General Questions | Instagram Live 1/28/26

Summary

How We Made Your Mother: General Questions | Instagram Live 1/28/26

Podcast: How We Made Your Mother
Hosts: Josh Radnor & Craig Thomas
Producer/Moderator: Alec Levi
Air Date: April 2, 2026
Recording: IG Live (January 28, 2026)
Context: Josh and Craig answer fan questions live, reflect on revisiting HIMYM, and share behind-the-scenes stories after finishing the podcast’s season two rewatch.

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Episode Overview

This special episode was recorded during a live Instagram session, offering a candid Q&A between HIMYM star Josh Radnor, series co-creator Craig Thomas, and their producer Alec Levi. With season two of their rewatch podcast complete, the trio field questions from devoted fans around the globe, reflect on what it’s like to revisit the show after two decades, and pull back the curtain on their experience making a modern sitcom classic.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rewatching With Fresh Eyes

Timestamps: 04:37 - 07:19

• Josh & Craig’s new relationship to HIMYM: Both admit that with age, they're much kinder on themselves and the show, having moved past the intense self-criticism from its original airings.
• Self-forgiveness with time: “Be generous to yourself. If you're basically doing a good job, be like, I'm doing okay here.” – Craig Thomas (06:27)
• Viewing as ‘future Ted’: Rewatching now feels like talking to their younger selves, giving themselves permission to appreciate their work and imperfections.

2. How to Engage With the Podcast and Community

Timestamps: 11:17 - 12:25

• Fan engagement: Fans are encouraged to send in voice memos and emails via their website hwmym.com. Fan stories about what the show means to them are a beloved segment.
• Global reach: Fans chimed in live from El Salvador, Iran, China, Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, Argentina, Spain, and more.

3. Memorable Moments From Set

Timestamps: 15:30 - 23:14

• Not every day is magical: The job, like any other, had highs and lows.
  • Josh: “If you take a decade of your life, no matter where you are, how you're working, like, you're gonna have good days and you're gonna have not so good days, but you gotta show up at the office anyway…” (16:17)
• Favorite memories: Breakfast scenes featuring Ted, Marshall, and Lily, where they’d show up in sweats, be asked by props what cereal they want, and genuinely hang out.
  • “There were those moments where you're like, I can't believe I'm getting paid for this.” – Josh (17:47)
• Big moments for Craig as creator: Occasionally stepping back and seeing everyone (cast, crew) bringing their ideas to life:
  • “How is everybody here agreeing this universe exists and making it up together?” – Craig (18:58)
  • Recalling the “hedonic treadmill” – how quickly people adapt, even to good fortune, unless reminded by outsiders visiting the set.

4. On Deleted Scenes & Bloopers

Timestamps: 26:12 - 27:13

• Favorite deleted scene: Both Josh and Craig cite a cut scene between Ted and Robin in the diner from the finale as particularly meaningful and “the heartbreaker” to lose.
  • “That was a really interesting scene in the finale…ends with the salute.” – Josh (27:03)

5. Jordana’s Segment & Life Updates

Timestamps: 27:39 - 28:56

• Why Jordana’s segment is paused: Josh shares that he and his wife had a baby, and parenting required a break from her contributions.
  • “If you didn't know this, parenting is a lot of work.” – Josh (27:54)
• Jordana’s influence remains: Her observations still filter into Josh’s podcasting.

6. Lasting Impact: Fan Tattoos & Tributes

Timestamps: 13:10 - 13:44

• Fans have memorialized HIMYM icons—yellow umbrella, blue French horn, quotes—via tattoos, which the hosts find deeply moving.

7. Advice for Aspiring Actors & Writers

Timestamps: 29:49 - 33:39

• Acting path: Josh emphasizes a mix of formal training (grad school/theater) and embracing new platforms—“Take your phone and start making cool stuff.”
  • “Learn how to be indispensable…you just got to get a lot of hours under your belt and work with good people and humble yourself…” – Josh (31:04)
• On writing and new projects: Craig discusses the release and personal inspiration behind his debut novel That’s Not How It Happened, the joy of seeing HIMYM Easter eggs in it, and hopes for future books. Josh highly recommends it.

8. Cameos by Cast Partners: Origins and Inside Jokes

Timestamps: 37:22 - 39:44

• “Why were everyone’s real-life partners in HIMYM?” Craig confirms this was less nepotism and more because “they were just so funny.”
  • Alexis Denisof, Taran Killam, and David Burtka were each comedic talents who fit their roles.
  • Josh: “It was just dumb luck that everyone was partnered with hilarious, hilarious actors.”

9. Supporting Characters: Writers’ Favorites

Timestamps: 40:42 - 42:30

• Angela Kinsey of 'Office Ladies' asks about favorite supporting characters to write for.
  • Ranjit: Immediate joy to write; catchphrase “Hello” became iconic.
  • Stuart and Brad: Their side dynamic was so strong, Craig would watch a road trip movie of just those two.

10. Which Character Would Make the Best (or Worst) Podcast Host?

Timestamps: 42:42 - 44:41

• Ted (Dr. X): Clear frontrunner from his “college radio show that aired at midnight.”
  • “Dr. X. Absolute trailblazer.” – Josh (42:57)
• Robin: Would maybe fall briefly for conspiracy theories; “like Kari Lake,” jokes Josh.
• Sandy Rivers and bros: Both would make "problematic" or hilarious podcast hosts.

11. What Couldn’t You Live Without?

Timestamps: 45:30 - 48:12

• Josh: His guitar; music is a life necessity.
• Craig: Music; “How I Met Your Mother came out of music…so many of the good things in my life came out of music.”
• Alec: Childhood teddy bear.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On self-acceptance:

  • “This is a great lesson. Please take this lesson from us…Be generous to yourself. If you're basically doing a good job, be like, I'm doing okay here.” – Craig (06:27)

• On collaborative magic:

  • “How is everybody here agreeing this universe exists and making it up together?...That's the magic.” – Craig (18:58)
  • “You know, if you just went from triumph to triumph…there would be something you would hate about that eventually." – Josh (22:44)

• On the chemistry among cast & crew:

  • “I can't believe I'm getting paid for this.” – Josh, about the breakfast scenes (17:47)

• On the community:

  • “For things from the show to be on somebody's body…that's a real fan.” – Craig (13:44)

• On HIMYM as comfort and connection:

  • “It's a rare show that can make you laugh one moment and cry your eyes out the next. You really set the standard for a television show.” – Fan comment read live (23:23)

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Important Segments by Timestamp

