"Kareem Rahma"

hello listener my name is jason i am one third of the machine you have tuned in to listen to speaking of machinery those two tools are on their way in sit tight turn it up here it comes welcome to smartless hey guys guess what what is it what's that there's our live episodes out now on youtube with jonah hill from the avalon our live episode how can people find it it's at youtube slash smartless is that right we'll say it again i wasn't right yeah it's at youtube.com slash smartless and you can watch it and it's a live show at the avalon with jonah hill so you can see us instead of hear us this is correct all right well thanks for the housekeeping there anyway let's get back to things by the way um what do you guys think of my shirt i do notice you're wearing a nasa hat today are you are you feeling uh excited about yeah artemis too isn't that wild yeah let's talk about that oh no why is everybody freaking out about that because we've been going like traveling to mars isn't it wild no well but like we we did the we did the moon loop uh did the moon landing yeah 68 nine something like that 69 yeah they're not even landing on the moon they're just gonna kind of do a little lasso they're pussies they're pussies but it's just like why is everyone like no i'm kidding oh god no i think it's amazing what they're doing they're they're they're they're slingshotting it by the way i'm just saying like help me understand yeah i know well because it's it's the farthest anybody's been ever is that right or i think so i think it's the farthest humans yeah from earth from earth yeah because we're traveling around the back side of it as opposed to landing on the front of it that's correct yeah right well that seems like they're reaching for a record there you know i mean that's like that's like not going to jason's house but just stopping at will's house yeah i mean i just don't know if that's you feel it feels like the equivalent of oscar bait yeah yeah i mean what if they did what how about this what if they did what how about this what how about this what how about this what how about this what how about they come back around fucking land the thing like you know and drive the buggy around again and hit another golf shot that'll be really sensational i'm gonna try to get you an email address so you can send this in i'm sure they're looking for ideas over there of course wait jay but i think they're i think the idea is to collect more information so that the next one they can land on the moon like again yeah i think what about if they put like build like a little tree house on it or something well i think they're they're talking about that yeah they're talking about like colonizing a little tiny thing so that you can launch from there to to mars would you ever sign if you would you ever do one of these uh rocket launches like like uh what's his face that the amazon uh did jack bezos right he sent some people up would you ever do that i would yeah really yeah absolutely wouldn't you willie i think i think i probably wouldn't that be cool out like a day before and go well hang on i wouldn't pay for it um i never pay for it right yeah well nobody paid for it did they did those people pay for it only on the bezos ones yeah only indignity no the bezos people they pay yeah yeah it's like 250 grand or some shit to go really oh my god yeah that's crazy money i you know you can go up and like leave the leave the atmosphere and and come back down or yeah to feel weightlessness wouldn't that be fun to feel like i'd love to get neil degrasse tyson back on just to finish up that answer he was forming for me um i think that's a good idea i think that's a good idea i think that's a good idea i know and then i think it's all i think it's all pretty cool i think i mean i'm not obsessed with it but i think it's pretty damn cool yeah they had some toilet problems on the artemis too did you read that yeah yeah yes i had a toilet problem this morning let me tell you this jason you know jason you could never go because they don't have a shower this toilet because they don't have a shower next to the toilet up there so you'd never be able to go you can't shower immediately after a bm no well i'm out yeah of course you're out i got to feel fresh you guys as i explore the universe can can you use a flushable wipe up there since there's no flushing i bet i bet man yeah sorry wait you know what else though but i've been watching that new documentary the bob lazar s4 thing no what's that i like a new documentary yeah so you got to see it bob lazar you know bob lazar who who who worked at area 51 and has been talking about it for decades and nobody believes him and he's like i keep he has drawings he has memories he has it's fascinating and and he he's what's it uh it's called never mind we look up but it's called s4 the bob lazar story okay so oh go ahead sorry no keep going i'm saying yeah so yeah so so the um he went into us he used to work there i know i'm hurrying he went into he used to work there and there was this long hanger of of like of of different sections with different alien spacecraft i like i mean i'm sweating literally sweating so there's a long hanger yeah no there's a hanger with different sections and each section has different parts of alien spacecraft that they've collected over the years yeah that's exactly yeah that that doc we were talking about i don't know if we were talking about it on the podcast or away but the age of disclosure yeah james clapper and john brennan they're talking about yeah like that's yeah we have been doing crash site recovery for years ever and bob lazar has been talking about it way before they have and and uh now i said well to myself self why don't we know about all this in a much more mainstream way and the answer is is simply it would be too unsettling and disruptive to society like i think now it's slowly coming i think now it's slowly coming out because i think we can handle it now do you think we're helping by having like little conversations like this on the podcast absolutely this is this is having a major impact conditioning the public this is helping turn the tide for sure not for us holding the hand into something unsettling people would be shocked us just having this sort of really loose anecdotal conversation where we can't even remember the names of the goddamn documentary is having a real effect and not even know that mission of artemis too yeah you know listen um uh this is all good stuff talk about a segue i i think this fella might have a nice perspective for us on this now this is uh today it brings us a voice of the current the relevant the forward and the fresh okay this comedian artist and media entrepreneur was born in egypt lives in new york spends his time delivering us one of the most viewed and talked about online interview shows around his work has gathered billions of views achieved acclaim from new york times gq new yorker vanity fair as well as receiving multiple web webby nominations please welcome not a fancy schmancy triple a-list celebrity type you two no no this is a man of the people a voice of the happening a guy with some helpful hot takes the host of subway takes mr kareem rama please aliens are real and the truth is out there right do you do you think there's there's a chance this is um this is a real thing that we're going to the moon no that we're gonna we're gonna do a mid-lap that part's true we're in mid-lap right now no i mean that that like we're go like that we're the rockets even in space who knows if it's even in space oh oh let's go all the way back what do you mean wait kareem what are you saying are you are you do you think that maybe we filmed the landing