SmartLess
SmartLess

"Kareem Rahma"

May 11, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The hosts kick off with banter about NASA's Artemis mission orbiting the moon—farthest humans from Earth yet—and debate its significance versus past landings. Conversation veers to aliens, with Jason citing Bob Lazar's Area 51 claims and government crash recoveries, while Kareem shares a childhood encounter with a small, green, big-eyed being that said "zone." They speculate on societal impacts of disclosure, from religion's collapse to CIA-funded movies like Spielberg's Disclosure priming the public.

Early Career and Risky Bets

Kareem Rahma, born in Egypt and raised in Minneapolis, chased fame and fortune to New York after journalism and unfinished business degrees. Inspired by The Social Network, he aimed for tech entrepreneurship but landed at Vice in 2012, doing marketing and content amid stars like Shane Smith, Eddie Huang, and Spike Jonze. He moved to the New York Times, helping launch Times Video, then struck out with his media company. Failures included NYC.tv (internet public access) and Nameless Network (viral odd-news clips like yams in Japan). Broke at 33, he pivoted to what he did best: hanging out and talking.

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (01:54) **Intro and Housekeeping** - Hosts introduce the episode and plug live Jonah Hill show
  • 2 (02:57) **NASA Hat Banter and Artemis Mission** - Discussion on moon mission hype, records, and ideas like treehouses or golf shots
  • 3 (04:49) **Space Travel and Bezos Rockets** - Would hosts do suborbital flights; Bezos charges ~$250k for weightlessness
  • 4 (06:25) **Bob Lazar and UFOs** - New doc on Area 51 whistleblower; alien craft hangars and crash recoveries
  • 5 (08:30) **Kareem Rahma Intro** - Hosts welcome Egyptian-born comedian/media entrepreneur behind Subway Takes
  • 6 (09:25) **Aliens with Kareem** - Kareem shares childhood alien sighting; debates moon landing conspiracies jokingly
  • 7 (15:10) **Kareem's Early Career** - From Minneapolis journalism/business degrees to NYC gold rush inspired by Social Network

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

“How about medallions?” It’s Kareem Rahma. NYC stuff & the stuff of life… like sidewalk traffic, hang-out kids, and rickshaw guys. “Everybody get your own dessert,” on an all-new SmartLess. Hundo-P.

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