Emily Yahr — Taylor Swift: The Debut Years - with Chris Richards — at Union Market

Emily Yahr discusses *Taylor Swift: The Debut Years* with Chris Richards, exploring Swift’s first decade in Nashville and the beginnings of her career. The conversation follows Swift from her arrival as a teenage guitarist in 2003 through the songwriting, industry relationships, and personal instincts that helped establish her as a country music star and eventually transformed the genre.

Yahr draws on interviews with industry figures and takes readers into the Nashville places that shaped Swift, including Music Row, the Bluebird Cafe, Hendersonville High School, and the Swift family’s lakefront home. The discussion will also consider collaborators and industry veterans such as Scott Borchetta, Nathan Chapman, and Liz Rose, as well as the risks Swift took when she left RCA Records and joined the then-unknown Big Machine label. Yahr is an award-winning Washington Post pop culture reporter whose work focuses on television, celebrities, music, and movies. Richards is a writer and critic who formerly served as The Washington Post’s pop music critic.

When: Saturday, October 10, 2026

Showtimes: 6:00 p.m.

Tickets: Free

Seating: First come, first served.

Lineup: Emily Yahr in conversation with Chris Richards.

Venue: Politics and Prose at Union Market, 1324 4th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Accessibility: To request accommodations or ask about accessibility, email events@politics-prose.com, ideally at least one week before the event. The organizers will make an effort to accommodate requests received up to the event time.