General Questions | Instagram Live 1/21/26

Summary

How We Made Your Mother – “General Questions | Instagram Live 1/21/26”
A Podcast Hosted by Josh Radnor & Craig Thomas
Recorded: January 21, 2026 | Released: February 26, 2026

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Episode Overview

This special episode of How We Made Your Mother was broadcast live on Instagram, offering fans worldwide a chance to interact directly with hosts Josh Radnor (Ted Mosby) and series co-creator Craig Thomas. The conversation centers on the enduring cultural resonance of How I Met Your Mother, behind-the-scenes stories, lessons learned from both making and revisiting the show, and how its themes continue to reach new audiences. The hosts dive into fan questions covering everything from cherished props to story structure, meaningful moments, and their hopes for the next generation of viewers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Podcast Origins & Reflections on Rewatching (01:17–07:40)

• Genesis of the Podcast:

  • Josh Radnor shares how rewatching How I Met Your Mother for the first time in years with his wife, Jordana (a newcomer to the show), inspired the idea for the podcast.
  • Craig Thomas discusses maintaining a long-standing friendship with Josh and their excitement at revisiting the series as contemporaries of "Older Ted."
  • The podcast is likened to a “master’s course” in HIMYM with deep dives into episodes, themes, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

• Ongoing Popularity:

  • Despite ending in 2014, the show grows in popularity, especially among younger audiences on Hulu (US) and Disney (internationally).
  • International fans often cite the show as instrumental in learning English.

“If you wanted to get like a master’s degree or a PhD in How I Met Your Mother, this is… kind of a college, like an advanced college course.”
— Josh Radnor (03:49)

2. Community Engagement – How to Connect (08:17–09:49)

• The hosts encourage fans to submit voice notes and written letters about what the show means to them, often featuring these messages in the podcast.

• Full episodes, bonus interviews, and social media participation are encouraged via www.howwemadeyourmother.com.

• Fan Global Reach Announced:

  • Fans listening live chime in from Argentina, China, France, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Nicaragua, Australia, the Philippines, and various US states.

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3. Iconic Props & Set Memorabilia (10:02–14:20)

• Blue French Horn:

  • Josh confirms he possesses the original Blue French Horn, the show's memorable romantic symbol.
  • Craig jokes about having “Carl the bartender” (the actor, not the prop).

• Set Pieces:

  • Craig has one of the iconic red booths from the bar and two original bar murals.
  • Neil Patrick Harris (Barney) also took a booth and the tabletop; Carter Bays kept the apartment piano.
  • Craig reveals he also ended up with Ted’s architect table.

“For a long time I was nervous about revealing the sight of it because I was worried about crazed How I Met Your Mother fans breaking into my apartment and stealing [the Blue French Horn].”
— Josh Radnor (10:23)

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4. Most Memorable or Emotional Filming Experiences (16:06–19:35)

• Josh reflects on the emotional depth of episodes near the end of Season 2, especially Ted and Robin’s breakup and the way Lily’s “San Francisco” departure shapes the group’s relationships across multiple episodes.
• He expresses pride in the character’s friendships and how the actors and writers carefully planted storylines for long-term emotional payoff.

“It’s really like a masterclass… listening to Craig talk about… the writers’ room, how they cracked the story, where they were headed, you know, and when they didn’t even know where they were headed.”
— Josh Radnor (19:16)

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5. Core Lessons & Storytelling Philosophy (19:56–25:10)

• Sticking to Creative Integrity:
  • Craig discusses early CBS pressure to make the show less serialized; the team resisted, wanting ongoing emotional resonance and narrative memory.
  • Writing for "the smartest, best, most sensitive audience" paid off, especially as binge-watching culture took off.

“The lesson that we learned: fuck that. Let’s write the show we want to write… write for your smartest, best, most sensitive audience.”
— Craig Thomas (21:11)

• Meaningful Themes:
  • The importance of memory, lasting consequences, and the transition from the “etch-a-sketch” period of life to deeper grooves of meaning.
  • Recurring motifs: "Nothing good happens after 2am" and "People will dance"—the latter, a phrase so meaningful Josh named his corporation after it.

“It’s a rallying cry for the optimist… life will take care of itself. There will be joy, there will be celebration. People will dance, and I don’t have to worry about it.”
— Josh Radnor (24:48)

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6. Advice to Young Fans & Lessons for the Next Generation (26:10–30:11)

• The hosts express empathy for young viewers facing an intense world.
• They hope the show's central conceit—a future self narrating the chaos of youth—offers reassurance and hope: “You’re gonna be okay.”
• Josh references Einstein: “Is it a friendly universe or not?” and argues that HIMYM asserts a fundamentally friendly universe, one where “love dispels hate,” quoting the Dhammapada (Buddhist text).

“I just hope… when they look at a show that is about a future version of yourself… there’s some sense or hidden message there that says, you’re gonna be okay.”
— Craig Thomas (27:09)

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7. Writing Process & TV Comedy Craft (30:57–34:13)

• Story First:

  • Outlining is the engine, not punchlines. Detailed structural planning allows character-driven jokes to flourish organically.
  • Advice: “It’s really fucking easy to write jokes when you know what the story is, and it’s really fucking hard when you don’t.” (Craig, 32:07)

• Withholding, Confusion, and Payoff:

  • Inspired by Kurt Vonnegut (“create characters your audience will love and then put them through hell”) and Carter Bays’ skill at confusing the audience before delivering satisfying resolutions.
  • Play to the “smartest people in the room,” giving audiences room to meet the work at its level.

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8. Music and Iconic Needle Drops (38:40–43:56)

• Fans ask about favorite musical moments.
• Josh and Craig recall favorite tracks from the first two seasons:
  • “Block Party” (end of Season 1)
  • Jaymay’s “Sea Green, See Blue” (end of Season 2)
  • Belle and Sebastian’s “We Rule the School”
  • Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in the “Stuff” episode—“No other CBS show would have done this song between 8 and 10 in 2006...” (Craig, 40:46)
  • Diegetic songs, like “You Give Love a Bad Name” (limo episode) and original numbers (“Let’s Go to the Mall,” “Bang Bang Bangity Bang”)
• The music curation reflects the show’s indie spirit and character moments.

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9. Life Beyond the Show & Ongoing Projects (44:05–52:54)

• Writing New Episodes in Their Minds:

  • Craig and Josh muse about day-to-day inspiration—e.g., Ted holding a “funeral for the penny” after the US discontinued it.
  • The creative antenna for HIMYM stories remains “always on.”

• Bob Saget Remembrance:

  • Josh shares stories of meeting Saget, maintaining a yearly dinner tradition, and the impact Bob’s presence (as narrator and TV icon) brought to the show and network’s confidence.
  • “I still miss him every day.” (Josh, 36:46)

• Upcoming Projects and Live Events:

  • Josh hints at a new music album and discusses balancing creative work with new fatherhood.
  • A How I Met Your Mother-themed fundraiser concert at Bowery Ballroom is scheduled for June 20 (52:33).

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10. Final Fan Q&As & Advice for Inner Peace (53:06–56:06)

• Advice for Achieving Inner Peace:
  • Josh: Don’t do life alone; chosen family and community matter.
  • Meditation and fostering “the witness” within helps gain perspective over anxious thoughts.
  • Emphasizes leading with kindness, not trying to “twist the knobs” of others’ realities, and not believing every thought you have.