• 04:37-07:19 — Reflections as creators and how time changes perspective
• 11:17-12:25 — Fan engagement and how to submit stories/questions
• 15:30-23:14 — On-set memories, the daily “magic,” and appreciating good fortune
• 27:39-28:56 — Jordana’s segment paused, parenting updates
• 29:49-33:39 — Advice for actors and writers, the state of the industry
• 37:22-39:44 — Real-life partners as guest stars
• 40:42-42:30 — Favorite recurring/supporting characters
• 42:42-44:41 — Who would make the best/worst podcast host
• 45:30-48:12 — What the hosts couldn’t live without

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Closing Thoughts

• The podcast is now partnered with the Office Ladies Network, following in the footsteps of other major sitcom rewatch shows. (45:45)
• Season three of the podcast is coming soon—there won't be a long hiatus. (36:25)
• Special appearance/shout-out from Angela Kinsey of The Office, cementing the “rewatch podcast family.”
• Listeners are encouraged to join the “Major Fans” Facebook group and send voice memos and emails.
• Josh and Craig reiterate their mission of both “peeling back the layers” of HIMYM and creating a space that's as welcoming for superfans as for those who “just love good stories.” (49:40-51:27)

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Final Quote:
“If you love How I Met Your Mother, and you love it…even if it's just a comfort show…there's a whole kind of thing we're doing…it's a really like 360 view of a show that a lot of people love and that we happen to be the world's leading experts on.” – Josh Radnor (49:40)

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For More

• Listen to episodes at hwmym.com
• Share your memories/stories about HIMYM via voice memo or email
• Join the “Major Fans” Facebook community
• Check out Craig Thomas’s novel That’s Not How It Happened
• Follow Josh Radnor for his music and writings

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Additional Resources

• Office Ladies Network: office-ladies.com
• Craig Thomas’s book: craigthomaswriter.com
• Josh Radnor’s music & Muse Letters: joshradnor.com

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Next Up: Stay tuned for season three of How We Made Your Mother, coming soon!

Transcript

[Josh Radner]

So I have to admit something. Even though I've spent a lot of time on tv, I'm not that great at watching tv. I get restless, I get bored. If it doesn't hook me in the first 12 minutes, I'm out. And my wife and I sometimes struggle for shows we can watch together. But every once in a while, we find a show that the two of us love equally. And it's so much fun to watch it together. We had this experience with season one of Jury Duty on Amazon Prime. It was this brilliant, hilarious, groundbreaking social experiment that celebrated goodness in the most unexpected way. So when I heard that it was finally coming back after three years, I had. I just had one question. How were they going to top that? Turns out by going bigger. Set in a courtroom in the first installment and a company retreat in the second. Jury Duty presents. Company Retreat takes the experiment out of the courthouse and into a company retreat for Rock and Grandma's Hot Sauce, a beloved family business with a lot riding on this final retreat before the CEO retires. At the center is Anthony, a real temp who thinks he's just there for work, except he doesn't know the entire thing is staged. It's workplace comedy meets hidden camera. Unpredictable, innovative, heartfelt, and so, so funny. If you've ever sat through an awkward icebreaker with co workers, you're going to feel seen. And in the most delightful twist, Rock and Grandma's Hot Sauce. The actual hot sauce will actually be available on Amazon for flavors sold individually or as a collectible four pack. Watch now on Prime Video. Greg, you know what I like best about our jobs?

[Craig Thomas]

Working with me.

[Josh Radner]

No, no, that's like seventh or eighth. I'd say one, that one or two is that. We've talked about this on the podcast. We don't have to wear a suit and tie to work. Oh, never, never. Working in tv, working in theater, working in. Working in podcasting. I mean, do you barely wear pants?

[Craig Thomas]

I'm not even sure I'm even wearing pants now. And I'm writing books and stuff. I don't have to. I see nobody.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, you've given up. You've fully given up.

[Craig Thomas]

I've given up.

[Josh Radner]

But no, it's true. We can wear the comfiest clothes that we can grab. And I know that some of our favorites are viori.

[Craig Thomas]

Here's the thing, because you also want to look good. You want to be comfortable, but you want to look good because you can't actually give up. That's the thing.

[Josh Radner]

Don't give up comfortable. But look Good. That's the sweet spot.

[Craig Thomas]

That's the dream.

[Josh Radner]

Well, Vuori is an investment in your happiness. For our listeners. They are offering 20% off your first purchase. Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the [e-mail] mother that's V-U-O-R-I.com mother exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions.

[Craig Thomas]

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[Alec Levi]

The following episode of How We Made youe Mother was recorded live on Instagram on January 28, 2026.

[Josh Radner]

I'm alone. What a pity I won't be soon in New York City when I see you. Please permit me to tell you everything in New York City. Hello, good people of Instagram. Welcome Craig Thomas. I'm here with Craig Thomas. Craig Thomas, my dear friend, co created the show How I Met yout Mother with his friend and my friend Carter Bayes. And we've been doing a podcast called How We Made youe Mother, where we go back through the show. Been watching it with my wife Jordana, who's never seen the show. I haven't seen it in many years neither. I mean, Craig, it's been a couple years since you've seen. Yeah. So we're having a great time. We just finished watching season two. So we're, what, 44 episodes into the 208?

[Craig Thomas]

Crazy. We made a little dent. It's not a huge dent, but we're getting. We're getting there.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

We're looking to find people who aren't, who don't know the podcast exists yet. We're looking at. We're going fishing for more fans.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. If you are watching this podcast or listening rather, and you're enjoying it, please recruit your family and your friends to join you in the joy of this. And if you're just discovering us now, welcome. We're so happy to have you. Start from episode one. It's a great listen. The episodes go by just like hymnym itself, go down easy. But we are going deep into what made the show so special, what makes it so beloved after all these years. And, Craig, now we're 44 episodes in, like, what has struck you overall about, like, this show we made together, especially the first two seasons? Like, what are your big thoughts right now?

[Craig Thomas]

I really like it.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, I really like it.

[Alec Levi]

Too.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

I find the best part of it is I feel not judgmental of it. Like, I was so analytical and so lost in the weeds and the details and is the sound mix, right? And I would watch it with my wife on Monday nights when it would air, and I'd sit there and go, you didn't laugh? Did you not hear that word? Did we not mix? Was the music too hot against the dialogue? And she'd be like, this is the worst. Can I watch this without you from now on? And I was so, like, so intense about every little thing. And. And then now it's so great to just let it wash over me. I watch, just enjoy it.

[Josh Radner]

It almost took 20 years to be able to watch it without that kind of neurotic thing. But you know what's so funny? I did the same thing, but, like, mostly around my own performance or, like, whether that joke didn't work or, like, I should have done this. I can't tell you what any of those things were that I was worried about.

[Craig Thomas]

Right.

[Josh Radner]

Like, when I'm watching it now, what was I.

[Craig Thomas]

So.

[Josh Radner]

I don't know.

