A Taylor Swift fan most of her life, it’s never long after meeting someone for the first time that 21-year-old Los Angeles native Shaadi Ahmadzadeh launches into the question always on her mind: what’s your favorite Swift song?
Now the UC Berkeley data science major is turning the passion she can’t stop gushing about into a vehicle for bridging political differences, and even saving lives.
On the opening night of the Eras Tour’s six-show stop at SoFi Stadium, Ahmadzadeh celebrated her 21st birthday with friend Marianna Pecora — their first Swift concert.
Wearing a “It’s been fun turning 21” shirt — a play on “All Too Well” lyrics — the pair belted out ballads next to strangers, sobbed out their private heartaches along with tens of thousands, danced to exhaustion.
“It was just pure artistry and a magical atmosphere,” Ahmadzadeh said. “It was a life-changing, spiritual moment — I literally died and went to heaven and I’m still there.”
Swift’s pure, emotionally powerful songwriting and the special connection it gives her massive fanbase to the singer, and each other, is what first drew Ahmadzadeh to her music, and convinced her it had the potential to bring people together.
“She takes you through the five stages of grief in one song and could still leave you smiling at the end,” she said. “There’s something so comforting about singing the songs you’ve cried to when you’re alone in a stadium with over 20,000 people in the room.”
For the past two years, Ahmadzadeh has been compiling politicians’ favorite Taylor Swift songs and albums in the hopes of using that information to better engage with and persuade Congress members who may seemingly have nothing in common — except the near universal love of Taylor Swift.
And she’s already seen some major successes.
The project began during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, when she found out an acquaintance living there had been unable to leave the country, lost among the throngs of others fleeing the eventual Taliban takeover.
With so many people trying to escape, there was little organizational help available, so Ahmadzadeh went to the source, reaching out to Congress members cold, desperate for some direct answers.
“I just thought, why don’t we just call up Congress and ask them for help?” she said. “It’s kind of their job.”
However, she quickly felt lost in the shuffle of other important issues and constituent concerns, never gaining any traction for her cause. That’s when she turned to the connecting power of Taylor Swift.
“I just started asking about the Congressmembers’ favorite Taylor Swift song as a way to do something a little different, to stand out and get a foot in the door to maybe build a relationship,” Ahmadzadeh said. “It was really fun. Usually the people who are answering calls are expecting someone angry — yelling about their taxes, potholes, where’s my passport. I think I’m the only one who’s asked that question.”
Slowly, she started to receive responses, and would use that conversation opener to transition to advocating for bringing her friend to the States. Eventually she recruited Capitol Hill staffers and interns who added their own intel to the growing Swiftie spreadsheet.
Her team called Congressional offices, campaigned on Twitter, and even inquired in person at the White House, soccer games, and Christmas parties. And last year, her friend made it to America after some Congressional help.
To date, she’s collected almost 50 favorite songs and plans to continue cataloging politicians’ preferences while advocating for other issues important to her, like the youth mental health crisis.
She also hopes to get enough data to extract some kind of useful analysis from the responses, like if there are any discernible patterns based on age, location, voting pattern, and how they align with the American public at large — and create a senior capstone project.
So far, she’s found that “1989” and “Shake it Off” to be the most popular album and song respectively, which for the experienced Swiftie could signal that Congress is a bit basic.
David Valadao, a Central Valley Republican representative, is a fan of the Swift song “You Belong With Me TV,” which was also a favorite of fellow GOPer Rep. Laura M. Lee, of Florida.
More locally, Adam Schiff made “Cardigan” his go-to Swift track, while Nancy Pelosi chose “Shake It Off.” Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, went with “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” as his favorite. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles? “I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor’s Version).”
Some outliers include House member Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from North Carolina, who indicated he is not a Taylor Swift fan; Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, who said he prefers rapper Travis Scott; California Democrat Ro Khanna, who chose “Only the Young,” which is not from an album; and Vermont independent Bernie Sanders went with “Fernando” by Abba.
Democratic California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, as well as House member Grace Napolitano, did not have any responses listed yet.
However, Ahmadzadeh said she’ll need to collect at least a few more responses before drawing conclusions with any confidence.
So far, the team hasn’t attempted to get on Taylor Swift’s radar — who is known to dive into political causes — or ask what her favorite song is, reasoning that that might be tougher than just contacting a Congress member.
“It would be really funny if she sees it or acknowledges it, and productive because she does have a large platform and cares about civic engagement,” Ahmadzadeh said. “But I couldn’t ask Taylor Swift what’s her favorite Taylor Swift song — she’s Taylor Swift.”