“There’s a part of us that is always at peace and has equilibrium… the witness. And… when you observe it, it takes some of the kind of kerosene out of the fire.”
— Josh Radnor (54:05)

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• “This is… kind of a college, like an advanced college course in How I Met Your Mother.”
  — Josh Radnor (03:49)
• “I picked the Blue French Horn… I was nervous about revealing the sight of it because I was worried about crazed How I Met Your Mother fans breaking into my apartment and stealing it.”
  — Josh Radnor (10:23)
• “The lesson that we learned: fuck that. Let’s write the show we want to write.”
  — Craig Thomas (21:11)
• “Nothing good happens after 2am” and “People will dance” — both become significant personal and fan mantras.
  — Josh Radnor (23:56, 24:48)
• “Is it a friendly universe or not? … the show posits that it’s a friendly universe.”
  — Josh Radnor (28:27)
• “It’s really fucking easy to write jokes when you know what the story is, and it’s really fucking hard when you don’t.”
  — Craig Thomas (32:07)
• “Let’s go to the Mall… what Cobie did with that song and the music video… is one of my favorite things in the entire series.”
  — Craig Thomas (42:14)
• “I still miss [Bob Saget] every day.”
  — Josh Radnor (36:46)
• “Don’t do life alone… chosen family, you know… be kind and not believe everything you think.”
  — Josh Radnor (53:38–55:30)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:17] – Hosts introduce themselves and the podcast’s origin
• [10:23] – The story of the Blue French Horn & set memorabilia
• [16:28] – Most memorable/emotional filming moments
• [19:56] – Lessons learned and resisting network demands
• [23:56] – “Nothing good happens after 2am”/“People will dance”
• [27:09] – Advice to young fans, friendly universe theme
• [32:07] – Craig’s writing process: story over jokes
• [36:46] – Remembering Bob Saget
• [38:40] – Best musical moments and needle drops
• [53:06] – Advice for achieving inner peace

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Episode Tone & Atmosphere

Candid, reflective, and deeply appreciative of fan engagement—balancing humor with real emotional and philosophical insights. Josh and Craig invite listeners into the intimacy of their creative partnership and reminisce as both artists and fans of the show’s enduring themes.

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Resources & Links

• Podcast website: howwemadeyourmother.com
• Fundraiser concert: June 20th, Bowery Ballroom, NYC
• Josh Radnor’s music and MuseLetters: joshradnor.com
• Craig Thomas’s novel, That’s Not How It Happened: craigthomaswriter.com
• Apple Music/Spotify playlists: Linked in episode post

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Fans are encouraged to subscribe, participate by submitting stories/questions, and spread the word to keep the HIMYM community growing.

Transcript

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[Alec Levi]

the following episode of How We Made youe Mother was recorded live on Instagram on January 21, 2026. It was our first Instagram Live. And you'll hear Josh and Craig start out by introducing the podcast for first time listeners. And then they took questions from around the world that were coming into us right then and there. Live in the moment. Here we go.

[Josh Radner]

I'm alone. What a pity I won't be New York City when I see you. Please permit me to tell you everything in New York City.

[Alec Levi]

All right, we're doing this. Hi, everyone.

[Josh Radner]

Hi.

[Craig Thomas]

Hey. Hi, people.

[Josh Radner]

I'm here having to trust that this is really happening.

[Alec Levi]

Alec.

[Josh Radner]

Alec is running tech tonight. So Craig and I are just trusting that you're all seeing us.

[Craig Thomas]

It's very disconcerting that we're not seeing people writing in things because it feels like nothing's happening.

[Josh Radner]

I think things happening, it helps me. Well, let's just do some introductions. My name is Josh Radner. I was on a TV show called How I Met yout Mother. It ran for nine years on CBS. I played a character named Ted Mosby from what, 2005 to 2014?

[Craig Thomas]

Those are the years.

[Josh Radner]

My friend Craig Thomas, who's with me here, either he's here. He co created this show with his pal Carter Bayes. And we, Craig and I love each other. Have maintained a very strong and deep friendship over the years. I got married a couple years ago. My wife Jordana had never seen How I met your Mother, which actually helped a lot in our courtship.

[Craig Thomas]

But she was not in love with Ted. No, she was in love with Josh.

[Josh Radner]

She met me and she said, I've never seen this show that a lot of strangers on the street approach you about. And I would love to fill in the gaps and know about this part of your life. So I reached out to Craig and I said, I'm going to rewatch How I Met yout Mother after not having seen it for many years with my wife. And do you want to. Maybe we should do something formal and start a podcast and rewatch the show 19 years after it started. So we got our buddy Alec Lev, who was woven into the How I Met yout Mother family and also went to college with Carter and Craig. And so we've been re watching the show. The podcast is called how we Made youe Mother. You can listen wherever you stream your podcasts. And we just finished the second season. So we just finished the. The one, two punch of something borrowed, something blue with Marshall and Lily's wedding. So there's now what, like 50 episodes you can listen to Alex, Something like that.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

From season one, we did all 22 episodes plus a whole bunch of bonuses. I mean, probably 15 or 16 bonus episodes. So you can go back and listen to those. We had some bonus interviews with folks that weren't tied directly to an episode, but we had great guests on that. And then, yeah, we've now we've released only I think 12 from this season. We have just finished recording. Yeah, all 22.

[Josh Radner]

So they'll finish up in March releasing the season two. Yeah. So we're, we're thrilled for people who have been rewatching the show with us. You know, I was listening to an episode today, Craig, and I was thinking if you wanted to get like a master's degree or a PhD in how I met your mother, like this is. It's kind of a college, like an advanced college course in How I met your mother, Right?

[Craig Thomas]

It is. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

We go very deep into the thing. I mean, there's tons of like, backstage anecdotes and funny things we remember. But we're also really interrogating what are the themes of How I Met yout Mother. And the central mystery that we were super curious about is why there were a bunch of other shows very popular, even more popular than we were at the time that people don't talk about anymore.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

For some reason this show has such a long tail. It's stuck around. People keep discovering it. It's a huge ratings hit on Disney right now. We hear from people all the time who learned how to speak English from watching How I Met yout Mother.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I should say Hulu in America, Disney internationally. I should say that Hulu very much wants us to message that Hulu in America is your now your one stop shopping. But Disney and those are related companies. But yeah, it is. Our feeling is the show has gotten more popular than ever, perhaps, and there's this whole new burgeoning crop of like young humans discovering it. That is just really exciting and cool. Yeah, it's a wave.

[Josh Radner]

It's like a wave. So part of it is like How I Met yout Mother itself is a mystery. Right. It's a mystery of, like, how he met them. But also a lot of the episodes are mysteries in and of themselves. Like Ted Mosby, architect or like something weird brunch. Like something weird is happening. And then you, you, you backtrack and you figure out what, what's going on. And in some ways, you know. Cause we're, we're approaching or at least the a or almost the age of narrator Older Ted. So we were looking back on this time in our lives that was incredibly pivotal and powerful. We are looking back as the artists who made this thing, but there's this kind of meta thing going on that we're around the age of Older Ted telling his kids this story.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it's crazy. It is a good show for a rewatch podcast because in doing the podcast, we're kind of doing what future Ted did. Just looking back on his life, making sense of it.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And we want everybody to join us. So tell a friend. I went to the How I Met yout Mother bar in New York City today. The bar Carter and I used to drink at after we worked all week at Letterman, which is around the corner now. That's a bit.

[Josh Radner]

It's like how Sally Field used to go to the mall on Soap Dish to get recognized when he's feeling a little low.

[Craig Thomas]

He just wanders into McGee's in those rare moments when I'm feeling a little low. So I'm there six days a week when I'm feeling a little needy. No, I was doing a book related event for my debut novel, I'll shamelessly.

[Josh Radner]

Fantastic book.

