Tears and cheers for The End of An Era, Taylor Swift's 6-episode docuseries! It's Christmas and the three year anniversary of this podcast, and as is tradition, we find themselves in the exact place where it all started: the back bedroom of their parents' Wisconsin home on December 23rd. We've watched all six episodes of the new docuseries, and we are here to end Season 3 of this podcast with our thoughts on the entire series. We loved it and are totally satisfied. Though some questions remain unanswered, new answers were provided from questions we didn't even know we had! Ultimately, we are continuously in awe by the life of our favorite showgirl, Taylor Swift.
Rachel's Xmas Sweatshirt and our Spotify Wrapped lead off this episode. We are so excited to be able to share with you how our podcast has grown this year, and which artists we were streaming the most! Hint: Rachel got a puppy this year. :) When it comes time to breaking down the 8th track (and Sam's favorite!) off The Life of a Showgirl, we can't seem to agree on whether or not Taylor is critiquing others in this song or not. But one thing we can agree on is that Taylor wants to be left the f**k alone. We think she should have what she wants, she deserves what she wants, and she should get what she wants!
The Eras Tour Docuseries is finally here! We are so excited to watch this series and learn how the Eras Tour all came together, so we put together some theories about what we think each of the six episodes will tackle. There's just simply too much to tackle and we are SO grateful that we get six whole episodes to see it!!!
We're back with another attempt at making Taylor's songs fit into the theme of Christmas! "I Look in People's Windows" is a very intriguing track off The Tortured Poets Department, and one that we both find so beautiful and curious. It's also the shortest song in Taylor's entire discography and doesn't ever include a bridge. But, Rachel ponders, perhaps the whole song itself is a bridge for the album as a whole.
We are so delighted to have our favorite Swiftie aunt join us for her THIRD appearance on our podcast! A couple years ago, Aunt Trish revealed to us during our Taylor Swift song draft (see episode 053) that she has always loved the song Midnight Rain. Curious, we wanted to know more! And because this song mentions the holidays and peppermint, we figured it would be the perfect time as we are getting into the holiday season. Trish shares why she loves this song, and together the three of us discuss all the ruminating that Taylor was doing when she wrote it. There's some talk about who this song could be about, but like a lot of songs off Midnights, we learn that it's not that simple. Does Taylor drift off to sleep at the end of this song, or does she simply resign to the fact that she's not happy and wishes she could go back to a simpler time that comes to her like a postcard?
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Since the concept of this podcast was formed three years ago, we have both collectively wanted to break down this song! Rachel has even had a cocktail in mind since the first time she listened to it! It's a heavy hitter and one that we think showcases some of the most gut-wrenching emotions in all of Taylor's career. Everything about this song, from the music to the lyrics to the emotional depth, keeps us listening over and over again. We are so glad to finally share with you our thoughts!
The sibs are wearing their flannels and are ready for their Red era! But first we must discuss the 2026 Grammy's nominations! Even though our girl Taylor didn't qualify for the Grammy's this year, we are still so excited for our other favorite artists to have their moment. The song of the week is one that we both consider to be extremely overrated, and we get into why that is in the meat and bones of the episode. Naturally, we debate who this song is about. But at the end of the day, it's more about recognizing how Taylor used to choose to risk more with love, regardless of who she did it with.
We start this episode by sharing our Halloween plans and costumes. Taylor Swift themed costume ideas, anyone?? Rachel's new shit is one of her all-time favorites: Brandi Carlisle! And Sam is trying to dig deep into new/upcoming artists flying under the radar. Pop boy fall maybe?
As for the song of the week, it was only fitting to follow up last week's "Father Figure" discussion with the original song that shed light on how Taylor felt about the selling of her masters behind her back. The cocktails we paired to "my tears ricochet" have themes of darkness, storminess, and the concept of lullabies.
When discussing the song, we question whether this song is more sad or paingful or angry. And how Taylor's emotions evolve throughout the building of the song. The concept of her "tears" ricocheting had us thinking deep about the power behind Taylor's words. This song is so important in the canon of Taylor's worth as an artist and as a human being in general. Too good!
In today's episode, we break down a song that we both deem is one of the most important ones of Taylor's career. We just love how Taylor sings about power dynamics and how that's changed throughout her career. It's so bad ass, is it not?! Also, do we think there's any chance of Taylor appearing on SNL this season???
We are back and ready to talk about The Life of a Showgirl, the song! Sam finds himself in the perfect setting for this song: Fabulous Las Vegas, surrounded my showgirls, sequins, feathers, and lights. And we get to have a live reaction to Taylor's big Docuseries news on this episode! We are so excited for that and can't wait to break down our thoughts when the series is released. Until then, we pair cocktails to and discuss our thoughts on the latest title track that Taylor Swift has given us. And it's a feature with one of our other favorite artists! We feel that this song wasn't meant to reveal any new information to us, but it does shed some light on acceptance and embracing of the lifestyle that Taylor and others have endured within the music industry. Sequins are forever!
