Episode Details

The swiftie in me kind of died writing that. But it’s true. She can’t.

To be clear, Taylor has saved my world many times over. I vividly remember hearing ‘Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind’ in my childhood/teenage bedroom, and being forever changed.

And yet, as powerful as Taylor’s music has been for me, she alone cannot save the world, and we have to stop acting like it.

We have to stop acting like Taylor could end wars and genocides with social media posts, rallies, donations, and whatever else you think she isn’t doing.

We criticize celebrities for being too self-important. And then we criticize them for not being our saviors.

She was vocal about the 2024 election. It didn’t change the outcome.

And yet, people are still truly convinced that pressuring her to “speak up” is the solution.

I am not saying that she or anyone is perfect. Many people could be doing many different things with their platforms. That’s not actually a critique, it’s just a fact. Everyone could be doing more. Even the people posting on social media.

Everyone could be doing more.

Speaking of doing more — there are lots of resources at the end of this post!

And unfortunately, we never know exactly what will turn the tide and start a revolution that actually makes a difference.

But you know what is 1000% not going to make a difference?

Using your precious time and energy to criticize Taylor Swift, or any other celebrities, for not posting about world crises.

Taylor Swift is an archer, a mirrorball, a tortured poet. She has been a Brit, a New Yorker, a Kansas City girl — and now, a showgirl. But she is, by her own admission, an anti-hero. And anti-heroes cannot save the world. So why do we act like she could end a genocide with a single post?

Why do you want someone who boldly declared, “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me,” to be the solution?

Why are people SO obsessed with pressuring her to speak up for the world’s crises when they could be directing that energy towards people who actually have the power to effect the change we’re seeking? (SO many resources at the end by the way.)

Probably for the same reason that people are paying hundreds of dollars to protest at Kamala Harris’ book tour. The woman they didn’t elect for President, because they didn’t think we had any good options. Remember?

I’m not here to convince you to be a Swifie. You have your taste, I have mine.

But this thing we do where we loudly criticize people we’ve never met, like we have all the facts, and we’re the judge and jury? And we act like these people deserve our scrutiny because they chose to be in the public eye?

I’m sick of it.

Taylor isn’t seeing your posts about everything you wish she was and wasn’t doing.

Glennon Doyle also isn’t seeing all of your posts about why she should never have started a Substack. (That whole thing? Insane. I have so much to say, but I truly will not go there.)

The universal truth I keep coming back to is that our reactions to people have more to do with us than them.

In some cases, we can and should loudly react to celebrities doing objectively horrible things. But even then, our reactions will still point to something specific inside us that has nothing to do with them. We get upset about certain things more than others for a reason. It’s our heart talking. It’s past experience talking.

But if you’re furious with a celebrity who left his wife for someone else, and you make a ten-minute TikTok talking about what we all have been led to believe happened, you’re having that strong of a reaction for a reason. I’m not criticizing you for having that reac