Marc Maron ends his podcast with his ‘ideal’ final guest

By ANDREW DALTON LOS ANGELES AP Barack Obama helped Marc Maron lock the gates on his podcast Monday returning to the show for the final episode after years and more than episodes Related Articles Serena and Venus Williams are launching a podcast called Stockton Street on X Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce smash Trump s Joe Rogan podcast numbers Taylor Swift on New Heights still looks hot despite what Trump explained Taylor Swift announces th studio album The Life of a Showgirl shares release date Virgin Voyages launches its first true crime-themed cruise The former president gave new status to WTF With Marc Maron and to podcasts in general when he visited Maron s Los Angeles garage studio while still in office a decade ago Obama brought the -year-old host stand-up comic and actor to his Washington office for the last interview Obama solicited the initial questions How are you feeling about this whole thing he questioned Transition moving on from this thing that has been one of the defining parts of your career and your life I feel OK Maron answered I feel like I m sort of ready for the break but there is sort of a fear there of what do I do now I m busy But not unlike your job I ve got a lot of people who over the last years have grown to rely on me Maron laughed as he acknowledged he was comparing his podcasting gig to the presidency I think it s pretty similar Obama revealed The identity of the guest was not revealed until the episode dropped and fans had been speculating Obama was a popular guess both because of his relationship with WTF and because Maron in an interview with Variety in July noted Obama would be his ideal final conversation The host explained the decision in an unusually brief and straightforward introduction to the episode It became clear that the guest we needed to have was singular Maron explained in that he could address the importance of this being our final episode but also address how we move through the world we re living in as frightening as it is Maron urged Obama for advice on moving on from your life s biggest job You ve still got a couple of chapters left Obama declared Don t rush into what the next thing is Take a beat Take particular satisfaction looking backwards After a much talk on the state of the world Obama brought it back around to Maron s farewell I think we re going to be OK Obama reported I think part of the reason you had such a big fan base during this -year run is there was a core decency to you and the conversations that you had Maron avoided sentimental farewell talk during the episode he got that out of the way on Thursday in his penultimate episode where talked directly and emotionally to his listeners I m grateful to have been part of your lives he noted We ve been through a lot of stuff together A lot of breakups Death Cats The world The new Obama episode was No of the pioneering and influential long-form interview podcast that had humble beginnings in as a place where he worked out his issues with other stand-up comedians in the garage of his home that he dubbed The Cat Ranch Maron s cats were inevitably an essential part of the show His final words on Monday s episode were tributes to the ones who had died Cat angels everywhere he mentioned For majority of of its years the show has opened with a fan-composed rock n roll theme song that opens with an audio sample of Maron in his small role in the film Almost Famous shouting Lock the gates The song is named for one of Maron s common phrases Are We Doing This Another such phrase Are we good was often his last question to guests and is the title of a new documentary on him Eventually with help from guests like Obama Robin Williams and Paul McCartney WTF became a media institution where authors artists musicians Hollywood stars and political leaders would give him their backstory Maron publicized in June that he and longtime producing partner Brendan McDonald had decided to end the show He disclosed there was no particular reason other than that he was tired and utterly satisfied with the work they had done On Monday Maron seemed moved as he read from a pseudolegal document that he had drawn up for Obama to sign releasing McDonald from the professional responsibility to listening to me talk