Kal Penn: podcast appearances and interviews

Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. Born on April 23, 1977, he has portrayed characters such as Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series, Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, and Kevin in How I Met Your Mother. Penn also appeared in the film The Namesake and served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program. In April 2009, he joined the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, where he was a liaison for outreach to Asian Pacific Americans and arts communities. This role led to his character in House being written out of the series. He briefly left his White House position in June 2010 to film Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas and returned afterward. In July 2011, Penn departed again to accept a role on How I Met Your Mother. From 2016 to 2019, he played Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, also serving as a consultant for the show. Additional projects include hosting the game show Superhuman and portraying Garrett Modi in the 2019 NBC sitcom Sunnyside. In 2020, he hosted the political talk miniseries Kal Penn Approves This Message.