on the moon in a sound stage i look i am not a scientist but i thought i saw that the the curve of the rocket like when it was going in space kind of looks like it's not going up it's going into the ocean i'm just saying it's not going up it's going into the ocean i'm just saying i saw one video about this if the arc continued it's it's going to plummet no it's just going to go into those no no no short a short social media video is all i need i think i think i think that arc is to offset the rotation of the earth and it's actually it looks like it's going straight up but it's not it's going against how it's going with the curve of the earth but the earth is flat so that makes no sense okay thank you for joining us i'll see you guys there no i don't believe at disclaimer i don't believe any of that i believe in the real world is round so you do you don't think there's any possibility that there is uh life outside uh earth or sort of intelligent uh uh beings um and that that perhaps they may have crashed on this earth a couple of times and that the government um is aware no i fully believe that i believe i had i've had extraterrestrial experiences i'm surprised none of you guys have welcome back to our episode okay no you guys haven't had extraterrestrial experiences well i did well we we you know no comment let's hear what tell us yours first yeah now see now it sounds fake but i saw an alien in the bushes when i was a kid like probably like 12 and and i just saw it and then it just looked at me and it said the word zone is z-o-n-e and then i kind of just like said that like a couple times and then it just ran away was it the classic almond shaped eye uh and head teardrop head kind of thing it was similar to that but not as exaggerated it was more like it looked like it just kind of looked like a weird looking maybe it was a weird looking guy yeah it might have just been a neighbor was he small yeah it was it was a small weird looking guy but he was kind of green and big huge eyes I mean it looked like an alien that you think about and when he said that did you feel like he was telling you like get in the zone like lock in like it was encouragement like hey man get in the zone study harder in school yeah now alright so then all half joking aside and all that would you be would you be surprised if there was a mainstream declaration from from the government that we have in fact we can confirm that this is a more than a possibility and kind of get ready for this multi-year kind of trickle rollout information to to really make this legitimate and substantial like they're here I think the impact on society I think it would destroy society I think more so than like anything else because I think religion like would crumble yeah no it would be gone science would be gone yeah everything would but like what about somebody said last night that you know there's a what if there's a there's a possibility let's say that there's a there's a group of wise men there in the government that is trying to figure out the best responsible way in which to condition the public to this inevitable reveal and that you know Steven Spielberg's next movie it's coming out at the end of this year is called Disclosure like it's going to be an enormous film and it is about from what I can gather from the trailer the public finally being told and it's probably funded by the CIA I'm not even kidding and I'm saying maybe this group they pulled Spielberg in and said hey listen could you help us out with could you cover the pop culture end of this and just start we need you to feed give the pablum to the people so that they can kind of they're not so ambushed when it comes out and it's I think people no matter what the news is they'll just keep scrolling I mean there could be aliens among us right now they'll just keep scrolling I think that's the conditioned you know you don't think it's going to it won't jar them out of it and they'll think no that's probably not real I don't think so no I think people will like seek out alien porn and like they'll do like it'll be more porn is always on the cutting edge of everything they're always first on everything I mean even even engagement with you know ghosts and stuff it's always porn it is always porn's always first but I think that this movie is probably crazy timing and like and the launch like I do think the CIA's I sound so insane I probably sound like the most insane guest you've ever had no no no okay good okay good okay great we haven't aired those but um but I think that the CIA has been known to use like more movies to like promote like oh we're going to war in the Middle East yeah by the way they would always do you know the government would make film they would decide what kinds of films should be made at times of war they dropped leaflets yeah and to sort of you know garner support and get people lift people's spirits and get them feeling patriotic and that's not new all right so um mister where to where to begin where to begin I mean we just yeah what kind of statement is that it's over I mean we've got we went how do we claw back you're start start us take us walk us towards you know you're now sort of this you know one of these forward voices in pop culture today how did it all kind of start did you was this a goal like you started in Minneapolis yes you got a journalism degree maybe yeah yes and then business degree yeah that was a failure I didn't finish that and then you travel out to New York in pursuit of just not living in a small town it was really a classic and it was kind of like a like let me go out east and like strike it like strike gold in the same way that you know there's a Silicon Valley rush and the gold rush and I was like oh I'm gonna go to New York I'm gonna get rich and famous and that was a long time that was 15 years ago so any industry you had focused on or it's just like that town has a lot of different ones we'll see what hits at the time I was very much into like entrepreneurship in this like the social network had just come out I was like oh like that's like that's like that was cool remember for a while that was really cool it was really cool to be like a tech founder and I was like oh that's the way you do it and all these young people were like making so much money and I was like oh I think I should be a tech guy right take technology use your creativity your insight your savviness and see where the two could intersect yeah but really the ultimate goal was to strike it rich yeah it was definitely in pursuit of yeah I was like you guys gotta eat and I did the opposite I did the exact opposite because I got a job at Vice and Vice pays you it's like they get three they get a three for one deal so they get like three 25 year old kids they pay you in cocaine is that what you're gonna say they do they actually do at least holiday bonuses are paid in cocaine I remember Christmas it was like here's a bag of blow and I was like oh cool this is so cool this is so interesting but I can I pay my rent with blow so you're at Vice and you're doing marketing stuff with them maybe yeah yeah I'm doing like content development and marketing and kind of like launching new shows and I was never the talent but I wanted to be the talent were you working with like Shane and Eddie and all those guys yeah and at the time it was like 75 people so we were all in the same room yeah and I was listening to them on the phone and I'm like whoa this is so cool like it really was like getting that was a real MBA in business because I'm like sitting in this room with Shane and Eddie and Saroosh and all these guys I'm like listening to them Saroosh I love Saroosh yeah he's awesome he's such a good guy like I just