Episode

Riz Ahmed takes on his inner critic

Podcast: Fresh Air
Published: Aug 27, 2026
Duration seconds: 2724
Processing state: not_requested
Canonical source: https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/nx-s1-5946458/riz-ahmed-takes-on-his-inner-critic
Audio: https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/npr.simplecastaudio.com/49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400/episodes/0397af7b-cf8a-49cc-b52a-85725e0061f2/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=49850946-31c1-4953-8129-0d718420c400&awEpisodeId=0397af7b-cf8a-49cc-b52a-85725e0061f2&feed=jBsBZBHh&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5946458&p=381444908&d=2724&size=43595320
JSON: /v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/riz-ahmed-takes-on-his-inner-critic
Markdown: /podcast/fresh-air-214340/riz-ahmed-takes-on-his-inner-critic.md

Actions

POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/fresh-air-214340/episodes/riz-ahmed-takes-on-his-inner-critic/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/fresh-air-214340/riz-ahmed-takes-on-his-inner-critic.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

In his Prime Video series, Bait , Riz Ahmed plays an actor auditioning to be the next James Bond. Ahmed says Bond is a "symbol of aspiration, this unattainable kind of self" his character is pursuing. He’s nominated for an Emmy for his role in the series. Ahmed spoke with Tonya Mosley about being his own worst critic, why he connected to Hamlet, and his early days as an MC on pirate radio. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air Archives See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy