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Indonesian voters are choosing a new president in one of the world's largest elections
Indonesian voters were choosing a new president Wednesday as the world’s third-largest democracy aspires to become a global economic powerhouse a quarter-century after shaking off a brutal dictatorship.
The front-runner, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, is the only candidate with ties to the Suharto era. He was a special forces commander at the time and has been accused of human rights atrocities, which he vehemently denies.
Two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, are also vying to succeed the immensely popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving the final of his two terms in office. Widodo’s rise from a riverside slum to the presidency has shown the vibrancy of Indonesia’s democracy in a region rife with authoritarian regimes.
Widodo's successor will inherit an economy with impressive growth and ambitious infrastructure projects, including the ongoing transfer of the nation's capital from congested Jakarta to the frontier island of Borneo at a staggering cost exceeding $30 billion.
The stakes in Indonesia as the world’s third-largest democracy elects a new president
The election also has high stakes for the United States and China, since Indonesia has a huge domestic market, natural resources like nickel and palm oil, and diplomatic influence with its Southeast Asian neighbors.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. in each of the three time zones across the tropical nation's 17,000 islands inhabited by 270 million people. The logistics of the vote were daunting: Ballot boxes and ballots were transported by boats, motorcycles, horses and on foot in some of the more far-flung locations.
A fierce thunderstorm flooded several streets of Jakarta at dawn Wednesday. Last week, damage from heavy rains in Central Java's Demak regency prompted the postponement of the election in 10 villages.
Aside from the presidency, some 20,000 national, provincial and district parliamentary posts were being contested by tens of thousands of candidates in one of the world's largest elections, which authorities expect to be largely peaceful. About 10,000 aspirants from 18 political parties were eyeing the national parliament’s 580 seats alone.
A defense minister and 2 former governors vie for Indonesia’s presidency
The official vote tally is a laborious process that could take about a month, but early results based on sampling from registered private polling and survey groups are considered a reliable indicator of the official results.
Subianto, the oldest presidential candidate at 72, lost in two previous runs to Widodo but is now the front-runner, based on independent surveys. He picked Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice-presidential running mate in a move that could shore up his chances given the outgoing president's popularity.
Raka, 36, was allowed to run when the Constitutional Court made an exception to the minimum age requirement of 40. The court was then headed by Widodo’s brother-in-law, who was removed by an ethics panel for not recusing himself, and Widodo was accused of favoritism and nepotism.
Critics have accused Widodo of trying to build a political dynasty despite his being the first president to emerge outside the political and military elite since the 1998 end of the dictatorial rule of Suharto, characterized by widespread human rights violations, plunder and political unrest.
Subianto, a former lieutenant general who married one of Suharto's daughters, was a longtime commander in the army special forces, called Kopassus. He was dishonorably discharged in 1998 after Kopassus forces kidnapped and tortured political opponents of Suharto.
Of at least 22 activists kidnapped that year, 13 remain missing to this day, and their families protest weekly outside the presidential palace demanding the activists be accounted for. Subianto never faced a trial and vehemently denied any involvement, although several of his men were tried and convicted.
During the campaign period that concluded last weekend, Subianto and his strategists used AI and social media platforms like TikTok to soften his image by portraying him as a cuddly grandfather to his youthful running mate. Rejected by human rights activists, he danced on the campaign stage and promised to generate nearly 20 million jobs in his first term if elected.
Baswedan, the former head of an Islamic university, served as governor of Jakarta until last year. A former Fulbright scholar, Baswedan was education and culture minister from 2014 to 2016, when Widodo removed him from the Cabinet after accusing him of failing to address problems by thousands of students affected by forest fires.
Baswedan opposes Widodo’s plan to move the Indonesian capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on Borneo island, which involves constructing government buildings and residential enclaves by clearing lush tropical rainforests.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, he said democracy in Indonesia is under threat, given Subianto’s choice of the president's son as running mate.
“This means that there is a decline in trust, it means that our democracy is experiencing a decline in quality, it means that many legal rules are being bent,” he said.
Pranowo is the ruling party candidate but does not have Widodo's support. He was a national legislator for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle for 10 years before being elected in 2013 for the first of two terms as governor of vote-rich Central Java region.
While governor, Pranowo refused to allow Israel to participate in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup to be held in his province. FIFA subsequently dropped Indonesia as host of the games, angering Indonesian soccer fans and Widodo.
Israel and Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, do not have diplomatic ties.
Under Widodo, Indonesia saw a period of remarkable growth averaging 5% annually, except in 2020, when the economy contracted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
His economic roadmap, called “Golden Indonesia 2045,” projects Indonesia becoming one of the world’s top five economies with GDP of up to $9 trillion, exactly a century after it won independence from Dutch colonizers.
OpenAI CEO warns that 'societal misalignments' could make artificial intelligence dangerous
The CEO of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI said Tuesday that the dangers that keep him awake at night regarding artificial intelligence are the "very subtle societal misalignments" that could make the systems wreak havoc.
Sam Altman, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai via a video call, reiterated his call for a body like the International Atomic Energy Agency to be created to oversee AI that's likely advancing faster than the world expects.
"There's some things in there that are easy to imagine where things really go wrong. And I'm not that interested in the killer robots walking on the street direction of things going wrong," Altman said. "I'm much more interested in the very subtle societal misalignments where we just have these systems out in society and through no particular ill intention, things just go horribly wrong."
However, Altman stressed that the AI industry, like OpenAI, shouldn't be in the driver's seat when it comes to making regulations governing the industry.
"We're still in the stage of a lot of discussion. So there's you know, everybody in the world is having a conference. Everyone's got an idea, a policy paper, and that's OK," Altman said. "I think we're still at a time where debate is needed and healthy, but at some point in the next few years, I think we have to move towards an action plan with real buy-in around the world."
OpenAI, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup, is one of the leaders in the field. Microsoft has invested some $1 billion in OpenAI. The Associated Press has signed a deal with OpenAI for it to access its news archive. Meanwhile, The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over the use of its stories without permission to train OpenAI's chatbots.
OpenAI's success has made Altman the public face for generative AI's rapid commercialization — and the fears over what may come from the new technology.
The UAE, an autocratic federation of seven hereditarily ruled sheikhdoms, has signs of that risk. Speech remains tightly controlled. Those restrictions affect the flow of accurate information — the same details AI programs like ChatGPT rely on as machine-learning systems to provide their answers for users.
The Emirates also has the Abu Dhabi firm G42, overseen by the country's powerful national security adviser. G42 has what experts suggest is the world's leading Arabic-language artificial intelligence model. The company has faced spying allegations for its ties to a mobile phone app identified as spyware. It has also faced claims it could have gathered genetic material secretly from Americans for the Chinese government.
G42 has said it would cut ties to Chinese suppliers over American concerns. However, the discussion with Altman, moderated by the UAE's Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar al-Olama, touched on none of the local concerns.
For his part, Altman said he was heartened to see that schools, where teachers feared students would use AI to write papers, now embrace the technology as crucial for the future. But he added that AI remains in its infancy.
"I think the reason is the current technology that we have is like ... that very first cellphone with a black-and-white screen," Altman said. "So give us some time. But I will say I think in a few more years it'll be much better than it is now. And in a decade it should be pretty remarkable."
Biden welcomes King of Jordan as framework for hostage deal is decided in Israel-Hamas conflict
President Joe Biden is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Washington Monday and the two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza, and growing concern over a possible Israeli military operation in the port city of Rafah.
It is the first meeting between the allies since three American troops were killed last month in a drone strike against a U.S. base in Jordan. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the fatalities, the first for the U.S. after months of strikes by such groups against American forces across the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
The meeting with King Abdullah II comes as Biden and his aides are working to broker another pause in Israel's war against Hamas in order to send humanitarian aid and supplies into the region and get hostages out. The White House faces growing criticism from Arab-Americans over the administration's continued support for Israel in the face of growing casualties in Gaza.
Read: Biden warns of a 'nightmare' future for the country if Trump should win again, and lists reasons why
It appeared a deal for another pause in the fighting was getting close. A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that after weeks of shuttle diplomacy and phone conversations, a framework was essentially in place for a deal that could see the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a halt to fighting.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, acknowledged that gaps remained but declined to specify what they are. The official said Israeli military pressure on Hamas in Khan Younis over the last several week s has helped bring the militant group closer to accepting an agreement. The potential for an agreement took up the majority of Biden’s call Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The official said the two leaders also had a significant back and forth about the potential expansion of Israeli military operations into Rafah and that Biden reiterated U.S. opposition to the idea under the “current conditions” while more than 1.3 million people are sheltering there.
