Kareem Rahma: How SubwayTakes Became the New Late Night

21:40B, the shoots are like 12 to 15 hours. So like you have two things going against me is that it's totally unpredictable because it's shot in the world and it's a 12 hour shoot versus Subway Takes, which is like at least a shoot is constrained and you're getting more than one asset out of it. One more than one video. I had put that show on hiatus to kind of like focus on building something more scalable because I knew that I was still early in my career and that like even though Keep the Meter Running was I hit, it was going to be really, really difficult to like make it a scaled show, scaled format.

22:19Samir Chaudry:What was your experience between like the platforms at the time of even like Instagram and TikTok? And, you know, we're just like very native to YouTube. So we're always and have always thought about YouTube. YouTube's really hard to get someone to watch something new. For sure. Almost impossible. For sure. Truly. Yeah. I don't think in Instagram shows, nor did I even think about a show for Instagram around this time. That's funny, yeah. Like when you were in the premium podcast world, why was Instagram even a thought? And do you think of Subway Takes as an Instagram show, a TikTok show? What's like its primary home?

22:54I call it unscripted short form vertical video content. And we publish on X, YouTube, Shorts, Instagram, TikTok. I was doing LinkedIn for a while because I thought it was hilarious. Literally threads. Like anywhere where vertical, unscripted short form vertical video content can be ingested, I put it there. and I don't know like at the moment I felt like there was an opportunity you know I think Keep the Meter Running was the first ever format for vertical video like I'm almost 100 % certain and before that I had I had tried then failed because I was way too early to do a show called Stupid Studies which was like Trevor Noah of TikTok like that's what in my mind I was like I will do the monologue.

23:43That's what I was doing. I was doing, I was breaking out, I was deconstructing the talk show. At that point, I was just doing the monologue and I would kind of deliver the news in a two minute clip. And there was no long form. Again, I was already thinking in this, like, what if there's no long form? And maybe that hunch was based on my own consumption habits, which is I rarely am consuming long form content unless it's a well-produced television show. I'm now stepping into YouTube because I like the challenge and I like changing and I like keeping things interesting and you know when something of mine becomes successful or uh like feels like it's peaking or on its way to peaking or I know will peak then I'm like okay what's the next what's the evolution

24:30Colin Rosenblum:of what I've done yeah I feel like you you manage to get people invested in you even though you're giving the majority of the time to the guest in both formats. I think one of the reasons that both of the shows are successful in my eyes are because they are redemptive, not exploitative. We had a creator on the show, Ryan Trahan, who said that. He was like, a lot of the internet is exploitative and you can feel it. And a lot of the short form formats feel exploitative of stopping someone on the street and being like, hey, show me this. How much do you make here? It feels like you're like, ah, I get it.

25:03Colin Rosenblum:I'm kind of interested, but it feels like you're taking that from the person on the other end. And I think you tell a fine line of like giving space. Well, I think the big difference is a lot of those shows, especially the short form ones, are about going viral. That's the goal. Like, that's literally the creator's goal is to go viral. They're like, I see all these other people going viral, doing this thing. I'm going to do this thing and also go viral. Like my goal was never to go viral. My goal was to create entertainment and to create entertaining content. And I'm amazed and happy and shocked that it has done so well.

25:36But the goal was never to go viral. The goal was to get people to watch me. But in a way that I felt was ethical and highbrow and playing at the top of my intelligence. And so that's also a really important thing. Like I'm always playing at the top of my intelligence. The shows to me feel smart. Like, they feel like you have to have some level of critical thinking skills to watch the show. It's not slop, in other words. You know, it's not just, like, rage bait or viral bait. And I think that is why the engagement is so high. People watch, like, when people quote, like, people know the episodes.

26:15Like, they see you and they go, I remember your episode. I remember your episode. I remember you when you said this. My favorite episode was this. and even quote things that happen at the last 30 seconds of the episode or like love how it ended. So the completion rate is really high because I'm playing at the top of my intelligence. I'm challenging the audience to keep up with the conversation. I'm not just like giving them exactly what they want all the time, you know. And I think that's a big, big difference. And also treating every guest with disrespecting dignity. And like everyone feels like my friend, and that's a big problem for me.

26:52Like, I can't do anything. But it's also amazing. Because I feel like I walk around New York City and I feel like I'm in Sesame Street. You know, I feel like everyone's a close personal friend of David. I said close personal friend of David Carr. Amazing guy. Used to be a media writer at the New York Times. And he has this book where he always felt like a close personal friend. And for his birthday once, his friend gave him a shirt that said, I am a close personal friend of David Carr. And that always stuck out to me. But yeah, close personal friend of Kareem Rama and, or Rahma, depending on who I'm talking to.

27:27I'm like, so also, while all of this is happening, I have agents and managers. And I am, with Keep the Meter Running, I'm like, holy shit. Like, there's a Vanity Fair article that says this is the best show on TikTok. It was the only show on TikTok, but it was still the best show on TikTok. And I'm sending them the article. They go, awesome. Great job, Kareem. I go, how do we like, should we package this? Do we do a TV show? Call some people. Hey, I just got an executive producer. Nice. Keep us updated. I'm like, please help. I'm literally like, please help me. Okay. Then Subway Takes comes out.

28:04Holy shit, guys. I just did it again. Like, you don't know how hard it is to do it once. I just did it. I just did back to back, which is why I'm afraid of launching a third show. You know, like, like that's really hard. So I'm, I'm, I'm cooking up. I have something. I have a huge one. Literally huge. I look and sound like Trump. I have a huge big idea. You guys have no idea. This thing's going to be okay. But hey, Subway takes ripping guys, million views. Oh my God. I'm begging for their attention. I go, I can help you. I will book any of your clients. Let me know who you want me to book. Yeah, we'll let you know.

28:51Nothing. They're totally asleep at the wheel. 50 episodes in. Hey, I just got a brand deal for$5 ,000 myself. Why didn't you loop us in? Well, you guys have been completely silent. Then they're like, great, good job. Maybe that was even 100 episodes in. Can you do more? How do we sell this? Blah, blah, blah. Nothing. And so I was like, I don't understand if this is gonna make any money, but it's fun and people seem to enjoy it. And I hope it makes money, but like, am I not? And that's okay. And then I get this amazing New York Times profile in the arts and culture section, which is about Subway Takes and about Keep the Meter Running and about my career as a host.

29:42and I fired my agents and managers the day that that came out. It was amazing and awesome and I was super happy. And I think that they regret it because I'd never re-signed with an agency. I still don't have an agency. I have great management and they were like, you're big. I think we had 300 ,000 followers. They were like, you're big but you're not that big. And you're definitely hot and in a really interesting position where like people are paying attention to your show more than they're paying attention to any other show. And I think that was because of the booking, to your point. It was like people of interest and it was people that wouldn't necessarily get booked on other shows.

30:23So there was something interesting and novel about my idea that other shows didn't have. But they were like, look, you're just, you're not monetizable yet because you're small. They were just like, that's the point. And I was like, okay, if I get big, do you pretty much guarantee me that I will be able to make a living? And they were like, yes. And they were like, how do you make it big? And I was like, they were like, it's obviously you got to book more celebrities, right? And I was like, no, I think I just have to make more videos. Like I don't make a lot. I'm treating this as a side hustle.

