New Delhi: Kareem Rahma’s SubwayTakes has been nominated in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series category at the Emmy Awards. Rahma launched the YouTube series in 2023 with a simple format: talking to people on New York City’s subway, with the microphone placed on the city’s iconic MetroCard.
SubwayTakes, in almost three years, has grown into one of YouTube’s biggest interview shows. The channel has crossed 1.09 million subscribers, with more than 760 million views and has uploaded more than 800 videos.
While the show primarily features everyday commuters, its guests have also included Woody Harrelson, Ethan Hawke, Rosalia, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Jennifer Lopez. SubwayTakes is competing against The Daily Show: Desi Lydic Foxsplains, Colbert Before the Show, The Randy Rainbow Show and Netflix’s Bad Thoughts.
‘Inspired by podcasts’
The 60-90 second episodes begin with Rahma’s signature question, “So, what’s your take?” Initially focused solely on New York’s subway, the series has since expanded to feature episodes filmed on the London Underground, the Paris Metro and Berlin’s U-Bahn.
In an interview with The Guardian, Rahma had said the format was inspired by the popularity of short podcast clips shared across social media, rather than the full-length episodes.
“So I wanted to make a podcast where there was no podcast, it was just the clip,” he said.
Rahma also hosts another series, Keep the Meter Running.
While SubwayTakes invites New Yorkers to share controversial opinions, such as “the government should pay for everyone’s parents to go to therapy” or “I don’t think people should wear flip-flops until they are near a body of water,” In Keep the Meter Running, he rides in New York taxis and asks drivers to take him to their favourite places to eat. The series offers an intimate portrait of the city, with taxi drivers sharing personal stories over meals.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)