Eden Arielle Gordon is a writer and musician. Her work has been published in Honeysuckle Magazine, Lilith Magazine, Catalyst, and Untapped Cities. She graduated from Barnard College in 2019 and lives in Brooklyn.
Swifties, this one’s for you. It seems like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour has lasted eons. Yet somehow, there’s always something to talk about. Just thinking about how much she’s accomplished while on tour makes me want to buckle down, lock in, and channel my inner girlboss. But while I can’t even be bothered to cook dinner at home after a long day of work, Taylor is accomplishing milestones most musicians can only dream of. Let’s recap.
The Era’s Tour began in March 2023 with its North American leg. It’s set to go until December 2024, with dates in Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America— spanning 152 shows across five continents.
As the queen of multitasking, Swift hasn’t stopped at just selling out stadiums. Since the Eras tour began, she’s released multiple albums — both new and old — and shaken up the tour setlist with each new release. Her list of new releases started on the first day of tour with “All Of The Girls You Loved Before,” which was quickly followed up by “The Alcott,” a feature on The National’s album — reciprocity for their work on her pandemic era albums, Folklore and Evermore.
She also released Midnights: Late Night Edition (including the iconic collab with Ice Spice), as well as not one but two album re-releases — Speak Now Taylor's Version and 1989 Taylor's Version. As if that wasn’t enough, she announced her latest album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, in a GRAMMY’s acceptance speech. Talk about legendary. Since its release, she’s also been churning out deluxe versions and remixes to keep us on our toes. The Eras Tour was even made into a Blockbuster film that brought Beyonce to its premiere. Star power: confirmed.
But that’s just her work life. Her personal life is just as eventful. She ended her 7-year relationship with Joe Alwyn in April 2023. Then entered into a brief but controversial fling with 1975 frontman Matty Healy. Though it didn’t last long, the relationship was enough to inspire a whole album and catapult her into her current romance with Travis Kelce, aka Amerca’s first nepo boyfriend. Now they’re the American Royal couple — and she somehow had time to fly from tour to his Super Bowl performance.
We all have the same hours in the day as Taylor Swift, but how she uses them will always be a mystery to me. I work eight hours a day and can barely manage a social life. Meanwhile, Taylor literally has it all — though conservatives are turning on her for daring to be a woman in her 30s who’s not married with kids. If that’s not proof that women can’t do anything right, I don’t know what is.
Clearly, she’s working late because she’s a singer. No wonder Taylor Swift became a billionaire months into her tour in October 2023. Her net worth is currently around 1.3 billion dollars, making her the only female musician to become a billionaire from her music.
Other entertainment billionaires like Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, and Kanye West have joined the three-comma club thanks to ventures like clothing brands, beauty products, and other entrepreneurial pursuits. Rihanna has her FENTY Empire. Kim has her award-winning SKIMS. Ye had Yeezy. But Taylor has an unbeatable catalog of publishing.
But Taylor isn’t just different from other Billionaires because of how she earned her money. She’s the Taylor we know and love because of how she spends it. Her rollercoaster Eras Tour is how she’s made much of her fortune. And she’s using it to give back in monumental degrees. From individual donations to investing in local infrastructure, Taylor is literally changing lives on a macro and micro scale. And teaching us what to expect from all billionaires in the process.
The Era’s Tour Bonuses — Talk About Workplace Benefits
First to make headlines were the Eras Tour crew bonuses. While some of us get rewarded with a pizza party or a $10 gift card to Starbucks, Taylor casually dropped $55 million in bonuses for her tour crew. The massive sum was paid out to everyone who makes the Eras Tour go around, from truck drivers to dancers and sound technicians.
In fairness, these bonuses are definitely well-deserved. Taylor’s shows are over three hours long. Imagine dancing for that long — because Swift certainly isn’t the one with the impressive moves — for hundreds of tour dates. Or remembering countless combinations of light cues to go with a setlist that changes daily. Yeah, they’re clocking in. And if my boss had millions to blow, I’d be expecting a comfortable bonus too. But $55 Million? That’s a testament to Swift’s generosity. It's like she's Oprah, but instead of cars, she's giving out life-changing amounts of cash. "You get a bonus! You get a bonus! Everybody gets a bonus!"