30:57But if I treat it like a career and a job, then what I should do is wake up and go to work every morning and make these videos and show up every single day and do it. That's when I paused everything. You know, like I stopped writing scripts. I stopped making movies. I stopped doing, I stopped doing anything. I was like, I'm going to focus on subway takes. And I did that for a year. And I used to call it the road to a million. That was my, my plan was like for that year, it was like the road to a million, sending updates to the team. Really just that was my goal. and making sure that quality was not sacrificed.

31:31But it was like, how do we get to a million? And that is when really, like on the road to a million, things started coming in and deals started coming in. And it really looked like it would be a business. And that's when we started expanding beyond TikTok and Instagram to YouTube and YouTube Shorts. And YouTube was so hard. I remember I posted for like at least six months and would get 400 views per video. And then one day, finally, just something happened. I got like 10 ,000 subscribers in a day. And then from there, it's been a slow build, almost a million. Probably when this comes out, it'll have a million.

32:07Wow. The plaque. Yeah. I know. I can't. That's the only reason I'm doing it. That plaque really works. It really works. It really does, right? You really want it. It really works. I can't wait to replace my 100K and give it to Andrew to hand me down.

32:22Colin Rosenblum:We spent years of our life with no viewership, irrationally trying to get the plaque to then and show our parents and our wives who didn't care. We have the plaque. It really works. Who were the brands that came in? What type of brands? Was it like, we want you to wear this type of clothing? How did they see themselves integrating onto the show? It was really interesting. The first couple were clothing brands. It was like H &M, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo. They were early adopters. And I think it made sense. They would be like, oh, they would actually dress the guests. Interesting. Not me. Yeah, they would like, but again, allowed me to book the show.

33:01So I would literally, I would go like, hey guys, are you around? Do you want to make X amount of dollars? You just need to wear this cool clothes. This is all head to toe, unique love, by the way. You need to wear like this clothes on the show and like give me five take options that we can vet with the client and we'll make it work. So those were the first. And then it became more brands. I think Google Google was an early one. Google was early? And it was really cool because what happened was we did a Subway take with, or no, we did an organic take where Millie Tamaris came on the show and she was unpaid by anyone.

33:39She was just like, Android is better than iPhone. That was the take. And it had nothing, she wasn't being paid, I wasn't being paid, no one was being paid. That was just her Subway take. And it made it to the front page of Reddit, got like 21 million views. And then Google was like, this is amazing. how do we like double down on this so we rebooked millie to actually have a like a reason like what are the real reasons that android is better than iphone right like and i think then we work together again so google's been like multi i think we've worked with them three or four times they were really great clients so they were early and um and then it's just like a lot of you know the the entertainment industry because it's so hard to book a celebrity on our show because there's just not enough space like sometimes they've been like hey we have this new netflix show coming out or this new hulu show coming out and they've been great partners because it's amazing for me because essentially like i need to get paid for my time and my platform that i've built and i don't have time for everyone so if i if i have to rush home or like i can't put my kid to bed or i have to miss out on something else that I would rather be doing to do the show.

34:50Like I should be paid even though I would have this person on the show for free. You know what I mean? Right. So it's like that rate is a lot lower than just like the fully branded rate because I do get something out of it which is you know an interesting person and I don't have to do all of the work.

35:08Samir Chaudry:Is an example of that Jason Bateman? No, I was not paid for that one. No, no, no, no. Fantastic take. He was great. Yeah. He's such a professional, so much fun to spend time with. I loved shooting with him. His take was that a dog should wear shoes, right?

35:24Colin Rosenblum:And they should.

35:25Samir Chaudry:And I firmly agree. Yeah, I say that all the time. It's just crazy that they don't. I think it's crazy that they don't. I'm not putting my dog in shoes. I think also just the comfort level. I don't care. I think the comfort level of a dog crawling into your bed when they've just kind of been around or like, you know, there's a lot of beings, including ourselves, that when you poop, you wipe or you clean in some way, shape, or form. A dog, our expectation is not that. They just poop, and then they get in our bed, and they lay on our pillow. Now, granted, I don't have a dog. I'm just saying. But imagine from New York City.

36:01I mean, anyone that has a dog in New York City, I am shocked that you could live with the animal. Seriously, because I'm like. I think the bed is the big thing. Well, people, they don't wear their clothes on the bed because you ride the subway. And so there's like, imagine like me going home and laying on bed. Like I definitely have never worn my shoes in the house. And especially in New York though, that actually changed when I moved to New York because I used to wear it in Minneapolis. Who cares? Like I would wear my shoes in the house. Here, no way. So to have a dog that's like walking through piss and shit and then comes home and does not take their shoes off.

36:38Samir Chaudry:Right. And then like - Or take a shower or anything. Yeah. And then goes in the bed or on the couch. it's shocking to me. And I have two cats and even then, sometimes I'm like, I wonder what's on you. They're indoor cats. Totally. But I don't wash them every day. And they sleep in my bed. And I'm like, I wonder what's on you. Like what is it?

36:57Colin Rosenblum:Even if you walk in your own home without socks or shoes and then look at your feet, it's not good. Dude, it's not good at all. It's not great. It's very bad. It's very bad. But anyway, shout out dog owners.

37:07Samir Chaudry:But that was like, yeah, it's amazing. because like you can in a world where I don't remember 90 % of the things I watch on social. Right. Yeah. Like we talk about this all the time that when you open up like right now, 95 million photos and videos are uploaded to Instagram every day. That's insane. That's insane. And the amount of time that we all spend, like we traveled in yesterday when I'm on an airplane waiting for it to take off. 100%. I am cranking through Instagram reels. and I can tell you, I can tell you, yeah, for sure. Just like, yeah, and I like, my AirPods died before we took off from just cranking through reels.

37:43Samir Chaudry:And I was like, whoa, that means I've been doing this for hours. Yeah. But I don't remember a single reel I watched yesterday and it was hours. I don't remember a single reel. And so I think in a world where we have like, we're just inundated with so much, like you have made a memorable show. I really don't. It's like very hard for me to fully navigate, you know, how how you did that and how a lot of people who make memorable shows have made those in today's era. Because I think it's impossible. The only way that I can understand it is if you're saying and doing something honest, meaning like if I watch your thing and I can feel like you said that you're outcome oriented to go viral or you're there's a strategic element to this.

38:31Samir Chaudry:I'm not going to remember it because it's just like it's just in the ubiquitous kind of world of like everything. But if there's something I watch where I'm like oh that person's being honest. There's something different.

38:43Colin Rosenblum:I think so. You said something that like social media flattens us into one dimension and obviously that's a negative but at the same time with subway takes I think in many ways you have flattened some of the people on the show to their take. I'm not doing that. I mean, you have to go to the page. But I think that's what makes it memorable is that, like, I see Jason Bateman now, and I'm like, oh, yeah, dog loose. They should wear shoes. Or, like, Austin Butler, I'm like, he should go to a bachelor party. Like, that's unfair. He should. I feel bad for the guy. And now, I told you, whenever I go anywhere, people are like, how should I approach you?

