Trumpian Swiftian America
🎤 Donald Trump and Taylor Swift · Snow · Suing Transit · Film Rundown · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
I accidentally sent an email out to the whole subscriber list that was intended for a specific group of new subscribers that came our way via Substack. Nothing is changing. Business as usual. Etc. At least I'm not the guy who accidentally hit send on a county-wide evacuation warning for Los Angeles residents.
Onward.
In March 2013, The New York Times ran an article about Taylor Swift’s tumbling popularity. Though a blockbuster, her fourth album, Red, had come up empty-handed at the Grammys the month prior, a casualty of Mumford & Sons’s faux folk antics. Beyond a few stray statistics, the Times had little evidence for such a declaration. Though the piece already seemed ridiculous upon publication, it’s deserving of outright mockery today—evidence that, even outside the political arena, the Times may not be all that removed from the tabloid rag its critics have long alleged.
Within two years of the article’s publication, Swift would set tour records and dominate the Grammys with her follow-up, 1989. That album won her second Grammy for Album of Year before she eventually set a record last year as the only artist in the history of music to earn the award four times. Swift has won so much that her fans should be sick and tired of her winning. But, 12 years later, her base is not only welcoming new constituencies but growing as fervent as ever.
When Donald Trump secured the presidency a few hours after midnight on November 8th, I immediately flashed back to The New York Times’s Taylor misfire and the gloating pieces the paper of record ran when the president-elect was convicted of a felony last May. As a fan of Swift from her early days in Nashville, I’ve been frustrated for the last few years that she’s undercut her reputation as a nuanced artist with base political stunts like assuming the role of ultimate childless cat lady when endorsing Kamala Harris. But, like Taylor, Trump didn’t just mount a comeback; he somehow built on his hard-won status as the most influential politician of the 21st century with an inarguable political touchstone. He utterly 1989ed 2024 while succeeding Swift as Time’s Person of the Year.
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📄 Tennessee W In Title IX Case Yesterday, a federal judge in Kentucky struck down the changes made to Title IX by the Biden administration. Tennessee joined four other states in filing the joint lawsuit, and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti says the ruling will allow President Trump “to take a fresh look at our Title IX regulations when he returns to office next week.”
“This is a huge win for Tennessee, for common sense, and for women and girls across America,” Skrmetti stated in a press release. “The court’s ruling is yet another repudiation of the Biden administration’s relentless push to impose a radical gender ideology through unconstitutional and illegal rulemaking.”
❄️ Snowpocalypse In anticipation of today’s weather, Governor Lee declared a Level 3 State of Emergency across Tennessee. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has remained on standby, coordinating with partners across the state, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation has been busy treating and clearing interstates and state routes.
In yesterday’s press release, it was made clear that the current State of Emergency level declared by the Governor “exempts federal rules and regulations limiting the hours of service for the operator of a commercial motor vehicle providing fuels or an operator of a commercial motor vehicle transporting feed for the livestock or poultry industries, or transportation of animals in those industries.”
🚏 Suing Transit Nashville is only a month away from implementing a new sales tax to fund Mayor O’Connell’s transit initiative. With the clock ticking, a Davidson County judge has expedited a current lawsuit filed against the plan. According to the Tennessean, Chancellor Anne Martin heard final arguments on Wednesday, cutting the trial from two days to one.
Attorney Kirk Clements made arguments on behalf of the plaintiffs, claiming that the mayor’s transit initiative doesn’t qualify under the state’s IMPROVE act and that voters were misled about the cost and financial feasibility of the plan. As for the defendants, Democratic State Senator Jeff Yarbo acted as co-counsel on the behalf of Metro and pointed out that there has been no evidence brought forward demonstrating that any Nashvillians felt confused or deceived.
“After Senator Yarbro finished his closing statement, it became clear that Metro's legal argument for the court was: we are the government and we can do any damn thing we want to,” said Ben Cunningham who attended Wednesday’s proceedings. “We can interpret this statute as broadly as we want to or need to, taxpayers be damned and plain language of the statute be damned. It was the kind of raw government arrogance that citizens increasingly despise.”
ROAD CLEARINGS
DEVELOPMENT
- Icon Entertainment & Hospitality to open second East Nashville bar and restaurant next to Schulman's (NBJ)
- Midtown bar and restaurant Hopsmith Tavern will close after eight years (NBJ)
- Turnip Truck set for Midtown debut (Post)
✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: January 10-16
Den of Thieves 2: Pantera (Dir. Christian Gudegast; Starring Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr.) 2018’s twisty heist flick gets a sequel set amid Europe’s diamond trade. It’s not January without Gerard Butler as a grizzled law enforcement officer, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Now playing in theaters.
The Last Showgirl (Dir. Gia Coppola; Starring Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis) Anderson has earned serious award buzz for this indie about a Vegas dancer who navigates life when her show closes after three decades. Now playing at AMC Thoroughbred and Regal Hollywood 27.
Better Man (Dir. Michael Gracey; Starring Robbie Williams) Brit Pop’s 90s badboy gets a biopic from the director of The Greatest Showman…but with Williams as a monkey. Its anti-Oscar-bait aura is as impressive as its reviews. Now playing in theaters.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 The Deltaz w/ Noah Nash @ The Basement, 7p, $12.85, Info
🎻 Manny Plays Mozart @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $29+, Info
🪕 Williamson Branch @ Station Inn, 9p, $25, Info
🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info
🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info
🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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