went on "know your enemy"

(to talk taylor) (i mean… what else)

Went on the podcast Know Your Enemy to talk about the politics (or lack thereof) of Dr. Taylor Alison Swift, and then just to talk about Taylor in general (since there isn’t really… that much to talk about, politics-wise). Matt Sitman (one of the hosts of KYE) is an old friend I have worked with for several years now and Sam Adler-Bell (the other host) is somebody I worked with when I was at the Hedgehog Review (and also a friend).

Anyway, here it is:

As far as politics goes, my basic take is that Taylor operates kind of like a first lady might—she is mostly quiet and when she picks causes she tends to pick causes that are non-partisan and easily described in moral terms. You can see that even in the somewhat infamous Miss Americana clip where she’s justifying her choice to come out against Marsha Blackburn to her dad—she instantly goes to concepts like “basic human rights” and “right and wrong” because those are more intuitive to her.¹

Some other things which may not all be in the actual episode anymore but which I still had thoughts about:

• We talked a bit about how swifties are more like deadheads and Bob Dylan fans than they are other mainstream pop fan groups. I feel like this would be an interesting thing for somebody who knows those groups well (I do not!) to tackle.²

• Another thing (not discussed, but on my mind) I would be interested in reading from somebody smart is something about the culture of online standom that you see on Twitter or ATRL or wherever vs sports fans… again not really something I know much about, but the way stans are obsessed with numbers and statistics and love trash talking each other does really remind me of whenever I see people arguing about who is really the greatest X or Y given A or B.³

• I mentioned that I think Midnights will eventually get re-evaluated as far as its place in the Taylor canon goes (right now it’s in the middle for most people). It’s definitely a messy album but I think its big theme is ambition, not love (or regret), and if you look at it that way it becomes more cohesive. “Midnight Rain” is a song about choosing ambition over love and ultimately being at peace with that, etc.

I had sooooome thoughts after the podcast that I’m going to paywall, which is unusual for this newsletter, but they’re kind of personal + speculative and I assume that there will be some new people coming over here from the podcast. So it’s not really worth subscribing for (if you do not already). Let me reiterate that… this is not bait to get you to subscribe… this is merely an attempt to keep things in the family. If for some wacky reason you subscribe after this whole paragraph you are not allowed to get mad at me.

Also, we’re about a month out from The Tortured Poets Department. I’m thinking of doing an open thread post on release day? Or maybe trying to use the chat function for once? I do not really want to deliver an Instant Take, especially since I imagine it will take a bit to get those bonus tracks, but I also feel like it might be fun to have one? I’m thinking about it. I’m cogitating. I’m ruminating.