• When my youngest stopped believing in Santa, I was worried that Christmas wouldn't feel special.
• As an Italian Catholic raising Jewish children, Santa was a way for me to pass along my heritage.
• By introducing karaoke at my annual Christmas Eve party, I created a new, cherished tradition.

"Don't come into the attic, I'm wrapping Christmas gifts," I shouted to my youngest child last December, awaiting her response. She'd recently turned 11, and in my heart, I knew she no longer believed in Santa.

"Mom! Don't forget, I want Monopoly," she casually called back.

I scrunched my eyelids together, holding back hot tears. Santa, the only arbiter of Christmas gifts in our household, was also the magic link to my Italian Catholic childhood for me and for my Jewish children, whom I'm raising in my husband's faith.

Even though my kids go to synagogue and have been bar and bat mitzvah'd, it was important to me that they celebrate my Christmas traditions with my family, and Santa has always been an integral part of the holiday.

But now, my worst fear was confirmed. Without having to ask her, my daughter communicated that she realized St. Nick didn't exist in her world any more. I was left to wonder how our family would keep the holiday sparkle, my Christmas tradition, alive if Santa's magic had been put to rest.

My heart ached

Sure, Christmas would be easier now that my baby was wiser, but a dull ache still enveloped my heart. Knowing I was turning 50 in early December added to my melancholy.

Part of the reason why I continued the Kris Kringle tradition was that watching my children blissfully tear open presents reminded me of my own childhood excitement, which was especially high the year I turned 8, when a brand-new tape recorder and microphone gleamed under the tree. I remember that magic, and wanted my children to keep feeling it, too.

Now that Santa had vanished from our Christmas celebrations, I felt like I was left with a meaningless pile of boxes to wrap, a slog without his enchantment. I wished for a "Back to the Future" moment, one where I'd revisit my childhood for just one day.

Instead, my night sweats, coupled with the shock that my face (amongst other body parts) was inching downward, caused me to wonder, "Am I closer to where I'm going than where I came from? Will my children channel Santa when I'm gone?" I'll admit, it was all very dramatic.

I wanted to add something special to our celebrations

As the first week of December approached, I flipped through a childhood photo album, hoping, once again, to relive my youth. There, I saw a picture of myself with the recorder and microphone that I remembered so fondly. That's when my inner child whispered, "karaoke," as I looked into an imaginary spotlight, and I made jazz hands.

Later that month, I rang in my 50th birthday with friends at Baby Grand, a karaoke bar in New York City. High on the vocal vibrations of the night, I Amazon-primed a karaoke machine to my house as a birthday gift and pondered my annual Christmas Eve gala. I thought singing might make it a more cheerful occasion now that Santa wouldn't be getting the spotlight.

"I'm serving seven fishes, but not gefilte," I joked, as I invited my extended Jewish relatives to join our Italian festa, something I'd never done before. I hoped my cousins wouldn't be offended that I'd turned our annual Christmas gathering into a Broadway-like musical. I also worried that my three kids, aged 11 to 19 at the time, would be so embarrassed they'd refuse to participate.

A new Christmas tradition emerged

That night, I tossed my hair like Janice Joplin and belted out, "Busted down in Baton Rouge," a line from one of my favorite tunes. The crowd was quiet, so I opened my eyes and took a breath. Then, everyone woo-hoo'd as I crooned the rest of "Me and Bobby McGee" and bowed. Then my cousin and his fiancée started "Sweet Caroline."

My kids' beaming smiles radiated joy, not embarrassment. For a moment, while they clapped and we harmonized together singing the line, "Good times never felt so good," I was a kid again, and the Santa vibes surrounded us as a new tradition was born.

This year, I'll bust out the karaoke microphones again, lure my Dad to the stage with a little Frank Sinatra, and ply the Jewish side of the family with extra eggnog in hopes that they'll all indulge my new tradition again. I can't wait.