Four days after the album came out, we decided to meet up and record our thoughts on how the album had been sitting with us. Spoiler alert: Our opinions are quite different! But we listen and we don't judge, right? Also, it just needs to be said, the four-day-in listening experience is very likely to change, so stay tuned for continued changing opinions and updates as our podcast progresses in this new era.
The Life of a Showgirl is here!!! This was our first time recording a live reaction to an album and sharing it with you. It was chaotic and thrilling and we hope you feel the same giddiness with us as you did when you first heard the album. Sam dealt with some internet issues on his end, so unfortunately we didn't capture our reaction to "Cancelled!," but all the other OMG moments of this album were certainly covered. Now that our reactions are out, our next episode will be us sitting down and sharing our overall thoughts after a few days have passed with the album. We are so excited to be in this new era and look forward to sharing our thoughts!
Naturally we're a bit unhinged in this episode because we truly don't have a clue what this album is going to sound or feel like. We're just going off vibes and hopes at this point, and it's so much fun! We could be completely off base which will only be cause for laughter once the album finally arrives. Either way, we are thrilled, excited, elated, overwhelmed, nervous, ALL THE THINGS!
We can't help but think about when Taylor wrote this song. Rachel believes Taylor wrote it from a perspective of a healed wound, but Sam wonders if she wrote this out of pure sadness in the moment of utter disappointment. Either way, we're so relieved to know she's out of the funk and we're grateful for this beautful song that brings all the feels.
We simply cannot seem to get over our excitement for Taylor and Travis' engagement! So to start things off this week, we discuss what we think the wedding will look like, where and when it will be held, who will be there, and whether or not Taylor will take The Life of a Showgirl on Tour. So much to find out, and the unknown is absolutely part of the fun! Our song this week is one of those Lover songs where you can tell Taylor was really masking the anxiety and sadness she might have been feeling about her relationship with overly energetic and boppy lyrics and production. But we waste no time in getting to the root of it all. And aren't we glad that she finally found someone to marry, and with a GIANT shiny thing on her finger at that?!
It's a new soundtrack and we can DEFINITELY dance to this beat.....CONGRATS TAYLOR AND TRAVIS! We sat down to record this episode just moments after the news broke of their engagement. As you can imagine, chaos ensues!
There is so much to discuss with Taylor Swift these days, and although we are disctracted by the epic news, we focus on the opening track of 1989. A song that Sam is not fond of, but one that Rachel really enjoys. The freedom that Taylor feels in this song is quite contagious. But we can’t help but wonder….is 2025 Taylor just as giddy about NYC now as she was when she first moved there back in 2014? Let us know what you think!
This episode was recorded before the Tayvis news! Hear our reactions in next week's episode! Until then, Rachel begins by sharing more thoughts on the New Heights podcast and the insights that gave us into Taylor's trajectory. And Sam shares some VERY EXCITING NEWS about his life!
We dip into Taylor's sadness with the song of the week. However, there is hope to be found throughout this song that Sam considers to be one of his absolute favorites of all time.
We begin this episode with a thorough discussion about The Life of a Showgirl and what we are expecting moving forward. Will there be a lead single? And if so, which song would Taylor choose? Lots more to discuss on the upcoming TS12, so send us your thoughts so we can share them on air!
Sam has been wanting to discuss "Question...?" since as long as we started this podcast. We discuss how in this song, Taylor is quite sassy, sarcastic, and perhaps a little bit angry. Naturally we're curious over who the song might be about, and we think we've come to a few conclusions. At the end, it seems that there are more questions...? than there are answers....but that's okay!
Okay, so we recorded this episode on Monday, August 11, 2025. Mere HOURS before we received the official announcement about TS12, The Life of a Showgirl. What that means is you get to hear us freak out over the possibilities of a potential album release. What made this episode EXTRA fun, was midway through recording we learned a countdown had been placed on Taylor's website. Naturally, chaos ensued.
It's great to be back after our summer break! Suburban Legends is a bit of a head scratcher for us, but nevertheless we persisted with the breakdown and the cocktail pairing of it all.
Obviously we will have LOTS more thoughts on TLOAS in the coming weeks, and we are so thrilled for the ride ahead.
Let us know your thoughts!
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12 exclamation marks just isn't enough!!!!!!!!!!!!
We present to you a very chaotic, unplanned, and unedited episode of our podcast. Obviously Taylor has MOVED and we have a new album on the way! But Sam was too busy to catch what was going on. So Rachel gets to reveal to him all that Taylor revealed on the New Heights podcast. Track listings and all! There is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much to discuss in the coming weeks and episodes, but these are our initial thoughts in this moment. Please weigh in on your theories, expectations, etc. MAX MARTIN AND SHELLBACK!?!?! Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Let us know your thoughts!