Marc Maron on Bruce Springstein Movie, ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ Podcast, and What’s Next

There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t celebrate my decision not to have children.

We weren’t going to stop podcasting until one of us was like, “All right.” And it happened. We were experiencing real burnout. If you’re a workaholic, you don’t really process that. But there are symptoms. There is a certain part of your emotional and psychological life that starts to buckle. It is somewhat consuming to show up, be engaged, and be empathetic—to have a genuine conversation.

I want to have my life back. I’d like to enjoy it without putting so much of myself out there, because there is an emotional responsibility to that.

There’s no reason to fade away if you don’t have to.

I grew up middle-class. My old man was a doctor and had bread. Neither one of my parents really have money anymore. My dad screwed up everything. When I started doing comedy, whatever fallback I had in parents wasn’t there. And doing comedy at the beginning, it’s sparse, dude.

My friend made me buy this watch. It’s an Omega Speedmaster. It’s classic. You got to wind it, though. My girlfriend is like, “Doesn’t it just wind itself?” I’m like, “No. This is how watches used to be.” She’s a little younger than me.

I used to say that I never really felt that life was going by quickly. When you’re in it, you’re like, “It’s plodding by.” Then, all of a sudden, it’s like, “Oh my God, how am I the oldest guy in the room?” I didn’t really have a sense of age of these younger comics, like John Mulaney or Nate Bargatze. I always saw them as my peers. Then you hit sixty and you’re like, “You guys are forty. What? When did that happen?”

I like Springsteen, but I’m not necessarily a Springsteen guy.

What have I learned from being divorced twice? Just give them the money. Please.

Drama is a way to avoid intimacy. Even when you both end up crying, that doesn’t mean you’re being intimate. It just means you’re devastating each other.

I’m sure that intimacy in sex with somebody that you love and have an openhearted relationship with can be amazing. Maybe I’ve experienced it a few times.

As a middle-class American Jew, no one taught us how to use God. I was never taught to fear God or have a relationship with God. I knew I was a Jew and that was enough.

You don’t really require a lot when you’re grieving. Just to show up in somebody’s dark time is an amazing service.

Have you been to a hospital? It’s fucking horrendous.

Grief isn’t unusual. It’s a guarantee. You hope it’s not tragic. It’s nice if there’s an arc to it that makes sense.

What happens to us after we die? Not much. But is that so bad? Don’t we all need a nap for a while?

I thought comedy was a noble undertaking. The only rule of comedy is you should be funny. Outside of that, you can fucking do whatever you want onstage. If you can make it funny, you can be who you are.

I’m sure hardcore progressives would call me a centrist. Whatever. That infighting is kind of an issue.

There was this idea on the anti-woke flank, “Don’t censor yourself at all.” And it’s like, no, that’s how civilization works. That’s the way democracy works. You learn tolerance, and you behave properly in certain situations. Now that’s gone. I don’t know how democracy works without tolerance and compassion.

I went to see a concert. Behind me was a mentally challenged kid, grown up. He was having a great time. Standing next to him was his father, I guess, who just had this look of, like, “It’s a hard life, and we do the best we can.” I don’t know. I’m like, “I get it, and I don’t need to use that word.”

To get vulnerable and understand why you’re an asshole as opposed to double down on being an asshole is a choice.

If you can change one or two people to either think differently or help them out, that’s not nothing. I don’t know what else I can do. I’m not going to run for office.