I'm Alan Alder and this is Clear Invid. Conversations about connecting and communicating.

This thing is saved my life. It's reintegrated me with my community. It's reintegrated me

with my ability to empathize and listen. And it's gotten me out of my own head.

And if I'm experiencing that as the guy running the show, the people that are listening

to it are experiencing that as well. Like hundreds and hundreds of people really get some

sort of nourishment for their soul and mind and heart from what I'm doing with my guests

and I am incredibly grateful that I can offer that.

This Mark Marin talking about his enormously popular podcast WTF. Mark has an uncanny ability

to bring out the real person in each of his guests. No matter how well we think we know

them, we learn something new about them. I was really curious to know how he does it.

Mark, thank you for being on the show. I got to tell you when I heard your interview

with Barack Obama, I was stunned. I had never heard him be so authentic, so relaxed,

so apparently truly himself. And I thought, what is this magic that Mark Marin was able

to do? What do you think contributed to that?

I don't. It's hard for me to know exactly why I'm able to lock in with people and allow

them to be that candid. I do listen very intently. I do have, I think, an innate urge within

me to connect with people in an authentic and emotional way that probably goes back to

my childhood. But I don't know. I try to meet people halfway with where they're coming

from in terms of my own problems. And also there's a certain amount of, I think, courage

involved in showing up for conversations. When you started the podcast, you started with

nothing I read. You were sneaking into a studio because you still had the key in...

Well, stealing time in the studio. Yeah, I mean, I was working. I had several, you know,

...