Lana, Taylor and anti-institutional realignment Recently, I watched the Grammys and learned more about Lana Del Rey. I had no idea she was friendly with Taylor Swift, or that she and Taylor shared the same producer. These women have been pop stars for over a decade: Taylor the… Show more
If Taylor Swift is bigger than Beatlemania, then it’s pretty wild to think how much cultural potential is stored in a single person. What if Taylor Swift took psychedelics and reached a new level of artistry, experimentation, and philosophy?
Maybe what’s different in our time is how our perspective on parties has changed. The parties were once the brands, and these identities were fixed: “You’re the Democrat.” “You’re the Republican.” People voted straight-party tickets. In one sense, the politician is the brand more than the party is today. It’s similar to the way that a journalist is
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Palin kept looking for a second act that never came. She suffered the pathetic fate of being a celebrity ahead of her time. For with her candidacy something new came into our national life that was also traditional. She was a western populist who embodied white identity politics. In her proud ignorance, unrestrained narcissism, and contempt for the
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