Lifestyle
Taylor Swift Fan Dies While Driving to Pop Star's Australia Concert
Another deadly tragedy has struck Taylor Swift‘s legion of avid fans – months after one of her concertgoers died in Brazil.
The latest bad news came Thursday when a teenager was killed as she and her family were driving to the pop superstar’s concert in Australia.
16-year-old Mieka Pokarier, her mother, and her sister were cruising in an SUV from the Gold Coast to Taylor’s show over 1,700 miles away in Melbourne when they collided with a semi-truck.
Mieka and her 10-year-old sibling, Freya, were severely injured, while their mom, Kim, was also hurt.
Emergency Service units raced to the scene and provided medical aid to the sisters, but Mieka didn’t make it and was pronounced dead.
Freya was rushed to a local hospital, where she was listed in critical condition. Kim, who was driving the SUV, was also hospitalized, but her condition was not known.
A 16-year-old fan on her way to a Taylor Swift concert has been killed, and her 10-year-old sister critically injured in shocking road crash.
Their car collided with a semi trailer near Dubbo on Thursday night. #9News @MassiliaAili pic.twitter.com/KdfLiWNEoX
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) February 17, 2024
@9NewsSyd
The truck driver also suffered injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
TMZ Studios
Police are investigating the cause of the crash. So far, no one has been arrested, charged or ticketed.
Back in November, another Swiftie — Ana Clara Benevides Machado — died after she collapsed from heat exhaustion at Taylor’s concert in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Taylor posted a heartfelt Instagram message, honoring Ana and postponing her show the following night.
X/ @Leonsjogren
It remains to be seen if Taylor will follow the same playbook in this latest tragedy. As you know, Taylor performed a sold-out concert in front of 96,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds Friday night.
She’s currently on the international leg of her popular ‘Eras’ tour.
Lifestyle
A new L.A. Times feature: Now you can save our expert recs for your next adventure
Whether you’re looking for the best restaurants L.A. has to offer, a fun and affordable way to spend your day or a new adventure in one of our city’s iconic neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Times has you covered.
You can now make our guides your own by saving individual recommendations for later — mixing and matching from food to fun and everything in between — with the confidence that your choices are backed by L.A. Times experts.
Saving is simple. Visit any of our local guides, find something that interests you and look for the “Save” button. From there, you can choose a category in which to save your item, such as Food & Drink or Things to Do.
Not an L.A. Times subscriber? Don’t worry. You can register for a free account to get saving on many of our guides. Once you’ve saved a few items, check out your personalized save dashboard at latimes.com/saved/guides. You can also find it in the site account dropdown menu.
Call it a wish list, bucket list or checklist — the dashboard is all yours. Revisit your saves, remove ones you don’t want and even see your items on a personal map.
We hope this makes it easier to explore L.A. and beyond.
Lifestyle
What makes a song a ‘millennial song’ : It’s Been a Minute
What is the defining ‘millennial’ anthem?
Mat Hayward/Scott Gries/Randall Michelson/Prince Williams/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Mat Hayward/Scott Gries/Randall Michelson/Prince Williams/Getty Images
What song best defines the millennial generation?
On this episode from our friends at All Songs Considered, NPR Music editors Hazel Cills and Sheldon Pearce join host Robin Hilton to weigh the options and attempt to pick the one song that best captures the Millennial experience, from the dizzying highs of the dot-com boom, when anything seemed possible, to the post-9-11 bust, the “hope and change” of the Obama years, and prolonged period of generational disillusionment.
Want more on the culture of pop music?
The D-List pop star purgatory
Bad Bunny redefined what “America” means
Support Public Media. Join NPR Plus.
Follow Brittany on Instagram: @bmluse
For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.
Additional support for this episode came from Corey Antonio Rose. It was edited by Neena Pathak. Our Executive Producer is Barton Girdwood. Our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni.
Lifestyle
Knicks fans jeer Trump as Spurs take Game 3 in NBA Finals
Victor Wembanyama, #1 of the San Antonio Spurs, reacts during the second quarter against the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 8 in New York City.
Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Dustin Satloff/Getty Images
The New York Knicks lost Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs last night, breaking their 13-game postseason winning streak.
Knicks coach Mike Brown criticized referees for the disparity between free throw attempts between the two teams. But fans online drew alternate theories as to why the Knicks lost: President Trump was at the game. This was the first time a sitting president attended an NBA Finals game.
“When Trump showed up on the jumbotron during the national anthem, [the crowd] booed louder than when the Spurs came on the court,” sports journalist Albert Samaha told Morning Edition.
President Trump later told reporters, “It was, I think, mostly cheers. It was loud, and very enthusiastic.”
NPR’s Michel Martin spoke with Samaha about Game 3, New York City’s reaction to having Trump in attendance and predictions for Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Listen to the full interview by clicking on the blue play button above.
-
Entertainment1 minute agoGlen Walker is returning to broadcast news, months after being cut from KTLA
-
Lifestyle8 minutes agoA new L.A. Times feature: Now you can save our expert recs for your next adventure
-
Politics11 minutes agoSupporters cheer new L.A. County healthcare sales tax: ‘It’s a lifesaver’
-
Science16 minutes agoWhy new dads shouldn’t panic about low testosterone
-
Sports23 minutes agoWorld Cup referee, denied entry to U.S. because of suspected ties to terrorists, hailed in return to Somalia
-
World31 minutes agoUS military chief Hegseth warns Cuba against acquiring military arms
-
News56 minutes agoJuly 1 brings big student loan changes. Here’s what you need to know
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoLos Angeles High School locked down as police search for armed juvenile