Episode 806 - Mark Lanegan / Mac DeMarco

Mark Lanegan is the soft-spoken elder statesman of the '90s Seattle grunge scene. Marc Maron talks with the former frontman of Screaming Trees and finds out how Mark went on to collaborate with a wide variety of artists, from Guns N' Roses to Belle and Sebastian. But first, singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco brings his laid-back Canadian rock vibe to the garage as he releases his third studio album and helps answer a puzzling question: Why does Marc like his music so much? This episode is sponsored by Silicon Valley on HBO, PLAYBASE from Sonos, and Texture.

Episode 805 - Walter Hill

Poor health kept Walter Hill out of the Army in the '60s, but that twist of fate led him into filmmaking during the tumultuous end of that decade. Walter tells Marc about being there for the major shift in cinema during the '70s, making his own influential films like The Driver, The Warriors and 48 Hours, and working closely with actors like Steve McQueen, Eddie Murphy, and Richard Pryor. Walter also explains how he helped kick off the Alien franchise. This episode is sponsored by Silicon Valley on HBO, 1-800 Dentist, and Lewis Black: The Rant Is Due on Audible Channels.

Episode 804 - Amanda Peet / W. Kamau Bell

Marc is a fan of Amanda Peet when she's playing funny, quirky characters, like in Togetherness or Brockmire, and when she's cold-hearted and mean, like in Changing Lanes or Syriana. He finds out in person if those two sides of Amanda come to the surface in real life. Also, W. Kamau Bell stops by to talk about some of his projects and winds up talking with Marc about pretty much everything going on in the world. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and Blue Apron.

Episode 803 - Baron Vaughn / Moshe Kasher

Baron Vaughn knows that growing up without a father and sharing a bunk bed with grandma can ignite the comedy spark. He tells Marc about being a latchkey kid watching cable TV and drawing inspiration from the black comedians of the early '90s. With a successful comedy and acting career to his name, Baron was also able to document his search for the father he never knew. Plus, Moshe Kasher returns to the garage to explain why he wants to get to the bottom of the trickiest stuff in his new show Problematic. This episode is sponsored by Stamps.com and Casper.

Episode 802 - Michael Chiklis / Kurt Braunohler & Lauren Cook

It turns out Michael Chiklis and Marc went to Boston University at the same time, but soon after school Michael got cast as John Belushi in the movie Wired, which almost ended his career on the spot. Michael talks about how he bounced back with The Commish, transformed himself with The Shield, and finally got to engage his passion for music with his debut album Influence. Plus, Kurt Braunohler and Lauren Cook are in the garage to talk about their new podcast Wedlock, with Lauren on the verge of giving birth at any minute. This episode is sponsored by J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only on HBO and PLAYBASE from Sonos.

Episode 801 - Anne Hathaway / Aimee Mann

Marc tries not to fanboy out too much with Anne Hathaway in the garage. While he attempts to keep it together, they talk about her path from party girl to motherhood, the lessons gleaned from messed up relationships, dealing with the aggressive anonymity of the Internet, and the real monsters in her new movie Colossal. Plus, Aimee Mann just released what Marc thinks is her best album, so she stops by to play one of the songs from it. This episode is sponsored by The AV Club on Fusion, J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only on HBO, and Stamps.com.

Episode 800 - Jeff Ross

For the 800th episode of WTF, Marc welcomes back the show's very first guest, Jeff Ross. Just as WTF evolved since that first episode in 2009, Jeff evolved from the Roastmaster General to a comedian using his talent as a put-down artist in order to help us all better understand each other. He also talks about the unique relationships he built along the way with people like Buddy Hackett, Billy Crystal, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks and, yes, Donald Trump. This episode is sponsored by Louis CK 2017 on Netflix, 2 Dope Queens on Spotify, and Kabbage.

Episode 799 - Jason Zinoman / Hank Azaria

New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman is the one person analyzing comedy from the most prominent journalistic platform in the world. So naturally Jason and Marc would want to talk about the nuts and bolts of creating comedy and, very specifically, the origin of David Letterman's influential brand of comedy, which is the subject of Jason's new book. Plus, Hank Azaria is back in the garage to talk about bringing a gleefully drunk sportscaster to your televisions. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace and ZipRecruiter.

Episode 798 - Paul Beatty / Jackie Kashian

Marc was blown away by author Paul Beatty's celebrated novel The Sellout and wanted to know how a writer can turn a stew of ideas about identity, race, pride, language and representation into a provocative and hilarious book. Paul visits the garage to provide some answers and reflection. Plus, Marc's friend Jackie Kashian stops by to talk possums, iguanas, sci-fi, and her new comedy album. This episode is sponsored by 2 Dope Queens on Spotify, Kabbage, 1-800 Dentist, and Sonos.

