Swiftory

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 [email protected], 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 [email protected].

⁠⁠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

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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 [email protected] to be included in the follow-up episode!

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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”.

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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 [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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)

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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 [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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)

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In today’s Swiftory journey, Alicia is joined by Alicia King Anderson Ph.D., our resident expert in all things mythology. The Mad Cassandra is our focus this week – the woman who was always correct in her prophecy but never believed. Dr. Alicia leads Swiftory Alicia through Cassandra’s story and then the script is flipped, as Swiftory Alicia reveals the song “Cassandra” from Taylor Swift from The Tortured Poets Department. This one contains multitudes connecting this ever-persistent theme through the centuries.

Find more of Alicia K. Anderson, Ph.D. in these links:

 ⁠⁠Alicia's Patreon⁠⁠

Her upcoming class on ⁠⁠"The Dark Feminine for Dark Times"⁠⁠⁠⁠Fairy Tale Retellings⁠⁠ now available for pre-order!

As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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In this little bit of a teaser episode for next week, Alicia is joined by her Trashy Divorces and Trashy Royals co-host Stacie, to break down “The Prophecy,” the track 26 bombshell from TTPD: The Anthology. With a little look ahead to our special guest next week breaking down the mythology of Cassandra, this is a bit of pre-requisite listening.

As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at [email protected], 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 [email protected].

Sources

All 274 of Taylor Swift’s Songs, Ranked, by Rob Sheffield. Rolling Stone, April 2024.

Taylor Swift - The Prophecy (Official Lyric Video) (YouTube)

Behind the Meaning of Taylor Swift's Plea to a Higher Power, "The Prophecy" (americansongwriter.com)

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In this kickoff to summer, Alicia and Melissa celebrate Taylor owning her Masters (finally)! But there is so much more. Play along with our quiz this week – Swift or Shakespeare?

Alicia brings thirty one lines that are packed with literary power for a quick with zero stakes whatsoever. It’s the playing along that is the fun!

As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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Alicia and Melissa were thrilled to have a chance to speak with Kevin Evers, Senior Editor at Harvard Business Review and author of There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift. Kevin really brought the goods to Swiftory this week speaking about what makes Swift the savviest decision maker and disruptor of our time.

This conversation was truly a delight, exploring a variety of topics including Swift’s consistent ability to reinvent herself, devotion to the craft, and commitment to the fan experience. We fan out a bit too with theories and the Eras Tour experiences as well.

Swiftorians – we LOVED this work: it was a whole new way to get to know Taylor Swift.

Find the book here:

There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift (Amazon.com)

There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift (Bookshop.org)

As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at [email protected], 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 [email protected].

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In our BIG finale of All Songs Anne Boleyn week, there could be no other song to send this Queen of England into her afterlife. Our featured song this week is “My Tears Ricochet” from Taylor Swift’s 2020 Folklore album. Alicia breaks down this haunting, ghostly classic from Taylor’s point of view in the first half, and then switches the focus to Anne Boleyn for the second half. Truly Shakespearean in its themes and imagery, My Tears Ricochet could describe no other than this murdered queen.

As always, we want your Midnights! Share your Swiftory stories at [email protected], 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 [email protected].

Sources

⁠Rolling Stone: Taylor Swift⁠ (Amazon.com)

⁠Taylor Swift: The Stories Behind the Songs⁠, by Annie Zaleski (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)

Lyric Version: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWbDJFtHl3w⁠

Long Pond Studio Session: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idjs-hw7Spg⁠

My Tears Ricochet Long Pond Session Interview: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xIm5mALut8⁠

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