How We Made Your Mother

Josh Radnor and Craig Thomas kick off Season 4 with “Do I Know You?,” revisiting Ted and Stella’s engagement and the question at the heart of the episode: how well do you really need to know someone before deciding to marry them? They dig into the now-iconic “Star Wars test,” Ted’s anxiety over whether Stella will love the things he loves, and the larger challenge of accepting that your partner won’t always share your tastes. They also explore Barney’s newly revealed feelings for Robin, Lily’s role as his emotional coach, and Neil Patrick Harris’s remarkable physical comedy, while celebrating Sarah Chalke’s chemistry with Josh and her very specific technique for a perfect pratfall. Along the way, Josh and Craig talk about the hidden craft behind seemingly effortless acting, why everyone feels so comfortably inside their characters by Season 4, and the season that earned How I Met Your Mother its only Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination. Plus, Josh remembers realizing at the Emmys that every camera was already pointed at Tina Fey, Craig connects the episode’s Star Wars test to Josh watching HIMYM with Jordana for the first time, and a listener shares how the series helped her through heartbreak and an ADHD diagnosis.
-
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)
Instagram
Tiktok
-
READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
-
CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE!
Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED.
-
SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE RESEARCH:
Click HERE to learn more and donate today.
-
FOLLOW THE OFFICE LADIES:
Check out "Office Ladies" at https://officeladies.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts!
Follow on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod
Follow on TikTok
-
AND MORE:
Josh’s Official Website
Josh on Spotify
Craig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing)
Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack

Josh and Craig close out Season 3 with director Pamela Fryman to revisit “Miracles,” an episode about fate, near-death experiences, and the universe’s uncanny way of pushing people back toward one another. Pam remembers the extraordinary teamwork required to produce nine episodes in eleven weeks after the writers’ strike, while Josh and Craig unpack Ted’s car accident, Barney’s collision with a bus, Ted and Barney’s reconciliation, and Ted’s impulsive proposal to Stella. Chris Harris reveals the painfully true story behind the pencil-up-Barney’s-nose gag, and the trio discuss Neil Patrick Harris’s commitment, Sarah Chalke’s arrival, the episode’s memorable Radiohead and Replacements needle drops, and Pam’s daughters’ hidden cameo. Plus, Josh’s wife Jordana shares what it was like watching him rediscover the series, Pam reflects on the crew’s lasting family bond, and a listener explains how How I Met Your Mother became the soundtrack to his family’s life.
-
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)
Instagram
Tiktok
-
READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
-
CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE!
Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED.
-
SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE RESEARCH:
Click HERE to learn more and donate today.
-
FOLLOW THE OFFICE LADIES:
Check out "Office Ladies" at https://officeladies.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts!
Follow on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod
Follow on TikTok
-
AND MORE:
Josh’s Official Website
Josh on Spotify
Craig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing)
Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack

Peter Hamby, Puck’s award-winning political correspondent, takes you deep inside the machinery of modern campaigns with the actual strategists, operatives, pollsters, lobbyists, politicians, and shadow power players working to elect the next president. Focused on the road to 2028 but ranging far beyond it, the show explores the media, money, technology, and generational forces transforming how politics is practiced—and how power is won.
Listen Here: link.pscrb.fm/f0281/TMP

Josh and Craig revisit Season 3, Episode 19, “Everything Must Go,” and Josh makes a rare confession: he didn’t love this one — especially Ted’s inexplicable devotion to those red cowboy boots. Craig explains how the episode emerged from the post-Writers’ Strike scramble to produce nine episodes in eleven weeks, resulting in a slightly chaotic collection of stories that nevertheless gave us Britney Spears’ hilarious return as Abby, Lily discovering an unexpected audience for her paintings, and some now-iconic HIMYM moments. They also reveal the remarkable real-life story behind MarshallandLilySellTheirStuff.com, where props and costumes from the show were auctioned to raise nearly $24,000 for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, remember guest stars Larry Wilmore and UCB legend Matt Besser, and celebrate the music that helped give Lily’s story its heart. Plus: Knicks mania in New York, the lost art of experiencing pop culture together, and a moving listener letter that sparks a conversation about masculinity, forgiveness, and what it means to create a space that feels safe, smart, and human.
-
And check out the archived version of:
guyforceshiswifetodressinagarbagebagforthenextthreeyears.com
-
CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)
Instagram
Tiktok
-
READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
-
CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE!
Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED.
-
SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE RESEARCH:
Click HERE to learn more and donate today.
-
FOLLOW THE OFFICE LADIES:
Check out "Office Ladies" at https://officeladies.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts!
Follow on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod
Follow on TikTok
-
AND MORE:
Josh’s Official Website
Josh on Spotify
Craig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing)
Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack

Josh and Craig revisit “Rebound Bro,” the post–writers’ strike episode that sends Barney searching for a new wingman after his breakup with Ted — and finds the perfect sad-sack replacement in Randy Wharmpess, played by the incomparable Will Forte. They talk about Forte’s unique mix of sweetness and insanity, Barney and Randy’s surprisingly romantic dynamic, and how the episode’s comedy grows out of Barney’s very real heartbreak. Meanwhile, Ted learns Stella hasn’t had sex in five years, setting off a debate about trust, intimacy, and whether Ted was wrong to tell Marshall and Lily. Plus: Sarah Chalke’s incredible laugh, the frantic pace of producing the final nine episodes of Season 3 after the strike, “sweaty” sitcom plot mechanics, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, Geraldine Ferraro, Nell Carter, the TV reruns that raised a generation of comedy writers, and what Rocky can teach us about Barney Stinson.

CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)
Instagram
Tiktok
-
READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
-
CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE!
Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED.
-
SUPPORT PEDIATRIC CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE RESEARCH:
Click HERE to learn more and donate today.
-
FOLLOW THE OFFICE LADIES:
Check out "Office Ladies" at https://officeladies.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts!
Follow on Instagram: OfficeLadiesPod
Follow on TikTok
-
AND MORE:
Josh’s Official Website
Josh on Spotify
Craig’s Official Website (with links to his published writing)
Alek’s “Dead Fathers Society” on Substack