Episode 797 - Paul Shaffer

Paul Shaffer takes Marc down the path that turned a piano-playing kid from Canada into a keyboard-for-hire who became the bandleader for the famous Toronto production of Godspell. And from there, the dominoes fell, as Paul joined the SNL band, the Blues Brothers band, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame house band, and the band for David Letterman's show, which turned into a relationship that lasted for 33 years. This episode is sponsored by The Comedy Jam on Comedy Central, Kabbage, Stamps.com, and Blue Apron.

Episode 796 - Reza Aslan

Religious scholar Reza Aslan has spent his life studying the facts and misconceptions about belief and the evolutionary reasons people need to believe in something larger than themselves. Beginning with his family fleeing a religious revolution in Iran, then landing in Oklahoma as a child and growing up in a Latino community in San Jose, Reza talks with Marc about his lifelong exploration of faith, including the findings of his new documentary series, Believer. This episode is sponsored by Proper Cloth, the new movie Wilson, and Seeso.

Episode 795 - Paul Rust / Dax Shepard

Actor and writer Paul Rust knew how to be funny as a kid growing up in Iowa and struggling with OCD. But he tells Marc it was his knack for taking intense, borderline-unspeakable risks on stage when he got to LA that caught the attention of people like Scott Aukerman, Paul Reubens and Judd Apatow, which led to his Netflix show Love. Also, Dax Shepard returns to the garage to talk about CHiPs, the movie he wrote, directed and stars in. This episode is sponsored by Audible, the new film Wilson, and Proper Cloth.

Episode 794 - Louis Theroux

Filmmaker Louis Theroux once tried to make a documentary featuring Marc but he never used the footage. Marc's been puzzled by that ever since, but when you look at the subjects of many Louis docs - addicts, criminals, hate mongers, pornographers - Marc might be lucky Louis never made that movie. Marc talks with Louis about evolving as a filmmaker, learning from Michael Moore, and what went into Louis's latest film, My Scientology Movie. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, Fusion's The AV Club, and Casper.

Episode 793 - Kevin Nealon

Kevin Nealon is trying a new approach to life in order to be less of a people pleaser and to allow himself some anger from time to time. But Kevin is able to keep that anger at bay while he tells Marc about heading to LA during the '70s comedy boom, working as a bartender at the Improv, getting onto The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and unexpectedly landing on SNL. Kevin also talks about the importance of his friendship with the late Garry Shandling. This episode is sponsored by Proper Cloth, Blue Apron, and Stamps.com.

Episode 792 - Fred Melamed / Andy Kindler

Fred Melamed is instantly familiar, not only because of his scene-stealing performances in the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man and Maria Bamford's Lady Dynamite, but because he is an indelible New York character. But that familiarity came with a price, as 20 years of successful work actually led to a complete bottoming out in Fred's life. He tells Marc how he pulled out of it. Plus, Andy Kindler stops by to talk about the big change in his life. This episode is sponsored by Showstopper on Spotify, Proper Cloth, and Sonos.

Episode 791 - Eugene Levy

Eugene Levy brings more than five decades of comedy history from north of the border into the garage. He tells Marc about his early days as a college student in Canada hanging out with Martin Short, Ivan Reitman, and Catherine O'Hara, performing in a fabled production of Godspell in Toronto with an all-star lineup of comedy stars, and joining the Second City theater, which paved the way for SCTV. Eugene also explains what goes into co-writing Christopher Guest's largely improvised films. This episode is sponsored by The High Court on Comedy Central, Proper Cloth, ZipRecruiter, and Stamps.com.

Episode 790 - Jennifer Coolidge

Whether you see her in Christopher Guest's movies or on 2 Broke Girls or as Stifler's mom, Jennifer Coolidge is always a unique comic presence. She tells Marc how she put her wild New York City cocaine days behind her to come to LA and join the Groundlings, where she established her comedic chops. Jennifer also talks about her blown chance to get on Saturday Night Live and what she learned from that missed opportunity. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.

Episode 789 - Raoul Peck

Filmmaker Raoul Peck spent more than a decade putting together the documentary I Am Not Your Negro, a powerful film illuminating the words and life of writer and social critic James Baldwin. But as Marc learns in this conversation, Raoul’s own backstory of living under dictatorships, studying across four continents, and learning how to engage activism through art is just as important in understanding how to respond to the world today. This episode is sponsored by Indochino.