It’s similar to how Zendaya gave film equity to every member of the crew that worked on her controversial black-and-white drama, Malcolm & Marie. Filmed in a few days with a bare-bones crew during the peak of the pandemic, the film was Zendaya’s passion project with Sam Levinson, in which she starred alongside John David Washington. Though the film got mixed reviews, it captured the audience’s attention all the same. After all, it was Zendaya — and we’ll watch her in anything. So since the film sold to Netflix for a hefty sum, all the crew members got payouts from the deal on top of their salaries to reward their hard work.
Bonuses and equity payouts are common in many industries, but not entertainment. Even though it’s one of the most lucrative and recognizable American industries, most entertainers don’t make enough to survive. The SAG and WGA strikes last year were proof that there needs to be systemic change in the industry. LA County has even identified show businesses as risk factors for being unhoused — after all, how many stories do we hear of actors who were living in their cars before their big break? And for many, their big break never comes. For even more, they get hired on amazing gigs with giant performers … then go right back to the grind afterward. While individual actions from our favorite stars won’t fix everything, Zendaya and Taylor are providing models for how Hollywood should treat the people who make this town go round.
And in this economy, even a little bit could go a long way. Inflation and the cost of living are not a joke. Especially when, like with many creative careers, you often have to invest in lessons or equipment for your craft. With all this considered, the impact of Swirt’s donations can’t be overstated. Imagine getting a lump sum of cash for dancing to your favorite Taylor Swift tracks? Talk about a dream job.
The Economic Impact of Swift - Swiftonomics, if you will
Like Barbie and Beyonce last year, Swift is still on a tear to boost the economy of the cities she’s in just by traveling there — ad inspiring others to make the trek, too.
The Barbie movie proved that by marketing to women (instead of just making Marvel flops like Madame Web that aren’t really targeted to women at all), the entertainment industry can make giant profits. Barbie fever went beyond the theater. Thanks to a plethora of product collabs, the phenomenon rippled through retail.
Similarly, Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour tour generated an estimated $4.5 billion for the American economy. According to NPR, that’s almost as much as the entire 2008 Olympics earned for Beijing. People were taking money out of their 401ks to pay for Beyonce tickets and the glittery, silver-hues outfits to rock at her shows. Cities even started calling her effect the “Beyonce Bump.”
Swift has the same effect. She’s not just proving her generosity on a micro-scale for the people close to her, she’s having actual, tangible effects on the economy. It's like she's leaving a trail of dollar bills in her wake, and cities are scrambling to catch them like it's a country-pop, capitalist version of musical chairs.
The US Travel Association called it the Taylor Swift Impact after she generated over $5 Billion in just the first 5 months of the Eras Tour. But how does this work? It’s not like Taylor is printing more money at those shows, but it almost is. Her tour dates are pretty much economic steroid shots for local businesses. Hotels are booked solid, restaurants are packed, and let's not even get started on the surge in friendship bracelet supplies.
“Swifties averaged $1,300 of spending in local economies on travel, hotel stays, food, as well as merchandise and costumes,” say the US Travel Association. “That amount of spending is on par with the Super Bowl, but this time it happened on 53 different nights in 20 different locations over the course of five months.” That’s not to say anothing of her effect on the actual Super Bowl and the entire NFL season thanks to her ball-throwing boyfriend.
It's like she's created her own micro-economy, and everyone's invited to the party. And unlike some economic theories that rely on wealth trickling down (spoiler alert: it doesn't), Taylor's wealth is more like a t-shirt cannon or the confetti at her shows — showering everyone around.
Donations that actually do good
Taylor isn’t just stepping into cities and calling it a night. She’s also not just throwing pennies at problems - she's making significant contributions that are changing lives. And more importantly, she's using her platform to encourage her fans to do the same.