• National Geographic's December 2025 issue features its annual Pictures of the Year.
• The issue features striking wildlife photos highlighting endangered species and fragile ecosystems.
• Some photos also show once-endangered species bouncing back thanks to conservation efforts.

National Geographic's annual Pictures of the Year collection showcases stunning images of wildlife from around the world.

Out of the hundreds of thousands of images taken by its photographers in 2025, National Geographic selected 25 to be included in the feature.

"Individually, these photographs speak to beauty, fragility, and wonder," National Geographic editor in chief Nathan Lump said in a statement. "Taken together, I see a collective sense of urgency — a call to preserve what's in danger of being lost, as well as a reminder of the poetic beauty to be found in carrying on, in daring to dream of a better future."

Here are seven photos from the collection, which can be viewed in its entirety on National Geographic's website.

National Geographic's annual Pictures of the Year issue features "the most unforgettable photos of 2025."

The December 2025 issue highlights striking photos that show fragile ecosystems, endangered species, and wildlife.

Roie Galitz's photo, taken in Svalbard, Norway, shows a polar bear digging into the floating carcass of a sperm whale.

Galitz was leading a photography expedition when he came across the decomposing sperm whale, an unusual sight since the species is often found in more temperate waters. Galitz used a drone to capture the image from above.

"It's so unpredictable and fragile," Galitz told National Geographic of wildlife photography in the Arctic. "A scene you saw today will probably not be there tomorrow."

Fernando Faciole photographed one of the few remaining jaguars in Rio Doce State Park in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Due to deforestation, National Geographic estimates that fewer than a dozen jaguars are left in Brazil's Rio Doce State Park.

Brian Skerry got up close and personal with a 10-foot great white shark off the coast of Maine.

Shark sightings have increased in the area due to the growing population of seals, an outcome of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, National Geographic reported.

Karine Aigner spotted a sunflower chimney bee resting in a flower in Davis, California.

Aigner wrote on Instagram that she was "absolutely thrilled that native bees are getting the limelight they deserve" by having her photo featured in National Geographic's Pictures of the Year.

Using a drone, Marcus Westberg captured a sweeping view of antelope migrating in South Sudan.

A 2024 study conducted by African Parks and the University of Juba found that around 6 million antelope migrated across South Sudan, making it the largest land migration in the world.

Stephen Wilkes specializes in combining hundreds of photographs taken over 18 to 36 hours into a single image, such as this layered shot of a watering hole in Botswana.

Wilkes photographed the watering hole in Okavango Delta during a drought, when the animals "were all thirsty, hot, and stressed," he said.

Wilkes also employed his "Day to Night" technique to photograph Steller sea lions in Canada's Malaspina Strait.

Steller sea lions are considered "near threatened" according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature status cited by the Vancouver Aquarium, but conservation efforts such as federal protections have helped their numbers grow.

• James Dyson says he learned "absolutely nothing" from his failed electric car project, but it brought in smart engineers.
• The electric vehicle project was scrapped in 2019 due to high costs.
• In a podcast interview, he said rivals like Tesla had the money to invest billions into EVs, but the risk was too high for Dyson.

Not all of Sir James Dyson's failures have resulted in a font of learnings. But even failures can have a silver lining.

The billionaire British inventor helped reshape what people expect from home appliances, particularly the modern vacuum cleaner. His company's history is one of overcoming failures and rejections to create successful products.

However, some of Dyson's visions never got past the prototype phase. In 2014, the company decided that it would work on building an electric car since it already manufactured electric motors for its existing products. By 2019, though, the project was scrapped, as it was "no-longer commercially viable," Dyson wrote in a 2020 blog post.

"Everybody said, 'You know, you must have learned a lot from that experience,' and the answer is I learned absolutely nothing," Dyson told podcast host David Senra in a Monday episode of his show.

Dyson spent about $750 million on research and development for its electric car. Then came the 2016 "Dieselgate" scandal in which Volkswagen was called out for misleading "clean diesel" ads, triggering billions in fines and reshaping the global auto industry. As automotive companies jumped into making EVs, Dyson said they became more expensive to produce.