It was the most forceful language yet from the president on the possible operation. Biden, who last week called Israel’s military response in Gaza “over the top,” also sought “urgent and specific” steps to strengthen humanitarian aid. Israel’s Channel 13 television said the conversation lasted 45 minutes.
Read: US hits hard at militias in Iraq and Syria, retaliating for fatal drone attack
The official said the Israelis “made clear they would not contemplate an operation" in Rafah without safeguarding the civilian population. The official said the U.S. is not sure there is a feasible or implementable plan to relocate civilians out of Rafah to allow military operations to take place.
Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have eschewed public support for long-term planning over what happens next, arguing that the fighting must end before such discussions can begin. They have been demanding a cease-fire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket.
Biden had planned to visit Jordan during his trip to Israel in October shortly after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, but the trip was scrapped. On his way home from Israel, Biden announced he'd helped broker the first deal to pause fighting temporarily and to open the crossing in Rafah to humanitarian aid.
In the months since, members of his administration have made repeated trips to the region to engage with leaders there.
54 people are confirmed dead in a landslide that buried a gold-mining village in south Philippines
The death toll from a massive landslide that hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has risen to 54 with 63 people still missing, authorities said Sunday.
The landslide hit the mountain village of Masara in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night after weeks of torrential rains.
Davao de Oro’s provincial government said in a Facebook post that 54 bodies had been recovered. At least 32 residents survived with injuries but 63 remained missing, it said. Among those missing were gold miners who had been waiting in two buses to be driven home when the landslide struck and buried them.
Read: 29 dead after bus plunges off cliff in central Philippines
The search operation has been hampered by poor weather and fears of more landslides. More than 1,100 families have been moved to evacuation centers for their safety, disaster response officials said.
The area has been swamped by heavy rains in the weeks before the landslide struck. Earthquakes also damaged houses and buildings in the region in recent months, officials said.
Gender equality in science essential to building better future for all: Guterres
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed that gender equality in science is essential to building a better future for all.
"Sadly, women and girls continue to face systemic barriers and biases that prevent them from pursuing careers in science," he said in a message on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated on 11 February.
The Secretary-General believes that it is essential that women and girls participate equally in scientific discoveries and innovations, whether in the field of climate change, health or artificial intelligence". "This is the only way to ensure that science benefits everyone," he said.
Today, women make up only a third of the global scientific community and, compared to men, they get less funding, are underrepresented in publications and hold fewer senior positions in major universities.
In some places, women and girls have limited or no access to education. Guterres described this situation as not only harmful to the societies concerned, but also a terrible violation of human rights.
"Addressing gender inequalities requires overcoming gender stereotypes and promoting role models that encourage girls to pursue scientific careers, developing programmes that encourage the advancement of women in science, and creating work environments that nurture women's talents. especially those of women from minority groups," he added.
"Women and girls belong in science. It is time to recognize that inclusion fosters innovation, and let every woman and girl fulfil her true potential," the UN chief concluded.
Furor over Messi no-show in Hong Kong game deepens with Argentina's tour of China canceled
The fallout from Lionel Messi’s failure to play in a club exhibition match in Hong Kong has spread with both of Argentina’s friendly matches as part of a tour of mainland China next month canceled by local football authorities.
The Beijing Football Association said on Saturday it would not organize Argentina’s scheduled friendly against Ivory Coast in Beijing in March, reportedly saying to local media: “Beijing does not plan, for the moment, to organise the match in which Lionel Messi was to participate.”
The news comes a day after Chinese sports authorities canceled Argentina’s scheduled exhibition match against Nigeria.
World Cup champion Argentina, captained by Messi, last month scheduled a tour of China during the international break from March 18-26 with games lined up against Nigeria in Hangzhou and Ivory Coast in Beijing.
But Messi, on tour with his Inter Miami club, outraged fans in Hong Kong when he didn’t play against a local selection last Sunday and remained on the bench. Messi said he had a groin injury. But his excuse didn’t wash in Hong Kong after he played for 30 minutes on Wednesday in Tokyo against Vissel Kobe.
ECP announces the complete results of Pakistan's General Election 2024
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Sunday announced the complete results of the country's General Election 2024 held on Feb. 8.
