In a world of influencers and content creators, Peter Conheim represents an age of culture jamming and social disruption. Influenced by bands like Can and art collectives like The Residents, Peter talks with Marc about embracing the idea of doing art anonymously, which included his time with the experimental band Negativland. Peter also explains his fascination with audio production and editing, his passion for film curation and remastering, and his work on the new Devo documentary.

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The last time Ben Stiller was on WTF, it was more than 15 years ago and it was a really big deal for an upstart podcast done out of a small garage to have a global movie star and film director as a guest. Now Ben and Marc reflect on the passage of time, Ben's choices of projects since 2010, and the responsibility he feels as one of the people at the helm of Severance. They also talk about Owen Wilson, Ben's latest Oscar bit, the state of comedy movies, and the documentary Ben is making about his parents.

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After recently releasing her memoir, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You, and finishing her eighth studio album, the upcoming Neon Grey Midnight Green, Neko Case is drawing a lot of conclusions. She tells Marc that animals and nature are more consistent and reliable than people, that she’s at peace with knowing her parents didn’t want her, and that she’s more comfortable choosing her own family. Neko and Marc also talk about her songwriting process, her pro wrestler great-aunt, and The New Pornographers. 

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Bowen Yang never thinks he’s ready for any of the opportunities he gets, including being a guest on WTF for this episode. After a discussion on who gets more nervous before interviews, Marc or the guest, Bowen explains where this lifelong anxiety and insecurity comes from, and a lot of it is rooted in the gay conversion therapy he had to undergo as a teen. They also talk about the vibe of Saturday Night Live during this second Trump administration and the pressures that come with being the gay Asian SNL cast member.

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Multi-time WTF guest and veteran of standup comedy specials Jim Gaffigan is the perfect person to talk with Marc right after a screening of Marc’s new HBO special, Marc Maron: Panicked. They examine the work that goes into the building of a standup special, how they both evolved as live performers since their early days, and the uncertain future of the live comedy special. This conversation was recorded at The 92nd Street Y, New York, as part of their Craig Newmark Civic Life Series.

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Questlove was drumming for his dad’s band by the time he was 12. Since then, he founded a prolific hip-hop band with his high school classmate, became a chronicler of popular music history, came into his own as a documentary filmmaker, and more. So why does he still feel insecure about being an artist? Questlove talks with Marc about the origins of The Roots, the decision to become a late night house band, winning an Oscar right after the infamous slap, and why he had an underlying motivation for making his recent documentary about Sly Stone.

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To an outsider, it seems like quite a leap to go from Nora Lum, classical and jazz trumpet player from Queens, to Awkwafina, rapper, comedian and global movie star. But for Nora, it all feels like a direct extension of the life lived by an artist mother she hardly knew. She talks with Marc about rebuilding the memories of her mom, who died when Nora was only four years old. They also compare notes on Queens apartment living, their mutual aversion to joy, and their feelings about being part of an animated film franchise, as they’re both in the midst of a press tour for The Bad Guys 2.

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As one of the members of the last generation who grew up without the internet, Ari Aster’s movies all deal with the ways our minds are shaped and influenced by forces outside of ourselves. Ari talks with Marc about how he uses the genre trappings of horror, farcical comedy and the American Western to explore themes of trauma, nostalgia, anxiety and humanity in his films Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid and his latest one, Eddington. They also talk about his poet mom, his jazz drummer dad, and why Albert Brooks is one of his biggest influences.

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It’s about time Jackson Galaxy and Marc met each other. Listeners have recommended Jackson to Marc as a cat behavior expert who can offer helpful advice about Marc’s ongoing cat problems. But it turns out they have a lot more in common than just cats: Youthful rock and roll aspirations, addictive personalities, sober living, and an interest in animal welfare. Jackson tells Marc how he found a new direction in his life that turned him into a cat expert and Marc gets some tips on how to deal with his cat’s aggressive behavior.

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For anyone who knew Sarah Sherman’s act before she got hired for Saturday Night Live, her new gig might have come as a surprise. Rooted in the Chicago DIY scene, she performed as Sarah Squirm, with a unique ability to make her audiences do just that. But Sarah tells Marc that despite all the meat and viscera in her act, she was always a straight-up comedy person at heart, growing up on Long Island with an affinity for Fran Drescher and a love of Three Amigos. They talk about her show Helltrap Nightmare, how Eric Andre changed her life, and how she adjusted to SNL.

