‘We Literally Have No Control Over Our Setting’: Watch Kareem Rahma Break Down the Chaotic Art of Making ‘SubwayTakes’

No modern media property captures the chaotic joy of life in New York City better than “SubwayTakes.” Kareem Rahma’s man-on-the-train interviews manage to celebrate the city’s eclectic characters and extensive public transit systems while providing a platform for the 21st century’s definitive art form, the hot take. With guests that range from Jennifer Lopez and Ethan Hawke to Rahma’s New Yorker friends who have yet to crack the mainstream, the show illustrates how strong opinions and a willingness to defend them are universal human traits.

“The show came out of my love of debate and discussion and, honestly… fun,” Rahma said during a recent conversation with IndieWire. “Really, the show is about having fun, and about showing the world how much fun a conversation can be.”

That commitment to fun is reflected in the conversations, in which guests throw out silly opinions before Rahma replies with “100 percent agree” or “100 percent disagree,” creating an environment in which nuance and compromise are gleefully discarded in favor of arguing about life’s smallest topics.

“What’s happened is that the best takes are the most Larry David-ian,” he said. “They’re micro observations about the world around us and the way we move through life. And I think that’s what people like. It’s part of the bit that you can argue about something that doesn’t matter, but you’re just doing it for the sake of argument.

But while the casual nature of the conversations are part of the charm, producing “SubwayTakes” is as elaborate of a process as you’ll find in the online media landscape. Filming a talk show on a moving train brings its own set of audio and visual problems, but making this show any other way would be sacrilege.

“The challenges of doing a talk show in public are plentiful,” he said with a laugh. “The biggest one is the fact that we have literally no control over our setting.”

Rahma explained that the show’s intimate production value is possible through the hard work of a dedicated team, all of whom go to great lengths to ensure that the finished product captures the feeling of riding a New York subway while still delivering professional quality audio.

“It came out of a need for free studio space,” he said of the show’s origins. “I would rather invest in the quality of the content than invest in the physical location where the content is created. We invested in the team and making sure we had the best equipment possible. Because there is a version of this show that looks unprofessional, but my team is professional.”

A typical episode of “SubwayTakes” uses four cameras and five audio channels, with a talented post-production team ensuring that the final mix is easy to hear without losing its authenticity.

“The team does make the show that’s shot on a subway look incredibly professional and cinematic,” he said. “That’s why we can make a show that’s legible and has no sound problems in such a loud environment.”

And when the conversations conclude, the work of crafting an episode is just beginning. While Rahma has learned how to steer his subway debates towards viral moments, the editing process has required the team to hone a knack for finding the story within otherwise chaotic conversations.

“I’m definitely writing the episode while it’s happening,” he said. “We build a plane while we fly it. Almost every episode I’m sitting there saying ‘Oh shit, how I am I gonna land this plane?’ Because I don’t know what they’re going to say.”

All of the hard work that goes into “SubwayTakes,” much of it unseen by viewers, all serves the same goal: facilitating an environment that makes every guest feel free to express themselves and turning it into a show that keeps audiences laughing.

“It’s not a debate show in the sense you have to win the debate. It’s entertainment,” Rahma said. “I wanted to create an environment that was safe for discussion, for humor, for play, and for childlike wonder.”

This conversation is presented in partnership with YouTube.