[Craig Thomas]

What was I so upset about?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. And why was I so hard on myself?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. This is a great lesson. Please take this lesson from us good people of Instagram and this podcast. Be generous to yourself. If you're basically doing a good job, be like, I'm doing okay here.

[Josh Radner]

Although maybe. Maybe the lesson is you gotta get some years under your belt before you can learn to do that. Yes. You know, I do think that age confers. If you age with some grace, it confers more forgiveness, both for yourself and for other people. You know, that you. You realize by the time you're our age, 50, 51, you. You realize you're just a bundle of flaws. You know, you're just like, you're never gonna.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yes.

[Josh Radner]

The. The perfection that you chased in your 20s is not. Not attainable, and you have some acceptance of that. So we're. We're really happy to be able to revisit the show and almost, like, talk to our younger selves, much like, you know, the old narrator characters.

[Craig Thomas]

We are future Ted.

[Josh Radner]

It's nice to be able to talk to your. Your. Your past self. And, kid, you did okay. You know, you did a really good job. So. So we're. We're really happy you're here. Thanks for joining us tonight. You can see the blue French horn behind me. That's the actual blue French horn. Please do not break into my home and steal that. No, this isn't Even my half. No, I'm kidding. But, yeah, we're really happy you're here. We're gonna try to answer a bunch of your. A bunch of your questions. Alec, though. Our producer, Alec Levi, long time associated with How I Met yout Mother for years. He was the digital content creator and he hosted the podcast that we did for a long time. And Alec is now our producer, so we're always happy to see him. And he will referee, he will keep this thing civilized. What do you got for us, Alec?

[Alec Levi]

The most important thing I have, and hi to everyone is Josh. Can you make sure to plug in your iPhone? I'm getting a message that your iPhone is running out of power, which

[Craig Thomas]

is.

[Alec Levi]

So you just do that.

[Craig Thomas]

Where is it? At Instagram.

[Josh Radner]

Let me see how I do that.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah, he's got. Josh is going to work on that. He's got about 20% battery left.

[Josh Radner]

All right, all right, hold on.

[Craig Thomas]

We might be able to get through with 20% though, right?

[Alec Levi]

I could say. I could say a couple of things here. First of all, is Alex Lourdes. Hi. Out there. She asked, is this live or prerecorded? I think this is.

[Craig Thomas]

I think we're answering this really well right now. When he cuts to the empty frame and Josh isn't there right now, I think you know, it's live. That's not a creative choice we're making.

[Alec Levi]

I'm just gonna also shout out some countries now. Everyone here who is putting in their country's flags, it looks great, but I don't know what the flags represent for all of them. So if you could type out your country, we'd love to read out where everyone is coming from. I'm just gonna read a few here. We've got El Salvador and Iran, China, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Portugal, Turkey, Argentina, and Spain. Spain. Absolutely incredible.

[Craig Thomas]

Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for watching How I Met yout Mother all around the world. This is such an international show. This show, it's gone so international. We hear from people all over the place. It's such an honor. And we're hearing that on the pod. A lot. A lot of people that write in or send us voice messages, they're from really unexpected, cool places, and it blows our minds every time. It's so cool. Thank you.

[Alec Levi]

Absolutely. Mr. Masecco, 11 says there's a podcast with a lot of question marks.

[Craig Thomas]

See, this is the problem. You spread the word. We got to spread the word, man.

[Alec Levi]

That's right. Fluky. Shh. Says the same thing. I didn't know it existed. So why we're doing this, this is why we're doing this is one of the reasons why we're doing this. But please, if you are, you're listening to this either right now, you're live with us right now, or it might be that you are listening to this as a podcast because this is going to be in our podcast feed bonus in a couple weeks. Yeah. So if you're.

[Craig Thomas]

By the way, we're having a really good comedy bit happen where when Josh is making noise, it cuts to his shot, but it's just this empty frame of a fireplace and the blueprint short and he's nowhere to be seen. And it's making me laugh every time. I'm sorry, this isn't going to be great audio content. Here he is. We got him.

[Alec Levi]

That's all right.

[Craig Thomas]

Here he is. Is that charging?

[Alec Levi]

Yes, as long as it's charging, it's good.

[Craig Thomas]

Lish, eagle eyed fans. Eagle eyed fans spying on your phone. Charged.

[Josh Radner]

Wait, was that you or Alec?

[Craig Thomas]

Who? People, that was a fan. A fan wrote it in, right, Alec?

[Alec Levi]

No, no, no, no, it was, it was. No, it was Riverside. Riverside.

[Craig Thomas]

It was Riverside. Oh, okay. I thought a fan could see it.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Lish, dish 13 says this podcast has changed my relationship with the show in the best way possible. And then lays Mark solely says, is there a podcast where you can comment on the show? Well, Josh, why don't you explain to people how they can comment on the. On the podcast where they can write into us.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. So if you listen to the show, one of the first things you'll hear is we often will play a voice note or a voice memo from a fan from all over the world. We've heard from people all over the world. And the prompt is essentially, what does How I Met yout Mother mean to you? Just tell us what, what the show means to you. And we've gotten the most extraordinary, beautiful, amazing, heartfelt, amazing letters. So that's a voice memo. If you want us to potentially play your voice memo on air, I'll tell you how in one second. But you can also write us a letter. Good old fashioned email. So go to how we madeyourmother.com or h w m y m.com go to contact and just follow the instructions. It should be pretty self explanatory, but we'd love to hear from you. So yeah, send us.

[Craig Thomas]

It's by far the best. Our favorite part. It's the best part of doing this is hearing from the fans. And it's always A big part of every episode of the podcast. So get involved, come listen and yeah, join us there. What else do we got, Alec? How do we answer questions now?

[Alec Levi]

Well, we can do that. First of all, by the way, let's just have a conversation with our friend here, Alex Lourdes, who was wondering if this was live, who says the intro was so smooth. I thought it was pre recorded.

[Josh Radner]

So.

[Alec Levi]

So probably right up until the right.

[Craig Thomas]

It was really. It fooled me until you guys shat the bed with the battery thing.

[Josh Radner]

Wouldn't it be amazing if it was pre recorded? But we were such geniuses that we built in the iPhone debacle. Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Okay, so here's just a lovely question here from Iam. Nina now says from Buenos Aires, although not exactly a question. Want to thank Josh for writing kind over matter on a piece of paper a few years ago so I could get it tattooed.

[Josh Radner]

Wow. Was that in. I wonder if it was in Buenos Aires when Ben Lee and I played there in like maybe 2017.

[Alec Levi]

Let us know. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Cool.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. That's awesome. We'd love to see the tattoo.

[Alec Levi]

Yeah. A lot of tattoos, right, Craig?