saw him the other day he's the greatest guy he's so cool he's so cool coolest guy well from a marketing standpoint and also a content that was such an exciting company and hearing about it seeing it coming and getting on board and kind of following it was you guys did a great job at that it was really cool it was really cool and it felt like we were doing like it was like and Spike was around a bunch there too wasn't he yeah he was he was like the executive creative director which meant that he just you know got to say that and he would hang out like he was just like that which is I was like that's such a cool job David Cross was kicking around a little bit too wasn't he that was early that was early days he wasn't there at that point yeah no I was there in 2012 yeah and then and from there you go to the New York Times yes yeah yeah and for them you did what less coke I bet I did the same thing a lot less coke a lot a lot less coke it was kind of like that's why I quit yeah of course the Times was like we just pay money and I was like yeah you're like money can't buy coke it's Christmas and I haven't seen my blow yet did I not perform this year emailing the editor in chief I'm like hey dude I'm going to quit unless I get like a little bonus here so what were you doing for what did you do for the New York Times I was doing the same thing I like helped start Times Video which now makes film and television and kind of the podcasting and all that stuff so I was like laying the groundwork for all that and it was really cool but then I did so this is like I think I was like in New York for like maybe seven or eight years and at that point I was like okay I know enough people I have enough information and knowledge and like maybe some access to money that I can actually go start my thing like my media my own media company and that was a massive failure but I did do that for a couple of years what was that first swing and miss it was well there was like a couple in a row but it was it was a couple it was a long at bat there was a yeah it was it was three strikes it was three strikes and then I was out and that's when I was like maybe I'm not so good at being like a CEO or an entrepreneur and maybe I should just be like do what I'm good at which it seems like hanging out like I'm really good at hanging out and like you know podcasting is just really you guys are just hangout guys yeah just interviewing having conversations we're hangout kids for sure yeah so so I was like maybe I should try my hand at that but the first swing and a miss was something called nyc.tv and the idea was to do public access television on the internet right which I was like that's a clever little something something yeah and it just didn't work and then I shifted that into something called nameless network which was like do you remember like now this news like these they kind of like made like thousands of viral videos every month that would be like this guy is selling yams in Japan on a street corner dressed as a cat you never saw like videos no they were like short like two minute videos and it would just be like big text on a screen and it would be like this school in Turkey is offering free haircuts to young people so just like I mean real attention grabbers yeah I mean stuff that's really mattering to people yams in Japan haircuts in Turkey I mean and you're telling me that this did not take off and we will be right back And now, back to the show so then uh a few swings and misses and then uh and then you say well maybe i should just grab a camera and a microphone get in front of it and start doing what comes natural which is just kind of being a man of the people and and and see what see what comes so what was that what was that first thing that kind of grabbed and then you could feel the momentum moving and this this this may be working the the first big hill was a show that i created and this is a time when there was like no shows like there was no short form unscripted vertical video shows and i say that and and it was just like everyone was making content but there was no like show in in this thing right and i but i decided to make a show and i was like why isn't there just a tv show that's distributed on tiktok and instagram and it was called keep the meter running and it was this concept where i would hail a cab and just tell the driver to take me wherever they want and it was always insane like it would just be so crazy like one time i so the taxi drive the taxi driver has it flipped on on him or her where uh they're not being told where to go by the person in the back but you get to take me the passenger wherever you driver want to go and just keep the meter running and tell me about why you like this place yeah yeah i would just go take me to your favorite place and keep the meter running and and i would end up like one time i ended up like in new jersey on a helicopter with this guy uh from morocco and he was literally just okay drinking and driving no way driving really yeah wow uh but yeah he had a pint of malibu which i thought was an interesting choice that isn't it right right right that's the white bottle it's smooth sure um so you do that so you do the keep the meter running for a while yeah i do like 20 episodes and still going yes and now we're still running on this the meter well i had to stop because at the time it was my first thing and i was a massive failure remember and i had no money and those episodes were obviously when you take the meter running you're not gonna be able to do anything and you tell a guy keep the meter running and he goes let's go on a helicopter ride in new jersey by the end of the day you've spent literally two thousand dollars sure right yeah yeah and and so i could only do i spent all of my money oh my god and then i was like i have to put this on pause and then i was like and and now it's back except bigger now it's like youtube it's like 20 minute episodes right it's crazy i'm so surprised how do you get them to because i know a lot of cab um drivers that i went out the cabs i get oh do you shine you know a lot of kids they don't no they they don't want to talk what yeah they don't want to what they all want to talk just not to sean oh all right no well maybe i don't maybe i don't they're usually on the phone and and they want to just keep their conversation i just assume they want that i just assume they don't want to chat oh they love you can't tell them to stop talking when you get the camera going right they hang up yeah just maybe just bring up like just just be like so how about you know like politics don't bring up medallions don't bring up no i've just figured that that's a real hot hot topic so uh so what was the first sign that people were watching um keep the meter running how did you how did you find out legitimately the next day so like i posted the video and i turned my phone off because i was like another failure i was conditioned to just fail at that point i was like when you say post it what what what did you throw it up on i put on tiktok and instagram okay of which you you had already some followers uh just not a lot like three or four or three thousand you know and enough so yeah enough to like yeah for them to then send it out to to their folks and that's that's how viral happens right but then hang on a second walk us through that jb granddad is just your understanding of how this isn't it an exponential um dissemination of i noticed you didn't say that you didn't say the word algorithm and that you actually said that i saved that for later oh yeah the doctor that's his closer it's such a great idea so you put it yeah so you put it up and you turn off your phone you turn on your phone