Transcript
Marc Maron (0:00)
Lock the gate. All right, let's do this. How are you? What the. What the Buddies? What the Nicks? What's happening? I'm Mark Marin. This is my podcast. Wtf? How's it going? Okay. How are you? I know, I know. I understand. Believe me, I understand how you're feeling. But I'm around, and I'm still having the good talks. I mean, today I talked to Josh Homme, and it was crazy. It was crazy. I hadn't talked to him in a while. He's been on before, and it was kind of crazy the last time, but, you know, it's like, people who do things, who create things. He took the Queens of the Stone Age with down into the catacombs and In Paris with acoustic instruments and did one of the most stunning bunch of songs that I've ever seen shot. And it's crazy. And it's like, where does that come from? And he'd always wanted to do it. And obviously, he's an interesting guy that's been through a lot of stuff, and seriously, a fairly expansive and amazing artist. But they sent me this stuff. His person was like. They just did this singing the Catacombs. Like, what? And no one's ever been allowed down there. And just the. The inspiration and the. The. The need to make it happen took a lot of years. But isn't. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing? You know, there's been a lot of revelations over the last few days, and I am grateful and amazed at the feedback and feelings that are coming at me because of our announcement that we're winding the show down over the next few months. And it's very moving, and there's certainly a sadness to it, and we're not gonna make every one of these episodes a reflection on the decision, but, boy, I didn't know it would have ripples around the world. And I know. Look, I appreciate the part I play in everyone's life, and I appreciate the part you play in my life, and I'm just gonna keep going here, but it's all very exciting. But there is. Look, I acknowledge the void. And it's weird because we talk about the void in a general sense that, you know, everyone's got a void that they're trying to fill, at least those of us who know what I'm talking about, which is most of you. You know, you can't stop moving or thinking or dancing around the edge of this inner void that, you know, there's plenty of solutions. You know, You've got the, the God sized hole idea, which is not the one I go with, but it's there, you know, and when you make a big decision in your life or you change your life dramatically, or, you know, you realize that something is going to be missing, it becomes a little more difficult to not acknowledge and, you know, reckon with the void. The void. You know, usually you're dancing around the edge and then all of a sudden something happens in your life and you're just sitting on the edge and you're kind of, you know, inching a little bit toward you kind of tempting yourself to fall into that void. But I had this realization thanks to you folks, and just thinking about it was an interesting thing. All right, so the night before I told you guys what was up. I didn't know how to feel, you know, and I was alone in my house and I knew I was going to, to sort of, kind of lay this on you, on the precipice of doing it. I had interesting feelings. You know, it's like, it's, it's, it's not quite like a breakup, but it's just a slow, sort of a slow farewell. But I felt, I felt things. You know, I was on that, that void or that feeling or that like, what's going to happen? Where am I going to go? What? And I realized like, you know, the void is. It can be anything. You know, it's a slight shift to see it as like a despairing, bleak, you know, terrifying, you know, black hole of ill defined but not good. Or you can see it as this world of possibility, you know, maybe even happiness, or that when you take an element out of your life or you're preparing to do that or whatever, it's, it's horrifying and, and it's, it's, it's painful. But on the other side of that, all of a sudden you open up the life to other possibilities, whatever they may be, you know, whether they're professional or personal or, or just space. But there is a, an elevating feeling to that, but it's grounded in, you know, all the things, you know, sadness, terror, you know, the things. But I had another realization the other day that I think I'll share with you because yesterday I interviewed Sarah Sherman from snl and I always wanted to talk to her because I think she's a true blue weirdo who does unique shit. And I don't really know her, but I'm a fan and we had a great conversation. You'll hear that whenever we put it up, but it was truly one of the beauties. But she. She came over with a friend, her best friend. I think her name was Ruby. And. And Ruby hung out, you know, out on the porch while Sarah and I talking. When. Then after the. The conversation, I went out there and I noticed Ruby. And she's got to be in her, you know, early 30s or whatever. She's reading Faulkner. And not just Faulkner, but the Sound and the Fury, right? And this is a book that kind of changed my entire life somehow. And I was just so thrilled. I was like, oh, my God, someone's reading the Sound and the Fury. A young person is like, you know, is in the Faulkner. And I kind of. I lit up, and I was like, which section are you on? Are you on the Benjy section? Where are you at? And she said, she's on the Quentin section. I'm like, oh, Quentin doesn't end well for Quentin. And then, you know, my brain just lit up, and I was like, you know, we started talking about Faulkner. They had both read Absalom. Absalom. And they were just discovering this guy, the greatest writer ever. And then, you know, somehow or another, we got to Bruce Wagner. And you guys know that I'm a Bruce Wagner fan freak. And then I'm, like, showing them my Bruce Wagner books. And then I told her about this book that I had in college by this guy named Clanth Brooks, who was like the Faulkner critic guy. And it was just this feeling of being lit up, you know, by talking to people that, you know, excite you in terms of, you know, what you're interested in and. And what things that, you know, light you up or just to engage on that level, which is something I've done here for years. But, you know, it's available to you. It's available to you out in the world. And it's something