Taylor Swift has been a pop culture phenomenon for the better part of two decades, and she has never been bigger than she is now. While 99 percent of that is due to her music, she’s definitely gotten a slight bump among young and middle-aged men since she started dating Kansas City Chiefs star TE Travis Kelce in 2023.
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The pair have been going strong for about two years now, and Swift has yet to miss a Chiefs home or playoff game. She’s shown regularly on broadcasts reacting to anything Kelce does, and from those reaction shots, it’s clear she’s not just there for clout or appearances. She genuinely cares about the Chiefs.
She’s ever-present during the Chiefs’ season and even while on tour. But she’s also in that upper echelon of fame where she rarely has to do media engagements like interviews or podcasts. In fact, until recently, she had never been a podcast guest.
On August 13, Swift popped her podcast cherry with Travis and his brother Jason Kelce’s show, New Heights. And she wasn’t just there to break new ground on a new platform … but to make a major announcement: her brand new album, The Life of a Showgirl
Obviously, Swifties went nuts at that announcement. And why wouldn’t they? The pop sensation hasn’t released an album since April 2024, and for her fanbase, a year and a half feels like an eternity. Among those excited by the announcement was another podcaster, Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford’s wife, Kelly.
Kelly runs The Morning After podcast alongside Detroit reporter Hank Winchester. The pair discussed Swift and her announcement on New Heights on one of their recent episodes.
Winchester was so impressed, he even wrote down his favorite Swift quote from the podcast, which was about protecting your energy: “Think of your energy as if it’s expensive. As if it’s like a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it. Not everyone has invested in you in order to be able to have capital for you to care about this. What you spend your energy on, that’s your day.”
Winchester said he took the quote as meaning that people will not always match your energy, which could certainly be part of it.
But from what we’re gathering here, Swift is parroting the (sadly) common notion these days, especially among the wealthy, that you don’t need to care about another person or their problems unless they’ve done something for you or brought value to your life. Forget empathy, forget Jesus’ Golden Rule, forget being kind just for the sake of it. Instead, it becomes about commodifying your energy, a more transactional mindset.
Stafford was gushing about that quote as well, but what was most impressive to her was not Swift’s energy in that nebulous, spiritual way. But rather, her actual physical energy to be able to cook up an entire album while she was spending all that time touring in 2024.
“This is what blew my mind. This woman just did a world tour… Six months ago, and all of a sudden she already has a new album. Where is she finding the time? And she’s cooking bread, and she’s travelling with Travis. It’s inspiring. I’m going, ‘Well sh*t if she can find time to write a whole other album, I can find time to learn how to cook something for my husband,” Kelly said, laughing.
All things aside, Matthew Stafford would probably love for Kelly to learn how to cook him a home-cooked meal. But women like Stafford shouldn’t be comparing themselves to someone like Swift. There is a big difference in their personal lives: Stafford is at home with four young daughters, while Swift is only responsible for herself. No wonder she has so much time!
But still, what Taylor Swift is doing in terms of pumping out albums and tours is impressive. She’s probably bigger and more successful than any other musical act out right now—but she’s also working harder than all of them, too.