later that night and well i go to the bodega the next morning and at this point i just did i've turned my phone back on but i didn't log like i didn't open the apps i went to the bodega and the guy goes oh you look so familiar and i go i don't know i'm a loser i've been here a million times like i've literally been here i look familiar because i see you every day right and he goes no you look so familiar and then he goes taxi you're the taxi guy you did the show and i was like what and i opened my phone and it has like two million views no in a night yeah and so many like like thousands of comments and i was like holy shit it actually worked and it felt like that moment where i was like yeah i did something that for the first time ever people responded to it and it was doing exactly what i thought i could do well which is hang out and i was like oh my god like maybe i'm i'm finally found my thing yeah yeah you know i called my mom i was like i know what i'm gonna do for a living i'm just gonna hang out with other people and so you immediately tried to um double down triple down have another episode bought a ferrari first bought a ferrari that morning this is gonna pan out yeah so what what you're now you're the the the new episode the the new season is premiering uh soon it's the 19th right may may 13th whatever that is yes i think that's in uh i think this is the new season i think this is the new season i think this is the new season this is the 11th today i think it's in two days um so what season is that this is like the first official season of my i'm bringing my thesis of making television and putting it on youtube but like it's not a youtube show because it is television quality production and television storytelling and like we have you know i went to like the russian turkish bathhouse with a guy named eugene and his friend boris he won't get into that later we'll get into that later let's talk about the show yeah it's the show oh oh oh sorry and um you know do that i'm producing i produced a play for an irish cab driver named irish john that's not his name but you know i call him that and he and he goes i have a one-man show and i go what's this all about so he takes me to his basement he shows me this one-man show i go cool let's put it on in a theater so you know performing in front of 300 people all self-produced looks like a stand-up special and you know go fishing with a korean guy named young in bear mountain uh and and sketch and just it's really remarkable and and the whole kind of through line of the show is like how to be a better man like how to be a better brother how to be a better father i love that how to be a friend it's all because these guys have like the secret to the universe in you know like you're driving for 12 hours a day your life is hard you're sending money home or you're just supporting your family and they like have a lot of money and they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they're like they have this fatherly wisdom i don't know if any of you guys lost your father early i lost mine when i was 20 and i started like having these convos with these cab drivers because i felt like they had some advice for me right you know um and i didn't have will's number yet so i couldn't call him i couldn't call him for advice sean didn't lose his dad his dad got lost yeah so this is true so so wow that's that's really remarkable man that's so cool that's really cool and then so then uh tell us about uh then subway takes happens uh you you feel you get you get an idea for that and you figure you can do it at the same time simultaneously well i had run out of the money because the other show was costing like two thousand dollars per episode and so i was like okay this is this whole like short form unscripted thing is like really working for me what's like another version of that which is less expensive and again like sorry sorry let me just stop you for one second educate me in our this might be fascinating it certainly would be to me how do you run out of money doing that show um because i guess the question is how do you monetize a show like that so you put it up on instagram and tiktok how how how were you even thinking you could get paid for that how does how does a creator get paid for that can you advertise against those little short like the guy made you see he sees your first episode it's got two million views overnight it are you seeing that in real time in dollars coming to you no i'm seeing zero dollars that's right that's that that's my question how would you even hope to monetize that how how would you get paid for that you you would want like a brand to essentially say i love what you're doing hey do you want to pay in every episode do you want to use your chase debit card or credit card right to pay for the cabbies or do you want to yeah or do you want to communicate using whatsapp exclusively with like their families and your friends blah blah blah so you'd want to be able to monetize that show someone to underwrite the series in the same way that like a streamer or a production company or a network would underwrite it's it's brand funded entertainment but so you were pursuing that and getting no bites or you just didn't know to do that yet i didn't know to do that yet and i also was like so overwhelmed and just kind of i was in panic mode like i don't know what to do with this you know i don't and and actually the first thing i did was like i was like okay maybe this should be a tv show yeah instead and like i should get money from someone in hollywood right and but that whole rigmarole yeah uh i went on like a wild goose chase with that i was like this is yeah it was taking too long and in the meantime i was like let me start another thing while this is baking in the tv world let me start another thing to kind of like continue my work what made you think that second thing would be something that you would be able to monetize and get money out of i didn't really think about that either it was really more so like like i'm not really noticing a trend here yeah this is uh - You thought, "I'm not making any money with this thing. cost me money. What I should do is interview Jason Bateman on the subway holding a MetroCard instead of a microphone. That'll do it. It worked. I'm here. It did. I loved JB. I loved your episode. I thought you were great on it. Oh, man, I did too. What a fun time I had. If you guys have not seen Subway Takes, and I haven't seen Keep the Meter Running yet. I can't wait to watch that. I know, me too. Oh, I need both of you guys on there. Tell people what Subway Takes, what the concept of that is. So Subway Takes is essentially like a two-minute talk show on the train where I interview local stand-up comedians, regular comedians, musicians, writers, directors, anyone who I find kind of interesting, and also people like Jason Bateman. Right, and then you had Jason on. Yeah, we had to balance it out. It must have. You can't appreciate the big ones unless you get a couple of clunkers. I found him kind of interesting. I was just like, he's kind of interesting. Worked a miracle in the editing room. Yeah, interesting. I'm curious about the details of your episode with JB. Well, okay, concept, but I really want to know what station did you guys get in? Yeah, let's. What did you guys do? What train were you on and where did you get in? We were Lower East Side. Yes, we were in Chinatown on the F train at East Broadway. Wow. Yes, I remember. Jason, I had to boil my entire body after that. And you, Jason, you. I mean, what was. Jason, the look on your driver's face when you said, take me there. What was it? He said, let you out here? I said, no, no, no, hang on. Just keep the door closed for a minute. Jason brought an extra pair of pants and an extra shirt. And some plastic to sit on. He called it his train clothes. That's what he called it, his train clothes. And he was wearing white latex gloves. And I was like, why are you wearing those? That sounds right. I love the train. I'm in the MetroCard. So you go, you decide, all right. But the concept is, listener, is that he has somebody come on and change, just give one hot take on something. Right. And Kareem decides whether he's 100% on board with that or in opposition to that. For instance, my dumbass hot take was, I think all dogs should wear shoes. 