Radio Rahim is a broadcast journalist and a ringside reporter for Seconds Out Live. He also has a podcast, “Til This Day,” named after a viral meme between Rahim and boxer Deontay Wilder. His podcast delves into the compelling life chapters and lessons of many influential figures. Rahim’s career has been covered in media publications including Access Hollywood, People and Forbes.
Some of the most notable parts of Rahim’s career include hosting a sold out Crypto.com Arena for the broadcast of KSI vs Logan Paul, guest-starring on Joe Rogan’s podcast to tell the story of his own podcast and a critically acclaimed interview with Bob Saget. He has also become a regular on Dave Chappelle’s “The Midnight Miracle” and has appeared on “Impaulsive,” Logan Paul’s podcast.
When Rahim interviewed the world heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, the interview became a huge viral moment and shook the world. This was one of the many parts of his career that created waves and made history.
One of the first podcasts he made was with Claressa Shields, who was revolutionary in the boxing world. She was the first woman boxer and first boxer as well to win two gold medals for Team USA in boxing. Her interview was important to Rahim because of the eye-opening stories she told about her life and childhood.
Rahim explained that he appreciated the interview only being voice recorded and not filmed because it felt more personal and made his interviewees open up more.
In an interview with Rahim, when asked what first drew him to journalism and storytelling, he explained that in high school, he found out there was a radio station in the basement of his high school, and he decided to start a radio show. After school, he would start his talk radio.
“I played some music,” he said. “I would talk about what a 16-year-old thought was important. [I would give] a lot of updates on the [sports] scores.”
During his hosting of the radio, he would also talk about social and political issues , and would sometimes bring on a co-host to have talk show-type debates and discussions oriented to the public.
Some of his favorite projects he had the opportunity to work on included producing Salute or Shoot Me, the last HBO special of comedian and writer Sam Jay., and working on the Tom Brady roast.
When asked how he got into the boxing world, he answered, “in fifth grade, there was an old guy in the community who had a boxing gym in his garage, and I would pass that gym, which was on my walk home from school every day…and there were guys in there, training, and I would be studying what was going on in there. And then one day, I hadn’t realized that I had stopped and started to stare…And so that was the first experience I had, hitting a punching bag and being coached for a certain type of boxing and training.”
Rahim had a very interesting push into the world of boxing because he started out filming videos for the boxers during their training and selling them for footage. This was not being done anywhere else, and Rahim found the uncommon thing to do in his line of work and kept pushing what was “common”. He was also widely known to ask the “tough questions” that were uncomfortable to ask.
Rahim then went on to give advice to students who are looking to get into journalism and media and stated, “I think the key really is to find your own niche, if you have a special skill or an affinity for something that is unusual, do the uncommon thing uncommonly well… Find something that is uniquely you that might separate you from everyone and why you have to do what the job requires […] a close second to just consistency.”
Rahim has been on campus now for the week of April 27 to May 1, and is also co-teaching the American Sport and Society Class taught by Associate Professor Jamal Ratchford.
On Wednesday, Rahim and Professor Jamal Ratchford had a live conversation exploring Rahim’s work and the idea that everyone has their own “fight” and what we can learn through dialogue, storytelling, and shared experience. The lecture is named “Three Sided Stories,” and took place on Wednesday, April 29, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Kathryn Mohrman Theatre.