According to the election results announced for the National Assembly (NA), or the lower house of the country's parliament, independent candidates got 101 seats, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif got 75 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari got 54 seats.
Read: Pakistan's ex-PM Sharif says he will seek coalition government after trailing imprisoned rival Khan
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan got 17 seats, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan got four seats, the Pakistan Muslim League got three seats, the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party and Balochistan National Party got two seats each, while Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League (Zia-ul-Haq Shaheed), Pashtoonkhwa National Awami Party Pakistan, Balochistan Awami Party, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party and the National Party got one seat each.
Read: Pakistan votes for a new parliament as militant attacks surge and jailed leader's party cries foul
The ECP announced the result of 262 out of 266 seats for the NA after the country held general elections on Feb. 8 to elect a government for the next five-year term.
The election body of the country postponed voting for one seat due to the death of a candidate and withheld the result for one seat and announced partial re-voting for it.
Jeff Bezos sells nearly 12 million Amazon shares worth at least $2 billion, with more to come
Jeff Bezos filed a statement with federal regulators indicating his sale of nearly 12 million shares of Amazon stock worth more than $2 billion.
The Amazon executive chairman notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of the sale of 11,997,698 shares of common stock on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8.
The collective value of the shares of Amazon, which is based in Seattle where he founded the company in a garage about three decades ago, was more than $2.04 billion, according to the listed price totals.
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The stocks were grouped in five blocks between 1 million and more than 3.2 million.
In a separate SEC filing, Bezos listed the proposed sale of 50 million Amazon shares around Feb. 7 with an estimated market value of $8.4 billion.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon's CEO in 2021 to spend more time on his other projects, including the rocket company, Blue Origin, and his philanthropy. His address on the stock filings is listed as Seattle, although he reportedly has relocated to Miami.
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Pakistan's election: Who's running, what's the mood and will anything change?
Pakistan's 127 million voters are choosing members of a new parliament Thursday. The election is the 12th in the country’s 76-year history, which has been marred by economic crises, military takeovers and martial law, militancy, political upheavals and wars with India.
On the eve of the election, bombs struck two political offices in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 30 people.
Forty-four political parties are vying for a share of the 266 seats that are up for grabs in the National Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, with an additional 70 seats reserved for women and minorities.
Pakistan's former premier Imran Khan and wife convicted of marriage law violation in a fourth case
After the election, the new parliament chooses a prime minister. If no party wins an outright majority, then the one with the biggest share of assembly seats can form a coalition government.
WHO IS IN THE RACE?Pakistani politics are dominated by men and three parties: the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The top contender is PML-N and on its ballot are two former prime ministers, Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif.
Their ally the PPP, led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, a member of a political dynasty, has a power base in the country's south. Though it's unlikely to get enough votes to get him the premiership, he could still be part of a Sharif-led coalition government.
However, it is the absence from the ballot of PTI's founder, cricket legend turned Islamist politician Imran Khan, that's at the forefront of public discourse in Pakistan.
Twin bombings at Pakistan political offices kill at least 26 a day before voting begins
Though it's become the norm for corruption allegations and court cases to dog prime ministers — many of Pakistan's leaders have been arrested, disqualified or ousted from office — the intensity of the legal action against Khan is unprecedented.
Khan is in prison and with four criminal convictions so far, three of them handed down last week, he is barred from running in elections or holding public office. He's been sentenced to three, 10, 14 and seven years, to be served concurrently, and has more than 150 other legal cases pending against him. His party says it’s not getting a fair chance to campaign.
Smaller, religious political parties that appeal to a section of the conservative Muslim country have no chance of getting a majority but could still be part of a coalition government. The Pakistani military isn't on the ballot but is the real power behind the scenes — it has ruled the nation for half of its history and calls the shots in most government decisions.
A bombing at an independent candidate's election office kills 14 in Pakistan ahead of elections
WHAT ARE THE MAIN ISSUES?The next government will have a long to-do list: fixing the economy, improving relations with the neighboring, Taliban-run Afghanistan, repairing crumbling infrastructure and resolving year-round power outages. Last but not least is containing religious and separatist militant groups.
Pakistan has been relying on bailouts to prop up its foreign exchange reserves and avoid default, with the International Monetary Fund and wealthy allies like China and Saudi Arabia financing the country to the tune of billions of dollars. The IMF, which last July approved a much-awaited $3 billion bailout, has warned of sustained high inflation this year, around 24%, and a rise in poverty levels.