[Craig Thomas]

We've seen so many How I Met yout Mother related tattoos. It's crazy. I mean, that wasn't exactly that instance. That was something Josh did. That was awesome. But Himymion fans are sending us some

[Josh Radner]

pretty lot of yellow umbrella, blue French horn, blue French horn, tattoos, quotes from the show, all kinds of stuff.

[Craig Thomas]

What an honor for things from the show to be on somebody's body. Like, that's a fan. That's a real fan.

[Josh Radner]

And I wrote you this little ditty to sing to you in New York City. We'll be right. Big deal. Brands are up to 25% off right

[Alec Levi]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Alec Levi]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Craig Thomas]

Have you ever felt like you were living just a B or B life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B or a C plus life? Because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough. Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming you. People think okay. An A life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming youg wherever you get your podcasts. Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of

[Josh Radner]

our new protein lattes or Matcha.

[Craig Thomas]

Try it today at Starbucks.

[Josh Radner]

And now back to the show.

[Alec Levi]

Okay, I'm gonna start off with just a really big question here because it's a. It's a lovely one. It might take some time for you guys to think about or you might have several answers to, so let's just go for it. This actually comes to us on. This is from Instagram. Benny Believe says, it would be so interesting to know what was your favorite day on set and why. Is there a special day where everyone just had the best work day? Or would you say that every day of shooting was special in its own way? Thank you so much for the entertainment over all these years. The series makes me smile. I can't. It's so cool that you're doing this here in 2026. So if you're just thinking back, especially to these first two seasons, are there days that just pop into your mind as being memorable for one reason or another?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, it's a great question. I want to answer the second part of what he asked, though, about was every day the best, And I will say no to that. And that's just. That's just because we did nine years. And if you take a decade of your life, no matter where you are, how you're working, like, you're gonna have good days and you're gonna have not so good days, but you gotta show up at the office anyway, you know, so, you know, you just have to bring yourself wherever you are. I think when the cameras rolled, we all tried to, you know, drink the fake beer and eat the Chex mix and do our jobs and sell the jokes and, you know, you know, authentically, you know, play our parts. But some days were hard on set, and other days, I will say it, it wasn't all like the blooper reel. Although every moment from the blooper reel actually happened and was as funny and joyful as it looked, you know. So I think that when I think of, like, happy moments on set, for some reason, this always stays with me. And I think I talked about this once on the podcast. We would often do, like, early morning or breakfast scenes, you know, Marshall, Lily and Ted in sweatpants having breakfast. You know, what happened?

[Alec Levi]

Josh can you just say that last thing one more time? We just lost your last two sentences there. Oh, okay.

[Josh Radner]

Well, when I think about happy moments on set. Is that what you were talking about?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Yes.

[Josh Radner]

When I think about happy moments on set, we often. I think I talked about this on the podcast at one point, but Jason and Ali and myself, you know, as Ted, Marshall, and Lily, we would often do, like, breakfast scenes, you know, and for some reason, they would sometimes Mike Shea, the way he structured them. The breakfast or early morning scenes would often be the first scenes of the day. So you drive to the Fox lot in. In Los Angeles. You'd get out of your car, you know, go through hair and makeup, and you go into your dressing room, and you had to change into, like, a T shirt and sweatpants. And then you get on set, and Dave Baker, the props guy, goes, what cereal do you want? What do you want in your coffee? And then you would just sit there and have breakfast and drink coffee and make each other laugh. And it was just like. There were those moments where you're like, I can't believe I'm getting paid for this. Like, I have. Someone's gonna come and discover that this is, like, too fun. Too much fun. It's too. It was just. It was just a blast, you know, to have that be your job, you know, And. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I would just add on to that, too, and say that there would just be certain moments every so often, because you lose. It's what Josh is saying. It's your job. It's every day you start taking it for granted. It doesn't feel like showbiz every day or magical. Magical every second. But every now and again, there'd be some moment where I just take a half step back and I look at Josh Radner reading dialogue that I wrote or that Carter wrote or that we all fashioned together in the writers room the day before. Josh and Kobe acting in a scene together. And then they kind of zoom out, and you go, and. And there's Pam Freyman directing it, and there's our entire crew, and there's Dave Baker with the lucky charms for whoever ordered lucky charms or whatever it was. And every now and again, I'd sort of grasp the totality of it and just go, like, everyone's here on the same mission, Right. We came up with this thing, and we said, hey, everybody, would you come into our little universe? And. Yes. And it. And kind of play with us like two kids playing together. I think that spirit of, like, we're gonna play. We're Gonna get our Star wars guys. We're gonna play. And every now and again, it would occur to me, like, you just said, Josh, like, how is this our job? How are we able to come do this? How is everybody here agreeing this universe exists and making it up together? And that is. Every now and again, that feeling would hit me, and it was the greatest feeling.

[Josh Radner]

I felt that when I directed both movies I wrote, I was like, I dreamt this scene up in a coffee shop.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Like, this started in my imagination, and now all these people are bringing it to life. And I can't believe I'm looking through a camera and seeing kind of what I dreamt up. But better.

[Craig Thomas]

Better. Yeah, that's it. It's like, that's it. It's the humbling feeling of how much better it is than you could have ever dreamt it to be. It feels. That's the magic. That's the magical piece.

[Josh Radner]

I will say, also, there's something called. I think it's called the hedonic treadmill. Have you ever heard of that phrase? It's basically like the things you dream about, and it's basically how quickly we metabolize our good fortune.

[Craig Thomas]

That.

[Josh Radner]

That the thing you wanted, you know, five years ago, you have it, and you're suddenly like, the couches here are terrible. Like, you just immediately go back to your same level of kind of dissatisfaction and looking forward to the next thing.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And, you know, I knew that this was a great gig, and I knew that the writing was really sharp, and I knew the cast was. Was gelling, and I knew we were firing on all cylinders. And still you have days where you're like. Like you're dragging your feet. You're not as inspired. One thing that would happen is when people would come and visit, like, if out of town, like, some of my parents would drop by set or family, friends or whatever who wanted to come by. There was something about having the external. Like when someone from Ohio comes to visit.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. And you see it through their eyes.

[Josh Radner]

And you see it through their eyes. Those days were actually really interesting to me because I was like, oh, this is a cool job. Like, this is really interesting. Fun.

[Craig Thomas]

Ye.

[Josh Radner]

But you just. It's not that you take it for granted. It just the repetition, it just becomes something. It just becomes your life.

[Craig Thomas]

It's your daily life. It's your normal. And then every now and again, you're reminded, this is not normal in the best way possible. This is not normal. This is really extraordinary what's happening here. And I guess it's just human nature. You do. You get used to stuff. You don't always appreciate the magic. I'm like, parenthood is clicking into my brain here too, a little bit. Right. You have these amazing little humans, and you sort of in between those moments of wonder and appreciation, you're doing the grunt work of parenting, and you're sometimes losing the magic of what that is. And then something hits you, and you're like, fuck, wait. This is the greatest thing in the world. And it's akin to that.

