Podcast Summary: “Preview: Dinner’s On Me with Guest Josh Radnor”

Podcast: How We Made Your Mother
Hosts: Josh Radnor, Craig Thomas (featuring Jesse Tyler Ferguson)
Date: December 11, 2025

Episode Overview

This preview episode of How We Made Your Mother presents a snippet from Josh Radnor’s recent guest appearance on Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson. The conversation offers listeners an intimate look at shared experiences of being the lead on long-running, beloved sitcoms (How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family), and dives into topics like ambition, career evolution, dealing with success, and learning to enjoy the journey.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. Shared Sitcom Experience

• Josh Radnor introduces the preview, noting the unique bond he shares with Jesse due to both having starred in major sitcoms at the same time.
  • [00:00] “We were both on hit sitcoms at this very specific time ... but we hadn't really ever sat down and talked about the weirdness of being on a long running hit show for as long as we were.” – Josh Radnor

B. The Magic of “Dinner’s On Me”

• Josh highlights what makes Dinner’s On Me special — its unguarded, ambient, in-the-moment feel as the conversation takes place during a real meal, with all the incidental details and distractions of restaurant life lending authenticity.
  • [00:34] “Being recorded during a meal means you'll truly feel like a fly on the wall ... a good meal does let some walls down.”

C. Artistic Ambitions & Self-Perception

• Jesse Tyler Ferguson admires Josh’s diverse successes in the industry—music, writing, directing, and acting.
• [01:47] Jesse: “You have found success ... with music and with writing and directing. I love your movies, Josh.”
• Josh candidly acknowledges the dual challenge and exhaustion of both leading and managing creative projects.
  • [02:09] Josh: “Yeah, I don't want to do that again.”
  • Jesse laughs: “I can only imagine that must be incredibly difficult.”

D. Revisiting One’s Career Narrative

• Jesse asks whether Josh always wanted the kind of career he has, and whether his actual path matched his original aspirations.
• Josh reflects on the tension between public humility and private ambition, revealing the contrast between the story he told—hoping for a quiet success in theater—and what his journals later revealed.
  • [02:35] Josh: “For years, I told a story about myself that I realized was a bit of a lie ... I actually was envisioning a bigger career. ... I did have my eye on the prize.”

Notable Moment: The “Midwest Modesty” Complex

• Josh delves into how growing up in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to a tendency to “disguise his ambition,” due to a culture of humility and not standing out (“tall poppy syndrome”).
  • [03:23] “But there's ... a kind of tall, poppy thing going. So I think I had to ... disguise my ambition.”

Notable Moment: NYU Aspirations and the Bulletin Board

• Josh describes envying the alumni bulletin board at NYU, using it as motivation to push for more recognition.
  • [03:53] “I would stare at it. And I was just like, am I going to be on that board? Like, am I going to be up there? ... I wanted my training to ... be fruitful.”

E. Manifesting the HIMYM Role

• Josh describes how, years before, he had articulated highly specific dreams: starring as a lead in a prime time, generationally-defining TV show created by relative newcomers—exactly what happened with How I Met Your Mother.
  • [04:21] “I wanted to be on a big TV show. ... I wanted it to be generationally, like, defining ... There were all these weird things that I kind of like, put on my little wish list that came true years later.”

F. The Bittersweet of Achievement: Learning to Enjoy It

• Josh notes a critical lesson: he never included “enjoying the success” in his list of wishes, and that actually learning to enjoy it took time.
  • [05:03] “I realized I forgot to say ... I want to enjoy it. Because it took me a while to learn how to enjoy it.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Josh Radnor:
  • “For years, I told a story about myself that I realized was a bit of a lie ... I actually was envisioning a bigger career.” (02:35)
  • “I had this idea ... I can’t do this because I got to go out to LA and ... get a hit TV show so I can do all the theater I want.” (03:46)
  • “I forgot to say, and I want to enjoy it. Because it took me a while to learn how to enjoy it.” (05:03)

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:00-00:34 – Josh’s introduction and setup of the shared sitcom experience.
• 00:34-01:32 – What makes Dinner’s On Me special, themes and approach.
• 01:32-02:16 – Jesse commends Josh’s multifaceted career and discusses the challenge of writing/directing/starring.
• 02:16-04:21 – Reflections on career expectations, honesty about ambition, and the role of upbringing (Midwest, NYU).
• 04:21-05:06 – Josh’s “manifestation” of the HIMYM job, the importance of defining joy in success.

Takeaway

This preview serves as both a nostalgia trip for How I Met Your Mother fans and an inspiring meditation for anyone pursuing creative work. Josh Radnor’s openness about the tension between ambition and humility—along with his acknowledgment that enjoying success is its own separate challenge—sets an honest, reflective tone that promises thoughtful episodes ahead.

For the full, in-depth discussion, listeners are encouraged to check out Dinner’s On Me.