David Byrne Shares His Cycling-Related Subway Take

Subway Takes began in 2023 as a talk show on social media, with each episode revolving around a particular "take" or opinion shared while riding on the New York City subway, with the host (Kareem Rahma) usually responding "100% agree" or "100% disagree" and then discussing the take. Co-created by Andrew Kuo and Rahma, the show has grown in popularity and begun featuring more celebrities, including actors, musicians, and even politicians.

As a New York City icon, David Byrne has long been requested to appear as a guest on the show and share his own take. This seemed especially more likely after the May 2025 marriage of Byrne's daughter Malu to the co-creator Andrew Kuo. On August 20th, Subway Takes finally released an episode featuring Byrne, whose take was: "I'm a bike rider, I get around New York on a bike, everybody should follow the arrows and go in the direction they're supposed to go in, no matter who you are". Rahma agreed, then they launched into a set of fun and interesting conversations, including an experience where Byrne was yelled at for checking directions on his phone while stopped in a bike lane, and how delivery companies pressure bikers to cycle recklessly for optimal delivery time.

A much longer 18-minute "Uncut" episode was also uploaded to the Subway Takes YouTube Channel, featuring more conversations shared on the subway. This covered topics including David Byrne's upcoming album, Who Is the Sky?, the orange outfit he's decided to wear for this era, how music streaming platforms have changed the way people discover songs, and The Rizzler.