Swiftory

Sharing good things happening in the world is essential and in this episode Alicia wants you to know about the good thing going on with Brigid Kaelin. Brigid, talented out the wazoo, is breaking down Taylor Swift's songs on her YouTube channel, and you will never hear Taylor's music the same way again. Check Brigid out here! And the entire Taylor playlist here! As always, we want your Midnights! S...

This week Alicia is joined by author Misty L. Heggeness as we discuss her new release SWIFTYNOMICS: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy. Join us for this far-reaching conversation on the dynamics of women on our local and global economies the with Taylor Swift as a muse.   Find out more: https://www.mistyheggeness.com/ https://thecareboard.org/   As always, we want your Midnights! Share...

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

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 Midnigh...

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 mont...

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 i...

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”...

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 t...

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 th...

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 wa...

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 a...

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...

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 L...

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...

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...

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 swifto...

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)...

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...

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...

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 ⁠ Learn mor...

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 st...

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 404-59...

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...

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 Swiftor...

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 swiftor...