Nick Offerman: Out of the Woods

Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso

Higher Ground

Tv & Film, Film Interviews, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2021

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Actor, author, and woodworker Nick Offerman joins us in the studio! We begin with his new book, Where the Deer and the Antelope Play (5:05), which was inspired by Nick’s upbringing in rural Minooka, Illinois (6:12), the writings of poet Wendell Berry (7:30), and his experiences with the late Sam Shepard at Steppenwolf Theatre (8:08). Shortly after working with Shepard, Offerman began to find his footing—on and off the stage—as a performer, carpenter, and fight choreographer (9:35). He reflects on his galvanizing role in the film Going All the Way (15:14), the guiding principles of George Saunders (20:00), lessons from his sensei Shōzō Satō (25:26), the start of his nearly two-decade marriage with actress Megan Mullally (26:30), the phone call that changed his life (35:50), and the complicated legacy of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation (41:45). Then, before we go, we return to the timely (and urgent) message of his new book (46:47), a song by Jeff Tweedy (49:50), and a poem by Wendell Berry (51:58).

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin
0:09.0	Hey, this is Sam.
0:10.0	If you enjoy our interviews with writers and artists on Talk Easy, then I'd recommend checking
0:14.8	out the podcast Missing Pages. Hosted by acclaimed literary critic and author Beth Ann Patrick,
0:21.5	Missing Pages investigates the biggest hot button topics in the book world today
0:26.4	with the help of special guests like New York Times Best-Selling author Jody Pekle
0:31.3	and publisher weeklies Jim Miliet.
0:33.8	Produced by the people at the Podglamaret,
0:36.1	Missing Pages explores everything from the insta frame of Colleen Hoover
0:40.3	to the rise of book bands across America to the lucrative culture of non-fiction ghost writing.
0:46.0	As both the Washington Post and the Guardian praise,
0:49.0	missing pages is a must listen.
0:52.0	So if you'd like to check it out, you can follow missing pages on
0:55.0	Apple Podcast or wherever you like to listen. This is talk easy. I'm San Frigoso. Welcome to the show. Today I'm joined by actor, author, and woodworker, Nick Offerman.
1:37.0	Nick grew up in Manuka, Illinois, a small town that, as Offerman is fond of saying, was about an hour and 15 years away from Chicago.
1:48.6	And it's true, not much made its way to Manuka, but as one of four children, Nick found refuge working
1:56.6	on his grandfather's soybean farm.
1:59.4	It was there he learned how to work the land and use the tools. He says it was a very frugal environment.
2:07.0	We did a lot of fishing. We build things. We all sewed and cooked. In a farm community you learn the importance of stepping up and that's a big part of your sense of self-worth and it's that self-worth he talks about that propelled Offerman forward.
2:25.1	On stage, in television, in movies, you likely know him for his recurring role as Ron
2:31.9	Swanson on Parks and Recreation.
2:34.8	Or his work in Devs, Fargo, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,
	...

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