Culture chat: Is Taylor Swift’s new album too much?

This week, we’re discussing Taylor Swift’s new album 'The Tortured Poets Department', which is already the most-streamed debut in Spotify history. Lilah is joined by music critic Ludovic Hunter-Tilney and life-long Swiftie Taylor Nicole Rogers to discuss their picks for best and worst songs, whether Swift’s personal life gets in the way of the music, and where she’ll go next.  -------We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews on Apple, Spotify etc.-------Links (all FT links get you past the paywall): – ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is available now on all streaming platforms. – Ludovic’s four-star review of the album is here: https://on.ft.com/4bf6289 – Listen to our episode on the Eras tour, ‘Can Taylor Swift get any bigger?’ here or by searching in this feed. – Jo Ellison’s column from 2023, ‘Why I believe in Taylor Swift’: https://on.ft.com/49S6Xdh More or Less:– Ludovic wants more rap beef, like the one happening between Drake, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar and more. You can read his article about the rap beef here. – Taylor wants to see more summer pop bangers. Keep an eye out for Ludovic’s review of Dua Lipa’s upcoming album ‘Radical Optimism’, which lands next Friday.  – Follow Lilah on Instagram for some great springtime content.-----The FT Weekend Festival is coming back, and will be in Washington on May 4. Speakers include Nancy Pelosi. To book tickets, go to ft.com/festival-us and use our exclusive discount code: weekendpodcast. Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart—Clips this week are from Republic Records. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.