39:18Colin Rosenblum:Like, should we handshake? Should we hug? It's shocking, man. It is really shocking. And it's amazing. Like, it's truly, like, I went to Puerto Rico. And here's the other thing I'll say is, like, I've always been, like, if the streets love you, like that's where the power and that's where like that's where everything really matters you know it's like it's like why rappers are so ingrained in the culture is like the streets love them yeah and i went to puerto rico for one day four selfies in the airport staff at the hotel love your show like working class people bodega deli mta workers they love the show that's different that is something different it doesn't feel like foreign to them to watch the show it's like feels familiar and comfortable and like we're all on the same page and i think that is what it is it's the great equalizer man jason bateman right and and like i had this amazing comment that stuck out to me that i loved and it was like subway takes is the only show and this was a comment on a video and it was like subway takes is the only show where one day it's john c Riley complaining about people eating food on camera and the next day it's a female director talking about selling her eggs to make a movie.

40:31And I was like that is exactly so spot on and exactly what makes the show special. And I think you can't lose the celebrity element of it because their takes, like if their take sucks, I won't let them on the show. That's a real thing. Like if they come in with some softball PR take, I'm like, I'm sorry, like you got to come up with a better one and you know what's awesome they trust me and they do workshop the takes and they are worried that's what's also funny is they're like is this good enough you know they have they have nerves and it's the greatest compliment i'll ever receive was um who was i with i was with someone that was like man you're so good at this and i was like thank you oh willie what do you harrelson like complimenting he's like man you have you're like i had so much fun this was awesome like thank you for having me on the show.

41:21I'm so excited. Like, I love this show. And that was a real legitimizing moment for me where I was like, I'm actually like not important, but like I'm like, I don't need to feel weird around these people because they seem, they view me as an equal in a way. Right. Like they value what I'm doing and it's, I'm not doing them like, uh, they're not doing me a favor. Yeah. And getting out of that, like, oh man, and think he's like, you know what I mean? Like, I feel like I am equal.

41:53Samir Chaudry:The ask is also a very important one. You know, because obviously we have a guest-based show. This is actually a pretty big ask for you to come here multiple hours. We're going to have a long conversation. Like, this is a pretty big ask. Big ask of the audience, too. And it's a big ask of the audience. And I think when I think about even coming on Subway Takes, pretty simple ask. And it took 30 minutes total. And I watched, I was take 12. so I watched everyone else's take. Hey, don't show how the sausages work. But I will say with Woody Harrelson, it's a bigger ask because we do subway takes uncut, which is on YouTube.

42:28And that is those people's times because they're doing multiple shows or whatever. They're on their way to 30 Rock. I'm asking them for at least an hour. So it's still a big ask.

42:40Samir Chaudry:What is people's typical reaction on the subway? Does anyone care? No, they love it. like if Jason Bateman's there or Austin Butler or Woody Harrelson or John C. Riley, like the bigger the celebrity, like you are shooting in this like very public. I mean, they love it. Think about getting on the train and seeing John C. Riley just hanging out.

42:58Colin Rosenblum:But isn't that also just like the subway in New York? Like when you call the show like an equalizer, it's actually because like the subway experience. People have always said that. Yeah. Like that's what's great about New York. Michael Shannon takes the subway. Anyone like anyone takes the subway. You can see them on there. And I do think it is a I mean, it's it's fun for them because they're performing in front of a live audience. So Woody Harrelson was so in his zone, flinging the mic around, interviewing other people, having the best time of his life. I'll never forget it. Engaging with the audience, a crowd forming and watching the show.

43:31It's a live audience for the guests and for myself. And for them, it's like most of the time, it is like we're trying to take up as little space as possible. I'm super respectful. I'm like not trying to get in people's ways I know that I'm in their space they're trying to get to work they're trying to get their kid to school like I'm trying to minimize my footprint so most of the time like they're happy to see the show and they're excited to see the show and they're taking the can I get a selfie recording it like it's cool very very very rarely is someone peeved that this is happening so I'm really grateful that like New Yorkers are a different breed and if you're pissing in the corner of the subway people are gonna leave let you piss you know like no one's really trying to get in anyone's business unless you're like wearing a backpack and like it's shoved into my face and I say excuse me take your backpack off like if you're over there doing your thing it's it's all good

44:34Colin Rosenblum:have you learned anything about New Yorkers or American culture through the takes that you get like are they trending a direction or speak to the time i think everyone's fucking like really stressed out yeah i think everyone's really stressed out and i think everyone's trying to not be stressed out and decompress and kind of like pop the balloon or deflate it at least maybe not a pop but like put some air out you know trepidation do you know what that is i think everyone needs could could use a little bit of that yeah is that what it's called trepidation

45:08Samir Chaudry:No, I don't think so. I mean, it's where you like drill a little hole in your skull. I don't think that's trepidation. I think it is trepidation. I think trepidation is like using caution. I think there's another thing. Really? We'll have to fact check it. I'll look it up right now. Just type, type in like. This is like a fictional thing from a movie? No, this is a real thing. Type in drilling a small hole into your skull. Okay. And it's not sci-fi. This is a thing. No, this is a thing that like, I think like some sort of natives do. A small hole. Yeah, you let some of the pressure out. I'm serious.

45:37Think about it. Your brain, your head. Trepanning.

45:41Samir Chaudry:Trepanning. Trepanning. Trepanning. Trepanning. What does it say? What's the definition? A surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled into a human skull. To let some air on. I feel like everyone needs a little bit of that. Like we gotta let some, we gotta, you know, like when you see a cartoon and the steam is blowing out of the ears. Like I think that's where everyone's at right now.

46:01Colin Rosenblum:Especially on a short form feed right now where you're just like, ah, fuck. It's awful. I saw a great meme the other day and I posted it was like 2007 and it was like the iPhone headphones and like dancer and it was like whoa cool it's like a little computer that you can touch and put in your pocket and then it was like 2027 like consuming rage hate watching the world collapse 24 seven like it was someone like doom scrolling in bed yeah yeah it's such a good it was I was like man this is what's happening and I was I was on a flight I think my screen time yesterday was 10 hours yeah and it was injecting current affairs right into my veins yes and i couldn't stop you know what i did when i got home turned on cnn like i was like i am going this whole day i will 100 be focused on global affairs when i'm pissing at the urinal when i'm going through security at the airport and when i'm lying at that and that is not healthy well i think there's also

47:00Samir Chaudry:this thing that right now with how much is available to us and how fragmented everything is that politics and global affairs creates like relative monoculture it's the thing we can all talk about it's the assumption that the only thing when you walk in here it's the assumption of our common ground i don't know what else you watch you know or listen to like i have no idea but i know you know about what's going on in the world yeah so i think that is uh and then it's also similar to like why takes are good is because there's an opportunity for us to have it might me to have an opinion on something and you to have another opinion it's nice to find common ground man yeah it's and it's really hard to find common ground so i i you know i i love the subway takes audience because they are maybe not looking for common ground but it's not that serious and and the feed is serious most of the time the feed is serious yeah i mean to be honest like i think it's It's really insane to me that on a given day you can open the feed and watch someone die.

48:03I know. Yeah. I actually think that's insane. When we were young, you would have to go to a weird website. Yeah. And like you'd have to seek it out essentially.

48:10Samir Chaudry:Yeah. But now you open your phone and it's possible if you open it on a certain day and time when something just happened that you're watching someone get killed. Literally.

