Rainn Wilson Talks with Josh Radnor and Ben Lee for the Talkhouse Podcast

The man who is Dwight from The Office talks with two longtime friends about their new musical project, spirituality, comedy and creativity.

By Rainn Wilson, Josh Radnor and Ben Lee, and Talkhouse Podcast

6:00 AM EST on December 14, 2017

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On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, actor and comedian Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight from The Office) chats with two old friends, actor-writer-director Josh Radnor (best known as Ted from How I Met Your Mother) and Australian indie singer-songwriter Ben Lee, who now make up the musical duo Radnor & Lee. The three talk about how Josh and Ben became friends (and then later collaborators), the spiritual focus of their debut album, Josh and Rainn's shared history as drama students at NYU, the balance between spirituality and creativity in each of their lives, Ben's children's album about Islam, and much, much more. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now on iTunes or Stitcher to stay in the loop about future Talkhouse Podcasts.

The music featured in the podcast is as follows:
1. Intro / outro underscore: “Plastic Man vs. The Giant Red Phase Of The Sun” – Iced Ink

Episode engineered by Ali Nikou and Charles Mueller and edited by Mark Yoshizumi. The Talkhouse podcast producer is Elia Einhorn.

Rainn Wilson

Rainn Wilson is best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office, though today he’s equally well-known for his millions of Twitter followers and the philosophy website he founded, SoulPancake, which launched a New York Times bestselling book of the same name. His memoir, The Bassoon King, was published in 2015, and his latest film, Permanent, also starring Patricia Arquette, is released by Magnolia Pictures on December 15. He lives in Los Angeles.

Josh Radnor and Ben Lee

Radnor & Lee is a musical collaboration between Ben Lee and Josh Radnor. Friends for over a decade with a shared interest in spirituality and philosophy, they had always said they should write a song together. One song turned into ten and Radnor & Lee was born. After their first live show at Hotel Cafe, a friend described their music as “the intersection of pop and prayer.” Upon hearing this, their producer Ryan Dilmore dubbed them “singer-psalmwriters.” The songs are by turns witty, hopeful, yearning, joyful, searching and meditative, and their debut album, Radnor & Lee, is out now through GoldVE.

Ben Lee began his career as a young teenager in the early '90s, in the Australian lo-fi punk band Noise Addict, who were discovered by taste-making artists Sonic Youth and the Beastie Boys. This began what is now an almost 25-year career of producing intelligent and spiritual indie-pop songs that have soundtracked Ben’s inner life in music.

Josh Radnor is best known as an actor, having played the central character for nine seasons on CBS's Emmy-nominated comedy How I Met Your Mother. He has written, directed and starred in two feature films, Liberal Arts and HappyThankYouMorePlease, both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the latter winning the 2010 Audience Award for Favorite U.S. Drama. Radnor has also worked extensively on and off Broadway. (Picture by Cary Mosier.)

Talkhouse Podcast

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. Subscribe now, and explore more illuminating shows on the Talkhouse Podcast Network.