Episode 880 - Richard Jenkins

Richard Jenkins is one of the great character actors working today but he was a late starter in show business. As he continues to rack up awards and accolades for his performances, including his latest in The Shape of Water, Richard reflects on the early days of his acting ambitions in Illinois corn country and the intervention by his high school English teacher that got him on his way. He also talks about his favorite collaborators, including the Coen Brothers, the Farrelly Brothers and Frances McDormand. This episode is sponsored by the new film I, Tonya, Baskets on FX, and SimpliSafe.

Episode 879 - Fortune Feimster

Comedian and actor Fortune Feimster joins Marc in the garage fresh off getting engaged to her girlfriend, which feels pretty far away from the young Southern girl who didn't come out as a lesbian or perform comedy until she was in her mid-20s. Fortune tells Marc how she got the nerve to do both, why her grandmother was her rock, and how a random security guard helped her fix the relationship with her mom. This episode is sponsored by Crashing on HBO, I, Tonya, ZipRecruiter, and Stamps.com.

Episode 878 - Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of America's most celebrated and insightful writers. But there's part of him that would be fine with it all going away. Marc and Ta-Nehisi talk about the impulse to pull back when things start to get good, the burden of being treated as a representative for a larger community, and the reason Ta-Nehisi finds Black Panther so relatable. They also discuss two of Ta-Nehisi's biggest influences: James Baldwin and David Carr. This episode is sponsored by SimpliSafe.

Episode 877 - Marc's Family

Ring in the New Year with the Maron Family. Marc takes a trip back to some of the earliest episodes of WTF to hear classic interactions with his father, mother, and brother, all of whom help explain how and why Marc got to where he's at now. From his dad's wild ideas for Marc's career to his mom's cautious relationship advice to his brother's concern over getting in too deep with their parents, Marc has no shortage material to take to his next therapy visit. 

Episode 876 - Michael Marcus / Dr. Steve

Marc closes out 2017 with some old friends. Author Michael Marcus might not have made it to the garage if his life had continued the way it was going. He talks with Marc about his days of criminal behavior, addiction and eventual sober living, all of which he wrote about in his new book, #1 Son. Also, Marc's friend Dr. Stephen Dansiger returns to the garage to talk trauma, PTSD, and treating patients in the Trump era. This episode is sponsored by Spotify and Backblaze.

Episode 875 - WTF Shows of Christmas Past

For Christmas Day, Marc presents a look back at some holiday moments from the earliest years of WTF. First, hear Todd Glass and Marc talk about the perils of going home for the holidays. Then some highlights from the 2009 live WTF Christmas show with Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Jerry Minor, Eddie Pepitone and Jim Earl. Finally, a beautiful story of hope and humanity from the late Mike DeStefano, recorded around the holidays in 2010.

Episode 874 - Neal Preston

Photographer Neal Preston is known for taking some of the most iconic shots of the world's most famous rock musicians. Neal tells Marc how his love of music and love of photography merged when he was in high school, leading to a rock and roll lifestyle filled with hard partying, head trips and permanent hearing damage. He shares some stories of Led Zeppelin, Gregg Allman, Stevie Nicks, Queen, and Sly Stone, and reflects on the fact that the majority of his subjects have passed away. This episode is sponsored by Sonos and Squarespace.

Episode 873 - Steven Van Zandt

Steven Van Zandt, a.k.a. Little Steven, is an encyclopedia of rock and roll history. Steven talks with Marc about learning to play music by watching the Beatles, learning to be a performer by watching the Rolling Stones, and using those skills to form a partnership with his career-long collaborator, Bruce Springsteen, a relationship that Steven kept in mind when shaping his performance as Silvio on The Sopranos. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and Stamps.com.

Episode 872 - Darren Aronofsky

Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky knows his films are not always crowd pleasers but he also knows exactly what he wants to say. Darren talks with Marc about the universal mysteries that inspire him - from numerology to Old Testament parables to shadowy professions - and the personal implications behind movies like mother!, Requiem for a Dream, Pi, and more. This episode is sponsored by Easy: Season 2 on Netflix, Sonos One, Casper, and SimpliSafe.

Episode 871 - Loudon Wainwright III / Judd Apatow

Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III talks life, love and Roman numerals. The prolific musician tells Marc about the heyday of the folk music scene, the late-in-life acting career he didn't expect, and the burden of having talented singer-songwriter children who turn his transgressions into songs. Plus, writer-director-producer (and Loudon Wainwright fan) Judd Apatow stops by to talk about getting back on the standup stage for his Netflix special, Judd Apatow: The Return. This episode is sponsored by Spotify, Zelle, Stamps.com, and How Did This Get Made.

