Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson

Episode: Josh Radnor — On Reconciling with HIMYM’s Ted Mosby, Marriage, and Side Effects of Fame

Release Date: September 9, 2025
Location: Evelina, Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Episode Overview

This episode features a candid, heartfelt dinner conversation between host Jesse Tyler Ferguson and actor/director Josh Radnor, best known for his role as Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother, and co-host of the How We Made Your Mother rewatch podcast. Together, they explore the impact of iconic sitcom stardom, the complex emotions around being closely associated with a single character, transitions in adulthood, marriage later in life, and the lasting power of fan connection. The meal serves as a perfect backdrop as they discuss the joys and shadows of fame, personal growth, and the healing that can come from re-examining the past with new eyes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sharing a Neighborhood, Breaking Bread, and Setting the Scene

• Jesse and Josh reminisce about Fort Greene:
  • Both lived in the neighborhood over 15 years ago, bringing a sense of homecoming to the conversation.
  • Josh is a regular at Evelina, underscoring the grounded, community vibe.
  • [03:00] Jesse jokes about biking in from Manhattan—“I rode a city bike here today... This is the neighborhood I lived in 15 years ago before I ever left New York to go to Los Angeles to become a TV host icon.”
• Dining selections spark nostalgia and casual ease.

2. The Milestone of Turning 50, Transitions, and Melancholy

• Josh opens up about being in a reflective phase as he turns 50, channeling both gratitude and “a little melancholy” about endings and new chapters
  • [07:28] “I got my Equity card doing the Delacorte Theater when I was 21 years old... it definitely feels like it's marking the end of a chapter.”
  • Discusses the poignancy of performing in New York as a bookend to his acting journey.
• Aging and time:
  • [08:13] “Being this age is, like, really fascinating. I felt like I had gotten very used to being young, and now... I'm not young... just this weird middle.”

3. Marriage Later in Life—A Reimagining of Self

• Both share how marriage reframes time and priorities.
  • [09:13] Josh: “Marriage has been a whole, like, reconception of myself. And it's been mostly, like, completely delightful. But I think I was afraid of being answerable to someone, like, my time.”
  • The benefit of marrying older: Josh references Alain De Botton’s take that “your insanity is your own”—you can own your stuff and not blame a partner.
  • [10:22] “At my age, I could go, 'Just to warn you, some days I get a little funky and blue… it's not you.' If you're younger…you might be like, ‘Why are you making me sad?’”

4. Reconciling with Ted Mosby and Navigating Fame

The Duality of Hit Sitcom Stardom

• Complex Relationship with a Defining Role:
  • Jesse commends Josh for his honest discussions about the “complications” of HIMYM fame.
    • [15:17] “You've had a really lovely balance of appreciation for the opportunity, but also deep honesty with how it's made you feel. And I found that all extremely refreshing.”
  • Josh articulates the shadow side of success.
    • [16:35] “Everything has, like, a tax on it, or, like, a little bit of a shadow. Nothing is purely good, purely bad... if you get a win in this area, there's going to be a little tax in another.”
• The Strangeness and Privilege of Living in the Spotlight:
  • [21:44] “I have a friend who says showbiz is literally like, it's like a prison spotlight... sometimes it just lands on you. And when it lands on you, just make sure you're doing good work.”

Launching the How We Made Your Mother Rewatch Podcast

• The idea for the rewatch podcast sprang from his wife (a psychologist) having never seen the show.
  • [18:32] “She wanted to watch the show… it had been 20 years… so I called Craig Thomas: ‘Do you want to do something a little more formal… and have some conversations on the record about this strange time in our lives?’”
• Watching with Distance and Compassion:
  • Now, Josh finds he can see his work and the show with affection, rather than with the self-criticism he felt during original filming.
    • [19:10] “Now I'm watching it with some distance and some… compassion for myself… whatever boot I had on my own neck around it has kind of released.”
    • Shares Paul McCartney's analogy about making peace with one’s legacy: “When people say, 'I'm such a fan of the Beatles,' he says, 'I am, too.’”

5. Crafting a Bigger Career, Ambition, and the Theater as “Cathedral”

• Josh reflects on misleading himself about early ambitions:
  • [28:11] “For years, I told a story about myself that I realized was a bit of a lie… I wanted to be a theater actor in New York… turns out I actually was envisioning a bigger career.”
• The importance of ambition, and the sense of pride in fulfilling his younger self’s journaled wishes for a TV hit and artistic variety.
  • [30:00] “I wanted a good career… I wanted to be on a primetime show. I want it to be generationally, like, defining… and I want to enjoy it. Because it took me awhile to learn how to enjoy it.”
• HIMYM’s slow burn to hit status, contrasted with the instant rocket of Friends; Jesse’s own “false start” with The Class before the landslide success of Modern Family.

