What a month to be a Swiftie! Alicia checks in with all the Taylor joy in December, including the Colbert appearance, the docuseries, and final film. And maybe a little clowning? As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at ⁠swiftorypodcast@gmail.com⁠ or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode!

Dr. Alicia King Anderson joins Alicia this week as we continue our 12 Days of a Showgirl tour! It is time for the spotlight to shine on track one “The Fate of Ophelia’. There is so much layered into this one – from the real characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the twists of changing the course of fate, this bop really delivers. Get to know Dr. Alicia King Anderson! As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources Taylor Swift - The Fate of Ophelia (Official Music Video) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - The Fate of Ophelia (Lyric Video) (YouTube)

Our December journey begins! This month we will be breaking down each track of Taylor Swift's twelfth album, The Life of a Showgirl. Today, we start with track seven "Actually Romantic" which does promote a certain attitude, but becomes even more interesting when we view the song as an evolution through Swift's work on the theme of perception, feedback, and criticism. Please join the fun this month with your thoughts on the game (introduced in the episode) we are playing with TS12. Send your themes and thoughts to swiftorypodcast@gmail.com or leave a message at 404-594-3658.

Alicia's taking over *all* the podcasts this week, with the stories and spiderwebs of screen goddess Elizabeth Taylor. In this week's musically-themed episode, Alicia breaks down some of the lyrics in Taylor Swift's new track, Elizabeth Taylor, from her album The Life of a Showgirl. From Portofino to the very best table at Musso & Frank's, certain themes resonate across these two titanic figures in American pop culture - and leave our podcasts absolutely covered in spiderwebs. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

Alicia has now had a week to process album The Life of a Showgirl, and wow – there is a lot happening in 42 minutes of twelve straight bops. Taylor has done something incredible in this release, and this episode provides the foundation of how we are going to unfold the magic of TS 12 on Swiftory. It is a little bit Big Magic from Elizabeth Gilbert, and a little bit the Folklore track “Mirrorball” as we set up the themes of TLOAS and the evolution of Taylor Swift. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! Sources and Related Links: Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert ⁠All 274 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked⁠, by Rob Sheffield. Rolling Stone, April 2024. Mirrorball Lyric Version ⁠⁠Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠⁠, by Annie Zaleski (Amazon.com) To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to ⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠⁠.

Welcome to the finale of the love affair of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, today’s Trashy Royals crossover. When Elizabeth assumed the throne in 1558, she made it clear to the members of her court that they shouldn’t plan to have their wives or female companions around the place. She intended to be singular as she consolidated power, but perhaps she had another motive as well; by banishing the wives, Robert Dudley, newly appointed Master of the Horse to Her Majesty the Queen, was not required to send for his wife, Amy Robsart, to join him in London. Elizabeth and Robert were not overly discreet in their enjoyment of one another’s company, while the young queen’s advisors, especially William Cecil, her Secretary of State, grew more and more insistent that Elizabeth find a suitable strategic marriage to enter into with some titled European. This, of course, was not to be. Her relationship with Robert became such a scandal that Cecil himself decided it would cause her government to fall, and everything carried on very precariously until the morning of September 8, 1560, when Amy Robsart was discovered dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs at her home at Cumnor Place. The scandal banished Robert from court for more than a year, and while he and Elizabeth remained close for the rest of his life, the intense romance that characterized the beginnings of her reign was over. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to ⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠.

While Queen Elizabeth I of England famously never married, her close relationship with Robert Dudley began when the two were small children together in the court of Henry VIII. Elizabeth was a princess who was downgraded to a lady after her mother, Anne Boleyn’s, death. Robert was the grandson of an advisor to King Henry VII who was executed for treason upon the ascension of Henry VIII, forcing the Dudley family to struggle mightily to rehabilitate its noble image at court. All of which is to say that these two could really relate to each other, tossed about as they were by their families’ fortunes and the whims of a King both had reasons to love and hate. But when Mary I seized the throne in 1553, everything changed for both of them. Robert’s father had engineered the ascension of Lady Jane Grey, his daughter in law, to the throne over Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary, and after The Nine Days’ Queen was deposed, the male Dudleys were imprisoned in the Tower of London, condemned to death. Catholic Mary also imprisoned her protestant half-sister Elizabeth, fearing a credible challenge to her reign. Alicia imagines – with the help of some Taylor Swift lyrics – what the months Elizabeth and Robert spent together in The Tower must have been like, doomed as they both believed themselves to be, confidants since they were toddlers. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to ⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠.