Episode 870 - James Franco

At some point after James Franco became a high-profile movie star, he found himself asking, "What if you get everything you want and nothing changes?" As James explains to Marc, that led to a re-engagement with art and academics, a stint on General Hospital, an infamous hosting experience on the Oscars, and many passion projects that he willed to fruition. Only now, with his new movie The Disaster Artist, which he starred in and directed, does James realize what he was chasing and what he has in common with The Room director Tommy Wiseau. This episode is sponsored by Orbi, Squarespace, and SimpliSafe.

Episode 869 - Greta Gerwig

Like the protagonist of her new film Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig grew up in Sacramento, spent the summer going to the state fair, had a complicated relationship with her mother, and escaped to institutes of higher learning in New York City. Marc and Greta talk about the desire to get out from under the weight of your home town, how that tension translated into her acting career, and where she was coming from when she wrote and directed Lady Bird. This episode is sponsored by Spotify, Zelle, Stamps.com, and HelloFresh.

Episode 868 - Sam Beam / Bob Saget

His given name is Sam Beam but he's known in music as Iron & Wine, maker of soulful folk rock. Marc finds Sam to be a thoughtful son of the South who let his early interests in avant-garde photography, filmmaking and artwork open the door to a career in music. But Sam also explains to Marc why he doesn't listen to much music anymore. Plus, Bob Saget returns to the garage for a rare third appearance to talk about his new special, his just-wrapped movie, and the sudden change in his life. This episode is sponsored by Happy on Syfy, Spotify, and Zelle.

Episode 867 - Rob Huebel

Rob Huebel and Marc start a new podcast within this podcast. It's a show called Contact List and they're pretty sure it makes them sound like jerks. But before that, Rob tells Marc about getting started in comedy during the early days of the UCB Theater, which led to his sketch comedy show Human Giant as well as rolls in movies like The Descendants and TV shows like The League. Plus, they talk about Rob's other new show, Do You Want to See a Dead Body?, which is better than Contact List. This episode is sponsored by Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady on HBO, Orbi, Firefox, and Stamps.com.

Episode 866 - Jimmie Vaughan / Kasper Collin & Bennie Maupin

It's an extra helping of music talk for Thanksgiving. First Marc sits down with filmmaker Kasper Collin and jazz musician Bennie Maupin to talk about the documentary I Called Him Morgan, which deals with the life, love and murder of jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan. Then Texas blues rocker Jimmie Vaughan jams with Marc in the garage, sharing stories about Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie's little brother Stevie Ray Vaughan. This episode is sponsored by Stitcher Premium, Spotify, Zelle, and Sonos.

Episode 865 - Christina Pazsitzky

For Christina Pazsitzky, comedy was finally something she enjoyed doing after burning through twenty-two different jobs in the course of four years. She talks with Marc about her troubled teen years, her ineffectual degree in philosophy, her general post-college aimlessness, her stint on MTV Road Rules, and the other circumstances of her life that made the grind of standup comedy seem exhilarating by comparison. Christina also talks about how she and her husband, Tom Segura, are dealing with the early years of parenthood. This episode is sponsored by Stitcher Premium, Squarespace, Away, and Firefox by Mozilla.

Episode 864 - Lawrence O'Donnell

Lawrence O'Donnell is on MSNBC every weeknight talking about the chaos and tumult of uncertain times. He's no stranger to historic national turbulence, as he came of age in the Vietnam Era and received his draft notice shortly before the U.S. withdrawal. Lawrence talks with Marc about those times, which are the subject of his new book, but also about his Boston upbringing, his father's career change from cop to defense attorney, his job in the U.S. Senate, and his time writing for The West Wing. This episode is sponsored by HelloFresh and ZipRecruiter.

Episode 863 - Kim Deal

As a member of The Pixies and The Breeders, Kim Deal is already a rock legend. But she was also a backup singer in a disco band with her twin sister Kelley and a budding cellular biologist with a degree in Medical Technology. Kim talks with Marc about all of that as well as her hard-fought sobriety and her reasons for coming around on digital music production. This episode is sponsored by Night of Too Many Stars on HBO, the new film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Stamps.com, and Casper.