She kicked off her tour with quiet donations to food banks in Glendale, Ariz., and Las Vegas ahead of the Eras Tour. Once the tour was in full swing, she continued this practice. In Seattle, she donated to Food Lifeline, a local hunger relief organization. In Santa Clara, she showed some love to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. And let's not forget about her $100,000 donation to the Hawkins County School Nutrition Program in Tennessee.
She’s been making similar donations overseas. Taylor Swift donated enough money to cover the food bills for an entire year across 11 food banks and & community pantries in Liverpool. Swift also covered 10,800 meals for Cardiff Foodbank and many more banks across the UK and EU. Her impact is so profound that her numbers are doing more to combat issues like hunger than the government.
Can billionaires actually be good?
One thing about me, I’m always ready and willing — knife and fork in hand — to eat the rich. Because fundamentally, can any billionaire really be good? In our late-stage capitalist horror story, the answer is usually no. Look how many of them are supporting the Trump campaign just to get some tax breaks.
But here's the thing - Taylor Swift might just be the exception that proves the rule. She's not perfect, sure. She still flies private jets and probably has a carbon footprint bigger than Bigfoot. But unlike most of the others in her tax bracket, she's not flaunting her wealth like it's a personality trait.
Take a look around. We've got billionaires trying to colonize Mars instead of, I don't know, helping people on Earth. In this context, Taylor's approach is more like Mackenzie Scott’s — Bezos’s ex-wife. She's not trying to escape to another planet - she's trying to make this one better.
And look, I'm not saying we should stop critiquing billionaires or the system that creates them. But she's just setting the bar for what we should expect from all billionaires. She's showing us that our collective power as fans can translate into real-world change. That our love for catchy choruses and bridge drops can somehow, improbably, lead to food banks getting funded and crew members getting life-changing bonuses.
So sorry to my neighbors who hear me belting “Cruel Summer” and “right where you left me” at the top of my lungs (and range). Just know it’s for the greater good.
Amy Coney Barrett Isn't a "Handmaid's Tale" Character—She's Worse
If The Handmaid's Tale teaches us one thing, it's that even seemingly powerful societies can and will collapse if certain fringe groups take enough power and bend enough public opinion to their will.
Amidst the political chaos of the past few weeks—the unveiling of Trump's unpaid tax returns, a disastrous debate, Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis, and so many other issues—Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination has received little significant blowback for such a significant event.
Following Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, many feared the worst and felt a sense of hopelessness. Ginsburg was long a pillar of women's rights and liberty and justice for all.
Amy Coney Barrett is a staunch pro-life conservative, a member of a fringe religious group known as the People of Praise, and a former student of Antonin Scalia. Her appointment is also a specific and purposeful attack on Ginsburg's legacy. In 2018, Trump considered picking Barrett but allegedly said "I'm saving her for Ginsburg," according to an Axios report. Barrett received word of her nomination three days after Ginsburg's death.
Barrett is the polar opposite of everything that Ginsburg stood for, the crystallization of what many people feared when the news of Ginsburg's passing broke.
With Barrett on the court, there would be 6 Republicans against 3 lone Democrats—a shocking percentage, especially in a nation where Democrats won the most recent popular vote and the previous two elections.
In addition, Barrett's rapid-fire nomination is largely thanks to the efforts of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who—hypocritically, absurdly—blocked the Obama administration's efforts to nominate a new Supreme Court justice in its last months, but is rushing to elect Barrett. At no time in the Senate's history has a new Supreme Court justice been confirmed so close to an election.
Notably, McConnell was elected in his own state with a mere 37% of the vote, and Kentucky has one of the highest records of voter suppression in the country.
Joe Biden has called Barrett's nomination an "abuse of power." It is.
Amy Coney Barrett's Political Record: Pro-Corporation and Anti-Worker
Barrett's record is staunchly conservative; and, if elected, her views on issues like abortion, gay rights, and the environment would influence American life for generations to come. The Hill calls her the "most far-right Supreme Court nominee since Robert Bork was rejected in 1987."
She is generally understood to be an originalist, someone who interprets the Constitution exactly as it was written in the 1700s (you know, back when women couldn't vote, let alone be on the Supreme Court.
