Everybody's studying Taylor Swift these days, from Swifties decoding her vault to YouTubers decoding her harmonies to right-wing conspiracists decoding her plot against America. But what does it mean to study Taylor Swift as a musicologist? Christa Bentley, Kate Galloway, and Paula Harper know: they're co-editing Taylor Swift: The Star, the Songs, the Fans, a book of essays out next year. This week: a conversation about what it means to study the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift, and what Taylor can tell us about musicology today.

Show notes and more over at soundexpertise.org!

Questions? Thoughts? Email soundexpertise00@gmail.com or tag Will on Instagram/Twitter @seatedovation

ALSO, we're going to be at the American Musicological Society conference in Chicago soon!

Friday, Nov 15, 11:45 am: Sound Expertise LIVE! The American Composer and the Future of the Conservatory with Jonathan Bailey Holland.
What does it mean to compose in America today, while overseeing a major cultural institution in flux? For this special live taping of the podcast Sound Expertise, host Will Robin interviews composer Jonathan Bailey Holland, dean of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, to answer these crucial questions. (Accessible only to those registered for the conference)

Friday, Nov 15, 8pm: A hang for friends and fans of the pod, at 2Twenty2 Tavern right by the conference hotel. Come by anytime between 8 and 9:30 or so and say hi, and also goodbye!