48:19Colin Rosenblum:2025 felt like the year that we crossed over to that where it was just like I will watch people die. And I don't think like if you are a person without that phone or feed, you will probably go your whole life without seeing someone die. Of course. Yeah. So it's just whatever is happening. We're in uncharted territory. And like, I don't know. There's like ways to like, I think we are. I don't know. I don't know what's happening. Sometimes I feel like it's normal. And I'm like, well, this is technology. And other times I'm like, this shouldn't be normal at all.

48:50Samir Chaudry:Yeah. And other times I'm like, it's not a big deal. and other times i'm like it is a big deal sometimes i'm like six hour screen time is fine sometimes i'm like this i need to get this done to do like i'm working through it i think just like everyone

49:02Colin Rosenblum:else yeah lately i've been scrolling and i keep seeing the study that like scrolling short form feeds has led to like cognitive decline have you seen that study no that feels like low brain activity and i'm like oh there's that one again well dude like smoking is it says on the box smoking kills literally says on the box of every cigarette. But it looks cool. Or like Does it still look cool? No, I don't think it still looks cool. Joe Camel's cool. I can see why they got rid of that guy. A Joe Camel vintage t-shirt. He was so sick. It's too cool. That's what I mean. Scrolling a short form feed doesn't look cool.

49:42Samir Chaudry:You don't look cool doing it. I actually stopped doing it on the train because people were taking pictures of me like paparazzi style, like, oh, look, it's the guy. And they weren't being mean, but I would see the photo and it would just be mean. It doesn't look cool. I'm more than this man. It looks really bad. So now I raw dog their subway ride and I just stand there. Headphones in or no? Headphones in, but nothing playing because I'm, you know, I feel like you shouldn't have, you should use your senses when you're on the train. Sure. But sometimes I'll just have a book and I'll, you know, read the same paragraph over and over.

50:16But that looks a lot cooler. way and it signals what i'm reading yeah and it's almost like subliminal messaging you're sending one message yeah i'm sending a message that like i am reading this book about xyz and yeah i'm this

50:28Samir Chaudry:type of guy yeah performative let's talk about keep the meter running because that was a show you made prior to subway takes it's a show that uh has been compared to bourdain uh which i think is a very fair comparison actually i wouldn't say i don't i don't think that comparison should be taken lightly, but I think it is a fair comparison that Keep the Meter Running is similar to the feeling that I got when I watched Bourdain. Can you explain the show and where it came from and why you even made the show? Well, first of all, I don't take it lightly, and it is shocking when I hear it. And I didn't even know what I was getting into when I started that show.

51:07Again, 80 % format. I, you know, the show is I hail a cab and I tell the taxi driver take me to your favorite place and keep the meter running. And then we go on wild adventures. I've been in the basement of an African mosque. I've been salsa dancing. I've been at the Russian bathhouse. I've been in a New Jersey helicopter flying near the Empire State Building. Like, I've been through it all. It's amazing with the cabbie. And the idea stemmed from this place of of like missing my father who passed away when I was 21 years old. And I always found myself like connecting to cabbies in the sense that they're like adult men, usually with families, usually immigrants, usually working so hard.

51:58And there's something about them that I'm like, you have a secret because you're doing this difficult, difficult job. And most of the time they're like in fairly decent spirits. and if you want to have a conversation about politics they're ready if you want to talk about religion they're ready if you want to talk about life advice they're ready like these therapists kind of or like gurus or you know whatever monks yeah you know like i had this cab ride where i was going through a really tough time and i remember the guy was going over the williams bridge and he was giving me like all of this advice on my love life and i was like this is really good advice when we got to my apartment and I was like man if you want to keep hanging out like I would love to just keep hanging out and he was like I'm gonna have to keep the meter running and I was like oh bang put it in my notes wow and I had this idea for so long and I really wanted to do it but I just I was not again I came from a background working at Vice and the New York Times and in media and not really on camera talent and not really producing I was like doing content development and content marketing but I wasn't the one making the shows and so I knew it was a good idea but I didn't know how to make it and I also wasn't like ready to commit and then my friend Adam, Adam Faze, who's amazing and such a pioneer in the space and was really the first one to get me into the driver's seat because he was like you're really funny like have you ever thought about making a show and I was like not really you know I was like I was like I'm making videos but that I haven't thought about.

53:31And at the time, I really wanted to, I remember I was like, I wanna have a thing. But I was not looking at shows, but I was like, I saw people like, I was like, oh, there's a guy that eats sandwiches. And that's his thing. There's another person that talks in their car, that's their thing. Like I was thinking about format in a way that it's something I could do every day. And that's when I started the Stupid Studies, which is the talk show. Right. in my kitchen i built a studio in my kitchen so that i would not have to have an excuse of like i don't have a space so they're like i can't get to the studio so i was like i'm gonna put it next to my bed i'd roll out of bed into the studio it was amazing uh but then that failed and i was like oh you know maybe that's not what i can do like it has to be less produced i need to like eat sandwiches and he was like what's the one idea that you've always wanted to make and i was like this is it.

54:24He was like, that's literally a brilliant idea. And so we, you know, I was like, how are we going to do it? He was like, we're just going to do it. And so we went out the next day and I held a cab, held 20 cabs.

54:34Samir Chaudry:And Adam just held the camera. Adam held the camera. Another guy, because there's one in the front, one in the back. Ari Kagan is the other guy, YouTuber. I was like, take me to your favorite place and keep the meter running. I, he was like, you know, I said that to the first guy that said yes and his name was Abdul Raouf Khan and he chose this Pakistani restaurant in Queens called Dara and that's the moment where the 20 % got filled in and it became a food show. I never set out to make any sort of food show. And again that's why I'm like fill in the format with 80 % of the way and then make it and then the 20 % that's missing will fill itself in.

55:16and it was like while we were making it it was magic because he was like scolding me for getting divorced he was showing me this amazing restaurant that i would have never gone to he was you know spiritually guiding me and it was all the things that a father would do like it was a good example of a male role model and that's really what the show is about it's about me finding good male role models and also exploring different cultures through the lens of cab drivers who kind of not only hold the secrets to the universe, but also hold these amazing secrets of the cities that they're working in.

55:59And we started as a short form show. You know, we would shoot eight to 12 hours and I was so stupid at the time because we would hold the cameras like this because we were making it for short. Guess what? Big mistake. Because now we're shooting 8 to 12 hours and we're releasing six minutes of content on a small screen. That show is so important to me. I don't think any other creator would have done this. But I have the hottest show in the world, Subway Takes, with the biggest stars in the world if I want them, Subway Takes, making a really good living on Subway Takes. And rather than forgetting about this working class, super gritty show, after four years, I'm really excited to do it again.

56:51And go back to that original idea, even though it's less glamorous, it's less Hollywood, it's less everything. It's harder, more difficult for me to make, more expensive to produce. And I'm like, can't stop thinking about it. You know what I mean? and that's why I'm doing it. I can't stop thinking about it. I have a great time doing it. I love watching the episodes. And in the moment, I'm really happy and free. So I think it just goes to show that like some ideas are just, you got to do them. Even if they don't make a ton of sense, you know.