100% agree. 100% agree. But then the interview is, well, why do you agree and why do I think. Basically, I just think, you know, so that, you know, you don't want them to walk into your place and track in all the poo. They like to walk around in. Yeah. So anyway, but so that's kind of the concept and it's a two-minute concept and it's pleasurable and we're popping around the city. Do you think dogs, if dogs go to a play, they should go backstage? And she, the artist. Sorry, we'll get into that later. But Kareem, can we do a hot take to you? Like, because I just thought of this when you popped on, about that show and I was like, doing Broadway shows, you know those rickshaws that are super fucking loud? Yeah. At night? Yeah, yeah. Like, shouldn't there be a law against the sound of those people? 100% agree. Volume ceiling? 100% agree. Yeah, there's too much noise pollution in New York City. Oh, Sean, is this our segment called Old Man Gripes? What are we doing? What are we doing? Yeah. And shouldn't those damn kids slow down in the neighborhood? No, he's right. It's too damn loud. I agree. You're so synonymous with New York, I just thought, you know, what do you think about, like, because I don't have, I don't have any skin in the game with Mom Donnie. Like, I don't, I don't know if he's good or bad or anything. I don't live, you know, I'm just here part-time working. But somebody complained that it's because of Mom Donnie that the snow banks weren't clear. I'm like, the snow, when there's a blizzard, there's never, you can't clear all the snow. Yeah, where do you want them to put it? Yeah. Well, you gotta, being the mayor of New York is the worst job in America. Yeah. Because everyone's just mad at you no matter what you do. Right, for sure. For sure. It's a historical big L. I would never do it, although I might. Have you ever had somebody that, Uh-oh. Have you ever had somebody, Talk about breaking fucking, dude, I've been hurt. I would only do it as a joke and then I would accidentally win, like, you know who? Our boy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, whoopsies, I'm the mayor now. Just trying to sell a book. Yeah. What, has anybody come on and not had a take and then you had to say, all right, well, I'll do one. Well, didn't you go through the vetting process, Jason? Yeah. Yes. Yeah, yeah, I was given a heads up but, you know, I'm a professional. I came prepared. Should I see if I can pull up some of them? Don't you have some of these people come on and just like, yeah, I couldn't think of anything. Should I see if Jason Bateman had any other ones that we didn't use? Yeah. Did I? Oh, did I pitch you some? I don't know. Let me check my email. So they go to someone on my team and then I don't, it's like somebody approves that they're good. Right. And then, Like just some, Gen Z kid? Yeah, pretty, literally, literally a young, young, young lads. Which, what's the last one you disagreed with? Oh, dude, I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. You're doing one, what are you doing, one a week? No, we post one a day. No. What? I post one a day. Yeah, it's mental. So then you're doing one a day to keep up with the output. No, I batch shoot, I shoot, I'll shoot like 10 in one day. No way. And it's really a miserable day. It's an awful day. I'm like a real, I'm like a real working, you know, blue collar guy. I'm underground all day. I'm sweating, or it's too cold, or it's too hot, or the train's not working, or somebody's trying to stab me, or I'm walking, yeah, it's really tough. Don't you find that, am I just an introvert, or, or, Am I just an introvert that needs to refill my talk tank a lot, or does everybody go through sort of like a social exhaustion like me sometimes? Like, how do you, how do you not run out of being, you know, chatty by doing 10 episodes in a day? How do you keep it going like that? Will's raising his hand. Well, I've got a thought on this, which is always, you know, when you go and you do interviews and stuff and doing what we do and you have to go on talk shows, and when I realize that I don't have stuff to talk about, it's because I haven't been out in the world. And so a lot of people we know, including us or whatever, spend these times in these, in this world, and we're not out in bubbles, and you're not engaged in a real way. And about 50 years ago, I would say like, I got to like, I want to experience life. And that's why I'm always on the move and doing, I swear to God, I know how boring that's. So you're out there walking around with your fucking hands tucked in your pockets, just like squinting around town. One hand. How the fuck do you think I'm going to smoke? Just soaking it all in. Hey, good morning, man. How you doing? Have a good day, huh? No, I'm serious. I'm not saying that I'm a, I'm not saying that I'm like, I'm more down to earth or anything. What I'm saying is that I realized that you have to get out there. Sean and I, you and I have talked about this a number of times. And Jason, you're a lost cause because you're at home or in the golf course. And so like, that's okay. How the fuck would you have anything to talk about? I could fill you in on what MS Now's new programming strategies are. No, but it is true. I think that there is something to that, right? Just being engaged. I don't care who you are, just being engaged in the world. Having stuff to say. I get it. Yeah. Is that true, Kareem? Is that your fuel? No, I mean, I'm having fun. Like, I really am having a lot of fun. I have such a fun job. Both of my jobs. You're great at it. Hanging out with cab drivers, hanging out with people like you guys. Like, it is the, I'm blessed as a person. Like, I have the best job in the world. And everything that I've done thus far has been totally independent. So I, I really have no notes. I have no development. I have, I'm just doing the fun part of the job, which is the making of it. And that's all I do. And it's, it's really amazing. And I have a lot of energy. That's how we feel. Amen. What would, what would five years from now look like if it continued on this, on this angle of success? What, what is your, what's your, what's your hope for where things go with this? Like, well, go ahead. I really don't know. I mean, I'm kind of just playing a bike here. Orient Express. Just upgrading the train line. Gondolas, yachts, you know, Leo DiCaprio's yacht. I could just have a permanent spot on there. That would be pretty cool. There you go. That could be fun. You just talked to him for 10 episodes. Yeah. I could. Yeah, that would be, well, no, I talked to his wonderful guests. I'm sure you guys have been on his yacht. Yeah, I'm not. I'm not. But, but, but I imagine, I imagine, yeah, kind of going, Jay, what you were saying, which is like, you do have, I love that you did identify what you term as hanging out is actually engaging with people and talking to people. And being curious. And that's what you like to do. And that's what you're good at. And you're curious. And you do have a point of view on this thing. And so, I guess, would