[Craig Thomas]

Thank you, Josh. And Josh does one of the Voices in the audiobook. It's fantastic. And I went in there after this little book event and met some people in there who were great. And they were young, they were in their 20s, and they were wonderful. They loved how much mother and they had no idea. There was a podcast that we were doing looking back at how much Mother and I was like, Josh and I are almost the age of future Ted. We're in the podcast. We're kind of doing what the show is. And they were like, cool, we're going to seek that out. But our message is spread the word because I feel like those guys that had one of them was from Spain, one of them was visiting from Florida. They were great people. And they came to the how much of other bar specifically, it was like very high on their New York itinerary. On their trips. And I was like, you guys should know about this podcast. What are we doing wrong that we don't. You don't know about this podcast, so please help us spread that.

[Josh Radner]

What if it was just Florida and Spain? Just. There was a media blackout.

[Craig Thomas]

There's a blackout. No, we.

[Josh Radner]

We've been delighted. So many people have found the show, but also there's so many How I Met yout Mother fans that. That I think would love to go on this journey with us. So the great thing is all the episodes are banked. They're there. Just start wherever you want. I mean, just. Just you can catch up really quick. They go down smooth. We're working with the Office Ladies this season, Angela and Jenna and everyone at Odyssey, and we're having a great time with them. So. Yeah, I mean, what else, Alec? Anything else?

[Alec Levi]

Well, oh, so much else.

[Josh Radner]

Let's.

[Alec Levi]

Let's.

[Craig Thomas]

So much else. Let's.

[Alec Levi]

Let's definitely tell people they can go to how we made your mother Dot com. I'll tell them. I'll tell them some things they could do there. You could tell them some other things. Simplest form is because a lot of people are actually asking in the chat where they could find the podcast. So if you go to how we made your mother.com, there's links there to Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but basically everywhere that you listen to podcasts, roughly speaking, you could find our podcast. I do want to just say that our social media producer, Emily, is clocking where some folks are coming in from, and we've got our Argentina and China and Colombia and France and Brazil and Canada.

[Craig Thomas]

That's funnel.

[Alec Levi]

Hello.

[Josh Radner]

Hello.

[Craig Thomas]

Welcome.

[Alec Levi]

That's just for starters, right now. And then, Josh, you want to talk a little bit about what else people can do from the website, because, yeah,

[Josh Radner]

I mean, one of our favorite things on the podcast, we open with a voice note from a fan. And all we're really asking people is, what does How I Met yout Mother mean to you? How is it? How has it changed your life? You know, moved you? When did you discover it? How it's accompanied you all these years, what you've learned from it? And so we start the show with a voice note, and we end the show with a written letter so you can reach out to us, and maybe your letter or your voice note will end up on the air and we'll get to read it and relate with you on some level. So all you got to do is go to how we made your mother.com and go to Contact and Then it should be pretty self explanatory from there, right, Alec?

[Alec Levi]

Absolutely. You can write. You do the first night. So we've got questions coming in. And folks, for everyone here online, I'd love that you're all telling us where you're from. We've added some more here. Germany, Nicaragua, Australia, Kansas.

[Craig Thomas]

That's so cool.

[Alec Levi]

The Philippines, Texas. But also, please ask some questions. We're here. These folks can. You've got Craig, you've got Josh. And our first question here, I'm going to ask from Matorosky, who asks Josh in all caps, is that the blue French horn?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. Oh yes, that's the actual blue French horn. Which for a long time I was nervous about revealing the sight of it because I was worried about crazed How I Met your mother fans breaking into my apartment and stealing it. But it's the one, you know, we were all given kind of the. We were told at the end, what's the one thing you want from the set? And I picked the blue French horn. And what did you take, Craig?

[Craig Thomas]

I took Carl, the bartender. He just makes me drinks now.

[Josh Radner]

When you're not at McGee's.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, the few days a week I'm not at McGee's, trying to get recognized. Carl is here in my home. Did you know I took a few. I took a few things. So I got one of the two booths, the iconic two red booths at the table. Neil took one, I took the other. I think Neil took the tabletop too. So Neil got more of that set than I did. But I got one of the red boos. And you know, the other thing I got is actually, I don't know if I said the name when I said I was at the How I Met yout mother Bar today. McGee's is the bar on 55th between Broadway and 8th. It's fantastic. We're so happy it's still alive and well and thriving due to you. Due to all the How I Met yout Mother fans that come there, that visit from everywhere. And they have on McGee's, like when Carter and I were in our 20s, like walking around the block from writing for Letterman. And we would go in there and there are these beautiful. In addition to red booths. And we said, that's gonna be the look of the bar on how much Mother. There were also these huge murals on the wall, these beautifully painted sort of like WPA era murals. And we said, we want that too. And Steve Olson, our set designer in a cosmic twist, also lived one block away from McGee's at just around the same time Carter and I were writing for Letterman. Like, we were all right there. And he was like, I know that bar. That was my local bar for a bunch of years. I know exactly the look you're talking about. And so he created, long story short, two great murals that were in the deep background of McLaren's on how much Mother. And so I have those. I have one. One of them is about 15ft long. It's gigantic. It was the one that was all the way on the. Kind of like, when you're looking at it, the leftmost wall and then sort of curving around the right wall and the deep left background was a matching smaller mural. Did I tell you, Craig, I had both of those?

[Josh Radner]

I went to a Comic Con months ago in Ecuador. Remember when I went there?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And I sent you pictures. They had recreated. They had built an entire McLaren set.

[Craig Thomas]

And it looked really good.

[Josh Radner]

It was good.

[Craig Thomas]

Like, legit set design went into doing that. And that's so cool.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

The other thing I have. Josh, I'm nervous to tell you I have. I don't know if I've ever told you I have this, lest you come steal it like you're afraid of a blue French horn being stolen. In my room, in my bedroom, under that second smaller mural, I have Ted's architect table. If you want it, I'll give it to you.

[Josh Radner]

No, I don't care. I don't care. But wait, did Carter take the jukebox?

[Craig Thomas]

I don't think he took the jukebox.

[Josh Radner]

Do you know what Kobe and Allie and Jason took?

[Craig Thomas]

I don't. I don't. Carter. I know. Took, like, the piano that was in there. I think he still has that.

[Josh Radner]

The piano that was in the apartment.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. I'm sitting here also with a lamp. Can I possibly hold this up on camera? This is a lamp from the bar.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, yeah, that was on this.

[Craig Thomas]

Just on my desk in my room.

[Josh Radner]

You know, we were watching Jordana, my wife and I, we were watching an episode the other night, and I was. It was a bar scene. Just like a normal every. You know, average. How I met your mother bar scene. And I was just like. I spent so much time in that bar.

[Craig Thomas]

You sure did.

[Josh Radner]

Drinking fake beer and eating checks.

[Craig Thomas]

Mix. Like, how was that fake beer? How was that fake beer to drink?

[Josh Radner]

I don't. I like. I like fake beer.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

I mean, if it was in a bottle, it was water.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

But if it was in a.

[Craig Thomas]

See, I didn't even know that.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. If it was in a pint and Dave Baker would always ask you, you know, which you preferred. Yeah. Anyway, did you prefer Craig Speak?

[Alec Levi]

Speaking of which, Hayden Sprinkle asks, what drink did you get at McGee's?

[Craig Thomas]

Me? Oh, I was, I was there for like 20 minutes.

[Josh Radner]

So I had only seven shots.

[Craig Thomas]

I had seven shots to kill it because I'm 50 years old and that would go well. No, I had a McGee's Ale. They have their own good beer. And the two how I met yout Mother fans that I that I was talking to for a few minutes. I bought them their round of drinks too, despite them not knowing the podcast. But I hope I've guilted them into following our lovely podcast.