It was "fun to do," Dyson said, and it produced one model in its Singapore office and a somewhat drivable prototype in one of the company's hangars.

"It was a difficult decision to stop, because hundreds of engineers, scientists and designers, had poured everything into the project and it was a great engineering achievement," Dyson said in the blog post.

However, the company said it simply couldn't afford to invest the money into overcoming the "huge disadvantages" that come along with only manufacturing EVs. He pointed to one competitor that had the funds to do so, and it's still around today.

"Tesla overcame that through sheer scale and might and investment, but we didn't have that sort of money," Dyson said on the podcast. "We couldn't take that sort of risk, so we stopped it."

"Sadly, we didn't really learn anything from it," Dyson said.

Building an EV isn't an easy undertaking even for companies that have billions to pour into research and development. In 2024, Apple reportedly decided to sunset its electric car project after pushing back the car's launch date to 2028 amid production challenges.

Dyson has previously said that he doesn't regret pursuing an EV even if nothing came of it. It brought in talented engineers, and while half the people who worked on the project ended up leaving for other manufacturers, the other half were put back to work on vacuum cleaners, Dyson said.

A Dyson spokesperson told Business Insider that the inventor believes "passionately in the importance of failure."

"The project brought a significant influx of talented engineers and scientists into Dyson, and those engineers have contributed to many successes across Dyson's R&D, with their expertise strengthening Dyson's innovation in multiple areas," the spokesperson added.

Although Dyson said he doesn't test drive the prototype anymore, there is one scrapped project that remains close to Dyson's heart — or at least useful in his day-to-day life.

The Dyson CR01 Contrarotator is a washing machine that was discontinued in 2005 after it failed to gain traction with a $1,300 price tag that dwarfed that of the competition. However, Dyson said he still uses his.

"I use them," Dyson said. "It's great, and people have now copied a lot of the ideas, like the big door."

• Netflix and Paramount Skydance are battling for control of Warner Bros.
• Former Disney dealmaker Kevin Mayer sees similarities with the Fox deal he helped negotiate.
• Warner Bros. will be a big winner if Netflix or Paramount is forced to fork over more money.

A former Disney executive who oversaw its dealmaking expects "more fireworks" in the bidding war for Warner Bros.

"I would be very surprised if we don't see a sweetened, and perhaps meaningfully sweetened, offer" from Netflix, Paramount Skydance, or both, said Kevin Mayer, Disney's former top dealmaker, on Tuesday at the UBS media conference.

On Friday, Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studio assets for $82.7 billion, including debt. Paramount Skydance then launched a hostile offer, saying on Monday that it's willing to pay $108.4 billion for the whole firm, including the TV networks like CNN and HGTV. Executives at Netflix and Paramount CEO David Ellison have each framed their offers as the best for employees, Hollywood, WBD shareholders, and TV viewers. Both suitors also said they're confident they can pass regulatory scrutiny.

Mayer, now the co-CEO of Cocomelon owner Candle Media, said he thinks Paramount's hostile bid will reignite the faceoff for Warner Bros. and force the eventual winner to fork over more money.

"From the Warner Bros. Discovery perspective, this is nothing but good news," Mayer said.

Mayer added: "Does it move up another $5 billion or $10 billion? I think it probably does. That's what it's going to take to win it."

Mayer said the battle for Warner Bros. reminds him of the fight for control of 21st Century Fox between Disney and Comcast, which he was involved in during his tenure at the Mouse House.

Under Mayer, Disney agreed to buy Fox's studio, FX, and its stake in Hulu for $52.4 billion in equity, or $66.1 billion with debt, in December 2017. Six months later, cable giant Comcast made a $65 billion all-cash offer for those same assets. Disney ultimately won, but it was forced to pay a heftier price of $71.3 billion. Mayer helped engineer Disney's initial agreement with Fox, but had moved to a role atop Disney's streaming business by the time the acquisition closed.

"That was a difficult process," Mayer said of Comcast's bid for Fox. "It added $19 billion to the price tag. Still a good deal, but not the exceptional deal that it was before we had to pay more."

While Disney's deal with Fox gave it control over Hulu and bolstered its library, Disney activist investor Nelson Peltz argued that the Mouse House had shown "poor judgment" by "overpaying for the 21st Century Fox assets."

As Netflix and Paramount vie for Warner Bros., Mayer said the Disney-Comcast showdown "points to where we might see this going."

That's because Ellison's $30-per-share hostile bid, which Paramount also sent to WBD's board, might not be rich enough, Mayer said.

"David Ellison has already kind of hinted at that, that he hasn't done his best and final yet, and I suspect he hasn't," Mayer said.

Mayer was likely referencing a text message from Ellison to WBD CEO David Zaslav, which was made public as part of a Paramount filing on Monday: "Please note importantly we did not include 'best and final' in our bid."

"The team at Paramount is aggressive," Mayer said. He pointed to the gargantuan amount of money that David Ellison and his father, Oracle billionaire Larry, have at their disposal.

"I don't think there's a whole lot of hesitancy to spend it," Mayer said.

• Luigi Mangione has been in court in NY fighting the admissibility of evidence tied to his arrest.
• See the to-do lists and other items collected from his backpack when he was arrested last year.
• Mangioni is accused of the ambush shooting murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

A second week of evidence-suppression hearings has begun for Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the year-old ambush shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann set the stage on the hearing's first day, last Monday, by playing an audio recording of the surprisingly calm 911 call that led to Mangioni's arrest.

Since then, more evidence has been revealed for the first time in a lower Manhattan courtroom — all seized from Mangione upon his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald's following a five-day manhunt. It ranges from the probative (a journal and firearm) to the personal (a grab-bag of toiletries).

Mangioni's lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has called for the hearing to argue why none of it should be shown to a future jury.

Here are the most significant and interesting images shown in court.

Lawyers are fighting over Mangione's backpack, which arresting officers searched twice before getting a warrant.

Mangione, 28, hopes to convince a state-level judge in Manhattan to toss key evidence from this bag, most significantly a ghost gun and a handwritten "manifesto."

The bag was searched twice by arresting officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania — once at the McDonald's where he was taken into custody, and again during intake at the town's only police station.

Only afterward did police seek a search warrant. At the hearing, prosecutors are calling more than a half-dozen Altoona officers to testify that both searches were proper under Pennsylvania law.

Mangione's red notebook, aka "the manifesto".

Defense lawyers call it a "journal." To prosecutors, it's a "manifesto." Either way, this red, soft-covered notebook is prime evidence.

Prosecutors say an entry from October 22, 2024, describes an intent to "wack" the CEO of an insurance company at its annual "bean-counter conference". (Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot from behind six weeks later, as he approached a Midtown hotel, where he was to speak at UHC's annual investor meeting.)

Police bodycam footage screened at the hearing shows two officers pulling the red notebook and other items from Mangione's backpack after he is placed in handcuffs at the McDonald's. They were looking for anything dangerous, including a bomb, multiple cops testified.

This hybrid metal and 3D printed 9mm firearm was recovered from the backpack, too.

Prosecutors say this firearm is a ballistic match to the shell casings and discharged bullet recovered from the sidewalk where Thompson was shot just before sunrise on December 4, 2024.

It was found at the bottom of the backpack at the police station during Altoona cops' second search — an "inventory search," meant to record the personal property and evidence taken from a suspect.

The top portion of the gun is the metal receiver for a Glock 9mm, prosecutors say. The bottom portion, including the butt and trigger, was 3D printed. A silencer and an extra ammo clip were also recovered from the backpack.

Some of the contents seized offer a glimpse into Mangione's self-care aspirations while on the lam for five days.

This is a photo of Mangione's many toiletries and other incidentals collected from his backpack, including spare socks, fresh medical masks, electrical cords, protein bars, and hand sanitizer.

