Marc Maron ended his podcast Monday after 16 years with special guest Barack Obama.
It was the former president’s second appearance WTF with Marc Maronfollowing his visit to Maron’s garage studio in Los Angeles about 10 decades ago while he was still in office. For Monday’s interview, Maron traveled to Washington DC and spoke to Obama about the process of leaving a career-defining role, what to do with the responsibility that comes with it, and the current situation in the United States.
Maron announced the end of WTF this summer, saying he and his producing partner were feeling “burned out,” after being one of the most-streamed podcasts since it launched on September 1, 2009. Episodes featured many famous guests, including Obama, as well as Robin Williams and Paul McCartney, and offered a revealing look into Maron’s own life, with the host often speaking about his personal life, his pet peeves, his grudges and his relationships with the guests of the show.
“I feel like I’m kind of ready for the break. But there’s a kind of fear of what I’m doing now? I mean, I’m busy, right? But kind of like your job. I’ll compare my job to being president now. I have a lot of people who, over the last 16 years, have learned to rely on me,” Maron told Obama during Monday’s episode.
“They need something, right? It’s a question of how am I going to feel, you know, less alone? How am I going to deal with my mentality of this or that? And how am I going to find a way to exist in the world that we live in? I mean, I’m not offering them solutions, but I empathize and that’s comforting,” he continued.
Obama then advised him not to rush into his next job and to take stock of what he has built.
“Someone gave me some advice right before I left office. And it was this: Don’t rush into what’s next. Take some time. And take some satisfaction in looking back and saying you know what, I didn’t do everything I wanted to. It’s not always exactly the way I planned, but there’s a body of work there that I’m proud of,” Obama said.
Obama added that with his role, he still had to act as a de facto Democratic leader and was still called upon to make political comments and messages of unity outside of office, particularly when Donald Trump succeeded him.
“What was unusual for me was obviously a lot of what I represented, a lot of what Michelle and I had tried to project, the values, our vision of America. My successor seemed to represent the opposite. That wasn’t the case. And so I think there was a lot of anger, a lot of sadness, some fear among a lot of the country,” he said.
Obama then described the “war stories” that have always been a part of America and that have led to clashes and continue to divide the country. Maron also highlighted the feeling of “desperation” among some on the left, including those who did not vote in the last election due to issues such as Gaza. Obama then talked about accepting a “partial victory,” citing the example of the Affordable Care Act and emphasizing that universal health care would have been ideal, but he didn’t get the votes.
“What a liberal democracy requires is the acceptance of partial victory,” Obama said. “This feeling that things aren’t worth it if we don’t get everything we want, I think is either a recipe for disappointment in a democracy, but maybe also in life, or it leads to this strange cynicism that makes you withdraw completely. And that’s part of what’s happened to too many of our citizens.”
Asked about the current situation, including the National Guard in Chicago and Portland, Obama called on Americans to oppose these actions, adding that it could lead to some discomfort, with companies losing business or universities losing grants.
“I think there’s no question that a lot of the norms, the civic habits, the expectations, the institutional safeguards that we had, that we took for granted for our democracy, have been deliberately weakened. And I don’t think they’ve been destroyed, but I think they’ve been damaged. And they’ve been systematic about it,” Obama said.
“Just as it was in the McCarthy era and it’s been true throughout our history, what’s needed in these situations is for a few people to stand up and give courage to others. And then more people to stand up and sort of say, ‘That’s not who we are.’ This is not our idea of America. We don’t want masked people with rifles and machine guns patrolling our streets,” he continued.
While Monday’s episode focused largely on the conversation with Obama, Maron bid his audience a heartfelt farewell on the Oct. 9 episode, reflecting on his loyal audience and the relationships they’ve built over the past 16 years.
“I feel grateful, I feel sad. It’s a feeling of loss, but it’s not bad. It’s just life. I mean, damn. Really, a lot of your comments changed, my mind changed the way I looked at things. I really took to heart a lot of what a lot of you said to me in person, sometimes via email and I really feel like you were a big part of my growth or growth in wisdom and perception”, declared Brown. “You really helped me. Yeah. I don’t know man. I love you guys and I think everything will be fine without me. I’m not entirely sure everything will be fine without you, but it’s been quite an adventure, quite an adventure, a lifetime.”