6. The Emotional Aftermath and Side Effects of Fame

• Being Recognized as “Ted” vs. “Josh”:

  • [43:26] “I’m a lot chiller with people who call me Josh than people who call me Ted… I’m glad you like it... but just do me the courtesy.”

• Fan Interactions—Profound and Challenging:

  • The tension of managing personal boundaries versus gratitude.
    • [44:05] Jesse describes the difficulty in public: “If I start [taking photos], it's going to turn to… I told this person… if I take a photo with you, I have to take a picture with all these other people.”
  • [45:58] “Some fan interactions are incredibly cool, incredibly meaningful… but the thing I don't like is when you feel like you're literally objective… you might as well be a cutout mannequin.”
  • Jesse and Josh agree the most powerful fan connections don’t end with a photo but a memory shared.
    • [46:11] Jesse: “Someone telling me a story about how they watched Modern Family with their mother who was dying of cancer… There's never a photo at the end of these experiences.”

• The Longevity and Reach of TV Characters:

  • [41:12] Jesse recalls being brought to tears by a fan letter Josh shared: “A 17-year-old kid… talks about how he just finished watching the series for the third time and he cried for the third time.”
  • Josh marvels at “male vulnerability” being rare on network TV in 2005, and the character’s global resonance—even with those far removed from his type.

7. Finding Meaning Beyond Success

• After achieving “the thing” (hit show, fame), what next?
  • [36:34] “I thought the thing would save me—didn't save me. In fact, it gave me new problems… Then I really had to get on with the business of, like, what really will bring meaning to my life.”
  • His journey led him further into storytelling, creative work, and “deeper spiritual journey”—including ayahuasca.

8. Remembering Friends Lost, and the Bonds of Theater

• Discussing the passing of friend and Broadway actor Gavin Creel, and the impact of loss.
  • [49:22] “When I saw the news, I had to read it, like, five times… loved that guy so much… there was no, like, duplicitous—his public and private face were the same… So goddamn talented, so effortlessly sparkly.”
  • The unique intensity of theater bonds: “It must… be like how military people bond… you're in the trenches together, and you get close so fast.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “tax” of fame:

  “Everything has, like, a tax on it, or, like, a little bit of a shadow. Nothing is purely good, purely bad.”
  —Josh Radnor [16:35]

• On making peace with your legacy:

  “Paul McCartney was… eclipsed by [the Beatles]… finally he just made some peace with it. And when people say, ‘I'm such a fan of the Beatles,’ he says, ‘I am, too.’ You know? And I find that there's something so tender about that.”
  —Josh Radnor [19:10]

• On aging and self-awareness in marriage:

  “If you get married very young, you might blame your partner for things that when you're otherwise older… you can go, ‘Just to warn you, some days I get a little funky and blue. It's not you.’”
  —Josh Radnor [10:22]

• On fan impact:

  “You forget that, like, those things you're doing in a kind of moldy sound stage on the Fox lot are, like, getting beamed out all over the world and might be the source—the lone source—of lightness or laughter or inspiration in people's lives.”
  —Josh Radnor [47:52]

• On growth and reflection:

  “You realize every five years… what an asshole you were five years ago… if you're growing and evolving, it should make you blush a little bit.”
  —Josh Radnor [52:05]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening, Setting the Scene/Evelina and Old Neighborhood: 03:00–05:07
• Reflections on Turning 50, Melancholy, and Changing Perspectives: 07:28–08:28
• Marriage & Aging, Self-Knowledge, and the Benefit of Marrying Later: 08:28–10:36
• Honest Reflections on How I Met Your Mother Fame: 14:09–17:49
• Enter Rewatch Podcast—Reconciling with the Past, Healing: 18:32–21:07
• Ambition, Early Career, and Theater Roots: 27:10–31:12
• Fame, Fan Encounters, and Protecting Boundaries: 43:26–47:52
• Losing Gavin Creel, The Bonds of Theater: 48:14–51:18
• Value of Revisiting the Past with Compassion: 52:05–52:42

Tone and Atmosphere

Warm, slightly wistful, always candid: The episode's tone is intimate and honest, with both Jesse and Josh generously sharing vulnerabilities, wisdom, wistfulness, and plenty of laughter. The setting—a favorite Brooklyn bistro—reinforces the sense of comfort and nostalgia, allowing for genuine connection and reflection.

For Listeners Who Haven't Tuned In

This episode is perfect for listeners interested in the lived reality behind beloved TV: the joys, insecurities, anxieties, and growth that come with being part of the cultural fabric. Whether you’re a longtime HIMYM or Modern Family fan, someone contemplating life’s chapters, or a creative seeking inspiration about surviving the spotlight, this conversation is rich, poignant, and often unexpectedly funny—like, well, a really great dinner with old friends.