They are not evidence but offer an intimate view of his self-care routine. Included was a stick of sandalwood-and-shea-butter scented "sensitive skin" deodorant, an electric hair-and-beard clipper with multiple black plastic comb attachments — and a pair of white-tipped tweezers.

"Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows," reads a to-do note dated the day after Thompson is shot

Several handwritten notes were also collected from the backpack — some in the form of "to-do" lists.

A checklist under the heading "12/5" — the day after Thompson's shooting — begins with a starred entry: "Buy black shoes. (White stripe too distinctive)". Mangione was indeed wearing new-looking black sneakers when he was arrested four days later.

The second entry reads, "change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows."

A third entry begins "bus to Penn Station" and appears to include detailed travel directions.

Prosecutors say Mangione tried to throw arresting officers off the scent by claiming he was a "homeless" guy named "Mark."

The first two officers arriving at the McDonald's on December 9, 2024 — the fifth day of the nationwide manhunt — testified they had not believed Thompson's shooter would be in the restaurant.

The store manager had only reluctantly called 911 at her customers' insistence, so the call had been dispatched as "Priority: Low."

"What's your name?" one of the officers asked, approaching Mangione at the back of the restaurant. "Uh, Mark," Mangione answered, according to bodycam footage shown in court. He told them he was homeless.

He then handed over this New Jersey license — listing his name as "Mark Rosario."

Everything changed when Mangione's mask came off.

Mangione was then asked to pull down his blue-and-white paper medical mask, which Altoona patrolman Joseph Detwiler said made Mangioni stand out.

"We don't wear masks," Detwiler told the jury. "We have antibodies."

When Mangione's mask was lowered, everything changed. "I knew it was him immediately," testified Detwiler. "I stayed calm."

Mangioni alerted police to this small knife.

Before they left the McDonald's, Mangione had alerted the police to a small, silver folding knife they'd failed to find in his pocket, along with something that looked like a metal stylus or screwdriver tool.

The knife was small enough to qualify as a legal carry, Detwiler's partner, Patrolman Tyler Frye, testified Thursday, adding that even so, "It could possibly hurt somebody — seriously."

"Hot meal" and "water bottles."

Back at the Altoona Police station, a more thorough search of Mangione's backpack, pockets, clothing, and other belongings was conducted. Officers found this folded scrap of lined paper, filled with writing and diagrams in pencil.

Part doodled map, part to-do list, it is filled with dates and tasks, only some of which were accomplished. Under "12/8," the words "Best buy" had been crossed off, as were mentions of a USB drive, "digital cam," and "light source."

"Hot meal" and "water bottles" were also crossed off.

Other items on the list — including "AAA bats" and "survival kit," under the date 12/9, the day of his arrest — were not crossed out.

$7,800 in large bills.

At the Altoona police station, cops recovered $7,800 in large bills and currency from Thailand, Japan, and India, totaling $1,620, from Mangioni's backpack.

"There's a weapon," Patrolwoman Christy Wasser is heard saying soon after, in footage showing her continuing to search Mangione's backpack.

Given the gun and the at-first-overlooked knife, the decision was made to strip-search Mangione.

This story was originally published on Friday, December 5. It has been updated to include images of new evidence released in the case.

• Many professionals find AI tools helpful for work, but hide their usage from colleagues.
• In a recent Anthropic report, 69% of respondents mentioned the social stigma of using AI at work.
• Are you an "AI creeper," too? Take our survey to share more about your experience.

Do you lower your screen brightness and scan your surroundings before pulling up ChatGPT at your office desk? Or maybe you go into a private room to ask the LLM some queries?

If you find yourself hiding your AI usage at work, you may be an "AI creeper." That is, someone who uses the technology but doesn't want their coworkers to know about it.

If this description matches your work habits, you're not alone. A survey released this month of 1,250 professionals from AI startup Anthropic found that while 86% of those surveyed reported that AI saves them time and 65% were satisfied with the role it plays in their work, 69% mentioned the social stigma that can come with using it in the workplace.