Alicia takes it super high level this week for her best intuition about what might be going down on The Life of a Showgirl. Part of the fun of being in a Swiftie is the clowning, and Alicia has a feeling that each track may correspond to an actual era. Tune in for the maybe details of how it all breaks down in Alicia’s heart, and wishing YOU the very best new era release possible! As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to ⁠info@amplitudemediapartners.com⁠.

Swiftorians, what an episode this is! Alicia is finally catching up with Listener Letters from all the way back, with so many poignant themes. Sad songs, heartbreak songs, and a historical bend too! We always love a little Tudor action around here. Also included, the winners of our book giveaway of Dear Reader by Viktoria Capek too!  As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

In this surprise Swiftory episode, Alicia dusts off a vintage file to dig into the song “Happiness” from Evermore. This blast from the past, recorded with Stacie years ago, connects through the current storylines this week on both Trashy Divorces and Done and Dunne as the life, loves, and literature of F. Scott Fitzgerald were featured. This sad elegy to the past relationships has many references to The Great Gatsby and the lives of Scott and Zelda, but on a larger level provides a guiding light for getting through a breakup.  Check out the full Scott & Zelda saga at Trashy Divorces. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources ⁠⁠Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠⁠, by Annie Zaleski (Amazon.com) ⁠All 274 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked⁠, by Rob Sheffield. Rolling Stone, April 2024. Taylor Swift - happiness (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube)

What a day, friends! In this episode, Alicia began with all the rumors surrounding a potential Taylor Swift movie coming to theaters, which happened by the time recording was done! Tune in to find out the rumored details, followed by the facts we know as of this moment. The Swift news is happening fast these days! Tickets are on sale now for the limited showings of The Official Release Party for Life of A Showgirl! Also included in this episode is a listener giveaway! Send your name to swiftorypodcast@gmail.com to enter to win!

In this episode, Alicia is joined by Viktoria Capek, author of Dear Reader: An Immersive Literary Journey Through Taylor Swift’s Lyrics - now available at your local bookseller! This book is a delightful gem of an interactive journal blending literature and lyrics, uniting Taylor Swift’s worlds of storytelling and songwriting in a new and unique way. In this episode, Viktoria gives us tour through her songs, eras, and inspiration into making this magical release. Buy the Book! ⁠Dear Reader: An Immersive Literary Journey Through Taylor Swift's Lyrics⁠, by Viktoria Capek ⁠Sign up for the Class!⁠ As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com.

In today’s episode, we harken back to November 2009 when Taylor Swift hosted Saturday Night Live with perhaps the very best musical monologue in SNL’s history, appropriately enough titled “Monologue Song (La la la).” Stacie joins Alicia in this one for the song’s history and lyrics, in anticipation of a special Trashy Divorces episode coming this weekend about the teenage breakup of Taylor and Joe Jonas, one of the guys that Swift sings about in this very polite diss track. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources Taylor Swift Monologue Song - SNL (YouTube)

This week we give a lot of love to grandmothers. Taylor Swift wrote a beautiful song for her grandmother Marjorie Finlay, released as Track 13 on Evermore. In this episode we explore a little bit about Marjorie’s life and legacy as well take a look at the lyrics of the song, full of literary devices, remembrance and love too. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources Taylor Swift on writing "Marjorie" (YouTube) Taylor Swift - marjorie (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube)

On the heels of the last episode in which we explored the Folklore Love Triangle, this week seemed like the perfect time for a little surprise episode about 1989’s Track 10 banger, “How You Get the Girl”. This is Taylor Swift coaching every dumb boy on how to get the girl back after he broke her heart in the first place. ⁠⁠Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠⁠, by Annie Zaleski (Amazon.com) ⁠All 274 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked⁠, by Rob Sheffield. Rolling Stone, April 2024. HYGTG Lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnwD7veCoFQ HYGTG, Grammy Museum – September 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXMLz8VRU1w