[Josh Radner]

And I wrote you this little ditty to sing to you in New York City. We'll be right back.

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[Josh Radner]

And now back to the show.

[Alec Levi]

So a couple things also for for those of you who have again, friends, obviously with a lot of people from overseas here for whom it is very, very early. We have many people mentioning I would join this, but it's you who told me that nothing good happens after 2am says Farley memes. But let let everyone know and please let your friends know. This will appear as a podcast in our, in our feed. So in a couple of weeks if

[Craig Thomas]

you're tell your friends like a bonus episode, right, Alex?

[Alec Levi]

Yeah, they'll be able to listen to this. Just subscribe, subscribe to that podcast. So we have great questions coming in and they're all sort of really big picture ones which I think is is fun. So let's just go with this one. Josh, what episodes filming is the most memorable or emotional for you of the whole series?

[Craig Thomas]

That's a tough one. 208 episodes and you're just scroll through there.

[Alec Levi]

Or even one of the more recent.

[Josh Radner]

I feel like I can only contain that to the first two seasons just because they're so fresh in my mind of having just watched them. Yeah, fair. I mean what was the question whether what was the most like emotional or most.

[Alec Levi]

You have the choice memorable or emotional?

[Josh Radner]

You know, we just watched the showdown into with Bob Barker, you know, Neil Barney's dad into something borrowed and something blue. And we were talking about how it's almost a three part finale because remember Robin and Ted walk in in showdown with like covered in like tomato sauce from. And it's a mystery again, like you don't know why. And then in the finale you understand what happened. And I just. There's a series of scenes with me and Koby that starts in the restaurant where he had stolen the blue French horn for her earlier in the pilot. And then there was an actual proposal that we talk about. The couple that you see get engaged in the show that was him actually proposing his wife.

[Craig Thomas]

That's actual real life marriage proposal.

[Josh Radner]

They're still married. Three daughters. We're thrilled to have learned in this. And. And then the scenes, the breakup scenes where they're. Where they're telling Barney and popping back to Robin's apartment. I just, I was really proud of me and Kobe. Like I thought they were really great, well acted scenes. I know it's, it's a little weird to say like those.

[Craig Thomas]

It's not weird. They're so good. Were so good together.

[Josh Radner]

And we had a, we had like two years of history kind of fueling it. And I really, I just loved it. And I loved, you know, I love the. What a good friend Ted is to Marshall up until he can't take it anymore when Lily leaves. And I love the. I had forgotten how much Lily leaving for San Francisco and breaking Marshall's heart reverberates throughout the entire second season. Like my memory of it was like, she comes back and all is forgiven. And it's not that way at all.

[Craig Thomas]

It's not.

[Josh Radner]

And I thought that was really great. I mean some of it I noticed, like, oh, I'm really proud of us as actors, but I'm also a writer and a director. So when I watch it now, I'm really intrigued and excited by like talking to Craig about like, where'd you come up with that? Like, that was so smart to like plant that seed in this episode and have it pay off three episodes later. And just how they were playing the long game while also trying to satisfy the network wanting these to be episodes that you could just tune in on any random Monday night and like. But they were trying to tell this serialized story. So it's, it's a cool thing if you're, if you're interested in making something, especially a long form television show that goes for nine seasons. It's really like a masterclass. Listening to Craig talk about like what was going on in the writers Room. How they cracked the story, where they were headed, you know, and when they didn't even know where they were headed and what, what they did in those situations.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Craig, let me bring this one to you. I mean, they're, they're. I mean, this, this for everyone, obviously, but let's go. I love these. They're really big questions here. Let's have this one. What lesson from the series has impacted you the most? Oh, that's another tough one. Let's do from the first two seasons.

[Craig Thomas]

I know, right, right.

[Alec Levi]

We're.

[Craig Thomas]

We're in the first two seasons, so. Okay, I'll play off what Josh just said. And thank you, Josh, for those lovely words. And like, you guys, you and it is such a writer's dream to write scenes like what you and Coby acted in the sequence you just described and watch it be elevated beyond anything you could have dreamed for. That is just such a gift for everybody that wrote on that show. So you guys. Believe me, we were in awe of you guys there, I would say. Josh just sort of said it. We had this awkward experience at the end of season one where the network said, make it less serialized. You've done season one and you did it like a weird little soap opera. Right. You're expecting your audience to remember week to week what happened. It's exactly what Josh just said in season two. You see these echoes and reverberations of the consequences of this really intense emotional thing that happened between Marshall Lilly and the way it influences the whole group now. We were borderline yelled at to stop doing that at the end of season one. It was strongly suggested perhaps we might not want to do that and we might want to be more like the other sitcoms on CBS that were these little standalone things. And every week everyone had amnesia. And the week before, it never happened. And I'm really. The answer to that question is I'm really proud. The lesson that we learned. Fuck that. No, let's write the show we want to write. Let's write the show we want to see. Let's write how we would want to watch a TV show, which at that time was binging TV shows on DVDs because it was pre streaming because we're 1,000 years old. But it turned out to be a really safe bet, a really smart bet, because people now consume TV very differently. And that happened during our run. And people caught up to it on Netflix. When it got on Netflix, sort of like season four or so. And our bet paid off. Our bet was we have a smart audience they want to watch things that matter week to week. They want to watch the show have its own internal memory. And they want to see consequences and reverberations and echoes and setups and callbacks and twists and turns and call forwards where you see something and you go, what? What is that? Like a flash forward. And then it's explained two episodes later. We just. We did the thing of write for your smartest audience. Write for your smartest, best, most sensitive audience. And thank. Thank you, How I Met yout Mother fans for proving us right, because what a gift.

[Josh Radner]

Well, also, I think you guys were writing about, like, I call the. The. The How I Met yout Mother years are like 27 to 36, right? Like the. That's how old the characters were when. When in the show.

[Craig Thomas]

But if you.

[Josh Radner]

If you look at Those years, your 20s and your early 30s, those years are very consequential. And everything you've done stacks up towards the next thing. So it's like you can't. I think you use the term Etch A Sketch. Like you can't, like, shake the ex sketch and start over. Like, it has to be. Things have consequences and meaning and. And you make your next move based on either the success or failure of your last move. So I think it's a more emotionally honest show that you had a memory, like the flame of memory going the whole time, not least of which the whole show is a memory.

[Craig Thomas]

It's a show about how at that time of your life, life starts to acquire meaning.

[Josh Radner]

Yes, right. And consequences.

[Craig Thomas]

The Etch A Sketch part is over.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. That's right. It's starting to get more grooved. You know, two things that I just lines that stick out for me. I was sharing something about how in the middle of the night, like, you shouldn't trust your thoughts when you wake up in the middle of the night. And it actually occurred to me, like, nothing good happens after 2am and is a good phrase not just for, you know, go home, but also, like, if you wake up after 2am nothing good is really happening in your head. Like, most of the time, that's where your anxiety strikes or your, you know, worst case scenario thinking happens. So. So I reframe. Nothing good happens after 2am for myself, which was like, nothing good happens up here.

[Craig Thomas]

That's brilliant. I'm stealing that because that's when bad shit happens in my mind too. But what do you. What do you then do with that? How do you put it at? Well, I try, like, by Naming it. You shrink it by naming it.