57:25Colin Rosenblum:I really believe it's like one of the most beautiful shows on the internet right now, truly. And I was a massive fan of Bourdain because of that feeling of him being the everyman and feeling like he gets to travel the world and be accepted and welcomed into people's homes. And you get that sense with you. And I think the respect that you give actually to the intricacies of what it means to be a cab driver are also super important to that show. It's not just like, be my de facto therapist, take me to your favorite spot. It's, you know, as you're watching guest to guest, you're learning about the medallion and the debt of purchasing one of these medallions and getting to drive.

58:02Colin Rosenblum:a taxi cab, you're learning about how they have to go to the bathroom. Like there's actually an arc across episode to episode, which I find very unique. You don't really see that on short form. Like I don't necessarily have to watch subway takes in order at all. Yeah. I don't have to with keep the meter running. But if I am watching in order, I'm actually learning about this subculture of what it means to be a cab driver, which feels like obviously a very hard job. And a lot of times at the end of the episode, it feels like you're giving these cab drivers a moment to be fully heard. and it takes a lot of investment of the audience to get to that last sort of segment that you release and like you've said before it kind of asks a lot of the audience but it hopefully in my experience that it's worth it to get to the end and like you know the Irish Catholic cab driver who reads his poem at the end of that episode it's like such a cathartic experience he's in the snow outside of his cab reading a poem about like how he feels about how New York has changed and I feel like it's one of the few shows on the internet that is allowed to get very nuanced and doesn't have to be celebrity based.

59:08I really miss the show which is why we made it like I've missed it over the past four years I've been thinking about it constantly it's always there and so it's one of those things you know when you just have to make it yeah like I just have to make it and I there were so many things that happened you know when I put it down I was like okay let's develop it into a TV show. There were so many moments. Like I put it down four years ago and I was like, okay, this is a TV show. We're going to pitch this to TV. We're going to package it. We're going to develop it. And we're going to go to the streamers and somebody's for sure going to buy it.

59:43Look at the Vanity Fair article. Look at all the press. Look at the numbers. Like I said, faster growing show than Subway takes. We were able to get to like 400 ,000 followers on TikTok in like 10 episodes. Whereas Subway Takes that took like 400 or something. I got so many no's that it really just turned me off from Hollywood. Hollywood is not a place. It's a feeling. And I was like, what is this? And then I finally got a deal to make six episodes. and the contract negotiation took four months. And every time I got the contract back, there were more limitations on what Kareem Rahman could do, not only as a person, but with Keep the Meter Running and with Subway Takes.

1:00:39Somehow Subway Takes had made itself into the contract. Like a contract about Keep the Meter Running. What type of restrictions? Like we need to control where Subway Takes will air. like if you decide that you want to put subway takes uncut on pluto or roku or tubi like we would need to approve that or if you start a snapchat channel for subway takes we would need to approve that and i was like this is this is a different show and also you don't understand that the bigger subway takes get like this is a marketing channel for keep the meter running every positive thing that happens to subway takes will lead to a positive thing for keep the meter running.

1:01:19So it was like all of these things and then you know in the process of pitching there were streamers that were like okay cool we'll take the show but you have to like you raise a million dollars and we will also put in a million dollars. So it needs to be a two million dollar budget and you bring us a million dollars and we'll put in a million dollars and then we'll distribute the show. And I'm like okay so you want me to go out and raise a million dollars which is enough to make the show. And then you want me to give you the million dollars so that you can give it to a production company that you like and then i can get paid a talent fee which will probably be like less than five percent of that million dollars Yeah, yeah, what?

1:01:58Like, what? You know, so confusing and so weird. And, you know, other ones were like, yeah, maybe you could, like, turn this into a competition show.

1:02:12Yeah. I was like, you want me to have cabbies compete for, like, my love and attention so that I can buy one of them a house? Right. Like, Beast Games? Like, shout out Mr. Beast, but that's a totally different, like, Squid Games. Like, this is dark. stuff like you know and or like is it like is there like a matchmaking element like super wild stuff and just turned me off in a way that i was like you know what man unfortunately i've wasted four years like developing a show that was already fully baked and i just couldn't do it and so at the last minute i walked away from the deal immediately picked up the so many independent like production companies and financiers were interested and i was saying no no no my ego my ego was like you must get a traditional deal yeah i totally get that ego fully ego based like i have to this is what the old kind of signal of successes and I need that.

1:03:17And I still do. Just not that one. Yeah, it could be a different thing, but there's still this desire to know I've made it, that I've been approved by Hollywood in this way. But I guess on the list of priorities. You're in the center of the Vanity Fair picture. You've got to be safe. Wearing a different color jacket. Still not on TV. And I guess you're probably right from the outside looking in, but you have I know. Listen, I totally get it.

1:03:46Samir Chaudry:Yeah, it's hard to, especially I think when you're in our age bracket. Yeah, older. Very different feeling because we want the feeling of like the Netflix stamp of approval or the traditional stamp of approval. Like we want that.

1:04:00Colin Rosenblum:Otherwise, we're just validating ourselves.

1:04:02Samir Chaudry:Yeah, otherwise we just have to live in the abyss.

1:04:04Colin Rosenblum:Just all of us going. Yeah, you're doing a great job.

1:04:07Samir Chaudry:Which actually sometimes happens. But it's great because you guys are thought leaders and you're telling me I'm doing a great I'm on your show because I value you. Yeah, this all feels good. Yeah, this is. But where's the other, you know, the old guy? I want the old guy to go. You want the show business committee to be like, you got it. But that is one of my big regrets is that I wasted so much time trying with that, with that show. Maybe that show. But the thing is, you're a different guy now, four years later, who gets to make this show. Probably with a different level of even confidence to make the show.

1:04:37Samir Chaudry:I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but like in a different level of exposure. But I would say that from that story, like the couple things even as Hollywood has come for creators, right? Like Netflix is filled now with creator shows and will be for the next couple of years. The one thing that Hollywood really does not have that I think we have is momentum. Meaning when Adam and you decide to go make the show, you just go the next day and make the show. And I think momentum and creativity is one of the most important things in the world. because all of our ideas are crazy and irrational and make no sense.

1:05:11Samir Chaudry:So as much time and space as you give between idea and making the thing, it continues to make less sense. And you can convince yourself out of it very easily, right? And then you start getting into like contracts and stuff. And you're like months in and you're like, was I excited about this? I don't even know if I was excited about this.

1:05:32Colin Rosenblum:Releasing something with the energy that it was made with is so important. And I feel like you as a creator feel it. I think the audience feels it. That's such a good point. Yeah.

1:05:41Samir Chaudry:And I think that's where we will continue to have struggles with what is Hollywood or traditional networks and how we operate where it's like, no, we're excited. Let's just make the thing. And then I also realized the thing that I wanted, which was this like, you know, I see like I have so many guests on subway takes and they pull up in the black car, you know, that's paid for by Hulu or HBO. Right. And then they go, oh, by the way, we're also having a party tonight at Metrograph. Right. And they go, oh, of course, I'll be there, like red carpet, blah, blah, blah. All these people are there celebrating them.

1:06:14They're on Fallon and Kimmel and all this stuff. And I'm like, that's really actually what I want, is I want that moment in the limelight. Because so much of being a creator is like you're grinding, you're always on, you never stop. There's no like season two. It's just like one long season. Like Subway takes us 650 episodes. One long season. For eternity. Yeah, with no plans of stop. And when is the party? We haven't had a party. We had a million views, no party. Or not views, followers. So when do I get to like do the thing? Is this an ask?