One employee anecdote included in the report said that "a colleague recently said they hate AI and I just said nothing." The same worker added that they don't share their process with anyone because they "know how a lot of people feel about AI."

Workers in certain industries may be especially prone to judgment from their peers. The report said that out of 125 creative professionals surveyed, 97% said AI saved them time and 68% said it increased their work's quality. However, 70% of creatives mentioned peer judgment around AI use.

Business Insider is exploring the trend of "AI creeping," and we want to hear about why you're downplaying your usage. Please fill out our survey below to share more about your experience:

• Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" has spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
• It ties "Folklore" as her third-longest reign atop the chart.
• "The Tortured Poets Department" holds the record in Swift's catalog with 17 weeks at No. 1.

Taylor Swift gave us fair warning in her newest album: "I'm married to the hustle."

Swift's 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl," not only broke the record for the biggest sales week ever, but it also continued to amass sales and streams in the US for over two months after its release.

After seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, "Showgirl" returned for its eighth total week atop the all-genre album chart.

The impressive tally comes just one year after Swift set a personal-best chart record with "The Tortured Poets Department." Keep reading for a ranking of her 16 studio albums (including both originals and rerecords) based on their Billboard 200 performances.

9. "Taylor Swift"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 5

Swift's self-titled debut is the only studio album in her catalog that hasn't reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

"Taylor Swift" debuted at No. 19 and scaled the chart for more than a year, peaking at No. 5 in 2008.

8 (tie). "Lover"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week

Swift's seventh studio album was the first one that she owned outright, thanks to her new label contract with UMG.

"Lover" was promoted by several singles, including "You Need to Calm Down," "The Archer," and "The Man."

Four years later, after Swift kicked off the Eras Tour with "Cruel Summer" near the top of the set list, the fan-favorite song climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for four weeks, becoming the album's biggest hit.

8 (tie). "Red (Taylor's Version)"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for one week

The extended tracklist for "Red (Taylor's Version)" included the storied extended cut of "All Too Well," a longtime fan-favorite song in Swift's catalog.

"All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" was released alongside a short film directed by Swift and promoted by a convention-breaking performance on "Saturday Night Live." It became the longest song to reach No. 1 in the history of the Hot 100.

7 (tie). "Fearless (Taylor's Version)"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for two weeks

"Fearless" was the first rerecorded album that Swift ever released.

The "Taylor's Version" series was inspired by the sale of Swift's masters to Scooter Braun in 2019, which she described as her "worst case scenario" in a passionate open letter. Swift decided to remake and rerelease her first six albums in a bid to reclaim ownership of her life's work. (Braun later sold Swift's masters to a private-equity company.)

In addition to faithfully recreating each tracklist, Swift decided to add never-before-heard songs "from the vault" that were written during the album's original creative process but cut from the final product.

"I've spoken a lot about why I'm remaking my first six albums, but the way I've chosen to do this will hopefully help illuminate where I'm coming from," Swift explained. "Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work."

"For example, only I know which songs I wrote that almost made the 'Fearless' album," she continued. "Songs I absolutely adored, but were held back for different reasons."

Many were skeptical that the "Taylor's Version" project would be embraced by fans, let alone achieve commercial success.

Those skeptics were forced to eat their words when "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" began to outpace the original on streaming platforms. According to Billboard, "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" earned more equivalent album sales in its first week of release than "Fearless" earned over the entire next year.

Four years later, in May 2025, Swift announced that she bought back her masters from Shamrock Capital, giving her complete control over her musical catalog and rendering her "Taylor's Version" project moot.

7 (tie). "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for two weeks

The rerecorded version of Swift's third album featured six songs from the vault, including two duets with Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams.

6 (tie). "Reputation"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for four weeks

"Reputation" arrived after an extended period of silence. Swift's longtime feud with Ye (then known as Kanye West) and Kim Kardashian had reached a fever pitch; in response to a massive social media hate campaign, Swift decamped to London and withdrew from the public eye.