that, you know, is of primary importance in the world we live in and in the lives that we live. Isolated on our phones, afraid, full of weird panic, and not really knowing what's going to happen. But, you know, if you have those people, like my buddy Sam Lipside and I, we talk probably every day on the phone. He's in New York. But you, you know, you have to have that. These conversations I've had in here, but in life. In life, to pursue the conversations that excite you and just trigger your passions, trigger your creativity, trigger your. Your understanding of the world, make you laugh. I mean, I know maybe it's a tall order, but those people in your life are essential and they've always been essential to me. And I think there's something about me that some of you have gleaned. You know, I was kind of a, you know, a lost, wandering soul for a lot of my life. Kind of in. I had a very ill defined sense of self and the way I defined that for a good chunk of it creatively was through anger and. But I was always looking for people to show me the way to give me the answers, to give me a new perspective, to make me laugh, to make me think, to blow my mind with creativity, to turn me on whatever it is that, that pursuit in life and then to try to hold on to those relationships that continue to give you that are just essential. And I think that there's something about, you know, being isolated and being locked into patterns or locked into your phone or locked into beating the shit out of yourself or locked into fear or locked into, you know, a kind of despair or stifled creatively. It's like, I mean, there, there are people out there that know how to talk and there are people out there that like what you like, and there are people out there that can spark that excitement about, about art, about life, about, you know, you know, try to stay away from the politics because that never leads to a good place. But just the creativity and the soul nourishing engagements of, of other human beings and is, is fucking essential. And if there's anything that I've learned from doing this show, it's that. But I also, you know, have it in my life and now will, you know, kind of, you know, make sure I nurture those relationships so you don't fall into that void. You don't, you know, sit at home alone on the edge of it, wondering if it's going to suck you in. So look, folks, as I said, Josh Homme's here today. Thank you. Frontman of the Queens of this of the Stone Age and also the band's Kiss the Best, the Eagles of Death Metal. He was on the show back in 2013 talking about the near death experience he had after a MRSA infection. Also, the first three episodes of the series Stick are now on Apple tv. Plus, I'm in that and it's. I think it's going to be touching. And look, folks, if you're making summer vacation plans, you should also be making sure your home is secure while you're away. Okay? 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Simplisafe.com WTF? There's no safe. Like simply safe. Yes. Yes. Oh, my God. And all the previous guests and people in my business have been reaching out and congratulating me and Brendan and saying what an amazing run it's been and what we've contributed and, you know, I don't know, man. I feel like. I feel okay. I feel like the void is filled with possibility and I've been re energized to nurture and pursue relationships with people that bring a lot to my life. And I don't know, I hope you do as well. And I've been doing a lot of comedy. It's very funny when I feel a loss or a pain or. Or a period of sort of floating, like I just lean in and I just go hit the stage, go to the Comedy Store and get up there and kind of yammer. But I'm sort of in a different zone right now. I'm kind of, kind of grounded in zero fucky. It's kind of good to be zero fucky, you know, and just speak your mind. I've been kind of going at the, kind of actively kind of trying to wrap my brain around the. The idea of the manosphere and you know, what that means to culture. Obviously, I've done that for years, I think probably ahead of anyone calling it the manosphere. But it's a very odd thing, you know, these just yammering men behind microphones, you know, spending a lot of time, you know, talking about how they think women should be or what a women's. What a woman's role is and like, to the point where it's obsessive. And sometimes I think, like, why don't you take the women out of the equation and just fuck each other already. Just, just do it. Do us, do us all a favor. Let it go. I mean, there are, there are dudes that I read yesterday that are shaving their eyelashes off because it's, it's too feminine. And they're, they're like doing jaw exercises to make their jaws more, more pronounced. And they're flying to Turkey to get hair transplants. I mean, it just feels in there. They're just eating, you know, raw meat and getting ripped. It just, it feels like they're just evolving into some sort of, you know, gay fuckbot. And I just don't know. I don't know where this all ends up. But I had this idea about, you know, the symbol. There's a symbol, an ancient symbol, the uro burros. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, but it's a snake eating its own tail. And it's sort of a symbol for totality, I think, for wholeness, for, you know, it represents a totality. And I sort of had this image in my head that I think that the symbol for the manosphere's totality would be the cock eating its own balls. I was so happy about that one. I was like, oh, this is going to be great. And then people are just sort of like, what? What is he talking about? Underwear, folks. Underwear. It's something you probably don't think about a lot. You just put them on and go about your day. I can tell you from experience that ignoring your underwear will no longer be the case when you start wearing skims for men. 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He's a very energized dude. He just never stops working. And the Queens of the Stone Age Alive in the Catacombs is available at Q O T S A dot com. And this is me talking to Jo. Yeah, that. I don't even know where I got that iggy pillow. But, you know, when I interviewed him years ago, I was kind of amazed because, well, I mean, Rollins Henry said, you know. Well, you know, have you ever met Jim?