Is there anyone on Earth who hasn’t heard of Taylor Swift? To the delight of millions and the chagrin of more it has become difficult to avoid her. Between March 17, 2023, when her money-printing Eras tour began, and February 11, 2024, when news sites live-blogged her flight across the Pacific to watch her beau play in the Superbowl, The New York Times published more than 1000 pieces that mentioned the singer, only slightly fewer than those that mentioned Joe Biden, the president of the United States.

When I pick up my phone, social-media algorithms bombard me with clips of Swift performing in a sparkly gold leotard. When I put it down, I overhear conversations about her. On a train from Washington, DC, to New York this year, a cluster of young women were debating whether the government had rigged the biggest American football game of the year so that “Taylor’s boyfriend” would win.