She returned with a new snake-infested aesthetic and "Look What You Made Me Do," a cheeky lead single that poked fun at her own persona — and quickly shot to No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Swift also declined to participate in interviews or media appearances while promoting her sixth album. Instead, she relied on a simple tagline: "There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation."

6 (tie). "Evermore"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for four weeks

"Evermore" was surprise-released just five months after Swift's previous album, "Folklore." The two were billed as "sister albums," created under near-identical conditions with the same team of collaborators.

"To put it plainly, we just couldn't stop writing songs," Swift explained on social media.

"Evermore" was nominated for album of the year at the 2022 Grammys, but lost to Jon Batiste's "We Are."

5 (tie). "Speak Now"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for six weeks

Swift's third album had a lot to live up to, following the blockbuster success of "Fearless."

In response to skeptics — who questioned whether the teen phenom was relying too heavily on her collaborators — Swift decided to write "Speak Now" entirely by herself. She is the only songwriter credited on the standard tracklist.

5 (tie). "Midnights"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for six weeks

Swift's 10th studio album sold over 1 million copies in its debut week, the first to cross that seven-figure threshold since Swift's own "Reputation." (She has now achieved the feat on eight different occasions.)

"Midnights" also won album of the year at the Grammys, joining "Fearless," "1989," and "Folklore" in the prestigious group of victors. Swift is the only artist in history to win album of the year four times.

5 (tie). "1989 (Taylor's Version)"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for six weeks

The rerecorded version of "1989" was released nine years after the original. Swift added five vault songs to the tracklist, including the fan-favorite closer "Is It Over Now?"

4. "Red"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for seven weeks

"Red" is Swift's fourth studio album. It featured a mishmash of Max Martin-produced pop bangers ("We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," "I Knew You Were Trouble") and country-rock breakup anthems ("State of Grace," "Holy Ground").

3 (tie). "Folklore"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for eight weeks

"Folklore" marked a sonic departure for Swift, stripping down her favored synth-pop production to reveal introspective reflections and intricate narratives.

The pandemic-era album was co-produced by Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner of The National. It received rave reviews from critics and is widely considered her best work to date.

3 (tie). "The Life of a Showgirl"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for eight weeks

Cowritten and co-produced with Max Martin and Shellback, "The Life of a Showgirl" was described by Swift as a snapshot of "everything that was going on behind the curtain" during the Eras Tour.

The album's eight-week reign at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 brought Swift's total sum atop the chart to 94, extending her record among solo artists.

Since the Billboard 200 was launched in 1956, only The Beatles have logged more weeks at No. 1 than Swift.

2 (tie). "Fearless"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 11 weeks

Swift's sophomore effort had the longest run at No. 1 of any album in the 2000s. "Fearless" has since been certified diamond by the RIAA.

2 (tie). "1989"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 11 weeks

Swift's fifth album marked her official pivot from country to pop music, a move that Swift said she had to "really fight — and I mean aggressively fight — to have happen."

In addition to its double-digit streak atop the Billboard 200, "1989" yielded several hit singles on the Hot 100, including "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," and "Bad Blood."

1. "The Tortured Poets Department"

Billboard 200 peak: No. 1 for 17 weeks

Swift's 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department," did not leave the No. 1 slot for 12 straight weeks after its debut in April 2024, fending off new releases from stars like Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and Zach Bryan.

The uninterrupted reign of "Poets" was rare for a streaming-era release. It became the first album ever by a female artist to spend its first 12 weeks atop the chart, surpassing a record previously held by Whitney Houston's 1987 blockbuster "Whitney." (The all-time record for a consecutive streak among women is held by Carole King's "Tapestry," which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1971.)

Swift briefly yielded the top spot to Eminem and Stray Kids before "Poets" notched 13th, 14th, and 15th consecutive weeks atop the chart.

The album eventually fell to lower positions, but then in December of that same year, it returned for two more weeks at No. 1 after Swift released physical versions of the album's deluxe version, "The Anthology," for Black Friday.