In today’s episode, we harken back to the Folklore album to get into all the messy teenage drama of Augustine, Betty and James. Taylor writes three songs that unfold this teenage love triangle, August, Betty and Cardigan. Alicia takes you through the details of each track and then details the lyrics for all of the angst and bad decision making. Also, many thoughts about James, who could have done better. As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. ⁠⁠Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠⁠, by Annie Zaleski (Amazon.com) ⁠All 274 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked⁠, by Rob Sheffield. Rolling Stone, April 2024. Taylor Swift talking about august (YouTube) Taylor Swift - august (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - betty (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - cardigan (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - august (folklore: the long pond studio sessions) HQ video (YouTube) Taylor Swift - betty (folklore: the long pond studio sessions) (Live/2020) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - cardigan (folklore: long pond studio sessions) (Live/2020) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - betty (Live from the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards) (YouTube) Sources

In this super-fast emergency episode, Alicia is dropping everything we know about Taylor Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, so far! We all moved Monday night with the countdown, and from that moment it seems collective orange and green fever has swept the world. Clever Taylor was dropping hints for years about this album that now make so much more sense. Join Alicia for this ride of what we know right now, and send your thoughts and theories to swiftorypodcast@gmail.com to be included in the follow-up episode!

Crystal Haryanto joins Alicia and Melissa this week for a discussion about her book, The Glory of Giving Everything: The Taylor Swift Business Model. Crystal shares so much about the book as well as her work as the founder of UC Berkeley’s globally recognized course “Artistry, Policy, & Entrepreneurship: Taylor’s Version”. THE GLORY OF GIVING EVERYTHING: The Taylor Swift Business Model ⁠

It’s a mash-up episode this week, with Alicia bringing you all the details on “The 1” from Folklore, and its musical journey this summer with the Counting Crows. Adam Duritz is using this Taylor Swift song as a compliment to his “A Long December” on tour this summer. What is the story of these songs, and why do they blend so well together?  As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources What does "the 1" by Taylor Swift mean? (popsongprofessor.com) Counting Crows' 'A Long December' Is The Best Holiday Song (uproxx.com) Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠, by Annie Zaleski (Amazon.com) ⁠Rolling Stone: Taylor Swift⁠ (Amazon.com) ⁠Taylor Swift by the Book: The Literature Behind the Lyrics, from Fairy Tales to Tortured Poets⁠, by Rachel Feder and Tiffany Tatreau (Amazon) Songs Taylor Swift - the 1 (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) taylor swift - the 1 (folklore: the long pond studio session) (YouTube) Counting Crows - A Long December (Jimmy Kimmel Live) (YouTube) Counting Crows "The 1" and "A Long December" Live on the Stern Show (YouTube)

Join us this week as we take a little tour of New York City through Taylor Swift’s songs. Taylor’s love for this city is well known and she references many locations in The Big Apple in her lyrics. Also included, a wonderful excerpt from Dorothy Parker about the city too.  As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at swiftorypodcast@gmail.com, or leave us a voicemail at 404-594-3658. We may use your Swiftories on a future episode! To advertise on our podcast, please reach out to info@amplitudemediapartners.com. Sources All the NYC Spots Taylor Swift Mentions in Her Songs (thrillist.com) Dorothy Parker on New York: Autumn is the Springtime of Big Cities (polyarchive.com) Places / Songs Chelsea Hotel / Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Central Park Lake / Taylor Swift - The Bolter (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Cornelia Street / Taylor Swift - Cornelia Street (Live From Paris) Lyrics (YouTube) Lovers of Today / Taylor Swift - Delicate (Lyrics) (YouTube) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer (Lyrics) (YouTube) The High Line / Taylor Swift - cardigan (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Olive Garden / Taylor Swift - no body, no crime (Official Lyric Video) ft. HAIM (YouTube) Coney Island / Taylor Swift - coney island (Lyric Video) ft. The National (YouTube) Bus Stop Cafe / Taylor Swift - the 1 (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube) Housing Works Bookstore / Taylor Swift - All Too Well: The Short Film (YouTube)