[Josh Radner]

I try to bracket everything as saying, like, this is an unreliable narrator in my head right now. Like, this is not someone to be trusted. And the conclusions that. That whatever that is drawing is are erroneous. Like, they're so bad, you know, So I try not to listen. And I've spoken a lot about this, but in the pilot, Ted has the whole thing about, you know, it's not like I imagine my wedding. And then he has this, you know, down to perfect detail. He's imagined the wedding. And then at the end, he says, ban, no dj. People will dance. I'm not gonna worry about it. And I spoke about this in the podcast that the phrase people will dance, I actually named my corporation People Will Dance, because to me, it's a kind of. It's. It's an. It's almost like the opposite of nothing good. It's a. It's a rallying cry for the optimist, right? Like, yeah, like, life will take care of itself. There will be joy, there will be celebration. People will dance, and I don't have to worry about it.

[Craig Thomas]

And people have gotten tattoos around of that phrase because of your celebration.

[Josh Radner]

I've had people come.

[Craig Thomas]

You called that phrase out. You're the one that underlined that phrase

[Josh Radner]

after playing music or something. And they said, can you write people will dance? I'm going to get a tattoo of it, which I love. Wow.

[Craig Thomas]

Which is the epitome of the statement, right? They are dancing.

[Alec Levi]

We've just been asked by JS Krogs when the people will dance. Merch will be dropping. And, you know, well, you guys come

[Craig Thomas]

to the website and buy it, then maybe we'll do it.

[Alec Levi]

I mean, that'd be a question.

[Craig Thomas]

It would be a really cool shirt.

[Josh Radner]

If I saw someone and I didn't know what that phrase meant, I'd be like, that's a cool shirt. What's that? What does that mean?

[Alec Levi]

All right.

[Josh Radner]

But you intuitively know what it means.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Should we do it? All right, we're doing it on it. People will dance merch.

[Alec Levi]

We've got Mexico, we've got Portugal, we've got Siberia.

[Craig Thomas]

And the matching thing. Could be people will pants. Pants. Is that anything? We'll come back to that later.

[Alec Levi]

That's more of a. From the latterman years.

[Craig Thomas]

It's more of a. Yeah. You know what? Dave did that. That's a deep call.

[Alec Levi]

By the way, Fatima Asif Mirza asks the important question. Alec, did you ever make a cameo?

[Craig Thomas]

Did you write. Is that you? Is that you submitting that question that I see right through that shit.

[Alec Levi]

You see right through that. Okay. I am asking question, though. Jessica Wallace. Xoxo. I see your question and thank you.

[Craig Thomas]

You can answer the question.

[Alec Levi]

No, I am on the show. I play Todd in episode something or other in the first season. Best prom ever. And best prom ever. You can go check that one out. This is a nice question. We, I think young people watch this show, right. And sometimes we are taken a little aback at the ages that are pitched as being appropriate to start with. But Kush777 says, Are there any lessons or messages you want young people or teenagers to take from the show? I'm 16 and it is my favorite show.

[Craig Thomas]

Josh? Yeah. I mean, I have an answer. Do you have an answer?

[Josh Radner]

I think I could come up with an answer, but what do you think? What's yours?

[Craig Thomas]

Here's my answer. The world is so intense and dark right now. I have such sympathy, empathy, heartache for young people right now looking at the lack of sympathy and empathy in the world right now. And I just hope that when they look at a show that is about a future version of yourself, looking back on all the times that feel chaotic and confusing and impossible, that there's some sense or hidden message there that says, you're gonna be okay. There's gonna be a future version of you that gets through all this chaos and is there at the other side of it to tell your story. And I hope, I like to believe that's why the show does speak to people who are in their teens and twenties and people are finding it in a younger generation. I hope that it gives them comfort. It's a really hard moment to look ahead to the future. But I have to believe in my heart of hearts that you're going to be telling the story of all this and you're going to come out the other side.

[Josh Radner]

I love that. Craig, can I add something, please? I think Einstein said the thing about the only question you have to decide for yourself is if it's a friendly universe or not.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And how I met your mother. I think one of the reasons it's so beloved. Beloved, beloved. My wife and I have a disagreement about how to say that.

[Craig Thomas]

What a weird argument to have.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. It's our biggest fight. I mean, knock down, drag out. No, I think that how I met your mother posits that it's a friendly universe.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, it does.

[Josh Radner]

And I think that's so comforting to people. I think it's also true because I believe the universe is Ultimately friendly. That doesn't mean that darkness doesn't have its day and doesn't have its moment.

[Craig Thomas]

And that's in this show, too.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

That is also in the show. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

But my friend sent me today. I'm going to get real deep here for just a moment. Forgive me if this isn't your thing. He sent me a quote from the Dhammapada, which is a Buddhist text. And I love this. It says, in this world, hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible. You too shall pass away knowing this. How can you quarrel? However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them? Read as few words as you like and speak fewer, but act upon the law, this law, that love dispels hate. And I just, you know, it's such a dark moment and it's such a hard time to not fall into cynicism or feel that, like, darkness is winning, but it doesn't. It never will. It ultimately, it just never will. And the thing I like about what that says, it's a law.

[Craig Thomas]

I love that it's a law there. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

That's not like, negotiable. It's a law. And I feel like How I Met yout Mother honors that law.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I think so. I think so. I think that is the law of How I Met yout Mother. I agree.

[Alec Levi]

Mark R. Rampage. RM Rampage wants to know about what lessons you learned about. I'm sorry, what lessons you learned about writing? Throughout the show you sort of talked about the sticking to your guns idea, but how about the actual act of stories, you know, structuring out a story you hadn't. I mean, you could talk a little bit about what TV you had written prior to this, but nine years. I hope you learned something. What did you learn in the writing world? And Josh too? I mean, in the midst of all this, you wrote a couple of movies and then have kept. Have continued to write. What lessons do you learn about writing throughout the show?

[Craig Thomas]

The times we felt we were in trouble were the times where we. We didn't quite have the story figured out. It was always about that stage. It was always about the story. It was always about what's on the big dry erase boards. Act One, Act Two, act three. And then how do we translate that to a really robust outline? Like 10 pages, single spaced, scene by scene outline? What? Here's every scene. Here's why those scenes are there. Here's how that scene starts, here's how that scene ends. And in the middle of those scenes, later, future you. This is future you's problem. Will write jokes. And it's really fucking easy to write jokes when you know what the story is. And it's really fucking hard to write jokes when you don't. And when it's just freestanding jokes based on nothing. There are geniuses who can write like that. Jack Handy, deep thoughts. Steven Wright, the comedian. Right. There's geniuses that can out of nowhere have a perfect 12 word joke. But boy, it is way easier to write jokes. When you're writing about the story and you're writing about the character and the situation, the jokes come. It's not that hard. So that's my biggest lesson. It's about story. Create that shape, do the work ahead of time, worry about the dialogue and the jokes later.

[Josh Radner]

I learned a lot from you guys about the pleasure of withholding in some ways, like creating confusion.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Josh Radner]

And then the pleasure of solving it. I also kind of learned. It's kind of a Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut thing. He says, like, create characters that your audience will love and then put them through hell.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. Yes. That's it. That's it.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

And you have to love those characters and your heart has to be broken putting them through hell too, or else you're just a sociopath. Like, you have to, as a writer, be like, I love them so much and I'm putting them through hell. To learn something about them and also to.

[Josh Radner]

To ultimately deposit them hopefully in a better place than when they.

[Craig Thomas]

Somewhere better that they could never have gotten to without the hell part, without the Shawshank sewer pipe. Carter was, Is really. Carter Bayes is a really. He's a master of risk, confusing the audience. Carter's really good at that. He's like. That sounded like a backwards compliment or something. I mean it as a high praise.

[Alec Levi]

Oh, yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

They don't need to know what's happening for a minute. You can plant things that are confusing and pay them off later. Carter was a real. It was and is a real master of that. So I feel like I learned a lot from him.