the next, the evolution of that is taking that and going, and you talk to cab drivers and doing the thing, take me where you want to go, and then talk to people on the subway. And then would it be kind of going broader, going around the world, engaging with people in different cultures? I mean, I imagine you'd be really good at that. Exposing all of us to other parts of the world and other cultures of people. Yeah, that's a great idea. We need that. Well, but you know, keep the meter running feels like a Bourdain-esque, like, people have said, this reminds me of Bourdain. And Subway Takes reminds a lot of people of a talk show like Fallon or Seth Meyers or whatever. So, like, I kind of get to play in both worlds and that's really cool. We're doing a live show for Subway Takes Live, which is really fun and interesting to me. How would that work? People come and do what you did, except it's like, it's like the audience is giving the takes and then there's like a panel. Like, it would be us four on stage and people would walk up to a mic and say, Oh, that's cool. I think this, and then we would all go, No, you're an idiot. Blah, blah, blah. That's a great idea. Have there ever been some dust-ups that you've done on the train because I remember, you know, we were just, we were riding on, we didn't have a shooting permit or anything like that. We were just on the train. Cameras were rolling, a couple of cameras and these, you know, two guys holding these weird mics and talking and somebody might be recognizable. And have you ever had like a weird subway passenger like bother you and your guest? Not with anyone like, with anyone famous, it's been always, it's always a pleasure to see. Like Woody Harrelson was literally kind of took over the train car and he started interviewing other people and there were all these people like, and he was just surrounded by people and just putting this mic in their faces and ask them questions and really creating a circus like in the, in the car and everyone loved him. We'll be right back. All right, back to the show. The timing of this, of that concept and you and doing all of this is really great because we're, we're, we're at an apex of like people wanting to connect again. And so it's, it's probably, probably has a lot to do with that, you know, and the lost art of, of conversation too. I mean, everyone's kind of getting all their itches scratched, uh, just online and with their own little devices and in five second increments. Yeah. They're not talking to people. And I, that's why I always think that the a hundred percent agree, a hundred percent disagree. Like there's no middle for me. Right. And it is really, it's really an, uh, kind of like a exploration of what it means to 100% disagree, but still have a funny, casual, engaging conversation. Like I personally don't really have that many opinions. Like I'm pretty mellow, but in the show, it's like, it's a challenge for me to be like, well, here's why I disagree, but it's kind of a showcase that you can, yeah, like have fun doing this. But there was one funny thing. It was like a regular episode that I was filming. And there was a passenger on the train filming us film, which is completely fine. Like great. This other guy on the train slapped the phone out of that guy's hand and, and then kicked it across the car all the way to the other side. And then that guy that got his phone slapped out of his hand looks at me and he's like, I'm so sorry, dude. And I'm like, why? And he's like, your bouncer just kicked the phone out of my hand. And I was like, that's not my bouncer. That's just, a crazy guy that for some reason decided that you shouldn't film me. And there was like this confusion where everyone's kind of pointing at each other. Like who's, who's bodyguard is that? Or like, do you guys know each other? No one knew each other. It was really funny and like confusing, but that's the closest call. Did the guy who slapped it, did he ever explain his position as to why he did it? No, he would just yelled something about like Jesus and walked away. Oh, that makes sense. That tracks. So, uh, but I, I wanted to ask Will, Will and Sean, what would your take? Like if you were on the show and I said, what's your take? What would your take be? Well, we know Sean's something about Rick Shaw's. Oh yeah. Sean said the Rick Shaw. Yeah. Yeah. Willie, uh, what's, what's, what's, what's about New York? Like, no, no. Like I, one of my, one of mine is that I think that the dancing part of the wedding is the worst part. Like I didn't even do it. It should be dinner. I didn't dance with my wife on our own wedding because I hate dancing so much. I know that. I don't know that. Is that true? Yeah. I, I, that's how much, at that moment, it's not about you. I'm so uncomfortable dancing. I know it, but I just, I told her early on. That is profoundly unkind. I, I, I know, but I just, I, I, I couldn't, I couldn't do it. I'm calling Amanda. I'm calling Amanda today and I'm going to take her out dancing. Yeah. Go, go for it. I encourage you. Go for it. That's so that, that's, that's a hard line. Like I, but I was saying, not at your own wedding, Jason, I'm saying like, like it should just end at dinner. Like you just go have a great night. Everyone like, thanks for calling the wedding. I 100% agree with that. And then it's always a forced thing. The DJ is like playing like little John and the East side boys from like 2002. And you're like, and no one wants to be there. And yeah. So that's like, or, or like I have another one, which is that I think, and this one I think will be problematic, but like, I don't like street art and graffiti. And I would rather just look at like, nice, beautiful buildings. Okay. Yeah. That's a good one. A lot of people are going to get mad at me for that. People are great defenders of graffiti. Oh yeah. Yeah. Street art. Aside from the people that actually do it. You said you saying people that just observe it are big fans of it. I think so. I think that there's a cohort of people that think that it's like, uh, it's nice. Yeah. I enjoy it. Yeah. See, um, I, I have two, I have too many, but all of mine get me in trouble. All of mine are terrible. First of all, I think I should be deputized, uh, to be able to give out, uh, just to the parking, uh, part of the police department. I I'd love to give out tickets. I'd love to give out tickets and, and also moving vehicle tickets. And I also think that we should be able to report when like, you know, like when like the cops who do a great job, but when they pull people over and then they obstruct traffic and it's unnecessary. Yeah. They don't need to hang out into the other lane. I mean, I guess they're doing that to protect themselves as they're up at the window. But why don't you go around to the passenger window and then you don't have to, I don't even mean on a, on a freeway or anything. I mean, I mean like on a regular street, especially in New York, you know, when you're in New York or, but although I am, so I don't want to criticize NYPD cause I do, I do, uh, it's a rough, tough job, but it would be nice if they deputized us to give out maybe three citizen tickets for moving violations a month, you know, so you can't, you can't abuse it. You just get three. So the three most egregious things you see when you're driving, you're allowed to put the car on top of your car and go get them. I think it would be nice if you could also get Sean's like if Sean wanted to ticket the loud rickshaw guys. Yeah. He could give like, we should all be active citizens. Like why don't we have a little bit of power? We're taping people anyway. We might as well be able to use it too. But then I thought about here's, here's