Greetings. It's Monday, February the 12th, 2024. Welcome to the Daily Article podcast. I'm Chris Elkins,

narrating today's daily article written by Denison Forum, co-founder, and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison.

More than 100 million people watch the Chiefs overtime victory over the 49ers in yesterday's Super Bowl.

More than 16 million of them then mysteriously contracted the Super Bowl flu and won't be

showing up for work today. Millions more plan to show up late. So many employees skip work the

day after the big game that some state lawmakers are trying to make today an official holiday.

None of this surprises you, I assume.

The Super Bowl has been an unofficial national holiday in America for years.

What might surprise you is the number of fans watching yesterday's game who've never watched football before.

They're called Chiefties. The NFL has Taylor Swift to thank. The most watched watcher of football

finished a four-night concert series in Tokyo on Saturday night, then crossed nine time zones to watch her boyfriend, Travis Kelsey,

make nine catches for the Chiefs in yesterday's game. Legions of her fans, known as Swifties,

many of whom are new to football, watch the game so they could watch her watch the game.

Journalist David Samuels perceptively explains Swift's popularity. Quote,

after spending the last 50 years tearing down the structures of families, churches, local government,

ethnicity, gender, nations, and borders, a very large number of Americans now find themselves

struggling to find rhythm and meaning to their lives. The idea that

Taylor Swift, of all people, can find happiness cheering for her boyfriend, a burly bearded football star,

seems well deserved. It is also an embodiment of the kind of healing synthesis a large majority of

Americans want for themselves.

In quote, in a day when 76% of Americans believe their country is headed in the wrong direction

and less than half are very satisfied with their own lives, Samuel's analysis rings true.

...