The Art of Manliness Podcast #34: An Interview With Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Swanson)

by Brett on November 23, 2011 · 14 comments

If you’ve been following the site, you know Kate and I are big fans of NBC’s Parks and Recreation. We’re especially fans of the character Ron Swanson on the show. Ron Swanson is the head of the Pawnee Parks and Rec Dept. in Indiana. He’s a conservative libertarian who loves woodworking, breakfast foods, hunting, and fishing, and he keeps a sawed off shotgun in his desk. His Pyramid of Greatness is pure awesome.

While Ron’s idiosyncrasies bring humor to the show (as all the characters’ quirks do), his manly ways aren’t mocked for laughs in the way of other tv shows. The show has a sort of sweet, good-natured tone, which is why we like it.

What’s interesting is that the actor behind the character, Nick Offerman, is pretty manly in real life, too. Nick’s real passion is woodworking; he runs his own woodshop–the Offerman Shop–where he builds tables, chairs, canoes, paddles and more. You can watch Nick talk about planking a canoe in this video:

A few weeks ago I got on the phone with Mr. Offerman to discuss what makes Ron Swanson so manly, and the greatness of mustaches and woodworking.

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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Robert November 23, 2011 at 3:08 pm: I care nothing for boats, but I could watch that video all day long.
2 8rent November 23, 2011 at 3:13 pm: this Thanksgiving gift is likely going to dominate every possible Christmas gift I may get this year.

or ever.
3 OkieRover November 23, 2011 at 3:46 pm: I’ve laughed so hard at this show we had to pause it so I could get myself together.
Ron: “Do any of you have any food alergies?”
Scouts: Several No’s.
Ron: “That’s right, No was the correct answer.”
CLASSIC!
4 Mark November 23, 2011 at 4:56 pm: Great! I am a huge Ron Swanson fan. One of my favorite episodes was the hunting trip… him listening to turkey calls in his office. The same thing happens before coworkers and I go on hunting trips. Well, except we do work.

Thanks for the podcast, great idea!
5 Frank Martin | Modern Monkey Mind November 23, 2011 at 7:00 pm: I’ve never watched the show, but really enjoyed this podcast. I might just have to check out Parks & Rec now.
6 Niki November 23, 2011 at 8:03 pm: Thanks for this interview. Loved it. I used to have a small crush on the neocon Jack Donaghy, but Ron Swanson is my heart’s true desire.
7 zeus November 23, 2011 at 9:03 pm: Even though my site has a slightly different audience this site has motivated me to work harder on it and it’s starting to pay off. Thank you Art Of Manliness.
8 Adam November 25, 2011 at 5:30 pm: Thanks, I enjoyed the podcast. I started to view an episode of his show but after 10 minutes my head began to hurt from all the camera motion.
9 Mike November 28, 2011 at 2:25 am: Love Ron Swanson. Best man on TV, hands down.
10 Tim November 30, 2011 at 1:58 pm: Having some difficulty downloading this… Tried downloading through iTunes and the direct mp3 link on this page. Any ideas?
11 Busted December 1, 2011 at 4:53 pm: Same issue as Tim.
12 Justin Drummond December 2, 2011 at 3:29 pm: I recently became a fan of this show. Ron Swanson is actually my favorite character. Andy isn’t bad either, but I can always tell if a show or movie is truly funny if I can watch it by myself and literally bust into hysterical laughter. Ron does this in almost every episode for me. There is a funny youtube video I stumbled on that tributes Ron Swanson and his greatest moments. If anybody is interested in checking this out I always go to youtube and type “best Ron Swanson moments”. The clip when he found out his co worker was grilling portabelo mushrooms rather than steaks for health reasons, and Ron’s reaction always cracks me up. RON SWANSON FOR PRESIDENT
13 jameson December 13, 2011 at 1:36 am: awesome. glad he was able to take the time! i think he’s not so “hollywood” and that says a lot about the actors who don’t get wrapped up in all the glamour crap. he handles his fame very well. anyways, i just wish i could grow a mustache like that, much less beard. gosh durned genes. dah well… great post! yay parks and rec!
14 Josh B March 7, 2013 at 1:52 pm: I like the idea of interviewing an actor who portrays someone who is iconically manly. Might be cool to interview some others like Jon Hamm.

The Art of Manliness Podcast #34: An Interview With Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Swanson)

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