[Josh Radner]

I had a singing teacher at nyu, Debbie Lapidus, who I just adored and continue to adore. But she. Oh, you know Alec. We did a thing with her on the podcast. Yeah. But she always used to say, play to the smartest people in the room.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And I. It was, it was like the best thing I heard in grad school. Just like, don't go for, you know, the widest audience. Go for, like, the audience that is going to really be tuned into your frequency of what you're saying, and then the audience will grow.

[Craig Thomas]

I said a similar thing earlier. It's like we wrote for the smart audience. We didn't think people had to forget week to week what the fuck was happening. Like, and it paid off. Like, there's something about this. What is the staying power of the show? That's one of our biggest questions of this podcast. Why. Why has it stayed? Why is the. Why has it found all these new people?

[Josh Radner]

I have another Buddhist text I'd like to read.

[Craig Thomas]

Please do. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But it really is like, it's a message in a bottle and you're just hoping it will find people and, you know, people will dance.

[Alec Levi]

People will dance. Just a couple of technical things for the show. Megan Allman asks, how far out do you record podcasts? Want to know? So we could submit episode specific letters and voice notes in time quite a ways in advance. I would say go ahead and submit anything, anytime. And you definitely do not need to connect your voice note or your letter to a specific podcast at all. Also, before we do a recording, if you're on at how we made your mother, that's our Instagram account. We reach out for questions and we call those general questions.

[Craig Thomas]

General questions.

[Alec Levi]

You jump in the gun. I might have done it, but I did it. So please take your time on that. Nicole Flank asks, can you do a live show tour? That would be amazing. I mean, in time, guys, I think we'll. We hope to hit the road. We have a long time. We got a long. We got a long way to go.

[Craig Thomas]

It's fun. Yeah. We're only in season two.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Who knows? But we'd love a.

[Alec Levi]

Love a lovely question from Eric with a lot of letters after that miss. But you'll know where to go with this. But Josh, did you ever get a chance to meet Bob Saget?

[Craig Thomas]

Lots of times.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

I met him day one.

[Craig Thomas]

I mean, he's presupposing a much greater separation between the voiceover and Bob was. Bob loved the show.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. Bob would come and was like, just drop.

[Craig Thomas]

Come hang out with us and hang out.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, I met. I mean, the first season we had to do much more voiceover. Like in, we would go to the, you know, soundstage and that was where Bob always was recording. So I would hang out with him for a long time. And then as the years went on, Craig, I Remember this? They would just bring the microphone to. They would just have you do a line on stage. You wouldn't even have to go to the booth anymore.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. It was decided that it sounded good enough and it had the kind of the same room tone as what we were matching. So why put you in a perfect sounding studio? And we could record the ADR line, the actual dialogue line in the actual room.

[Josh Radner]

But Bob and I grew very close over the years, and we would grab dinner about once a year and we had a very, very sweet friendship. I still miss him every day. Yeah. Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Craig. Yeah, sorry.

[Craig Thomas]

No, I was just gonna say he was. He, like. So when Carter and I wrote the pilot of this show, we were so young. We were like 29, 30 years old. And Bob signing on to the show, Bob believing in the show and signing on to be the narrator, gave it this sort of gravitas and authority and sort of blessing from a TV God, if you will. Right. It was like we needed this idea of a future dad telling his kids this story. What better dad than Bob from the Full House Dad? This guy who's been your TV buddy and your TV dad for all of these years. When we booked him, which was for the pilot, without knowing that there was going to be a series, it really mattered to the show. It really gave cbs, which was an older, skewing network. It gave them the sense of, like, oh, these crazy young whippersnappers. Carter and Craig managed to get us. Their script attracted somebody significant in TV who feels like he has the right to be narrating and telling this story. And I think it lent power to the pilot and made people that watch the pilot with skepticism, perhaps, about these young kids writing this show. They'd never. We'd never written a pilot. We never done our own show. We'd barely ever written on a sitcom. And I think Bob. Bob really helped it get picked up, in my opinion. So in addition to everything else he did for nine years for us and being the best guy, it's really part of the journey of how we actually got it on tv.

[Josh Radner]

And this old man, he must admit, fell in love with you.

[Craig Thomas]

New York City and now commercials. End of commercials. Back to show.

[Alec Levi]

Joseph D. McLean asks about music. And by the way, you know, we do talk a lot, or you do talk a lot about the music choices on the show. It's a very different, obviously, use of music than really any other TV show, certainly of its. Of its time. And just asks the music choices to be playing during the scenes would make them Iconic. What is your favorite music and scene moment together in the show? And maybe we'll.

[Josh Radner]

We'll.

[Alec Levi]

We'll hold it to the first two seasons. Whatever.

[Craig Thomas]

Fresh.

[Alec Levi]

Yes.

[Craig Thomas]

It's too hard.

[Alec Levi]

Whatever's fresh in your mind, but take

[Craig Thomas]

that where you want to. It's hard, but I think hold it to two seasons. Josh, what do you think?

[Josh Radner]

I think Block Party is incredible. At the end of season one, I got my friend J. May see Green Sea Blue. I introduced to you and Carter, and you guys used that as one of the final of season two. I mean, I love the Belle and Sebastian. The use of. Is it we roll the school or is it we roll the school? Yeah. The Bell and Sebastian song in return.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Which is incredible. I'm trying to. Was Here comes a regular in.

[Craig Thomas]

It was not in the first two seasons.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, okay. When was that? Here comes Regular.

[Craig Thomas]

I forget what season it was.

[Josh Radner]

I remember you guys were very excited about that.

[Craig Thomas]

We were very excited. Great song by the Replacements. I literally played that song on guitar today with my son Elliot. Literally, like two hours.

[Josh Radner]

And isn't Barney's named after one of the members of the bass.

[Craig Thomas]

The bass player, Tommy Stinson of the Replacements. That is the namesake of Barney Stinson. So we use the replacement song Skyway. Not in the first two seasons. These are all later. But yeah, in the first two seasons. I'm just gonna name one that I had forgotten about and that is illustrative of. No other CBS show would have done this song between 8 and 10 in 2006 or whatever. It was Iggy Pop's I Want to be your Dog, which is an unabashed S and M punk rock song.

[Josh Radner]

But it's the episode with Ted and Robin and all her dogs looking at her ex boyfriend.

[Craig Thomas]

The episode stuff where it's that idea of whatever your ex has given you and how once you know something was given to your significant other by an ex, it's sort of. It becomes that person. All of Robin's dogs were part of her relationships with other guys. They all become human to Ted in Josh's favorite moment in the history of shooting, how much a mother he had to get licked on the face by one of the actors. And there's a sequence in that of Robin walking the dogs that go from dogs to humans. Set to Iggy Pop's I Want to Be youe Dog, which is like a seminal punk rock, absolutely bonkers song. And I had forgotten for. I just. I'm ashamed to say I forgot we put that on the show. Carter And I love that song. And when we got up to that, I was like, fuck, yeah, man. King of Queens and Two and a Half Men. We're not putting Iggy Pop songs. You know what's funny, though?

[Josh Radner]

Because it is. It is like, it's a song about S and M, but it's also, like, in the context of the show, it literalizes the song. Like, it makes it, like, less dirty. Cause it's, like, about dogs.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. It makes it. It tames the song for CBS830. And, you know, there's also.

[Josh Radner]

There's great needle drops, which are like you and Andy Gowen and, you know, you guys making the decision as, like. As, like, overseers and creatives. But then there's songs within the show, like you Give Love a Bad Name in the Limo episode. It's like an incredible.