the flip of it. I was thinking about this yesterday and then I'm like, how many yellows have I squeezed while driving through an intersection? I'm like, and I'm not, I'm not immune from it myself. And so then I kind of walked it back. But I have, God, I have so many takes on shit. I did too. Wait, there's two that I just don't have. One is, I don't know if this is a fake post on Instagram or not, but I read that New York is looking into making a law about looking, making, looking into making it a law, um, to traffic the sidewalks like they do the streets so that fast people walkers walk on the left and fat, which I think is really a great idea. New York is a bummer when people stop in the middle of the street and you're like, Hey man. And also watching, looking at their phone. Or people walk four wide on a sidewalk so you can't get around people like, right. If you're a group of more than two, you have to go kind of two by two kind of single file. Here's, here's, here's my hot seat. Here's what I think. If you want to post anything on the internet, comment, whatever, anything, we have to know your name and your address, your phone number, your face, your face, no anonymous, no anonymous anymore. And I think that, I think that that would, I think it would, I think it would change the world immediately. Everybody you have to, there is a record and we know that they can do it because, you know, things like the blockchain where you can trace absolutely everything where, you know, so if we applied that same logic to that, so you can't go on to anything. You can't make any comment. You can, but we know your name, your address, your phone number. And by that, we'll be able to decipher where you work, who your family is, all that sort of stuff. And you are held so that because if I make a comment, everybody knows who I am. And so then I get, I get held up to this crazy high standard that everybody else is not held up to. Yeah. But wait, here's, here's my other take is Jason commented on me the other night when we were at dinner, that when you order a dessert for yourself, and then the waitress comes over with spoons for everybody at the table. And you're like, wait, no, everybody passed on ordering dessert. I ordered dessert. And when offered everybody else like, nah, I'm good. I don't want to do that. And then everybody spoons the shit out of your fucking dessert. Get your own dessert. If you did not opt in, you don't get a spoon. Unless it was specified, bring us the sundae and bring everybody a spoon. That's right. Otherwise, no, don't, don't. That's good. Shout out to Odeon. Remember we had that. So we did have that the other night at the Odeon. And I ordered, I started because I said, I want to, I want to get a sundae. And it was like, ooh. And I go, everybody gets your own dessert. You're not fucking. That's right. That's right. You almost have to announce it. This is my treat this weekend. You have to announce it. I don't want you dipping in the fucking dessert. And Jason, Jason was like, don't get the donuts. I got two orders of donuts. He fucking, his face was buried in both. I had six of them. Now, Kareem, with all of this really cool, very well-deserved success, what has changed in your, I'm presuming, very sort of down-to-earth, man-of-the-people life? What have you, have you, uh, Will joked earlier that you. Like upgraded your air conditioner? Right. Or is it still taped to the window in red tape? Oh, um, don't worry about it. Well, that's another, that's another big take that I have. When I was installing this, I was like, it is shocking that they let me do this in New York. And if I'm taping mine, that means that there, and then I started looking around. There's like people that their air conditioners are being held up by books. Some people have a little piece of wood and I'm like, there's not a standard process. I agree. I agree. Yeah. There's a guy over there that has a, like a couple of textbooks. I can see. I'm like, and it's so scary. Cause now I can't walk around New York city without thinking about my own self. Sure. in my air conditioner and you guys obviously see how good of a job I've done. I know. I remember, I remember, Kareem, the first time I put an air conditioner in my window in New York and thinking, this is freaking lunacy. This thing can go at any time. I just did this. I'm an idiot. And this thing is going to fall on somebody and kill somebody. And it's not like the windows are nice. The windows are flimsy. The windows are flimsy windows. They're made out of saran wrap, essentially. And it's just terrifying. And there's no screws. None of this, there's no tools. This is just like the windows holding it in place. So you haven't gone to mainstream air conditioning. What have you treated yourself to? I mean, I, there's a lot less anxiety in my life about what I'm supposed to be doing for a living. And that is really scary because I also started doing this when I was 33, which is later than many people, like many comedians or these social media kids, you know, they start when they're like 22, 21. 25, they were in their college improv group. Like, so to start at 33 and take like this massive bet and then have it work out, it's shocking. And every day I'm just like. It's dope. It's dope, but it's not shocking. It's not shocking. You're a smart guy and you are really funny. And I, do you refer to yourself as when people say, what do you, you don't say creator, do you? No, no, no, no. I say, I say entertainer because I also make, I wrote a movie, produced it, starred in it. That's out on Mubi. I make music. What's that called? I'm in a rock and roll band. The movie's called Or Something. Or Something, okay. And it's a feature film. It's my first feature. And we can find that where? On Mubi, M-U-B-I. M-U-B-I, okay. That's like Tubi. I want to ask whether or not you have Mubi. Do I have Mubi? No. And then you say you're in a band too? No. Yeah, I'm in a rock and roll band called Tiny Gun. That's amazing. And are you singing? Are you drumming? Are you guitaring? I sing. Yes. Wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's kind of like a, X's meets the strokes kind of situation. Yeah, that's cool. You're speaking my language. Yeah, give us a listen. It's Tiny Gun. Hondo P. Hondo P. We played Outside Lands. Last year we played Outside Lands at Newport Folk Festival. It was really fun. Yeah. Do you guys hear those sirens? Yeah, of course. It's hard not to. Yeah, they kind of sight you in your air conditioner. Well, yeah, that's a ticket. It's Sean. It's Will and Sean. Sean on his rickshaw. It's Jason Bateman on his motorcycle. I'm so excited. Honestly, I'm so inspired by how much different stuff you do and how many creative swings you take at once. I think it's awesome. I think that that is, you're doing the very thing that I was talking about that I wish I could do more. You're taking chances and you're engaging in life in such an awesome way. I think it's dope as hell, man. There's some cultural relevance and help to it as well, right? It's amazing. It's great. It's amazing. It's really cool. You guys are, that feels like, it's such a compliment coming from you guys, honestly. No, but you're not catering to the lowest common, like you're trying to do stuff that's, not necessarily sort of worthy in the sense of like, you know, helping humanity, but you are in a way, you are sort of engaging and keeping conversation going and provoking thought and just, I don't know, I think it's really rad. Bringing folks together. It's just, it's that classic playing at the top of your intelligence situation, which I feel like because so many people are not doing that, I was like, let me just be a little bit different