I Gave Rainn Wilson a Candle…Then We Hit Record
Brooks Borden | 7MS Editorial
Medina, Ohio — 7MS Presents: The Storytelling University continues with a new episode featuring Rainn Wilson, exploring storytelling, meaning and what it means to be human.
The full episode drops on May 24th across all podcast platforms.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes moment from before we hit record.
I gave Rainn Wilson a candle and some merch from my hometown of Medina, Ohio. Then we hit record...
Honestly, I was little worried about this conversation, but not for the reasons you might think.
Three reasons. First, I wasn’t sure if Rainn was vegan. I thought I had read that somewhere, and I had just packed a bag full of Malley's Chocolates. I’ve seen my friend and producer Ken Wendt do this when sending gifts to people outside Ohio, so I copied him and leaned into Ohio vibe.
Second, I wasn’t sure if giving someone a candle before an interview was weird. I had stuffed the bag with merch from Medina, Ohio. Root Candles, a Medina Gazebo mug and other trinkets. Giving gifts is tricky.
And third, I felt terrible because my wife Cori is a huge fan and couldn’t be there. She was home sick with a bad cold.
I didn’t really come to Rainn through “The Office.” Cori did. Where I really connected with him, was his podcast “Soul Boom”. Conversations about spirituality, meaning and what it means to be human.
Our teams connected (thanks Dania Khalife) and found a window the day after he spoke at Bowling Green State University, my alma mater. So now I’m back on campus, unexpectedly. We’re set up in a hotel with one meeting room, right next to the pool and sauna, and with no working temperature control.
As Ken and I set up the mics, the room is already a sauna. Perfect. Then I get a text. Rainn is in the lobby. We meet. Walking down the hallway, I say, “Just a heads up, the room’s basically a sauna.” He smiles. We’re both a little shaky.
Three coffees each will do that.
We sit down. Before we start, I slide him a gift bag with all the stuff.
Then I get to it. “I hope you’re not vegan.”
He smiles. “I’m not.”
I thought a candle was a cool gift. The place that makes them is pretty historic.
He raises his eyebrow. Not weird and very kind.
Relief. I tell him Cori is heartbroken she couldn’t be there.
He says, “Tell her I’ll see her around the bend.”
We do the conversation. Somewhere along the way, none of the other stuff matters. Not the room. Not the heat. We’re locked in, present. The coffee helped. We had an awesome conversation about storytelling.
It flew by. We said our goodbyes. Rainn was off to Notre Dame, and I needed food. Afterward, Ken and I packed up and went to Campus Pollyeyes (a Bowling Green State University area classic) for the best cheese and chicken breadsticks in the world.
We only had a few minutes, so we took it to go. There I am, sitting in my car in a college town, eating breadsticks while Ken’s on Zoom in the parking lot. Back at my alma mater. A full-circle kind of day.
I walked in worried about chocolate, candles, and getting everything right. I walked out grateful for the conversation and the art of storytelling.
That's a little behind the scenes story from before our chat. But the full episode of 7MS Presents The Storytelling University drops on May 24th.
Media Contact:
Dania Khalife