Tavi Gevinson: …I think that when people who’ve had success from a young age go through a train-wreck cycle, it’s usually because they’re working on someone else’s terms, so they feel the need to rebel. But when it’s something you’ve built, you don’t have that same kind of resentment or angstiness. But it’s also difficult to keep those standards for yourself. Do you ever really worry that you’re going to accidentally say something inflammatory?

taylorswift Not necessarily. As far as the need to rebel against the idea of you, or the image of you: Like, I feel no need to burn down the house I built by hand. I can make additions to it. I can redecorate. But I built this. And so I’m not going to sit there and say, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t had corkscrew-curly hair and worn cowboy boots and sundresses to awards shows when I was 17; I wish I hadn’t gone through that fairy-tale phase where I just wanted to wear princess dresses to awards shows every single time.” Because I made those choices. I did that. It was part of me growing up. It wasn’t some committee going, “You know what Taylor needs to be this year?” And so with 1989, I feel like we gave the entire metaphorical house I built a complete renovation and it made me love the house even more—but still keeping the foundation of what I’ve always been.