Ruin the Friendship’s big mystery is why Taylor Swift put a High School heartbreaker on an album about the Eras Tour. Joe and Toni do a deep dive decoding the song’s meaning by explaining its crucial connections to The Fate of Ophelia and the teenage love triangle in Folklore. Then they explore why Taylor has so many haters with the help of a former editor of Cosmopolitan.

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Eldest Daughter may be the most controversial song on “The Life of a Showgirl.” Joe and Toni dive headfirst into the controversies about whether this song is too cringe, while raising the provocative question of whether this song is actually about Taylor Swift. And you won’t want to miss our fast-paced interview with New Yorker senior editor Tyler Foggatt who is Taylor fanatic.

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One of Swift's biggest mysteries is why she has so many songs with bad or missing father figures, including many tracks on “The Life of a Showgirl.” In this must-see episode, Joe and Toni fully decode Father Figure, solve the mystery, and reveal one of Taylor’s most ingenious musical devices. They also explain the many illuminating connections between Father Figure and Getaway Car, one of Taylor’s fan favorite songs from Reputation.

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Opalite does NOT mean what you think it does—as you’ll learn in this eye-opening episode. The #2 song in America may seem like a simple bop, but in reality, it’s a complex lyrical gem that shines a whole new light on the album. PLUS, we have a must-see interview with the brilliant Charlie Harding, a songwriter who co-hosts the award-winning hit podcast, Switched on Pop. And if you’ve ever wondered why Swift loves to work with Max Martin, Harding provides rare insight into the reclusive Swedish songwriting genius.

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Joe and Toni talk to Ben Mankiewicz, an expert on Liz Taylor and Cleopatra—who are both quintessential showgirls Swift is obsessed with. In the episode’s middle segment, the three discuss the many parallels between the two Taylors that Swift alludes to in the song. Ben is an amazing storyteller and host of the podcast The Plot Thickens whose latest season is on the ill-fated movie Cleopatra, which starred Liz and which his great-uncle Joseph directed and wrote. If you want to fully understand the meaning of this great song, don’t miss this episode.

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This episode will change how you think about Taylor’s entire album! Joe and Toni explain the real meaning of The Fate Of Ophelia— the #1 song in America AND the world—and how it is the key to decoding what Taylor called the “perfect puzzle” of the entire album. You’ll learn the real meaning of the music video and the remarkable parallels between the album’s first song and the final one, The Life of A Showgirl. Joe brings his expertise on Shakespeare to reveal the song’s unexpected origin and what the critics get wrong about Ophelia. Subscribe to Apple Podcasts and Spotify so you don’t miss a single episode in the journey to decode this ambitious album.

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Taylor promised on Travis’s New Heights podcast that the 12 songs on ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ would ‘fit together like a perfect puzzle.’ But her critics’ hot takes mostly miss this point and misfire. So, in Season 2, Joe and Toni will help you solve this puzzle by decoding the REAL meaning of each episode—the irony and karmic twists beneath the literal lyrics—ending with an epic reveal in the final episode on the title song. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so you don’t miss a single episode in the journey to decode this ambitious album.

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Taylor told Travis on his New Heights podcast that ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ will have the same kind of storytelling she used so movingly on Folklore. So, Joe and Toni decode her unforgettable hit song ‘Cardigan’—the heart of both the album and its teenage love triangle—to reveal Betty’s unexpectedly tragic fate. This episode will transform how you think about Folklore and may hold the key to decoding her new album when it drops on October 3.

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If you want to fully decode Taylor’s new album dropping October 3, you’ll need to understand the 2 types of irony Taylor, Max Martin, and Shellback use in songs like “Shake It Off.” That #1 hit seems like a basic bop, but it’s not. Joe and Toni reveal how Taylor and her co-writers convey their true meaning by combining the first kind of irony—"when you mean what you say, but you don't say what you mean”—with the second kind, which is irony of fate, also known as poetic justice or karma. As Swift herself has said, “karma is real.”

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A must-see episode that reveals all the pre-release secrets of “The Life of a Showgirl” you won’t hear anywhere else. Plus Toni sings (for the first time!) improvised previews of all 12 tracks. You’ll learn what Taylor and Ophelia have in common, plus everything we know about each song. Then Toni improvs her version of a verse, chorus or bridge for The Fate of Ophelia, Elizabeth Taylor, Opalite, Father Figure, Eldest Daughter, Ruin the Friendship, Actually Romantic, Wi$h Li$t, Wood, CANCELLED!, Honey, and The Life of a Showgirl (ft. Sabrina Carpenter). 

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