While there is some debate over the estimates of exactly how much money Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has made, it is expected to break the record for the highest-grossing tour of all time at over $1 billion, with shows that impacted local economies to an extent comparable to The Super Bowl. Her concerts have become so sought after that the average resale price of tickets has reached $3,801 apiece. Due to the sheer number of fans expected to tailgate, legal guidelines have been put in place preventing fans without tickets from gathering outside of concert venues in multiple locations as a safety precaution. This was largely prompted by her performing three sold-out shows at The Linc in Philadelphia to an estimated 200,000 ticket holders, during which an unprecedented estimate of 57,000 people without tickets gathered outside the venue to hear the artist perform. Even the Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour concert film has already made $129.8 million in just the first two weeks in theaters, breaking a record for the first independently released movie to break $100 million in the first two weekends in theaters.

Taylor Swift holds other records as the youngest artist to receive a Grammy for Artist of the Year in 2010, the first artist to sell over a million copies in the first week for five consecutive albums and the first female artist in history to reach over 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. According to Billboard, 1 of every 5 vinyl records sold last year in the U.S. was a Taylor Swift album. Her influence is so large that NFL tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce, saw a 400% spike in jersey sales after Taylor Swift was photographed with the football player’s mother at a game. 

Not only is this artist breaking records in popularity, but she is also completely changing the industry and setting a new precedent for artists and record labels for years to come. Most notably, Taylor Swift has become widely known for re-releasing her own music to take ownership of her art, which is conventionally owned by the record label rather than the artist. Along with setting a new precedent for what is possible as an independent artist, Taylor Swift has used her platform to champion artists’ rights and advocate for others. For example, she leveraged Apple Music to pay royalties to artists during their initial launch by threatening to keep her music off the platform if they refused. Taylor Swift has also taken a direct approach to combating what she sees as unfair practices in the music industry, such as when a New York judge denied popstar, Kesha, permission to record new music outside her record label, prompting Swift to donate $250,000 to Kesha to assist with any court costs or financial needs during her legal battle. 

Taylor Swift has not only taken a novel approach to music distribution but to fan engagement too. Swift has used unconventional methods to promote her work and interact with her listeners, such as meetup treasure hunts, a bingo-themed release announcement via social media livestream, and connecting with fans directly both online and in person. Taylor Swift made a notable appearance on Once Upon a Prom in 2008 when she was 18 years old, escorting a fan to his senior prom. 

What makes Taylor Swift so unique is not only her level of influence, popularity, wealth, or even her progressive business model but what she does with her status as a superstar. Specifically, Taylor Swift has exhibited a long-running pattern of using her wealth to help fans. Some examples of this include donating $10,000 to cover a fan’s cancer treatment, another $10,000 to a fan with autism to cover suggested service accommodations, $15,000 to a 19-year-old fan to help pay her mother’s medical costs, $50,000 to a single mother of five grieving the loss of her husband, $70,000 in books to her hometown library and a whopping $1 million to tornado relief efforts in Nashville. 

In addition to these isolated instances, Taylor Swift has made payments towards student loan debt amongst fans and various charitable donations to victims of sexual assault, hurricane survivors, animal shelters and food banks. One food bank reported they can provide nearly double the food after receiving Taylor Swift’s donations. Swift even secretly donated rent assistance and stimulus money to fans during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was only made public after one recipient revealed via Twitter that she received $3,000 from Taylor Swift after posting about her financial stressors during the pandemic.

In addition to charitable donations, Taylor Swift has been known for offering unusually high compensation for crew members and staff. Following the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift offered each of the fifty truck drivers on tour a bonus of $100,000 each, as well as offering bonuses to other tour crew members. While the amounts of some of the bonuses are currently undisclosed, some sources estimate their sum to be around $55 million when including the bonuses provided to truck drivers.

Taylor Swift’s continuous effort to responsibly distribute her wealth is not the only social contribution the artist hopes to make. In recent years, Swift has used her influence to encourage fans to engage in electoral politics and bargained with her family, management team and label to break her political silence. This transparency was especially courageous given the death threats and security risks she faced. In recent years, the artist has defended LGBT+ rights and endorsed Joe Biden in opposition to Donald Trump in 2020. On Sep. 19, 2023, Taylor Swift posted to Instagram encouraging her fans to register to vote, which contributed to more than 35,000 new registrations that day. This figure shows a 23% increase compared to the previous year. 

On account of Taylor Swift’s popularity, widespread appeal, artistic merit, connection to fans, acts of philanthropy, respect for workers, political advocacy, and forward-thinking approach to music distribution and artist rights, it is reasonable to expect Taylor Swift’s name in headlines for years to come. A new precedent has been set for artists, labels, and fans alike as Taylor Swift helps shape the future of the industry.

It has been an interesting week for U.S. democracy. In the last fourteen days, U.S. lawmakers have averted a government shutdown. Currently, the Biden administration is discussing how it wants to address a surprise attack in Israel from the terrorist organization Hamas.  