[Josh Radner]

And it's almost like the grunt work is part of the magic. Because without that, it's like it doesn't. You know, if you just went.

[Craig Thomas]

You're earning the magic with the grunt work.

[Josh Radner]

If you just went from triumph to triumph, let's say you were just like an actor that was just triumphant and you just won every award. Like, there would be something you would hate about that eventually.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Josh Radner]

You'd be like, there's no. Where's the struggle? Where's the ascent? Where's the resilience that I'm having to find, you know?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. It's a hard thing because it's hard to struggle. But without struggle, who are we? We don't get forged.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I think that's right. And I think we also made it hard on ourselves in a good way on How I Met yout Mother, because we didn't do the same episode every week.

[Josh Radner]

Right.

[Craig Thomas]

You know what I mean? It wasn't the cookie cutter. Like, here's basically what a hymn episode is. We're gonna do this 200 times, more or less. I felt like you guys were always challenging. Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Both challenging yourself and almost like challenging every department.

[Craig Thomas]

Absolutely. The whole thing was challenge accepted, and everyone accepted it, and that's the magic.

[Josh Radner]

We just talked about Something Borrowed, Something Blue, which is the one where Marshall shaves the landing strip in his head before the wedding. Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

[Craig Thomas]

The finale. Right. The season finale.

[Josh Radner]

I thought it was Something Borrowed, though.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, Something Borrowed. Sorry. You're absolutely right.

[Josh Radner]

So Something Borrowed was second to last. Jason gets the cool guy tips, he freaks out, and he takes the razor and he shaves that reverse Mohawk in his head.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

And I said to Craig, I was like, if you're in the hair department reading the script, you're like, oh, shit. Like, we have to get frosted tips on Jason's hair somehow. And then we have to create an effect where he takes a razor and shaves his head. Like, I mean, it was a huge ask of the makeup department there should

[Craig Thomas]

have been a special Emmy just for that shot. How well that went on the first try.

[Josh Radner]

That was the first. We only did one take of it. And you can see me laughing for

[Craig Thomas]

reals, because it was a miracle. We all. We knew we had witnessed a miracle.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Paulo Aid says. Just says, hi, Josh. Hope. Hope you remember your concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I gave you a flag with your names. That's from Paul.

[Josh Radner]

I sure do remember that because 1200 people came and saw us in Sao Paulo. And that's a good crowd. Such. Such a fun night. So shout out to all the Brazilians. We had such a. Ben and I went there. We. We had. We had five shows in Brazil. And, yeah, I'd love to come back. I very much remember that night.

[Alec Levi]

Now we're back. You know, our old friend Work Work Eliza is back saying that she's the one named after your grandmother Rose, but again, with no details. So Work, Work Eliza, while you're here, just. Are you saying that you are. Have the same name as both of.

[Josh Radner]

Josh's grandmother was not named Eliza?

[Craig Thomas]

I just.

[Alec Levi]

Right, right, so. Well, the screen name is Work Work Eliza, but we do understand that it's Rose. But Work Work Eliza Rose, if you could just expand a little. We are curious if you're actually named after the person or you just happen to have the same name. Okay, let's go with this. But people. You know what, my friends, people love the deleted scenes. And Isaac Cardoza has a question so many people ask. What are your favorite deleted scenes? What are some of your favorite bloopers that you remember either from the moment or from actually going back?

[Craig Thomas]

I'm curious, Josh, like, what do you like? I don't totally. Do you remember specific moments where you really lost your shit or you did. Something insane happened? What does that mean?

[Josh Radner]

I remember Martin Short making me laugh quite a bit.

[Craig Thomas]

He's so funny.

[Josh Radner]

Bloopers are different than deleted scenes, right?

[Craig Thomas]

Is it. Is this a blooper question?

[Alec Levi]

That's true. I'm sorry. This one does say deleted scenes.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, interesting. Yeah. Okay.

[Alec Levi]

Craig.

[Josh Radner]

That. There's a scene that I think is on the DVDs, but it was cut from the finale. Me and Koby. That scene in the diner.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Which I thought was quite important, actually.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. Yeah. I missed that scene.

[Josh Radner]

I missed that scene.

[Craig Thomas]

I wish that finale could have been two hours. Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Radner]

That was the heartbreaker for me.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

But you can track that scene down. It might be on YouTube.

[Craig Thomas]

It is. Yeah. It's easy to get. It's on YouTube for sure. It was on those DVDs. And, yeah, look it up. That was a really interesting scene in the finale that we just.

[Josh Radner]

And ends with the salute, for whatever

[Craig Thomas]

reason, didn't get in. Yeah, I know. That was a good scene. That should have been in there, maybe to make the argument. LOL.

[Alec Levi]

Lishdish13, by the way, wants to add. Josh, I was your merch girl in Sacramento at your show. Your music is still my current obsession.

[Josh Radner]

Oh, that's so nice. Thank you for doing that. Thanks to all the people that work merch on my tour. It was really. Everyone was so kind and great and. Yeah, thank you.

[Alec Levi]

Elisa speaks for many when she asks what happened to Jordana's segment? We miss her.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, well, she's upstairs.

[Craig Thomas]

All right, talk real quiet. Tell us what happened.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, I mean, we announced this on a couple podcasts ago, but we had a baby. My wife and I had a baby boy. So if you didn't know this, parenting is a lot of work. So we just decided to pause her segment for a little bit. Well, I've been really gratified because we've heard so many people miss Jordana's segment. And, yeah, she should be very flattered,

[Craig Thomas]

and we should maybe be a little upset because people clearly like it better than listening to us blabber on about bullshit.

[Josh Radner]

Yes. But I also like to remind people I'm still getting questions and observations from a clinical psychologist who's never seen how I met your mother, who also.

[Craig Thomas]

It's a segment. It's a segment for one. It's an audience member.

[Josh Radner]

It's a segment for one. I'm sitting next to her on the couch. She makes great observations, and then I go do the podcast, and some of which, they. They filter into my thinking, but I'm really. She's incepting these ideas into my head.

[Craig Thomas]

What if we discovered she was at this moment doing a competing IG Live with way more people? You heard her upstairs. You're like, what? You go up there.

[Josh Radner]

What are you doing?

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, this is awkward. I'm talking to 5 million people on IG Live right now. How many did you guys have? She's laughing.

[Alec Levi]

Hell SART Work 2019 just says it's a rare show that can make you laugh one moment and cry your eyes out the next. You really set the standard for a television show.

[Craig Thomas]

Thanks.

[Josh Radner]

Thank you.

[Craig Thomas]

That's nice.