Like many others, Pakistanis grapple with a soaring cost of living. They endure gas outages overnight and hourslong electricity blackouts — no government has so far been able to resolve the power crisis.
Ties with Afghanistan and its Taliban rulers nosedived after Pakistan began arresting and deporting foreigners living in the country illegally, including around 1.7 million Afghans. The two neighbors regularly blame each other for cross-border militant attacks and skirmishes often close key crossings.
Pakistan was devastated by floods in the summer of 2022 that killed 1,700 people, at one point submerging a third of the country and causing billions of dollars in damage. According to the U.K.-based Islamic Relief charity, only an estimated 5% of damaged and destroyed homes have been fully rebuilt.
The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are again waging war to overthrow the government and impose an Islamic caliphate. In southwestern Baluchistan province, where the Pakistani Taliban also have a presence, Baloch separatists have staged a yearslong insurgency seeking independence and a greater share of resources.
A pair of powerful bombings struck separate election offices in Baluchistan, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than two dozen others on Wednesday. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings.
WHAT'S THE MOOD LIKE?Most Pakistanis are fed up after years of political infighting and no improvements in their living standards. People on the street are quick to tell you they don't believe things will be different after this election.
Khan’s disqualification from running has infuriated his supporters, who have pledged to show their loyalty at the ballot box. But the intense legal and security crackdown on Khan and his followers may have worn them down.
Also, there is no guarantee that PTI voters will turn out in sufficient numbers to give the party a win — or that their votes will be fairly counted. The Foreign Ministry says there will be 92 international election observers, including from the European Union and foreign embassies.
Another factor shaping public sentiment is the return last October of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who came back to Pakistan after four years in self-imposed exile abroad to avoid serving prison sentences at home.
Within weeks of his return, his convictions were overturned, leaving him free to seek a fourth term in office. Despite the years of controversies, he enjoys immense popularity and seems to have a pretty straight path to the premiership.
The sharp contrast in the treatment of the two front-runners — Sharif, with his speedy and smooth comeback, and Khan, with his seemingly insurmountable legal hurdles — have led many to believe Sharif's win is all but certain.
Rights groups say the election is unlikely to be free or fair. Experts have warned that all the political shenanigans underway since Khan's 2022 ouster have fueled anti-establishment sentiment.
That in turn has fed a growing apathy among voters and threatens a low turnout, which would further undermine the credibility of the election. Amid the discontent and divisions, getting a strong coalition to agree on and work for meaningful changes in Pakistan will be difficult.
A week of peak Taylor Swift — from Grammys to Tokyo shows to Super Bowl
She’s everywhere, and the world is merely her backup band.
This is Taylor Swift's week. It's hard to remember a star of Swift 's stature straddling so many roles, spanning so much of the globe, covering so many corners of the culture and doing so much of it in the spotlight she will have between Sunday's Grammy Awards and the coming Sunday's Super Bowl — with four Tokyo concerts in between.
It represents a packed pop-culture moment — a sort of perfect storm of fame, exposure, art and excellence for a woman who has become one of the planet's most recognizable names. And every moment of it will be dissected — with adulation and criticism alike.
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Is this the apogee of modern multimedia stardom? It might actually be more of a throwback, to a time of a less segmented, less subcultured society, when a star could be a household name across continents and generations, taking part in events that people actually follow together as they happen.
“She’s at the center of these moments that we don’t have very often anymore,” said Shilpa Davé, a professor of media studies at the University of Virginia.
HOW THIS TAYLOR SWIFT MOMENT IS A THROWBACKYou have to look far into the past, and well past music, to find someone with Swift's cultural power. You might have to look to a time when media wasn't so fragmented, when the pipelines to people's eyes and ears were fewer and slower.
“She’s Walter Cronkite. She is the most trusted name, the most trusted voice in America," said John Baick, a history professor at Western New England University who examines the intersection of popular culture with broader society. “I just can’t think of anyone in our politics, in our culture, in our society who we know across more generations. Maybe Oprah, but, I think Oprah had a smaller appeal in some respects.”
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For many from young generations, splintered by social media, “Taylor Swift offers a vocabulary — a shared language,” Baick said.
