President Barack Obama on WTF with Marc Maron

“How do we talk to folks who already aren’t so dug in to a particular way of thinking about politics? That we can create more space for people to have a normal, ordinary conversation? And one in which the lines aren’t clearly drawn in black and white, and it’s not this battle in a steel cage, one side with another?”

President Barack Obama said that’s why he visited the home garage studio of comedian Marc Maron on Friday for an hourlong chat for Maron’s podcast, WTF with Marc Maron.

Maron ditched all the WTFs in his intro (respect) from Highland Park, Calif., not far from where Obama spent part of his college years at Occidental College. They talked about that proximity and how the intervening 33 years for the president turned out much differently than he thought they might have when he was 20, as well as the challenges of fatherhood and family, the Affordable Care Act (which you may know and refer to as Obamacare), the NRA — considering last week’s racist mass murder in a South Carolina church — and the disillusionment of many by the political process.

The president also mentioned Richard Pryor and Dick Gregory as his favorite comedians, while also giving a nod to Jerry Seinfeld and bringing up Louis CK — knowing Maron’s longtime friendship with CK.

“WTF Summit” is presented without commercial interruption courtesy of Squarespace.com and became available this morning on iTunes, WTFPOD.com, and on mobile devices via the WTF with Marc Maron app.

“My biggest fear is that I wouldn’t be able to get a sense of who Barack Obama is, but he was almost more human than I could handle,” Maron said. “I did the best I could to not freak out entirely. It was an amazing experience to hang out in my garage for an hour with the President of the United of America.”

Here are a few teaser clips of Maron’s interview with Obama.

Visit episode #613 of WTF with Marc Maron for the full conversation.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →

One thought on “President Barack Obama on WTF with Marc Maron

Comments are closed.