How We Made Your Mother

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.
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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.
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And check out the archived version of:
guyforceshiswifetodressinagarbagebagforthenextthreeyears.com
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CRAIG’S BOOK IS AVAILABLE!
Head over to CRAIG’S WEBSITE to order your copy of THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED.
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AND MORE:
Josh’s Official Website
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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)
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READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
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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.
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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
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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

From the Emmy-nominated co-creator and Executive Producer of How I Met Your Mother, Craig Thomas’s debut novel, THAT’S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED, is a smart, funny, bighearted story about a family turned upside down after Hollywood decides to make a movie version of their lives. Told through the shifting perspectives of Paige, Rob, Emmett, and Darcy, a flawed, funny, complicated family is forced to confront past wounds and present betrayals—and questions about how we think and talk about disability, how our stories get told (and who gets to tell them), and how love stories can come in many different shapes and sizes. We’re presenting, free, the first chapter of the audiobook, narrated by Josh Radnor, Cobie Smulders, Marli Watson, and Kevin Iannucci.
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Hear Chapter One here, then get the complete audiobook and keep listening.
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CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:
Official Website (Send us your audio and written messages)
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READ JOSH’S MUSELETTERS ON SUBSTACK:
Subscribe HERE
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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
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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 Season 3, Episode 17, “The Goat,” which, despite its title and Future Ted’s spectacularly unreliable memory, is really about the breakup of Ted and Barney’s friendship after Barney sleeps with Robin. They dig into Barney’s guilt, Marshall’s attempt to find a loophole in the sacred Bro Code, Ted’s surprisingly brutal reaction, and the growing connection between Barney and Robin that had been quietly building throughout the season. Craig recalls why the writers decided to make such a huge story move in Season 3 and how the frantic post-WGA-strike schedule pushed them to take some of the show’s biggest creative swings. They also talk about friendship breakups being every bit as painful as romantic ones, the creation of the real-life bestselling Bro Code, Barney’s mysterious job, the goat story that technically hasn’t happened yet, and the show’s fascination with memory and time. Plus, longtime second second AD Chris Hissong looks back on nine seasons of wrangling the enormous and often insane background action of How I Met Your Mother.

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