[Alec Levi]

And Kenneth Plain. Josh, I'm sure you get this question a lot. Kenneth Plain says, hey, Josh, can you give me some advice as someone who wants to be an actor or Share a story of how you became someone such a great actor?

[Josh Radner]

Well, I trained a really long time. I, I, I did a lot of plays. I went to a lot of theaters and apprenticed and interned and you know, did non equity companies. And then I went to grad school and worked around the clock for three straight years. And then I got out of school, I was very fortunate to get signed by a really great agent and I just started working. The thing is though, like when I got out of school, it was 1999. It was a different world of entertainment. It was a different, I mean everything was different. So I think the, you know, there's people who are all, you know, a lot of people are like the good old days were, blah, blah, blah. And I'm not really one for that kind of nostalgia. But I do think that right now I don't know that you, you know, if school is your thing, if that's, if that's where you thrive, it can be great to, to go to school and study a craft and, and be with a company of people that you're learning with. But if you don't have the time or the wherewithal or the money to do that. Take your phone and start making cool stuff.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

Make cool movies. Make, learn how to edit. Learn how to be indispensable. You know, you're not going to be as good as you want to be. Ira Glass has that great quote about how when you're younger your taste is much better than your abilities. So it's really hard and you have to work until your art catches up with your taste, which is probably pretty good, even young. So you just got to get a lot of hours under your belt and work with good people and humble yourself and ask questions and be curious and stay not cynical somehow, you know, because the business is really hard and can beat you up and spit you out. But you just gotta, you know, stick with good people and ask the right questions and just be in the right place at the right time. And by that I mean just, just keep going. Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Craig, Brendan Urielover says I want to know more about your writing career. Any future books? You just finished this one. Any future books? Big fan of the book you wrote and I want to be an author like you.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, that's so nice to hear. Thank you. Yeah, that was my debut novel, just came out a couple months ago. It's called that's not how it Happened. Please check it out. Hymn fans have been super kind. There are definitely some little hymnym Easter eggy kind of things in there. And I think tonally it shares a lot of the heart of himyim and hopefully some of the humor. Yeah, I want to write another one. I really do. It takes a long time. See Josh's aforementioned comment about parenting taking a lot of time. There's a lot of that happening and doing the pod and stuff. I am in the gestational phase of thinking of the next book and this one has been so well received and big shout out to him fans for that. So I really want to do another one. It's a dream, so stay tuned.

[Josh Radner]

Isn't it amazing when you. This happens when you go on a press tour for a huge thing you've done and they're all right, what's next? What do you have next? And you're like.

[Craig Thomas]

And it always breaks your heart a little bit. You're like, shit, I don't have it right now.

[Josh Radner]

Is this not enough? I wrote a book. Like a whole book.

[Craig Thomas]

I know.

[Josh Radner]

An incredible book, by the way. I really love this book. I think I told Craig, even if he was my sworn enemy, I would be forced to admit he had written a great book. It's just such.

[Craig Thomas]

Then you'd beat me to death with the book.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, exactly. It's just such a great read. It's so page turning.

[Craig Thomas]

Thank you.

[Josh Radner]

So funny. It's so really about something. It's one of those books that feels both nourishing intellectually and soulfully, but it's also hilarious and just a joy to read, man.

[Craig Thomas]

Thanks, my friend.

[Josh Radner]

Really think it was a. You really pulled something off there.

[Craig Thomas]

Thank you, buddy. And Josh and Koby are two of the four voices in the audiobook. So go check that out. It is a dream, and it's inspired by my own unique journey as a parent. It's inspired by my son, Elliot, who may or may. Who may be watching this as we speak. Hello, Elliot, if you are. And I love him very much. And he inspired this book in so many ways. Yeah. And the book borrows from some of my hymn life and Hollywood life. It borrows from my own family. And I will say, it's always a great thing when you can write what you know and when you can be taking things from your life and processing them into art. And I think that probably also speaks to Josh's answer about being an actor. It's like, just keep doing it. Just keep living your life and doing your thing and finding how your life filters through you into your art. And that is very much what happened with the book. And it does take time. You have to get lucky. You have to get that right idea. But you know that feeling, right? You know that feeling when you're kind of in it. You're like, this is the right story. This is the right thing. And I am hoping I'm moving into that zone again with some new ideas for the next one. But yeah, stay tuned. Thank you so much for reading my book.

[Josh Radner]

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

[Craig Thomas]

And now, commercials.

[Josh Radner]

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[Craig Thomas]

The treat you deserve.

[Josh Radner]

Pepsi Wild Cherry and cream. Treat yourself so good, so good, so good.

[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

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[Craig Thomas]

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[Josh Radner]

More.

[Craig Thomas]

Plus buy online and pick up at

[Josh Radner]

your favorite Rack store for free.

[Craig Thomas]

Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. End of commercials back. To show

[Alec Levi]

a couple things here, someone has asked, wait, are you guys done recording season two? And yes, we are. We've just finished episode 22. We've done something Borrowed, Something Blue, and

[Craig Thomas]

this week, I think columns was this week's new episode. Right. Just in case people are brand new to this and are like, where are they in season two columns? Our episode of the podcast about the episode columns dropped Monday. That's kind of what we're up to.

[Josh Radner]

But unlike How I Met yout Mother, which would take what, a four and a half month break, we'll be taking a much smaller break. So we'll be back with season three quite soon.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes.

[Alec Levi]

And to be clear, go to may

[Craig Thomas]

not feel like a break at all. Right?

[Josh Radner]

Barely.

[Alec Levi]

You'll go to how we made your mother dot com. From there you can access all of your podcast apps, Apple podcasts and Spotify and Amazon and a few others. Few other things. Just so that everyone knows in the questions here, we are not going to say things that you ask us to say. It's lovely that you want us to say certain things, but if you'd like to just save yourself some time on the typing.

[Josh Radner]

All right, I'll sing La Vie on Rose.

[Alec Levi]

That's not.

[Craig Thomas]

Other than if you give us some of the words that Robin had to say on the news, maybe we'll say those.

[Alec Levi]

Yes.

[Craig Thomas]

And possibly the I'm of Naughty Naughty girl or whatever that was. I don't remember. Anyway, I'll fuck it up, but send Us those and we'll say those.

[Alec Levi]

So people have asked us before. We actually haven't talked about where the idea came from. M. Fratta07 says Craig, how did you or Carter come up with having everyone's significant other be in the show? I love the cameos. Such a cool idea.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it always makes me happy. We just talked about Something Borrowed, Something Blue. And in that. In those two. One of those two, I guess. In again, the second to last episode of season two, you see Neil and David Burka, Neil's then partner, now husband. And it's cool. There they are in a scene together and David is so funny in that scene. And they're like, yeah, they're just meeting, hey, Squid, what's up? And they were really funny together in that scene. And David's super funny. The answer to the question is, everyone was so funny. David's hilarious as Scooter, Alexis Denisof Carter and I and my wife Rebecca got Carter and I into Buffy and Angel. And Alex Denisov is so great on Angel. Anyone who has watched angel, he was Wesley on Angel and he was like, absolutely riveting on that show. He's British accented on that show. And he's really funny at first, a really silly, funny character, like the comic relief, and then goes to a whole other place through the series and it becomes almost like a romantic lead you're rooting for.

