Riz Ahmed Gets the Job Done

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Wnyc, Books, Yorker, Remnick, New, David, Storytelling, Arts, News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2017

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The British writer, activist, and rapper Riz Ahmed has had a very public life since leaving drama school to star in “The Road to Guantánamo.” He won an Emmy for playing the lead in “The Night Of,” appeared in the Star Wars film “Rogue One,” and played Hannah Horvath’s baby daddy on “Girls.” He has continued his music career as Riz MC and was featured on the song “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” from “The Hamilton Mixtape.” Riz has been an outspoken activist for immigrants in the U.S. and Britain, and, at this year’s New Yorker Festival, he spoke to Alexis Okeowo about how his past has shaped who he is and steered his career choices. Ahmed’s work is often political, but he resents the category of political art, which he sees as a way to marginalize viewpoints that the mainstream views with suspicion.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. I'm glad you could join us today. We're going to do something special. Every year we put on a festival, the New Yorker Festival, a whole weekend blowout of interviews, panels, performances,
0:23.3	screenings. It's a who's who of the people who are making news and shaping the worlds of culture,
0:29.4	politics, journalism, food, you name it. And we're going to be bringing you the highlights of it
0:33.8	here on the radio hour throughout the year. Staff writer Alexis Akeow spoke with the
0:40.5	multi-talented British artist Riz Ahmed. Ahmed won an Emmy for his performance in HBO's The Night of.
0:47.9	He also appeared last year in Star Wars Rogue One, and he's known as a rapper, an activist.
1:14.5	And as W. Magazine put it recently, the internet's boyfriend. Wait, wait, just hold up a minute. Hold on a minute. Wait, backstage, you promised that this wouldn't happen. We were like, should we come out together or do you want to come out afterwards? And I said, if I'm going to awkwardly sit through you, bigging me up, and we ain't covered out together. I may have lied. So you stabbed me in the back,
1:18.1	just off the good jump. Thank you. Good. Trust.
1:25.4	So, Riz, you grew up in London. What are your strongest memories of growing up there? I read that one of your first memories was going to Pakistan at the age of two to be circumcised
1:32.2	and your family made a song and dance about it.
1:41.1	She's so nice backstage.
1:43.9	And you come out, the New Yorker journalist, and the funnons come out.
1:48.0	I told you that privately.
1:50.0	Yeah, man, that's my first memory, Dr. Karim.
1:55.0	Dr. Karim, he had a very powerful mustache.
2:00.0	And, yeah, it was a recurring joke, weirdly.
2:03.4	My first private joke with my parents was like,
2:06.2	well, beat up Dr. Karim with a hockey stick because of what he did to you.
2:10.4	And like, only years later, I've realized, way to pass the buck.
2:14.6	Like, they went and sought out Dr. Karim to do that to me. What were you like
2:19.3	as a kid? I was very kind of hyperactive kid. And what was your family like? Your parents moved to
2:26.9	the UK from Pakistan in the 70s. Well, I guess I should talk a little bit about that, you know,
	...

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