Subway Takes Is Officially Nominated for the Emmys «So, what's your take?»

For some time now, it has been quite easy to come across video interviews on social media filmed on the New York City subway — and beyond — in which celebrities and ordinary people alike answer questions by speaking into a small microphone attached to a public transit card. This is Subway Takes, a format created and hosted by American comedian Kareem Rahma, which in the space of a couple of years has become a hugely beloved and widely followed project.

Subway Takes has 1.3 million followers on TikTok, 1.8 million on Instagram, and 840,000 subscribers on YouTube. The show's profile has been further boosted above all by the growing presence of very high-profile guests — who take part in longer video interviews collected in the series Subway Takes Uncut. Over time, participants have included, among many others, Rosalía, actress Cate Blanchett, director Spike Lee, current New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.

What people love about Subway Takes

What immediately stands out about Subway Takes is that the host begins every interview with the question «So, what's your take?» The answers, by contrast, are always highly original — as well as being deliberately quirky and at times provocative, but that is precisely what makes the conversation so entertaining. Kareem Rahma responds in turn by immediately stating whether he is «100% in agreement» or «100% against». This element has defined the show since its very beginning, but — despite the show having grown enormously over the years — other hallmarks of Subway Takes have also been preserved, which partly explain how it has managed to become so iconic: for instance, all guests — regardless of their fame — answer into a small microphone attached to the celebrated MetroCard, the traditional magnetic card used for years on the New York City subway (which will be phased out by the end of 2025 in favor of a contactless payment system); likewise, the video interview continues to be recorded inside a moving subway car.

But the series also works because it adopts a storytelling approach that is far more fluid and less stiff than that of a traditional television talk show: it is perhaps precisely this quality — evident in the many bizarre and unpredictable answers given by guests — that makes the format so popular. Another key strength of Subway Takes is certainly the choice of guests, who are selected precisely because they are — by nature — sharp, witty personalities capable of playing along.

Where the show came from

Subway Takes was born out of the idea of creating a quality product at minimal cost, at a time when host Kareem Rahma and his partner Andrew Kuo could not afford to record a studio podcast. Today Subway Takes is so well known that episodes have even been filmed on the subway systems of London, Paris, and Berlin, among others, with the topics covered adapted to the local context.

Subway Takes is not, however, the first successful show to bear Kareem Rahma's name: the American comedian had previously created the well-received Keep the Meter Running, another video-interview format recorded in New York in which the host would get into a taxi and ask the driver to take him to their favorite place, keeping the meter running throughout.

Subway Takes has made it to the Emmys

The ultimate seal of approval arrived in recent hours, with the news that the format has received its first nomination at the Primetime Emmy Awards, in the category of Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. According to The Wrap, Rahma revealed that he found out about the nomination while he was in the very place where he usually records the show: on board the New York City subway, in the middle of filming a new episode. «We were shooting an episode of Subway Takes when my assistant showed me her phone and said, "Oh my God,"» he recalled. He and Andrew Kuo are even considering whether to include that moment in a future episode.