[Craig Thomas]

Right?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Oh, man. There's a word for that. Alec film nerd. What's the word for when a show is a song is used in a scene as opposed to on the soundtrack. Fuck. We'll get there. There's a clever term for it. But yeah. And then the original. The original songs, like, I mean, let's Go to the Mall, Carter and I wrote that song. So saying that makes me sound narcissistic to say that's one of my favorite songs. But, like, what Kobe did with that song and the music video that emerged from that is one of my favorite things in the entire series.

[Josh Radner]

You know, it's another. Another one is Bang Bang. Bangity Bang is a really good song.

[Alec Levi]

Classic.

[Craig Thomas]

That's a.

[Josh Radner]

That's a great song. Just where it goes. The journey of it.

[Craig Thomas]

That's another single entendre that's just not banging. Right?

[Josh Radner]

It's about.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah. No, it's a percussion. So wait, what did you think it was about?

[Josh Radner]

I thought it was percussion.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Emily reminds us that the word is diegetic, by the way.

[Craig Thomas]

Diegetic. Emily said that.

[Alec Levi]

That's some producing right there. That's a social media producer.

[Craig Thomas]

Emily Blumberg. Like, that is the fantastic, fantastic one of our beloved.

[Alec Levi]

A couple things to. To point out. Yeah. So I'll put this out there. Cjyk T H I A N77 says, has anyone made a Spotify or Apple music playlist with all the songs used in the show?

[Craig Thomas]

I believe so. I think so. I think so. And then also smaller ones per season or smaller. Like, here's all the original songs written for the show.

[Josh Radner]

When we post this episode, let's link a couple of the playlists.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. There's a lot. People have curated it in ways and. Or, like, I. I go, look at that. When we're going to do our, like, fundraiser concert. I'm like, oh, I forgot we use that. So the fans are. This will say smarter than us.

[Alec Levi]

This will save me a phone call. Emily, if you're listening, can you find this playlist for us now? Work, work. Underscore. Eliza123 says something that I think is tantalizing, and I guess I'd like her to tell us more. She says, josh, I was named after your grandmother Rose. Does this.

[Josh Radner]

Hold on. Who said.

[Craig Thomas]

We need more information.

[Alec Levi]

Work, work. Eliza123, you were named after my grandmother Rose.

[Josh Radner]

Well, here's. Here's another curveball. Both my grandmothers were named Rose.

[Craig Thomas]

Whoa.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

So which one was that?

[Craig Thomas]

Feels like the end to a Sherlock Holmes missing.

[Josh Radner]

Or, like, the riddle of, like, doctor operating on a child

[Craig Thomas]

because Lincoln had a secretary named.

[Alec Levi]

That's amazing.

[Josh Radner]

But her name's Eliza.

[Alec Levi]

Unclear. So hopefully she'll write to us in some other way and let us know.

[Josh Radner]

Okay. Let us know what's going on there. I'm intrigued.

[Craig Thomas]

We need more information.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah. Yeah, Craig. I'll ask this question, then I'll expand it out a little bit. Hallie Forbes says, any fun ideas for an episode? If you could write one today, I'll say that as we're recording these episodes, every now and then, you know, Josh is pitching you jokes that you are sad that you didn't include in the series the first time around.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

So do you come up. Do you still walk down the street and go, oh, that would be good for an episode of How I Met yout Mother.

[Craig Thomas]

It's more like little things happen that I know I would have put on the show or we would have put on the show. Like, Carter and I both have this. We've talked about this. The other day, a friend of mine had their phone playing the one song they like from some artist. I won't say what it was because it seems like I'm shitting on the artist. And they were in the kitchen doing something, and their phone was, like, on the counter. And their phone then fell down in the space between the counter and the refrigerator and just stayed on that artist for, like, three hours.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, my God.

[Craig Thomas]

You couldn't get to the phone. She needed to get the super to come get the phone. And just the idea that you like this one song, the proclaimer is 500 miles. It almost feels like that. And so then for, like, three hours, she's hearing this one, every other song by this artist on, like, Spotify, like, that artist. And I thought that was so funny. I thought that would be in the background of an entire How I Met yout Mother episode. It would just be like, I just could picture the budget.

[Josh Radner]

Music budget would be.

[Craig Thomas]

The music budget would be. You know what you'd have to do? You'd have to make, like a special deal with that artist. You'd have to be like, hey, listen, we're featuring you.

[Josh Radner]

But you couldn't say.

[Craig Thomas]

You couldn't shit on the artist. But it would have to be like, hey, there's a lot of. It turns out there's a lot of great songs, but you'd have to play ball a little bit. But I thought it was such a funny idea that you're just stuck listening to this one thing. And just like, little things like, that occurred to me. Carter pointed out the story one time that at the end of How Much yout Mother we're talking about, like, how do we turn this off in our brains? Apparently, some Cheers writer, if there's any Cheers fans out there, the youngins might not know it. It's a great show. Huge influence on Carter and I. And there was a character called Norm in Cheers. It was a show about a bar. And every time Norm walked into the bar, he said he had a great line. He had an entrance line that was a joke. And there was like 200 of them. And you can go watch a Cut down on YouTube, go search Norm entry lines on Cheers, and you will see 200 hilarious jokes. And some writer for Cheers told the story where he didn't cry at the final table read. He didn't cry at the final shoot. He didn't cry at the wrap party. No. When Cheers ended after like 10 or 11 seasons, the moment this one writer cried was like two months after the show ended in the shower when he thought of a Norm entry line and realized, I can never. I can never write that for Norm again. And that was the moment it all came out. Wow. That's how it feels. That's how it.

[Josh Radner]

Well, Craig, I imagine, though, for a decade, you and Carter just had your antenna just going like always on the hunt for material and for ideas. Yeah, I actually, I brought this up, I think, a couple episodes ago that there, there's that Twitter thing of like, if Seinfeld happened today, like Seinfeld modern Seinfeld or Seinfeld today.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And we talked about if How I Met yout Mother was on today. And, you know, the Us, whatever. The mint or whatever. They just discontinued the penny.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Josh Radner]

And Ted would have probably gathered the gang together to do, like, a little. A little funeral for the penny.

[Craig Thomas]

A tasteful memorial service.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. To tell everyone what they were saying goodbye to. People wouldn't understand it. Yeah. I guess I got a little antenna out, too.

[Craig Thomas]

Well, when you said that a couple episodes ago, I thought that was the perfect example. That was just like, I actually felt sad when you said it. He's like, God damn it, we can't do that. But then a little bit happy because we can talk about it on the podcast and sort of make it a thing. Like we can honor that. Great idea. That is such a great observation. I thought, Josh, that. That. That said so much to me about, like, you as an actor and, like, when an actor really inhabits a character. Like, I saw that news story and didn't think of Ted, but you. You're. You had to inhabit Ted and something that's still there in your brain. And you saw the news story and you thought, what would Ted think of this?

[Josh Radner]

I just wanted the crowd to know I'm not into pennies. I just remember that is a 10 thing.

[Craig Thomas]

But just like that, I'm a nickel guy. Still in you. That's still in you. And it delights me.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Just so you guys know, people are giving you guys love in all sorts of ways. Josh, a lot of congratulations to you.

[Josh Radner]

Thank you.

[Craig Thomas]

By the way, that was that. You get. You get breaking news on the. How we made your. Yeah, that's true. That is breaking fucking news. That was the baby announcement for Josh Ratner. Congratulations, Josh Ratner and Jordana. Thank you. Phenomenal.

[Alec Levi]

Craig, Lots of mentions of your recent. Your literary baby. Your book that a lot of people have read and are saying lovely things about here.

