12 Intimate Interview Podcasts That Will Replace ‘WTF With Marc Maron’ in Your Feed
In June 2025, Marc Maron announced that he would be ending his beloved interview podcast WTF With Marc Maron after 16 years and 1,600 episodes. The show was a pillar of Maron’s ability to get famous people, from then-President Barack Obama to the late Robin Williams, to open up and share intimate details of their lives, and he will be sorely missed.
While there’s only one WTF podcast out there, longtime listeners shouldn’t be completely baffled by the intimate celebrity chats. Here are 12 suggestions for other podcasts that might help fill the void.
Podcast “Blind Boy”
If you’re craving interviews that feel like they’re happening in a dark, sleepy corner of a pub at 2am,The Blindboy Podcast will deliver. He disarms his guests with his surreal humour and gentle curiosity, then engages them in candid, vulnerable conversations that unfold like therapy sessions. It’s weird, it’s wise, it’s deeply human. Not every episode is an interview, but all of them have moments that feel academic, philosophical and full of heart. Blindboy gets to the hearts of his guests in a way that no one else can – and it’s clear that he only interviews people he really wants to talk to.
Kelly Corrigan Wonders
Queuing for an episode ofKelly Corrigan Wonders is like calling your smartest, funniest, most inquisitive friend. In each episode, Kelly combines curiosity, vulnerability, and that rare honesty that makes you feel like you’re eavesdropping. It’s part therapy, part storytelling, and all from the heart. Kelly has a gift for asking questions that go beyond the surface—the interviews often feel more like soul-searching check-ins than media sound bites. Kelly doesn’t shy away from tough topics (loss, abortion, aging parents), but she can still make you feel seen, reassured, and just a little better at being human.
Death, sex and money
Anna Sale started Death, Sex & Money in 2017 when she realized that other interview shows often avoided the toughest, most interesting questions about human nature. So she started a show about just that — episodes go places no other show will when it comes to death (Anna talks to a man whose father voluntarily stopped eating and drinking, killing himself ), sex (why a woman left her polyamorous marriage), and money (this writer’s favorite episode, an interview with a man who steals ). Anna is soft-spoken and straightforward, encouraging her guests to talk openly about the things we’ve been told not to bring up at the dinner table.
How to fail
Asking someone what went wrong in their life may be the quickest (and most awkward) route to intimacy. In each episode ofHow To Fail , journalist Elizabeth Day asks her guest to walk us through three failures they’ve experienced, reframing them as events that helped them become better people or live better lives (eventually, at least). Elizabeth creates magical chemistry with all of her guests, including the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mo Gawdat, and Brené Brown. The focus isn’t on life hacks or advice, but on breaking down the mistakes and regrets these people were able to overcome, and how.
I think so too
Award-winning author Michelle MiJung Kim is on a mission to make people feel seen. Her podcast, I Feel That Way Too, explores the big, messy questions we don’t usually ask out loud, like “Why are so many Asian women with white men?” and “Do I really have to sleep with the same person forever?” or “We Think We Can Do Complicated Things” or “Death, Sex, and Money,” but through the lens of a Korean-American queer woman who navigates with radical vulnerability.
Nice meeting with Amy Poehler
Good Hang is silly and fun, and has fewer deep moments than WTF , but Amy Poehler’s candor and honesty with her guests make this podcast feel especially intimate and unlike most other celebrity interview podcasts. It’s like the late-night heart-to-heart you didn’t even know you needed. There are hidden vulnerable moments—you come for the laughs and stay for the unexpected emotional truths. If you like podcasts that feel like a friend gently (or not so gently) pulling back the curtain, this one’s for you.
Blocks
If you’re hungry for interviews that go beyond the usual celebrity chit-chat, be sure to listen to Neal Brennan’sBlocks . It’s not just funny — it’s uncomfortably honest. Brennan asks guests to share the emotional “blocks” that are holding them back in their lives (e.g., shame, ego, addiction), and what emerges is more like therapy than a talk show.
Therapy for black girls
In her book, Therapy for Black Girls, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist based in Atlanta, talks about mental health, personal development, and learning the small changes we can make to become the best version of ourselves, with the experiences of women of color at the forefront. Whether it’s work, friendships, money, or understanding seasonal affective disorder, Dr. Joy is ready to explain these experiences through a Black lens.
Where to start?
InWhere Should We Begin?, renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel lets you be a fly on the wall in her office to eavesdrop on a real couple’s counseling session. You’ll hear everything about their relationship—every raw and intimate detail. Esther’s advice is at once philosophical and reflective, dynamic and engaging, direct yet gentle. She’s solution-oriented, focused on helping these couples who seek her help with infidelity, desire, and divorce.
About Being
If you’re craving interviews that are like a warm cup of tea to soothe your existential angst, On Being is the place to be. Krista Tippett doesn’t just ask questions — she invites people to pour their hearts into conversations filled with ungoogleable questions about faith, grief, joy, and the meaning of life.
Speak easily
OnTalk Easy, Sam Fragoso hosts thoughtful, long-form conversations that don’t feel like interviews but dive deep into the minds of his guests — artists, activists, and politicians. (Sam goes from sitting with the first Gen Z congressman to discuss his fight for gun reform to having tea with Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg. ) Each conversation has a narrative arc. Sam is curious and empathetic, he’s done his research, and he’s interested in the full story, not just the easy answers.
Henceforth
From Now On is hosted by Lisa Phillips, a former model and current talent scout who has lived through the rigors of the entertainment industry. Lisa is also, importantly, a Jeffrey Epstein survivor. This podcast dives head-on into stories of abuse and recovery. As an empathetic survivor herself, Lisa is the perfect host. While it doesn’t sound like a true crime or investigative podcast, it has had a real impact: It has led multiple women who were assaulted by the same man in the same way to come forward and say the show has given them courage.