and try to, try to be the smartest version of what I, this thing, that limits you to, which is a phone, tiny screen, vertical, like, let me try to do the smartest thing possible. Yeah, and you're not prancing around in a Speedo, you know what I mean? Trying to, you know what I mean? You don't want to see me in a Speedo. Wait, where do I find that? I don't know. And selfishly, you're giving us ding-dongs that are like promoting stuff this really great, fun, creative stop on our press tours to go talk to folks. Yeah, I want, I want to have you guys on. I want to come too. I wanted to create. I want to have all three of you on at the same time. But here's the thing, Jason did it. I want to do, just to one-up him, obviously, I want to have you double-up. Of course. Double-up. Double-up. Four minutes. No, let's get you out. Let's get you, next time you're in New York, I'm there. I'll be there. All the time. I live there half the time. Great. Then I will do it at literally any time. Like, I'll step out of the house, you know. Can we take the 1-9? Is that okay? Yeah, I was going to say, what would be your subway? What the hell is that? You know, like, what do they call it? The 1 now? It used to be the 1-9 on the west side, you know, the red line. Oh, I've never been over there. Really? I'm an east side guy. We can do the east side too. It's like, no, no, no, I'll come to you. I'll come to you. No, we'll take the 6. That's fine. No, no, no, I'll come to you. But fuck it, I'll take the F. I don't give a shit. Wait, I also want to say something that, so I, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about, although it kind of does, but like, going back, I don't want to tout, flute my own horn, but I want to say this here, in case anyone from the Emmy, what are they called? The Academy? Sure. Yeah, we're going, Subway Takes is going for an Emmy. Is it? Okay. So, for your consideration, for your consideration, Great. Subway Takes. But wait, but does this got to be on the telly then? I love that. I love that you just said that. No, they have little ones now. Tiny Emmys? Tiny Emmys for your boy. Isn't that called a webby? No, it's a creative, the creative, the creative, the creative, the creative, the creative arts Emmy. You can get a creative arts Emmy for like short form. Yeah. Truly. Online. Yeah, like, like, you know, Submit's a lot, like, like, like, like Carpool Karaoke is a winner of that category. Or the dude with the hot wings? Yes, Sean Evans from Hot Ones. So, so, okay, so, so, so Kareem, to be clear, if, if you, if you happen to be listening to this and you are a voter in the Television Academy, please watch, please check out Kareem's show and consider. Yeah. Thank you. And then you're tiny, tiny gonna listen to. Guys, I'm still, I'm still out here doing this. I'm, I'm still out here shilling for myself. I mean, you're pumping. Good for you. No one else is gonna do it. Good for you. I have this opportunity. Yeah. Let me, let me, I want to see you guys there, first of all. And if, when we see each other there, we should hug. Oh, at the Emmys. Yeah. Oh, if we're at the Emmys, we're gonna hug like hell. Yeah. Yep. That's all hug. That's a phrase, right? Hug, I want to hug you like hell. That was a really, that was a really good take about men, is that we haven't standardized our greeting. So like, I might go up to Will with a hand up in the air, like, what's good, man? I get to see you. I might extend a hand to Jason, and then he's, and it's confusing, or a hug Sean, and it's, yeah, and it's really confusing. We need a standard. My buddy years ago, Ali Farnakian, used to say, you always, you always start, road to the White House, which is just a handshake, and then anywhere you want to go after that. But you always start, road to the White House. This is good advice. So you extend the hand. Always extend the hand. Road to, this is called road to the White House. Be open to getting pulled in. And then wherever you want. Yeah, sure. I always loved that. You should consider driving a cab. That's really good, like, that's kind of cab driver advice that I get. Hey, man, it might get to that. Kareem, we are thrilled to have you. We love you. We root for you. We're watching you. Keep it going, my friend. Thank you guys so much. This was really, really fun. And I appreciate you guys letting me be on your show. Seriously. I'll see you. We'll see you back there in the city. We'll see you on the show. I'll see you on the show. I can't wait for it. Thanks, Kareem. All right, bye guys. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, I'm shaking your hand. Goodbye. Digital shake. There he goes. Kareem. There he is. Rama. He's good. He's so good. Kareem Rama. Yeah, dude. Really great, dude. I love it. Shawnee, did he invite you on the show? No, that's right. Yeah, I noticed that right there at the end. You know what I was thinking? I think he's worried about your safety. I think that that was it. By the way, I've never rode on the subway. Hang on a second. So maybe that's. I'm trying to do my. I can't believe that face. I'm trying to. Hang on. What? Sean, that's true, isn't it? That is very true, yeah. Is that really true? Never once on the subway in New York City? I mean, if I did, maybe once 25 years ago, but I don't remember it. It's not on purpose? It just hasn't happened? I just don't feel. I'd just rather take a cab. Oh, so it is on purpose? Yeah, oh yeah. It's totally on purpose. I don't even know how they work. I don't even know where they are. There is so. Oh, boy. I will give you. It is a hack because you spend a lot more time in New York these days. Yeah. If you have to, it can save you. You get anywhere in like two seconds. Dude, it can save you so much time. But now it works with your navigation app, like Waze or Google Maps or Apple Maps, whatever it is, you can just say, you know, how do I get there via walking, via car, or via subway? And then when you hit the subway thing, it'll give you a little map how to walk to the subway, what to do. But it's overwhelming to me because there's. Aren't there like 75,000. But it tells you the line. No, but it's easy. It'll walk you. Yeah, it'll tell you what to do. If you don't know it, it'll tell you what to do. And I'm telling you, you can save yourself hours of being stuck in a freaking car or. It's so good. And it's so safe. Like, what is this? It's great. Well, that's a little bit of that too, yeah. It is great. All right. We'll do it together because I love riding on them. We'll do it next time I'm there. All right. We'll hold hands all the way through it. But you guys should check out those two shows. Very good. Yeah, I will. I've seen a couple of his clips on Instagram and they're always funny and engaging. So funny. Like you said, Jason, it's really interesting that he. Well, you both said it. That he started something out of like. You know, who would have thought that just conversation would be interesting to people? Well, I will say this. I think that there probably are, Sean, a lot of people who think like, hey, I'm interesting and I could just do. I'm going to do a talk show or I'm going to do a thing. And the truth was that he did have an actual. a talent for it. And that he is an engaging person. And he's very authentic and real. Very authentic. Yeah, you know exactly. That's the key. Yeah. You just know who he is. Yeah. And I bet he could do it. He'd probably like. He'd take it on the road. He could go overseas. He could do it. but he could definitely do one in Egypt because he was born in Egypt. So I would assume that he is bilingual. Bilingual. Very good. Bye. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarv, Bennett Barbico, and Michael Granteri. Smart. Less.