Things I've been loving this week
A lot of Taylor Swift, a warming soup, a great book and a charlatan (I don't love the last one)
Here’s a little round up of the things that have been bringing me joy, diversion and distraction this week…
Taffy on Taylor - My Delirious Trip to the Heart of Swiftiedom
Argh this is SO GOOD. OK, so Taffy Brodesser-Akner is a sickeningly brilliant journalist at the New York Times and she is particularly fantastic at celebrity interviews. My favourites are her ones with Tom Hiddleston (strangely moving) and Christian Slater. Anyway, Taffy turned her gaze to the star of the moment, the woman in the sequin corset with matching boots enjoying world dominion over pop culture as her record-breaking Eras tour straddles the US and injects a predicted five billion dollars into America’s economy.
Except Taylor Swift doesn’t deign to speak to Taffy or the New York Times for the article. As Taffy explains, Swift has ascended to a rarefied level of fame where she no longer needs the New York Times to tell her story.
‘It is probably true that Taylor Swift was too busy to talk to me… But what is definitely true is that she didn’t need to talk to me. On the day I wrote this, Taylor Swift had 468 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, whereas the New York Times had a mere 92 million… I honestly can’t see a reason that someone who has revolutionized the relationship a singer can have with her fans should want an intermediary. Certainly she has sold enough albums without our help.’
Instead of a killer interview, Taffy goes along with her son to an Eras Tour show and reports back and, of course, the piece is bloody brilliant.
‘The mood was solemn - spiritual, even. I have prayed at dawn at the Temple Mount. I have stood among the quivering supplicants at the graves of biblical forefathers. I have walked in trembling silence as I entered farther and farther into the inner sanctums of the Vatican. This was like that, except for girls.’
Side note: I wish British papers gave writers the time and space for pieces like this. Maybe I’m blanking but I can’t recall the last time a seriously talented writer was given 5000 words to go mad with on a British paper. The Americans nail the long reads and I wish the Brits got the chance to do them too.
Taffy’s stunning piece is worth reading for the Karlie Kloss conspiracy theories alone! I want to know the full story on Taylor and Karlie and what went wrong to turn them from she-has-her-own-room-at-my-apartment close to I-won’t-even-attend-her-wedding estranged.
(NB I know this piece came out two weeks ago, I’m sorry I’m so late.)
The Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo feud?!
This post is very Taylor Swift heavy but all I can say is I read Taffy’s piece and then fell into a TS wormhole which resulted in binging on the YouTube videos of someone who calls himself a ‘swiftologist’ - I laugh, but Lord was this boy eloquent and completely knowledgeable about all things Taylor Swift and actually very insightful. Anyway he broke down the feud raging between Taylor and the pop ingenue (of Driving Licence fame) who will perhaps one day come for her crown.
It’s all fascinating and involves the gift of a ring, a songwriting credit, millions lost in royalties and Olivia revealing she is not going to the Eras Tour - unthinkable for a Swiftie (as Olivia used to be). Anyway here is the video and if you cannot bring yourself to watch 30 minutes of analysis of two territorial pop stars, here’s a handy explainer.
Lentil soup
In last week’s substack, I resolved to make more soups and I stuck to that. I cooked this lentil soup - left out the cabbage - from a recipe from an almost certainly out-of-print cookbook that my mother swears by.
It was absolutely delicious - the bacon gives such flavour and with the tomatoes and carrots and celery in there, I felt I was doing my body good. And I still have two portions stashed away in the freezer. Oh, I did use red lentils because I just think they are so much more jolly looking than the sludgey greeny brown ones but I bet it would taste just as good whichever colour pulse you threw in the pot. Recipe attached in case you feel moved to get cooking.
The Bee Sting
I am loving this novel by Paul Murray. It’s shortlisted for the Booker (and I v much hope it wins although I’ve not read anything else that’s been nominated). I read Skippy Dies by the same author and loved that too.
The Bee Sting is about a well-off family in Ireland who (I think) are going to lose all their money in the financial crash of 2008. The novel switches between each member of the family - mother, father, daughter and son - to show how each is falling apart in their own way and how they are isolated from one another.
That all sounds quite heavy and it is sad at times but it’s also fun and beautifully written and made me laugh at points and feel oh so thankful that I’m not a teenager anymore.
Oh and I’m reading Deepak Chopra’s new book Quantum Body for work and all I can say is I never knew what this self-help guru (who lately led a meditation for Kate Moss and her pals) was spouting and now I am APPALLED. He basically makes the case in this book that if you are just mindful enough your body won’t age or get sick. Seriously, I think he’s a whisper away from promising immortality if you just do enough breathing exercises. It is absolutely bonkers and actually, quite offensive if you really think about it.
And now, I’m going to give a little thanks. Firstly, thank you to who gave this substack a shout out on her own excellent one, . I’ve really loved the super supportive and friendly community on this platform so far.
Another little thank you - I hit 200 subscribers today. Now I know that’s not the thousands that many writers have on here but I’m thrilled that there’s 200 people receiving these emails and I’m so happy you are here!
On that note, I’m going to love you and leave you. A proper chunky substack is coming your way on Sunday.
Thank you as always for reading xxx
Oh my goodness, another great one!! I totally agree about UK newspapers missing a trick - I'd LOVE to read one long, deep dive into a subject/person, than several shorter pieces. Also, I'm pretty sure my mum also had that book (so now, by default, I do, too!) Thank you again - can't wait until Sunday's edition!
Grabbing my lentils - soup looks delish!