[Craig Thomas]

Thank you, fans. You've been amazing for that. And thank you, Josh and Coby, for being on the audiobook of that. Please. It's called that's not How It Happened. Go check it out. I'm really proud of it, and it's

[Josh Radner]

such a good book.

[Craig Thomas]

The audiobook just won a prize today. The audiobook, Kirkus Book Review is one of the big literary trade publications. Kirkus, that does reviews. They named it an exceptional audiobook. They gave it a prize today called the Earphone Prize. And that is. I'm proud of it for me, but I'm really proud of it for the cast of Josh and Kobe and Kevin and Marley. And they absolutely nailed creating a whole world of these characters that is in some ways beyond what I. What I wrote and like, it's just. It's. It's such a gift as a writer. So thank you. Thank you, Josh. Thank you to everybody. You were great. You were great.

[Alec Levi]

And while we don't want to encourage quite so much copy pasting in the. In the comments here, we'll just go ahead and give it to Joseph F9, who has asked many times, Josh, if you're doing any more live events soon, your tour is over as of a couple months ago, right? Nothing coming up?

[Josh Radner]

No. Although I have a new album that is pretty much done. So I'm gonna have to figure out how to let people know about it and maybe. I don't know. I've never had a small child here before, so I don't know.

[Craig Thomas]

They.

[Josh Radner]

Apparently they do better when you're around more. I've heard. Is that a rumor?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, that is.

[Josh Radner]

Might be debunked. But I'm trying to, you know, I'm trying to be here. So if there are any music or anything, I'll let you guys know. Keep a watch on the socials and I'll let you know what comes up.

[Craig Thomas]

I will say we are gonna do a little hymn music scene. Sorry.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, yeah, we're gonna do a little.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. On June 20th at Bowery Ballroom. At 8pm Saturday, June 20th, we're doing the How I Met yout Mother themed fundraiser concert. The music of How I Met yout Mother. It's our fourth time doing this. We have some amazing hymnyum folk, including Joshi, come in to make music and so get your tickets to that. It sells out really fast. The tickets just went out. So please come join us for that. It's fantastic. It's for an amazing cause that helps kids like my son that I won't get into exactly everything about that, but it's amazing. It's a wonderful night. And how many years. This is our fourth year spread across, you know, six years because of the pandemic. It's. It was supposed to be annual, but there was a pandemic. But we were. We're back into it and it's great. The tickets are on sale now. Go. Go grab it. Come. Come hang out with us.

[Josh Radner]

We.

[Alec Levi]

We have a lot of immediate responses. New album in all caps by. By many people.

[Craig Thomas]

So, yeah. Can you talk about when that might come out or what the date?

[Josh Radner]

You know, I'm kind of hatching a plan.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. I don't know yet. I should. I should figure it out. I'll get on it tomorrow and figure it out.

[Craig Thomas]

But all right.

[Josh Radner]

It's mostly done.

[Alec Levi]

Brock's FL1cks just asks, Wait, is this live? And so Brock's. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Not when you listen to it on the podcast feed as a bonus episode,

[Alec Levi]

it's live unless you're listening to it. Not live. Not on January 21st. All right, let's. Let's. Let's wind this down with Josh. I want to find this question because I like it. He wants to know some great advice for achieving inner peace. Des Miller says, Josh, what's your biggest advice for achieving inner peace?

[Craig Thomas]

We got some heavy questions tonight.

[Alec Levi]

I know. This is.

[Josh Radner]

I like these questions.

[Craig Thomas]

I like it. Me too. I like it. I mean that as a compliment.

[Josh Radner]

This is so nice. Well, I think it's important not to do life alone, so it's really good to get much like how I met your mother, you know, they all come from various dysfunctional childhoods, and they find people that they can go through life with. So it's like a chosen family, you know, And I don't know, that doesn't have to be a spouse. It can be a community. It can be something you're passionate about where you just find people to stand shoulder to shoulder with and believe in something together and laugh together and eat food together and be there for each other. So I think not doing life alone, and I also think, you know, really being unafraid to know your mind and see and look at your mind. You know, there's a part of us that is always at peace and has equilibrium, and it's the. The witness. And then there's this other. These other parts that are going, you know, 2:00am, 3:00am doing their thing. But the witness can watch those parts. And just when you observe it, it takes some of the kind of kerosene out of the fire, I guess. And I think meditation is a really smart thing to do. I've never heard someone who started meditating and felt like there was a net negative in their life. So to get quiet and also just to. To really lead with kindness, you know, the. We can't really change other people. We can only change ourselves. So I try not to get out too much into, like, twisting the knobs of reality. And, you know, of course I want people to behave differently than they are behaving, but I really try to know that, you know, my own behavior is the only thing I can control. So I just try to, you know, walk a little lighter and be of service and be kind and not let. Not believe everything you think. You know, a lot of what our mind spits up is. I don't know, it's, it's at least to be interrogated and questioned because not everything I think is hot off the press. Brilliant. You know, a lot of it is just anxiety old thought patterns. You know, it's hard to think something new and do something new. But I don't know. That was a lot of things. I hope there was something in there.

[Craig Thomas]

That's fantastic. Those are good things.

[Alec Levi]

Fantastic. Okay, thank you everyone. By the way, in the, in the chat here, Emily Blumberg has posted a link to the fundraiser where you can get tickets for that now. We'll put that on our website.

[Josh Radner]

Thank you, Emily, for everything.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes, the wonderful Emily works with us on the podcast. Always, always of service and fantastic. Thank you, Emily. And yes, go, go grab tickets. It's gonna go fast. It's been out for a week or two. It's already gone.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah, all the socials have, have links to that. And again, please, please, please, right now go ahead and subscribe to this podcast. Everywhere that you get your podcasts and,

[Josh Radner]

and, and, and tag a friend or three. Like, like try to if we can. If you love the show, if you love How I Met yout Mother, if you love this podcast, we want to include you as part of the army who's going to help spread the word and bring more people to us because we think we're doing something really fun, really meaningful here. We were having a great time and we'd like more people to join us and it's just the more the merrier. So come along. I am guilty of. Please acquit me. All sins are forgiven in New York City.

[Alec Levi]

How We Made youe Mother is hosted and executive produced by Josh Radner and Craig Thomas and is presented and distributed by the Office Ladies Network and Odyssey. This episode is also executive produced by Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey. The show is produced and edited by me, Alec Levi and our co producer is Doug Matica. Our audio producer and mixer is Alex Reeves at Point of Blue Studios. Our digital content producer, AKA Gen Z Master, is Emily Blumberg. Artwork by John Morrow. Please follow rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or your podcast player of choice. It really does help the show. Our theme song is New York City by our own Josh Radner with additional music by Craig Thomas and Andrew Majewski. Special thanks to Lola Kennedy and Elliot Connors. Visit how we made your mother.com to learn more and click on the contact page to send us an email or a voice message. Your stories and questions are an important part of the show. Subscribe to Josh Radner's Muse Letters on Substack and check out his music and everything [e-mail] Order Craig Thomas Debut novel, that's Not How It Happened, wherever books are sold. And check out his other published [e-mail] and you can subscribe to My own Dead Fathers Society, also on Substack, to learn more about how you make a difference, this show's ongoing campaign to raise money for congenital pediatric heart disease research. Check out the Make a Difference tab at the top of our website. People will, in fact, dance

[Craig Thomas]

the real

[Josh Radner]

question it just hit me. Am I in love with you or just New York City? Close your eyes, exhale. Feel your body relax, and let go of whatever you're carrying today.

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[Josh Radner]

And breathe.

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[Josh Radner]

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