according to Iran's soccer federation. The development comes against the backdrop of the war in Iran, which the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28.

Sheinbaum said at a news conference Monday that she was told by a FIFA representative the U.S. was reluctant to have the Iranian soccer team spend time outside the games on U.S. territory.

“The United States doesn’t want the Iranian national team to stay overnight in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters. She said a FIFA representative had then asked, “Can they stay overnight in Mexico?”

“And we said, ‘Yes, no problem. We have no issue with that',” she said.

Iran's soccer team is slated to play matches in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and against Belgium six days later, before facing Egypt on June 26 in Seattle.

Before the war broke out, the team was originally planned to set up its base in Tucson, Arizona. But with tensions simmering, Iran's team moved its base to Tijuana in Mexico, Sheinbaum said, confirming an announcement by the Iranian federation over the weekend. The federation said the Iranians had received approval from FIFA, though it has not confirmed the move.

Teams use base camps to train before and after matches. This year’s World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 and will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The possibility of a move had simmered for months in the uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East and security concerns. U.S. sanctions on Iran were likely to only make the team’s stay in the U.S. more complex.

The U.S. State Department said in a statement on Monday that President Donald Trump had made it clear the Iranian team was welcome to participate in the tournament.

The department’s statement did not address where the team might stay, or Sheinbaum's comments.

Sheinbaum said that her government was working with FIFA to hash out all the details before the competition.

Iran's national soccer team players stand onstage as they are greeted by a crowd during a pro-government gathering before their departure for training and friendly matches in Turkey ahead of the World Cup at Islamic Revolution Square in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)