Swift's whirlwind week began with a record-breaking fourth win for album of the year at the Grammys in Los Angeles, where she may have made even bigger waves with her surprise announcement that her next album is ready to drop in April. Nearly 17 million people watched, a huge and surging number for a modern awards show that no doubt owed much to her.
Then it’s off to Asia for four concerts at the Tokyo Dome in an echo of her seismic stadium shows in North and South America last year.
If all goes as expected, then she’ll turn back the time zones and hustle back to the U.S. to play the role of fan-in-chief to her Kansas City tight end boyfriend Travis Kelce at the the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and will likely be seen in a suite with Kelce's family and friends during the game by an audience far bigger than the Grammys'.
DON'T WORRY — SHE'LL MAKE IT EVERYWHEREFollowers concerned with the plausibility of her tightly timed itinerary have been assuaged by the Japanese embassy in Washington, which said in a statement that “if she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins.”
Swift seems to embrace the whole storm, if her album of the year acceptance speech is any indication.
“I would love to tell you this is the best moment of my life. But I feel this happy when I finish a song, or when I crack the code to a bridge that I love, or when I’m shortlisting a music video, or when I’m rehearsing with my dancers, or my band, or getting ready to go to Tokyo to play a show,” she said from the stage. “For me, the award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this.”
While she says little publicly about her relationship with Kelce (he didn’t get thanked during her two Grammy speeches and wasn't at the ceremony), she’s clearly aware of the visual story she’s telling.
“She obviously didn’t have to go to the games. She could have watched from home,” Baick said. "She didn't have to go to these boxes where she would be perfectly framed with family members and friends. But her career matters. And this is someone who is unapologetic about that. In that sense, she’s also like Madonna. Everything she does is in the public eye. And why not?”
PART OF SWIFT'S APPEAL IS THE CULTURAL MOMENT WE'RE INKelce weighed in on the phenomenon Monday from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas that “she’s rewriting the history books herself” and she's “definitely brought a lot of new faces to the game.”
The secret to her culture-defying appeal that may be reaching its peak this week comes in part from the particular glow of positivity she is able to bring — a positivity that the pandemic, political turmoil and social erosion have created a hunger for.
“We don’t have many very big moments where we’re celebrating just the joy of music and culture," Davé said. "She brings that with her. ... And I think we need it in this moment as well.”
Baick agrees. “I don’t think we, as a country, have ever needed someone as much. With the sole exception of after John F. Kennedy was killed. I mean, Beatlemania was in part because of that terrible vacuum, a terrible sense of loss and that desire for young people to give themselves up to, to cut loose. And like this, it was female-driven.”
This moment was also made possible by the unmatched connection she is able to make with her followers, and her dedication to serving them and centering them. Part of that connection might be her willingness to be a big fan herself, an essential role at the beginning and end of her big week.
At the Grammys, as she often does at awards shows, she stood un-self-consciously and sang along with everyone from Tracy Chapman to Olivia Rodrigo. And she'll play the fan at the Super Bowl as she has for much of Kelce's and the Chiefs' season, a role she appears comfortable in, with no fear of her own job or identity being eclipsed.
BUT THE ADULATION HAS COME WITH CRITICISMThere could never be unanimity around someone so prominent, and those appearances have brought out detractors. Some football fans have griped about the attention she is given during games, though her actual screen time can be counted in seconds. She's also been slammed for the private jets she should be making liberal use of all week.
And she has been the subject of utterly unfounded rumors ranging from claims she's part of Pentagon psychological operations to the notion she and Kelce are assets in a plot to help President Joe Biden get reelected.
“There’s some genuine fear about what she and tens of millions of people who follow her could do in an election that’s probably going to be close,” Baick said.
Of course, plenty simply don't care for her or her music. And her appeal does run deeper in some communities than others.
“It is, predominantly, a white middle class phenomenon,” Baick said. “But it cuts deeper than that. It is more than that. It is not monochrome. And it is geographically broad. The world — which may not like our politics, which may not like our foreign policy — still loves our pop culture. And she is a proud ambassador."
It will be a week she'll have a hard time topping. Yet she's transcended what seemed like previous peaks.
“In her victory lap, I’m curious to see where it will take her," Davé said. "Because these things don’t last and so how does she just become this big commercial success, or does she leave a legacy?”