Barrett believes life begins at conception. In 2006, Barrett signed a letter that called Roe V. Wade "barbaric." Her candidacy could mean that millions of women could go without access to birth control and safe abortions—not including the wealthy women who are able to afford safe, covert abortions—resulting in the bloody horrors of 1960s coathanger abortions and other issues that we should be long past.
She is staunchly anti-immigrant and has supported one of Trump's policies that would block green card applicants from applying for public assistance. She also opposes the Affordable Care Act and supports the right of felons to bear arms.
Not much is known about her environmental policies, but assuming she follows the Republican tradition of climate denial, her presence could block federal caps on fossil fuel emissions, as well as other programs that are vital to ensuring a future without the consequences of climate change. A future of Amy Coney Barrett and climate deniers' devising would be one of constant and brutal hurricanes, wildfires, and floods, which we are already seeing ravage the nation.
She is also staunchly pro-corporation and anti-worker. In 2017, she voted not to re-hear U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Autozone, favoring a company that had segregated its stores on the basis of race. She also recently ruled that GrubHub workers could not file class action lawsuits against their employers.
The COVID-19 Super-Spreader Event Highlights Amy Coney Barrett's (and Trump's) Poor Judgment
Barrett is also at the center of the story that is currently dominating the news. COVID-19 is ripping through the Trump administration, and it likely spread at Barrett's White House confirmation celebration—an event where dozens of Trump players gathered indoors, stood close together, and did not wear masks.
Barrett and appointee Donald Trump's poor judgment regarding this ceremony, which has resulted in COVID-19's rampant spread and has turned the White House into a temporary ghost town, is a foreboding threat about what poor judgments she might make as a sitting member of the Supreme Court.
The pictures are disturbing to look at today, knowing that many of the poised group of mostly white politicians were infected with a dangerously infectious disease at the times they were taken. But it's even more concerning to think of what might happen to our nation if people like Amy Coney Barrett are left to make decisions about how to handle infectious diseases, climate change, and the like.
Is Amy Coney Barrett Going to Make The Handmaid's Tale a Reality?
One aspect of Barrett's story has proven particularly fascinating for people on all sides of the political spectrum. Barrett is a member of the People of Praise, a fringe extremist religious Christian group that, among other things, believes that women should be subservient to their husbands, and used to refer to female members as "handmaids" and men as "heads."
This word drew immediate comparisons in the news and on social media to The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood's novel that tells the story of a woman trapped in a repressive society that treats fertile women like cattle to be bread and executed as well.
But Barrett is not a character from The Handmaid's Tale—though she sure seems like one, as many news outlets and Internet commentators have pointed out. She most immediately draws comparisons to Serena Joy, the wife of the primary commander who owns the book's main character. Serena Joy helped to shape Atwood's Republic, but once the republic was in place, she was relegated to the position of submissive, mostly helpless wife.
Others have argued that Barrett resembles other aspects of Atwood's novel, a prescient text since Trump's election."To run with the Handmaid's Tale analogy, Barrett isn't a Handmaid—she's more of an Aunt, a woman who is not only perfectly happy to use her position of power to enforce patriarchal norms and ideals but who can, by very dint of her femininity, give it a conservative feminist gloss," writes Esther Wang.
Unfortunately, Barrett is worse than any character in The Handmaid's Tale–because she is real, and the book is fiction. Any comparison to the book fails to encapsulate the scale of fear that Americans should feel if Barrett is appointed to the highest court of the land.
Yet, if The Handmaid's Tale teaches us one thing, it's that even seemingly powerful societies can and will collapse if certain fringe groups take enough power and bend enough public opinion to their will.
With Trump openly threatening not to accept election results, we cannot rule out the possibility of a Republican coup. But even if Joe Biden wins, if Amy Coney Barrett is appointed, it will already have been a sort of coup—one that undoes the legacy of one of the greatest defenders of justice of our time and damages the lives of countless people for years into the future and centuries to come.
Still, at least if Biden wins he will have some power to undo the damage that Barrett will unleash, so it is of course vital to vote and to fight to flip the Senate.