1:06:54Samir Chaudry:You want us to throw you a party? We are in this beautiful city. And this was a breakthrough moment for me. And what got me really excited is I was like, I'm going to shoot this show in seasons. I'm going to do a 10 episodes. I'm not going to shoot, publish, shoot, publish. I'm going to shoot 10 episodes. I'm going to take care. I'm going to sound mix. I'm going to sound design. I'm going to color. I'm going to do a TV show. I'm literally going to do a TV show. And then when I launch the show, I'm going to do a press tour and I'm going to come on Colin and Samir. And then tonight I'm going to go on Kimmel.

1:07:38And then tomorrow I'm going to get an Uber XL for the day. And I'm going to make press appearances in my Uber. I'm going to go on subway takes, literally.

1:07:50Samir Chaudry:Really? Yeah. How are you going to do that? Don't worry about it. You'll see. Amazing. You'll see. I have ideas. And then are you actually going in Kimmel? No, not yet. But you're saying. This is my dream. It's like Kimmel, Fallon, whatever. If anything, he'll be in the Uber XL. If anything, I realized if I can make the show independently, like a television show independently, I can do the press tour independently. Of course. And just do all of the things that I want to do in the same way that I've always done them, which is to just do them. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I'm just going to do it.

1:08:22I'm going to do all the things that I want to do. I have enough. And that is where the pro of doing this four years later is that I've built a name. I've built a career. I've built Subway Takes. And I can, you know, this new show coming out is news. Like, Subway Takes Creator launches a new show that's actually an old show. But it's like I can, I do have the ability to call a publicist and say, hey, I'm launching a new show. I want to do this and that and this and that. and I want to have the party and I want to invite these people and they will probably come and I will feel like I have my day in the spotlight, which is really what I was like.

1:09:01Essentially what I realized is I want to celebrate my content and my achievement in the traditional way of selling. I don't want it to feel like I'm just doing like the perpetual content thing.

1:09:14Samir Chaudry:I think the other thing about making the show now four years later is that it's a, actually it's a very different time in America. And making a show about the cultural diversity of America right now feels important in a way that it's always been important, but it feels like we're talking about the relationship to Bourdain. Bourdain was out in the world. You're in America and you're in New York City. but showing us cultural diversity. And I think that is like a very, a very important thing right now. Yeah, you can travel the world without leaving New York City. Right. That's what I've really learned through the show.

1:09:56Yeah. Is I can be in Ghana. Right. I can be in Pakistan. I can be in India. Right. It's really incredible. Like if you really, I can be in Russia.

1:10:04Samir Chaudry:Right. Like. That's one of my favorite episodes when they're taking shots. But there's a new one. There's a new one. Great. That we just shot that's like, It's just insane. Is this the photo I saw of you in the bathhouse? Yeah. Little hats. So cool and so fun. Just old world. Feels like the old world, home country. And Mother Russia. It was cool. So what's your hopes for the show as this season comes out? That it's just a popular TV show and that people tune in and watch it. on their TVs and want more and that somebody says here let's do season two what's amazing is that I have removed the goal like this has also been really freeing my goal in the past would have been like I'm going to put it on YouTube so that XYZ can call me streamer can call me but I've removed that part there's no like the focus is making the best TV show possible on YouTube to me that is the future of television and i want to be one of the first people to make tv quality formats on youtube because it's going like this you know what i mean and young people are going home and they're turning on the tv and they're putting on youtube and uh if they find me that's awesome you know and if they learn how to watch long-form programming if i become their Bourdain that's sick yeah like I hope that they have the desire for that but maybe they've never seen anything like it totally you know they've seen travel shows they've seen food shows but maybe they haven't seen this like really empathetic perspective right that requires a commitment from

1:12:00Colin Rosenblum:both the host the subject and the audience yeah they haven't seen someone who's uh deeply empathetic but also not afraid to have a take in an opinion i think that was the wonderful thing about bourdain is he would go to like a war-torn country and be deeply empathetic um but also deeply opinionated about how he felt leaving that country i mean i remember he went to detroit in the detroit episode and at the end of the episode he leaves and he's like honest he's like i think there's no hope for detroit so good he's like it's long gone but like but he's like but it's not up to me he's like I'm not living here and I'm not the one who's going to define Detroit.

1:12:38Colin Rosenblum:But he left it on that note of like from what I've seen. It's a brave note. Yeah, it's a brave note to say that. And of course Detroit was like, all right, like go to hell. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I think it was like, he was deeply empathetic to like what was happening there while at the same time giving his opinion. And I think that's what younger generations, I don't know, but I feel like have not seen as much. Yeah, I'm excited, man. I don't know. I want to be like at the forefront. It's always been this like punk attitude that I think I lost for a bit. because I wanted the acceptance.

1:13:09But I've always been kind of a punk. I've always done whatever I wanted to do. I've always went with my gut and not wanting to be in a system or this is how, I used to hate when people said, this is how we always do it. Like in my corporate jobs, this is how we've always done it. It'd be like, well, who cares how you've always done it? And I think I became one of those people that wanted to join the, this is how it's always done. This is the process. this is what you do. And then when I was in it, I was like, this makes no sense. And I can't keep pretending that it does. There's a new way. You got to be brave.

1:13:46You got to trust. You got to commit. You got to like.

1:13:50Samir Chaudry:Success will change that though a little bit. Yeah. The punk attitude, right? Because like, I mean, you tell me how the feeling of, because I'm assuming like Subway takes is a massive hit. It's not like, all right, I got a thing that kind of works. It's like you made a thing that's globally culturally relevant that brought fame, money. A Vanity Fair article. A Vanity Fair article. Success in ways that is the thing you wanted, right? I imagine that But that changes a bit of the relationship with like the punk feeling because you are like… Yeah, tell me. But it was done through the punk feeling.

1:14:33You know I have never felt like an insider ever. Even now I don't feel like an insider. Even now I don't feel successful. That is the matter… That is like my own problem. It is a big problem. But like I am always pushing myself to… Honestly it is about surprising myself. I love the idea of someone going, that goddamn son of a bitch did it again. And that person who's saying that is me. That's what I want. I love that feeling. And every time I get there I go, holy shit I can't believe I did that. I'm shocked. And it's really not a great feeling to chase because the carrot is always a little too far away but it's like a really fulfilling sort of thing you know and I think that is what makes me work so hard is that I just don't have any goal beside entertaining myself, having a good time, inspiring other people kind of you know whether that means inspiring a creator to get off the couch and just do it or inspiring a taxi driver to be like you know what maybe i should try to stand up comedy you know like yeah like there's there's just so many levels of it uh to it and just i mean it's the cheesiest cornest thing to say but like leave the world a little bit better every single day you know yeah contribute to the optimism and positivity and hope that we see in the smallest gestures whether it's looking locking eyes with the barista and saying thank you you know or like thanking the flight attendant on the way off the flight or giving the server a 30 % tip instead of a 20 % tip for absolutely no reason.

1:16:37Just these little things that kind of like leave people feeling a little better than they might be.