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Jena Friedman shares a lot of Marc’s concerns about doing politically relevant comedy during historically scary times. She felt the risk of it first-hand during a recent border crossing from Canada. Jena talks with Marc about how her comedy always stemmed from an activist impulse, how this benefitted her when she became a field producer for The Daily Show, and how that experience was invaluable when she was hired to work on Borat 2, for which she received an Oscar nomination. 

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Leanne Morgan was a late bloomer in comedy but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t in her heart for a long time. Despite a life in Tennessee filled with tobacco farms and door-to-door jewelry sales, a trip to The Comedy Store in the early ‘90s left Leanne with no doubt as to what she wanted to do with her life. Leanne talks with Marc about her several false starts in show business and how she was worried she would have to give up the comedy dream until social media and Netflix changed everything for her. 

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Dustin Chafin's path to comedy went from a Texas trailer park to a Mormon conversion before winding up in New York where he almost met a tragic end. That's also where he met Marc and a young Nate Bargatze, who got his first stage time thanks to Dustin, a break that Nate did not forget. Dustin and Marc catch up on each other's lives after a nearly 20 year gap. Plus, Marc talks with AEW's Darby Allin who just got back from the tippy top of the world, having climbed Mount Everest.

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Alexander Skarsgård decided acting wasn't for him at age 13 and he went in a completely different direction with his life. But after time in the Swedish Navy and a false start at university in England, he couldn't fight the pull of acting. Alexander talks with Marc about his career-making roles in Generation Kill and True Blood, the difficulty of making The Northman, the ease of making Big Little Lies, and why he loves doing offbeat comedy, whether it's something goofy like Zoolander, pitch black like Succession, or sci-fi satire like his new series Murderbot.

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Chad Kassem was a Louisiana kid running afoul of the law, caught in a spiral of substance abuse and arrests. Thankfully, as he puts it, music is a hell of a natural drug. In his 20s, Chad became obsessed with audio and his new mission was to save the world from bad sounding records. Chad talks with Marc about how he started Acoustic Sounds, which serves as a mastering lab, a pressing plant, a record label and more, all in pursuit of making records that sound better than the originals. Chad explains his uncompromising process that turned his Kansas operation into one of the biggest players in the vinyl record business.

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Mariska Hargitay says the new documentary she made began as a search for the mother she never knew. But as she pursued it, she wound up coming to a new understanding of her own truth. Mariska and Marc talk about My Mom Jayne, the HBO doc about her mother Jayne Mansfield, who died in a car accident when Mariska was only three. Mariska explains why she kept her mother’s story at arm’s length through most of her life, even as she carved her own path of success in Hollywood, and how she ultimately embraced the revelations about her parents.

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Many years after a life-changing one-on-one conversation between Rich Aronovitch and Marc in Queens, New York, Rich and Marc are sitting down once again. This time they’re talking about Rich’s new comedy special, his family’s immigrant journey that landed them in New Orleans, Rich’s first experience on the stage under the name Smooth Daddy Johnson, and why Rich went to jail for letting the air out of a police officer’s tires.

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Jordan Klepper and his Daily Show colleagues find themselves in the position of calling fascism out for what it is while also still finding comedy in an increasingly unstable world. But one way Jordan deals with the firehose of information is by going out into the field, like he did for his most recent special report, MAGA: The Next Generation. Jordan and Marc talk about his findings, but they get into his upbringing in Kalamazoo, his transition from math major to improv comic, and the understanding of show business he learned from family cousin Tim Allen.

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Megan Stalter sees her comedic persona as a representation of both supreme confidence and a nervous breakdown simultaneously. It’s a demeanor that served her well, whether on the improv stages in Chicago or on her breakout Instagram videos or as the scene-stealing Kayla on Hacks or in her own Netflix series Too Much. Megan and Marc talk about how her comedy chops took shape, her upbringing in the Pentecostal Church, and her identity as both queer and Christian. 

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Cristin Milioti’s portrayal of the ruthless Sofia Falcone in The Penguin might seem like a departure for her. But Cristin tells Marc her goal has always been to avoid being pigeonholed. Also, the tone of The Penguin is so theatrical and operatic that Cristin fit right in as someone who, in her words, was saved by theater kids in high school. They also talk about her run on Broadway in Once, the fear she had while making The Wolf of Wall Street, and the heartbreak of having an entire two-season series, Made for Love, deleted from existence.

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