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Sounds Like A Cult

The Cult of Taylor Swift, Part 2

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Education

3.94.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2023

⏱️ 76 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s me, hi, I'm the problem, it's me, here with an update to one of our most-streamed episodes of all time, the cult of exalted idol bestie goddess mother queen angel (no, that’s not pandering to the standom! They're not intimidating at all!), Taylor Swift. Somehow, the pop icon’s “cult” has only exploded in size and religiosity since our last discussion, which was uploaded right as Midnights was dropping, pre-Eras Tour. Needless to say, there’s a lotttttt to catch up on. Whether you stan Taylor til the death or truly do not get what all the fuss is about, we hope you enjoy this part 2!! To check out Amanda's new book, The Age of Magical Overthinking, click here! Head to Isa Medina's IG or website to tell her where to perform stand up, keep up with her work and learn more about her new podcast coming in 2024. The Magical Overthinkers newsletter can be found here. Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod  I was never good at telling jokes but the punchline goes: If Taylor told her Swifties to kill a man, they would. They would kill a man for Taylor, because her music means *that* much to them. But the "cult" of country-pop sensation Taylor Swift is not just about the music. It's about the Swiftie community, the rituals, the beliefs, the aesthetic, and (of course) Taylor's cult of personality. This extreme fandom definitely seems classically culty, but is it dangerous just because it's fanatical? That's the question on Amanda and Isa's agenda today, and they've solicited pop culture connoisseur Jill Gutowitz, author of the essay collection GIRLS CAN KISS NOW, to help them figure it out.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey sounds like a cold pod. My name's Audrey calling from New York City and I'm definitely a swiftie and I think one

0:06.2

culty aspect of the fandom that has felt different in the past two or so years is the fan

0:10.8

obsession with the Easter eggs.

0:12.5

It used to be that people kept an eye out for like

0:15.1

her nail polish colors or the capitalized letters

0:18.1

in an album's lyrics pamphlet

0:19.7

just to see who a song might be about

0:21.9

or what the vibe of the next album might be.

0:24.4

But now it feels like people are obsessed with dissecting everything she does, down to like

0:29.9

the name and release year of a piece of clothing she wears or the number of

0:34.3

vowels in one of her tweets and just enough of the conclusions people draw end up

0:38.6

having merit to keep people looking for clues in increasingly more places so it's just taking up more

0:44.0

and more of these people's time and it's super hilty. Hi my name is Avery I'm from

0:48.8

Denver Colorado I think the way that the Taylor Swift cult has changed since eras as I think people are really

0:55.4

realizing and feeling nostalgic about how Taylor Swift and her music has been present through

1:00.3

their entire lives. I went through elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and now even post-grad with Taylor

1:06.8

Swift. She's had new music through every phase of my life, so she feels like a fixture.

1:12.4

Hello, I'm Helen from Brooklyn and I think the cultiest aspect of a post-era's tour

1:16.8

Taylor Swift is definitely the outfits.

1:19.4

Just say nothing of the willow cloaks and I mean anytime there's a cloak involved you know it's pretty

1:24.4

guilty but the fact that this woman had us all dressing up not just for her concert but

1:29.2

just as excited to dress up for a movie theater experience is unheard of in my opinion.

...

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