marc maron

Marc Maron: Comedian, Host of WTF with Marc Maron podcast

getting them to a place that they’re not usually…

When you’re talking to someone,

listen closely.

Marc Maron, who hosts the ridiculous(ly wonderful) interview podcast WTF, says that he “can’t really detach” when he’s speaking with sludgerock legends or deadpan masters–we imagine he’s not thumbing at his phone the whole time. It’s not that the interviews go off script, he says, it’s that there’s nothing resembling a script:

“I don’t make a list of questions. Ever. I think a lot of my interviews are driven by my need to feel connection. You listen and when you hear intonations, you hear feelings. It’s just feeling where

there’s something more,

getting them to a place that they’re not usually.”

Why’s this helpful? As we’ve talked about before, creativity often springs from joining two or more previously unrelated ideas–and a wandering conversation like the kind Maron talks about is a fine way to serendipitously uncover those connections.