1:16:44Samir Chaudry:You've talked about a couple times in this episode, this like 80-20 thing about building a format. And I was curious to actually dig into the 80 % for a second. And you've made formats that are like universally interesting. And I actually think that's pretty hard right now on the internet. to make something that a lot of people will be interested in. How do you think about a format that is 80 % there? Well, I think you got to start with the premise. And that needs no explanation. I get in a cab. I tell the driver, take me to the favorite place. And that's what we do. And we go on these crazy adventures.

1:17:21Colin Rosenblum:That first line needs to define the entire format. Yeah, you see it in your head. You're like, I know exactly what this guy's talking about. It's a live talk show on the subway take where people give. The subway take. It's a live talk show on the subway take. so live talks on the subway take where people give their hottest takes zero questions you go i get you know you see it and so i think part of it is is coming up with that very clear idea and i think that is like pretty much at least that's like 50 of of the thing right and then it's like how are you going to shoot it what's it going to look like keep the meter running camera in the front camera in the back no lighting super raw zooms and just like handy cams no stability um essentially point a camera at something interesting and follow it that's what that is so now you're like you've learned how you figured out how you're going to shoot it i think now you're at 80 i really think or at least 70 yeah so you know is it like and And then actually maybe that's 70%.

1:18:2710 % is like, is it made for Instagram? Is it made for YouTube? Figure out your distribution. That means AKA, is it gonna be long? Is it gonna be short? Now you're 80%. So to me, that's enough to go figure out what the show is. That's enough for me to shoot the show.

1:18:45Samir Chaudry:Clear premise is really good. The clear premise, I think figuring out how you're gonna do it and how you want it to look. I want all my shows to look super professional, which is why I don't use a phone. But there's a version of Keep the Meter Running that's shot on the phone. It's a different show. There is a version of it that is like POV. I'm never on camera. It's always a driver. There's no crew. It's just me. There is a version of that show that works on a phone. Different show.

1:19:17But I think that is what you said about momentum. You will lose momentum trying to figure out every step. At least in unscripted shows. Maybe scripted, a little bit different. But even then I would say figure out 90 % of the format on unscripted shows and then go figure out the rest out there. Because I think losing the momentum and what you said, publishing the idea while it's still hot and you're excited about it, both of these things, I think those are worth going out and doing it. And you will figure it out. You know, like I think about it like a test kitchen, like McDonald's or Doritos or whatever.

1:19:57Like they're constantly putting these ideas out and they're and then when they hit, they're huge. You know, and like you might get Cool Ranch very close to it. You're like, what is what the fuck is Cool Ranch? Somebody went 80 percent and was like, it's a ranch. And then they were like, well, how do we make it a little bit better? And they had all these ones and they're like, what if it's Cool Ranch?

1:20:17Samir Chaudry:Isn't it Cooler Ranch? No, no. I have no idea. I'm pretty sure. I would not. It's called Cool Ranch. It's Cool Ranch. It's fucking good. And no one knows what it is. It doesn't taste like ranch. I don't know what it is. It does not taste anything like ranch. No, but it's so good. That's for sure. It's so good. Yeah. Or like Mountain Dew. What is that? Yeah. What flavor is that? What is that? Yeah, totally. It doesn't taste like Mountain Dew. Now it does. But actually, I don't even know if this is a good analogy, but it is a good combination. I actually don't even remember what the analogy was for.

1:20:47Colin Rosenblum:It was about getting 80 % of the way. I would assume someone took Mountain Dew to 80 % and they were like, it's lemon lime cola. And then someone was like, it's Mountain Dew. Well, they added something. What if it was a little more green? Yeah. Or like, doesn't taste like lemon lime at all. Or like, I don't know, maybe they added orange. Who knows what they did? But there's just like, I don't know. I think so many people contact me and they're like, I have this idea for a show. I have this idea for a show. I go, what's your advice? My advice is go do it. They're like, would love to get your thoughts.

1:21:24Guess who I never get thoughts from? Anyone. Literally. There's no need for thoughts.

1:21:31Samir Chaudry:There's actually no need for thoughts because actually the world will tell you if it's good or not pretty immediately. And you'll know. When you make it, you'll just know. You'll know. Is this good or is it? And the other thing about thoughts is that everyone has a different opinion. Right. And I think it's just going to confuse you more. I know a lot of people that before they do something, they get everyone's advice i'm not one of those people i think it's served me sometimes well sometimes not well like i've definitely had regrets in my life but those regrets are not about the content i'm making they're about like should i have purchased an apartment in this neighborhood or or you know like my and not consulted a real estate expert and be like Now my gut says, it's going up.

1:22:15And my gut was wrong. But yeah, I don't know. There's just like, again, there are so many forces at play. Your brain is designed to make you be safe and to make you be comfortable and to make you not do the risky thing. And it's hard to fight perfectionism. But I also think that the audience appreciates seeing the seams, seeing the behind the scenes, like seeing the looseness of it. And I think that's why young people like creators so much because like we're sitting here, we're talking, they all relate to us in a way. They might see themselves in us in a way, whereas traditional entertainment, they like, there's still some sort of level of like the veil is not lifted.

1:23:08like you know what i mean and you don't it's manicure i don't share a ton about my personal life but like the veil isn't fully like there's still like some stuff like i speak freely and candidly yeah and i'm not like beholden to any one or anything yeah aside from my own vibe for

1:23:26Colin Rosenblum:the creators who are watching or listening and thinking okay i'm already in this world of punk distribution of like yeah i i published a tick tock instagram i might make what i would think of as a TV show for YouTube. But what does it actually look like to go from the format that is now 100 % with Keep the Meter Running? Like it's fully baked. It's on Instagram and TikTok and go, okay, now I want to make this for TV. Because my assumption when I watch Keep the Meter Running is like, you kind of just roll up to the restaurant, you've got two camera ops, and you're just like, is it cool if we film here?

1:23:57Colin Rosenblum:All good. Does that change when you think let's make it for TV? Yeah. So the first 20 episodes were all short form six minute episodes. I would literally just go outside and hail cabs until someone said yes. So I didn't know anything about what we were going to do, where we were going to go, who I was going to be talking to, zero. With the TV version, I think it's really important that every driver is a star and bring something new to the table because I'm thinking about it as a season. And in the season, in the season arc, in the same way that Bourdain walks away from every episode having reflections and changing, I want that to happen for myself so if i go out and i just like do it the old way i might get five pakistani cab drivers right who have very similar stories you know i work really hard my family's back home blah blah blah blah like that's a very common story and i'm got fucked over by the medallion like that's a sad story and it's a common story and it's not a story that should be ignored but i don't want to make 10 episodes of that story yeah when doing this season we did a casting process and i was involved in that because i do want to come in fresh and like not know anything other than their name where they're from and what they like but we had uh this amazing woman harley shaw she went out and she literally has taken over a hundred cabs and made videos uh like casting videos with at least 60 of them uh and has you know said this is what i like about this person this is what like this is why you would be a great episode like ideas and that was something i've never done in my life because i haven't done that for subway takes or anything else i've never done casting so um we did a casting process and the plant like we upgraded our equipment you know we went from fx3s to fx6s sound stays the same actually we never had a sound person so we did you know all the short form episodes no sound person so now we have sound uh there's some bts photography that happens and there's a loose plan because we don't have like now that the shoots are so much more expensive because you have to factor in the casting costs the equipment costs the additional crew members costs the follow car that we rent all the stuff that now makes the shoot day go from 2000 to a lot more do you also have to like alert the restaurants make sure they're aware because we We don't have time to lose.

