Ms. Rachel has done it again, and stood up for something really divisive: Puppet-run coffee shops.
Rachel Griffin Accurso, known to most as Ms. Rachel, is a children’s educator, performer, and activist who first garnered widespread attention in May 2025, when she launched a fundraiser for children in conflict zones—specifically highlighting those in Gaza. Since then, she’s shown unwavering support for Palestine, despite harassment and bullying from trolls who purport her care for Palestinian children is an abandonment of the rest of the children in the world.
On Tuesday, Ms. Rachel hopped on the train with content creator slash subway interviewer Kareem Rahma for an episode of his viral interview series, SubwayTakes. It started the way every installation does: with Rahma directing his mic’d up Metrocard towards his guest and asking, simply: “What’s your take?” Icon Ms. Rachel, never to be caught unprepared, brought five. And spoiler alert, it’s hit after hit after hit.
One, some nursery rhymes need to be retired. Specifically, racist nursery rhymes, including (illuminatingly) “Eeny, meeny, miny, mo,”; “Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater” because “the patriarchy”; and the one where kittens lose their mittens and don’t get to eat pie as a punishment for irresponsible mitten management. She suggests an alternative to the latter, in which the kittens gain tools for finding lost mittens instead.
Two, Mr. Rogers was political. This one is complicated. Rogers did indeed make a major difference during a pivotal time in integration by sharing a kiddie pool with Francois Clemmons, a Black man, but he also advised that Clemmons—who was gay—to steer clear of gay bars to protect his career. He eventually changed his advice and encouraged Clemmons to come out.
Three, no child should be in an immigration detention center. Controversial!
Four, We should be nicer to pigeons. They can literally count to nine, and they were domesticated by humans and then abandoned when society advanced beyond what they had been trained to do.
Five, There should be a coffee shop in New York City run by puppets. Yes, because I, too am dying to see Elmo’s latte art.
Now, coming in as pro-puppet, pro-pigeon, pro-Palestine, anti-punitive action towards unscrupulous kittens cemented Ms. Rachel’s status and made this Subway Takes episode truly my personal Superbowl. Here’s to seeing some puppets thrust into the workforce.