[Josh Radner]

He's great and so funny as Sandy Rivers.

[Craig Thomas]

So that's the thing. He has those comedy chops. And people sort of forgot at the end of angel, his character became very serious and dark and people kind of forgot in the industry. I think that he began as a very funny character at the beginning of angel and Carter. And I remember that. And we're like, alexis is hilarious. We know it for a fact because we saw it in the early seasons of Angel. So that's why we cast him as Sandy Rivers and Taryn Taran Gillum. I mean, he went on to be on SNL after guesting on our show. He's hilarious. And this was not us doing favors for significant other things.

[Josh Radner]

They were doing us favors.

[Craig Thomas]

We love them.

[Josh Radner]

But isn't it amazing, though, that it was just dumb luck that everyone was partnered with hilarious, hilarious actors it could have looked at as spousal favors, but they were like, absolutely made the show better.

[Craig Thomas]

Like, bookable actor. Yeah, they would come in. They would have come in and got those parts.

[Josh Radner]

And we.

[Craig Thomas]

Instead we just got to say to them, like, hey, would you do this? And be like, yeah, I'm hanging Out. Anyway, my wife acts on the show. I'm sort of here. Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

Okay. We've got a very special audience member here. I mean, all our audience members are special. Our fans are special. But this one, her name is Angela Kinsey, and she comes to us from angelakinsey. Angela, of course, for everyone springing up, doesn't know is of course from the Office and host, co host with Janet Fisher, the amazing Office Ladies podcast. And we are part of their network. And Angela is listening and watching as we speak. Angela.

[Craig Thomas]

Hi, Angela.

[Alec Levi]

And she says, Craig, was there a supporting character that you loved writing a laugh line for? Like in the Office, we'd get excited if we got the comedy button in a scene. So for you, you're like, oh, I can't wait to get this. This character's gonna get a line and gonna knock it out of the park.

[Craig Thomas]

Are we saying a main cast or

[Alec Levi]

larger sounds like a supporting character? So maybe a waitress, maybe a bartender. You know, something like that.

[Craig Thomas]

I think Ranjeet pops right into my head immediately. Josh, you know what I mean? Cause you could write just Ranjit turning around and saying hello. And like, it's like Marshall Minesh, that act just so funny and charismatic. And hello became a joke for him, which is.

[Josh Radner]

And it got to feeling like the cast, the characters and the audience were never not delighted when Ranjeet would come by.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it was like, hold for applause from an audience that was not there at that level.

[Josh Radner]

I also think going through the first two seasons, you forget how much Stuart.

[Craig Thomas]

Matt Boren.

[Josh Radner]

Matt Boren, really funny is around and so funny. And also Joe Manganiello.

[Craig Thomas]

Joe Manganiello has to be.

[Josh Radner]

He really pops up in such a funny way throughout those first two seasons.

[Craig Thomas]

And those guys are together as two of the guys on the bachelor party in those last couple of episodes of season two. And Matt and Joe could be their own road trip movie. I would watch a movie that's just the two of them. Matt is just like, he plays this character Stuart. This is long suffering. He's just married to this really intense woman. He's clearly very miserable. And Joe Manganiello looks like Thor.

[Josh Radner]

Joe Manganiello looks like he doesn't have the miserable gene. Like he doesn't know how to suffer in that way.

[Craig Thomas]

But of course, on the show, he played Brad, who did have his heart broken and essentially kind of dated Marshall for a little while on an episode. And he was so funny because he talked in the abbreves. You know, I'm going through a bit of a depress. This Eggs Benny is redonk when they're on their brunch date. It's just like when you could, I guess, to answer Angela's question, when you could find a character that developed an immediate, like, really recognizable way of speaking that was completely unlike everybody else on the show. That's a joy. That's a joy when you get that. Joe. Joe was definitely like that. As Brad on the show,

[Alec Levi]

Jord Graham wonders which character would be the worst or best and. Or best podcast host.

[Craig Thomas]

Wait, this is.

[Josh Radner]

Well, Josh Rabner, I think. Well, I hope that I would be the best of the character, though. But the character. I think Ted was a podcaster before.

[Craig Thomas]

I mean, before Dr. X. Dr. X.

[Josh Radner]

Absolute trailblazer.

[Craig Thomas]

Aspen answered. He was a trailblazer.

[Josh Radner]

Ted had a real history in radio.

[Craig Thomas]

Yes. And never owned up to being Dr. X, even though everyone knew this was this college radio show that aired at midnight. And he was like. He had an alias. And he was. I'm telling you the truth. So I can't let my name get out there.

[Josh Radner]

Because he thought he was, like, a folk hero, right?

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, he was a folk hero. I'm just Dr. X. I'm only here for the truth. I'm not here to aggrandize myself. And it was really. He had a sort of dark, webby podcast vibe before the Internet existed.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah. So Definitely Ted as Dr. X is the podcast. And maybe we should consider doing that. Josh, we want to just. We'll do it.

[Josh Radner]

There's kind of, like, the seeds of. Like, Robin would have gotten a little hooked by QAnon. Like, not fully, but a little. She would have gotten a little snagged up in the years of it. For a while, there could have been a moment people talked her down.

[Craig Thomas]

I thought you were going to say Robin would be a good podcast host because she's a newscaster, but instead you went to QAnon, so I don't. Now I don't know what to say.

[Josh Radner]

Maybe she'd be like Kari Lake. Like, she'd, like, run for office in some, like, hard. Hard. Right.

[Craig Thomas]

Campaign spin off. Okay, we're writing this. Where is she in 2026?

[Alec Levi]

Brianard does also suggest that Sandy Rivers would be the best and worst podcast host.

[Craig Thomas]

Oh, yes. Yes. I think there's definitely some versions of Sandy Rivers hosting podcasts. And also the bros that Marshall worked with. Marshall, with his, like, sweethearted environmental law background, goes to work at this horrible corporation that Barney works for. Those bros, like Bilson and Blauman, I think were their names.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Those guys definitely have a problematic podcast of some kind.

[Josh Radner]

Bilson and Blauman were two of my favorite names.