All of this, and the U.S. House of Representatives does not have a Speaker to assist. A Speaker of the House has not been ousted in America’s history. So, what happened? 

Budgeting 101

In order to answer this, we must examine the U.S. budget, which is passed by the Congress every year. Congress must pass all federal funding budgets, which are typically valid for a certain length of time. This process is often done yearly. Congress can also pass short-term funding bills, typically called continuing resolutions or CR, which will fund the government for anywhere between a week and a couple months. If a funding bill expires and a new one is not put in place, the government is not being funded. This means the government cannot pay its employees or maintain any federally-controlled lands, although essential employees can continue to work; such a time is often referred to as a government shutdown. 

On Sept. 29, the House of Representatives passed a CR with broad bipartisan support. However, some Republicans, among them Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), had promised to introduce a motion to vacate the office of now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) if a CR passed.  

Removal of the Speaker 

On Oct. 2, Gaetz filed his promised motion to vacate. When the motion came to a vote, all Democrats joined eight Republicans in voting to remove McCarthy. Those eight Republicans were Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Elijah Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.). 

After the motion to vacate succeeded, Gaetz claimed, “Kevin McCarthy is a creature of the swamp. He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favors. We are breaking the fever now.” 

The successful vote means that the House is currently lacking an elected speaker. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has been named interim speaker while the search takes place. 

Implications 

This leaves the Republican party with a leadership crisis. The Republican margin in the House is currently five votes, which means that five Republicans can defeat any measure if all Democrats oppose it. As such, this leaves radical Republicans with an outsized influence.  

Many Republicans are furious with Gaetz, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for Gaetz’s removal from the Republican conference. Joseph Postell, professor of political science at Hillsdale College, said that these legislators sought to gain outside media influence. Postell told the Washington Post that “[House Republicans] are no longer incentivized to bargain with one another. They are incentivized to remain in conflict.” 

What will become of the Republican Party in 2024 and beyond is yet to be seen. But this episode will give us a picture of how Republicans choose to address a leadership crisis, and may show us how they will choose to handle Donald Trump. House Republicans are trying to show America that they can effectively govern in the leadup to the 2024 election; in the days to come, we will see Republicans try to govern their own.

After 20 years, the United States’ longest war is over. A day before President Joe Biden’s deadline of  Aug. 31, the U.S. evacuated Afghanistan of as many U.S. citizens and Afghan refugees as possible. However, the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw has been under fire after recent events, including a terror attack at the Kabul airport taking the lives of 13 U.S. service members and dozens of civilians and the Taliban retaking the country. 

Adding to the controversy, an Aug. 29 drone strike in Kabul was confirmed to have killed 10 Afghan civilians – including seven children – in an attempt to target a terrorist group whom the military falsely deemed a direct threat to the withdrawal mission. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, called the strike a “tragic mistake” during a press conference on Sept. 17.

According to Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, an estimated 71 thousand Afghan and Pakistani civilians are thought to have died as a direct result of the war since 2001.

The Taliban was formed in 1994 by a group of former resistance fighters that combated the Soviet Union. The Taliban enforced strict Islamic law in 1996 after they took control of Afghanistan the first time. The laws included women having to wear head-to-toe coverings, not being allowed to study or work and being forbidden from traveling alone. Television, music and non-Islamic holidays were also banned. The country under Taliban rule also housed the mastermind behind the sept. 11, 2001 attack against the U.S. and leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden.

After 9/11, the U.S. led an allied attack to oust the Taliban from power and prevent the country from being a base for any future attacks by the terror cell. For 20 years, the U.S. has provided military and administrative support to the interim government of Afghanistan, as the country has struggled to defeat the Taliban. The war cost the U.S. over $2 trillion and thousands of American lives. The conversation about withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan has been a political talking point for over a decade. Plans for withdrawal have been around since the Obama administration. 

In February 2020, former President Donald Trump announced a peace treaty with the Taliban. The deal stipulated that the U.S. would leave the country in 14 months and the Taliban would not harbor terrorists and not harm any U.S. troops. Under the treaty, the U.S. would also release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 U.S. prisoners. Months after the deal was signed, evidence began to surface that the radical group had already violated measures of it. A United Nations report explained that the group still has strong ties to the terror group al Qaeda. 

Biden finalized the 20 year-long war stating that the U.S. counterterrorism mission was over. Since the withdrawal, over 100,000 Afghan refugees have been evacuated from the country with thousands more trying to flee. According to Secretary of State Antony Bliken, “As of the end of last week, we had about 100 American citizens in Afghanistan who told us that they wish to leave the country.” The concerns of human rights violations have become a prevalent issue as the Taliban begins to reimplement Sharia law. 

Almost a month after the withdrawal happened, Biden continues to defend his administration’s approach to the conflict, stating, it was, “The right decision, the wise decision, the best decision for America.” Biden has reiterated the American commitment to help Americans and Afghans safely leave the country. As the Taliban implement their new government, the U.S. will be keeping a close eye on the nation and the new government’s actions.