In Monday, JD Vance, The 39-year-old memoirist turned U.S. senator from Ohio became the first Millennial to appear on a major party ticket as a vice presidential candidate. But Vance’s views on a range of issues—from the desirability of no-fault divorce laws to his belief that “college is the enemy”—put him outside the mainstream of his generation. But one way Vance can relate to his age group is by using the kind of public internet app that keeps our most embarrassing moments forever.
Sleuths at the Daily Dot have uncovered what appears to be his Spotify account, which features a recent photo of the senator as his profile picture. If the account is authentic, it appears that Vance is a fan of some pretty stereotypical bands for someone born in 1984, like The Strokes, Passion Pit, and The Killers. It also shows a taste for musical acts he may have inherited from his Baby Boomer parents, including Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Bonnie Raitt, And Who is Joni Mitchell? The roundup also includes some artists who probably wouldn’t be too thrilled to learn that Vance is a fan, like prominent left-wing singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, or U2, led by the global favorite Bono. (A request for comment sent to a campaign spokesperson was not immediately returned.)
The account has five public playlists that appear to have been curated by Vance himself. Some have descriptive titles that would have been good blog titles back in the height of the Tumblr era, like “Morning Has Broken” and “Gold on the Ceiling,” but others are fairly straightforward. “Running #1” has a few mid-tempo songs that might be good for a leisurely run, like “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band or “Little Sister” by Queens of the Stone Age. The playlist starts with The Wallflowers’ 1997 song “One Headlight,” and in 2023, Vance said Vanity Fair that he actually listens to that song “every time” he runs.
“Making Dinner” has 11 songs, including “One Time” by Justin Bieber, “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, and a few others by the Black Keys, Of Monsters and Men, and actor Jason SchwartzmanCoconut Records solo project. All but one of the songs on the playlist were added on December 15, 2012, during Vance’s senior year at Yale Law School, so it’s possible this is the soundtrack to a real dinner, however strange.
The discovery of the Spotify account isn’t the only sign that data security isn’t at the top of Vance’s list of concerns. On Thursday, Wired published a story with an analysis of what appears to be Vance’s public Venmo account, which includes a friends list that includes Amalia Halikias, director of government relations for the Heritage Foundation, along with Bari Weiss, Tucker Carlson, and Arizona Senator Who is Jeff Flake?