[Craig Thomas]

You guys came up with Bilson and Blauman?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Great names. Great names.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

That was, I think Carl McLaren, our assistant namesake of McLaren's bar. He may have come up with both of those names. Carl was great at inventing weird fake names that sound like middle managers with like short sleeve button down shirts and ties. Dilson and Blauman. Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

And I think finally here, Ashley Chan sec, who I think maybe has asked some questions from us before. I think so. Says that I'm saying final one, but if there's more good questions, just keep them coming here. We'll see. But asks a lovely question. Besides family and friends and the necessities, what is one random thing you absolutely could not live without?

[Craig Thomas]

Can I hit pause for one second and just say also, the reason that Angela is messaging us is because Angela and Jenna were kind enough to invite us into the OLN world. This is for the new. The people finding this for the first time.

[Alec Levi]

Sure.

[Craig Thomas]

We are part of the Office Ladies Network now. I think we didn't explain that at all when Angela was writing us the question. Did we?

[Alec Levi]

I say that a little bit.

[Craig Thomas]

Say it's a little bit. But we're very lucky. We're very lucky to be part of the Office Ladies Network. You can find us over by the empire they're building. They do it the best. We were definitely walking in their footsteps. Doing a rewatch pod. The Office Ladies are amazing. So we are very grateful to them and we're happy to be part of their team.

[Alec Levi]

Yes, all true. So as I was saying.

[Craig Thomas]

Okay, back.

[Alec Levi]

Why can you not live with the Office Ladies?

[Craig Thomas]

Angela and Jenna are. Well, we can't leave without. That's the answer.

[Alec Levi]

Besides family, friends, Angela and Jenna and the other necessities of life, what is one random thing? What is one thing that you absolutely cannot live without?

[Craig Thomas]

How technical are we going to get here? Josh, do you have anything? This is a tough question.

[Josh Radner]

Well, I don't know.

[Craig Thomas]

There'd be so many different ways to go.

[Josh Radner]

Like if I should look for a soul answer or just a material fact kind of.

[Alec Levi]

What would you take with you other than other than your child and your house is on fire?

[Josh Radner]

Yeah, I would take a guitar. Like I would take my guild guitar. Yeah.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, I have the same answer. I literally. That's exactly what popped into my head when Alex said it. I think music. I couldn't live without music. Music brought me everything. Like a music. Like Music is how doing. Playing music with Carter in college is how we became friends and created how much mother. So if you take it all the way back, I feel like how much mother came out of music and so many of the good things in my life came out of music. Playing in bands in college. Like I met my wife and my son. Elliot is like this little musical being. My daughter Celia just took up the saxophone and has this really cool two tone saxophone, like flat. It's because of Lisa Simpsons. Because she loves the Simpsons so much. She's like, I'm gonna play that instrument like Lisa. And we were like, we're gonna buy her a saxophone cause she likes Lisa. What if she doesn't stick with it? She loves it. She's totally crushing it and sticking with it.

[Josh Radner]

It's not easy.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah, it's a tough. Yeah. She takes the lesson every week and she's like really good. She's at a recital and Elliot is playing drums and keyboards and like singing family players. It is. We're trying to become the Von Trapps and it's that. That part of life is. I wouldn't want to live in a world without that. You know, it's like that that has been such a part of my life. And yeah, that's what I. That's. That's a necessity.

[Alec Levi]

I have a teddy bear. That's. The teddy bear would always go first. I've got him. I've gotten ready to. Ready to take with me.

[Craig Thomas]

Barry, does this go back to childhood? Is this like the original teddy bear?

[Alec Levi]

Original born.

[Craig Thomas]

You still have this right now?

[Alec Levi]

I still have it right now.

[Craig Thomas]

Will you go get it on Instagram Live? No, it's too far.

[Alec Levi]

It's too far away. Next time, next time. Just a quick shout out to Marco 1503, who said I got to be an extra on the show.

[Josh Radner]

It was great.

[Alec Levi]

Cool.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah.

[Alec Levi]

All right, so let's see. Yeah, I think. I think that's probably going to be our Instagram live for today. Just say a few quick things. One is that yes, yes, please, please. There is a podcast. Please tell four or five of your him loving friends. There's also a great Facebook group. It's called Major Fans.

[Craig Thomas]

Major Fans.

[Alec Levi]

Major fans. Thank you. Go over to them. It's like a private group. So you'll go in. It's lovely community of people talking about all this. I post things a lot there. I answer people's questions. I ask four people's questions to ask of Josh and Craig. Check that out. These Instagram lives. The audio will appear eventually in the podcast feed. And again just for you here, we're not really going to tell you too much. We're just going to say that we did just record something very special and you're all going to get to not

[Josh Radner]

just did I do that wrong?

[Craig Thomas]

We'll explain it later.

[Josh Radner]

That was right.

[Alec Levi]

And you are all going to get to not just hear hear it, but see it on YouTube in a couple of weeks.

[Josh Radner]

Yeah. And I'll just add one more thing. Like if you love How I Met yout Mother and you love it in, I don't know, like if it's just a comfort show or you like to have it on in the background, that's cool. But there's a whole kind of thing we're doing. Like it almost feels like Craig and I are both students and professors in a college course dedicated to How I Met yout Mother. Like we are really peeling back the layers of the themes of. I think if you're interested in telling stories and hearing from like a master storyteller like Craig, who has such deep insights into what they were doing and how they were thinking about it and what they had planned and what was an accident and all kinds of stuff. So if you want to know just how this thing got made and what that was asked of us as actors and how we collaborated with the writers and the director and everyone, it's a really like 360 view of a show that a lot of people love and that we happen to be the world's leading experts on. We were there, we know what happened, we know what didn't happen, we know what it took to make it. We have different insight now that we're older and we're a couple years down the line from it. But to me, I'm just learning so much about this show we made. Like I'm learning things every week like from Craig, you know.

[Craig Thomas]

Yeah.

[Josh Radner]

So if you, if you love the show and you want to go deeper and you know, my mother in law listens and she's never even seen an episode of How I Met your Mother. I don't think she's planning on watching it. She just likes listening to it. So even if you don't have any interest in the show, it's still apparently a great show to listen to. So that's just a little, just a deeper of a plug for the podcast.

[Craig Thomas]

Amen.

[Josh Radner]

Amen.

[Alec Levi]

All right.

[Josh Radner]

I am guilty. Please acquit me. All sins are forgiven. In New York City, How We Made

[Alec Levi]

your 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 Lev 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 Tomorrow. 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's debut novel, that's Not How It Happened, wherever books are sold and check out his other published writings at craig thomas writer.com and you can subscribe to My Own Dead Father's 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.

[Josh Radner]

The real question it just hit me. Am I in love with you or just New York City? It's tax season, and at LifeLock, we know you're tired of numbers, but here's a big one you need to hear. Billions. That's the amount of money and refunds the IRS has flagged for possible identity fraud. Now here's another big number. 100 million. That's how many data points LifeLock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it. Guaranteed. One last big number. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for the threats you can't control. Terms apply.