1:26:26So if a restaurant, because we've been turned down in the old version, and it's okay, we just go to another one. But now it's like if we get turned down, then we've just lost four hours and we've got to find a new restaurant and we might have to push the shoot. So there's a lot more planning, producing. But again, I keep myself pure. I don't know anything about the driver. I do know what they are. I have an idea of what I want to get out of it. So like Homero is super romantic and in love with his fiance and loves dancing. So I kind of know what we got to do. I'm like, you know, I'm not romantic and my wife probably thinks I'm a boring loser.

1:27:11Every time at 7 p.m. comes around, I just, you know, I put the baby to bed and then I watch television. And that's the opposite of Homero, who's like taking his fiance salsa dancing and going to the Dominican Republic. And he's also the opposite of a sob story. He's like, I'm happy and I'm spending all the money I make. Like, I love spending money. I have the ability to spend money. So like in that episode, I'm like, okay, so I can learn how to be a better lover. Like that is what I want to get out of this. Like, and I actually genuinely want to understand how Homero, the Ecuadorian cab driver, is such a good lover.

1:27:44Like, what the hell? Why am I not like this? This is a dad. This is a father that is giving me advice on love and relationships and the pursuit of happiness. So like before going into it, I was like, okay, that's what I want to get out of Homero. And then you've got

1:28:05Cacandra, who's like, has this super entrepreneurial spirit. And I'm an entrepreneur, but like he has way more difficult uh circumstances and more projects than i have going on so i'm like how are you balancing all these projects you're an author you play the flute you have like these youtube like what can i learn from you about multitasking about pursuing creative pursuits and also what can i do for you like you have this desire to to do stand-up comedy, like I can make that happen really easily. Like that's something that might be hard for you to do, but it's something that's easy for me to do.

1:28:47And so, you know, what phone call can I make to get you on stage? So it is, it's more complicated. And, but it's not that much more complicated. You know what I mean?

1:28:59Colin Rosenblum:It's really not that much. Yeah, because if you overcomplicate it too much, then like that momentum fades and you're back in the same spot. We're doing the bare minimum, essentially. You know what I mean? Not overproducing. Of course we could have interviewed more cab drivers. Of course we could have found more perfect subjects. Of course we wouldn't be making decisions the day before the night of the shoot as to this restaurant hasn't confirmed yet. It's not that produced. There's still a lot of unpredictability and spontaneity and pivoting you know, that happens within the show.

1:29:39Samir Chaudry:I wanted to ask you about your role as well as generally you think creators role in politics, especially like you were very involved with Zoran Mumdani here in New York City. You had Tim Waltz on the show, correct? You had Kamala on but didn't air her show. So just curious about as the country gets more divisive in the world of politics, our role as creators when it comes to the political landscape and even engaging with politicians. Look, I think everything is political. And I think one side of the aisle is very good at content. And I would say that's the right. They're good at memes. They're good at podcasts.

1:30:28They're good at sensationalism. They're good at Twitter. They're good at, they're very good. And I would say the left is not so good at it. Now, because everything is political, every choice we make, the things that we buy, the things that we say, the guests that we book, the platforms that we choose to distribute on, I think that we do have a responsibility to at least, at the very least, be responsible. So if you don't agree with Nick Fuentes, you probably shouldn't have Nick Fuentes on your show. And that's because he's literally like a Nazi. Like it's truly like there's just no justification.

1:31:10You go, yeah, you know, both sides. I'm like, yeah, but that side is really bad. Like you can't have a Nazi on your show. I'm sorry. I don't care who you are. So we have a responsibility to at least be responsible. So we can say things without saying anything. That's how I think about it. Like, I have a responsibility with Subway Takes to book who I book. And I want a diversity of voices. I want a variety of opinions. But I don't need to platform someone who is hateful or misogynistic or Islamophobic or anti-Semitic or any of the things. That is being political, in my opinion. That is engaging in politics, having a line.

1:31:48Now, do we have to voice our opinions or participate in boycotts or like even digital movements and petitions and all that stuff? I would say that there is, I think as a citizen, you should get involved. So now how that translates, like how are Colin and Samir as citizens versus creators, you have to gauge your own level of like what you're comfortable sharing yeah you know what i mean because it is also like a choice and then all of a sudden you are lumped into a category and you know like with subway takes ever since zoran who i felt strongly about personally yeah that was kareem and i was like i'm gonna use my platform to support this and that was a decision i made and positions I made because it's the fucking mayor of New York, the city I live in, the city I love, and the city that I believe in and want to raise my family in.

1:32:50And that's who I choose. That's who I voted for. Ever since that win, I've been called by every congressperson in New York, every senator in New York, mayor from Michigan, governors from other states. political organizations. And I'm like, I have made the decision to just say no, right now, for at least that small portion of my political life, which is who do I book on Subway Takes? I think, you know, it's like almost like the genie's out of the bottle and I am trying to put it back in. And I think I'm succeeding at putting it back in by being like, look, yes, they're like, we, you know, you had Zoran on and I would love to be on too.

1:33:35And I'm like, and I explained, I had Zoran on because he's the mayor of New York. Like you're running for something in New Jersey. I don't live in New Jersey. And I understand that you see me as an ally and I want to be an ally, but I don't I'm not I'm not a political pundit. And like there's only so many slots on the show. And the show is an entertainment show. That's what it is. So I think it's like we do have a responsibility to at least be responsible. And I would say that if you are engaged in politics on a personal level, I don't think it hurts to engage with politics on a public level. But you don't have to be involved in everything.

1:34:16That's another thing that I'm learning. Is that, like, I'm consuming everything and I have an opinion on everything. But I can't publicly engage in every political decision in this country. Right. That's not my job. So, yeah, I mean, it is really like, that is kind of, I guess, the answer is that like, we do have a responsibility and to engage in various ways, whether that means silently or proactively. and I do think that because the right is so good at the internet that you know creators especially on the left or in the middle or whatever you want to call it moderates even should figure out how to use these platforms in a way that can combat extremists and when I say the right I really mean extremists I don't even mean like Mitt Romney yeah I miss Mitt Rob yeah god that guy I mean it's interesting just on the note of late night even with Colbert

1:35:29Samir Chaudry:you know in CBS and you know a bit ago uh not being able to air James Tallarico his his interview with with Democratic candidate James Tallarico because of a rule yeah the fair air act that's the fair air act yeah uh which is such an interesting thought meaning like they have to give equal time to both sides that that that in this modern world of late night does not apply yeah and it made me super grateful yeah it does not apply to your show i'm like great even more reason to never want to be on tv literally yeah i saw that and then it ripped on youtube yeah They put it on YouTube. But anyway, I mean, like, more people would watch Colbert on YouTube than on TV.

1:36:14Samir Chaudry:Yeah, but it just... Yes, I understand. He's not missing out on anything, is that what I'm saying? Because it's free and available worldwide. Yeah. Yeah. You know? But it made me be like, holy... If anything, the story made it just crush on YouTube. But the new world, I'm just like, I'm in the right place, man. Yeah. I'm not trying to get to that side anymore. That is the biggest thing. Like I don't want anyone to control me and tell me what I can and can't do. And yeah, I just think that's crazy. Yeah, crazy.