Haters Gonna Hate, Hate, Hate (yes, this is about Taylor Swift)

Why do you hate Taylor Swift so much?

That’s the question I keep coming back to. You don’t have to like her music. You don’t have to listen to her albums. You don’t even have to understand why the rest of us like her. But why does simply being a Taylor Swift fan seem to make people so angry?

In this episode of Open Tabs, I’m talking about being a Swiftie since Debut, the albums and songs that have stuck with me through different parts of my life, the Eras Tour, Taylor’s seemingly endless cycle of criticism, and the double standards that seem to follow her everywhere. We talk about album variants, football games, the dads who discovered a new way to connect with their daughters, and the fact that maybe—just maybe—we’ve forgotten how to let people enjoy things.

I also get very, very specific about my favorite Taylor songs, vault tracks, lyrics, music videos, and the two Taylor-inspired tattoos I have permanently attached to my body. Because apparently this episode needed to become a full Swiftie dissertation.

And yes, I know there are legitimate criticisms of Taylor. We’ll get to those another time. This episode is about something much simpler: why can’t we just let people like things?

You don’t have to be a Swiftie. Just stop being a hater. ✨