Taylearning: A Taylor Swift Podcast

There is much debate about if Taylor Swift’s 2024 topped her groundbreaking 2023. Today, your hosts return from their holiday break to tackle that question! In this episode, Olivia & Dani continue their yearly tradition of giving you a “Taylor Wrapped” of sorts, talking through a timeline of Taylor’s highlight reel of 2024. Additionally, they top it off by recapping the accuracy of their 2024...

After 21 months, 149 shows, hundreds of songs performed live, and millions of traded friendship bracelets, The Eras Tour finally came to its bittersweet end in Vancouver, Canada on December 8th. By way of luck, magic, and our good friend Rebecca, Olivia & Dani were able to attend closing night in person. The final show was emotional, heartbreaking, joyful, somber, sparkling, and perfect. Your...

The simplest answer to the question “what makes an era?” is: …an album. An album cycle makes an era. But is that the whole truth? In today’s special episode, Justice - your TayIntern - guest-hosts to walk us through each intricate detail that characterizes a musical era. Join Justice, Olivia, & Dani as we cap off The Eras Tour with a lesson on the art, marketing, and groupings of all of Taylor...

The Eras Tour is over, and our episode is delayed, and Dani is here to tell you what’s going on! LINK TO 'ERAS TOUR HOT TAKES' SUBMISSION FORM: CLICK HERE! We are still fighting to get our Instagram back! Please help us by going to @taylearningpodcast_backup and following instructions on our first post. Instagram/TikTok/Bluesky: @TaylearningPodcast, @danielle_winchester, @olivia_kotarski Twitter (...

In October of 2011, lifelong Swiftie and Journalism student Sarah Chapelle decided to combine her passions to create the blog “Taylor Swift Style.” This blog has since amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, all of whom eagerly await for Sarah to post outfit details, prices, and even dupes of Taylor’s latest look every time she steps in front of a camera. Today, Dani & Olivia are joined by...

With 14 Grammy Award wins and 58 nominations, it’s no secret that The Recording Academy is a fan of Taylor Swift- and she is a fan of theirs in return! But the perennial question remains: will Taylor succeed in this upcoming Grammy cycle? Today, your hosts do their best to put themselves in the shoes of a voting member of The Academy to make educated guesses about how things will shake out in each...

She hates it here, so she goes to secret gardens in her mind. The job of your hosts today is to find those secret gardens and take you along on the journey! In this installment of the fan fave ‘Mental Cages’ series, Olivia & Dani walk through TTPD’s “I Hate It Here”, a divisive and solemn track from ‘The Anthology’ half of the record. What does Taylor mean with the opening/closing lyric about...

Today, we revisit the “Fantasy Football” song draft miniseries to take on the most recent installment to the Taylorverse: ‘The Tortured Poets Department’! Dani is a shameful 1-3 in her song draft record, and Olivia is looking to pad her lead. Your hosts go back and forth to draft their strongest teams, but who will actually take the prize? Will Dani begin her redemption arc, or will Olivia skyrock...

Throughout most of her long career, Taylor Swift was (in)famous for staying quiet politically. Some read this as apathy, some read it as calculating, and some went so far as to accuse her of being a secret alt-right icon. But in 2019, Taylor tore off the muzzle she had on herself and finally told the world her secret: she’s a Democrat. Her political affiliation and progressive ideology became a co...

We’ll admit it: we were wrong. Well, kinda. In our initial ‘The Muses: Taylor Lautner’ episode from February of 2023, we made an assumption that Taylor Squared had fallen out of touch over the years and were no longer close. To our credit, that was true at the time. However, we couldn’t have predicted that in the following months, they’d reconnect and be closer than ever! In this episode, your hos...

Hey hey hey! When it comes to Eras Tour tickets, have you been gettin' down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world? Well, Catie & Marissa are here to help! In today’s special episode, Catie joins us to talk about the community she and Marissa have built that specializes in ticket reselling, scam spotting, and making a safe space in the Swiftie world online. Ticket sca...

To this day, the world wonders what happened between Taylor Swift and budding pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo in 2021. Olivia, who was experiencing a meteoric rise to fame with her debut album ‘Sour’, had also publicly branded herself a lifelong Swiftie with the receipts to back her claim up. She was even called the “original Taydaughter” on the internet! So what occurred between them that made their...

Nine years to the day after the release of ‘1989’, Taylor released it again with her Taylor’s Version of the Pop Bible! The key difference, of course, is that when Taylor opted to drop a full-blown pop record in 2014, the (pop culture) world practically stood still. With a decade-defining singles run, an abundance of critical praises, and endless good vibes, the OG album left a legacy that the Tay...

Often (unfairly) overlooked and frequently (unjustly) criticized, ‘Midnights’ closer “Dear Reader” is a diaristic, confessional, and somber track that reminds its listener that, despite being full of advice, the author herself is not to be trusted. In this installment of the Mental Cages series, which doubles as Taylearning’s landmark 100th episode (!!!), Dani & Olivia break down this divisive...

Taylor made history (again) last week when she won the Video Music Award (VMA) for Video of the Year with TTPD’s “Fortnight”- but many people believe she was undeserving of the iconic award. This video, which was directed by and starring Taylor herself, beat out several other strong contenders! The award is fan-voted, but there are also so many layers and interpretations to this metaphor-heavy vid...

Inarguably, the friendships we make (and lose) throughout our lives impact us greatly. The same is likely true for Taylor Swift! In our NEW mini-series, The Squad, Olivia & Dani take you through Taylor’s friendships and the impact they’ve made on her life, image, and in some cases, her music. Today, we start with up-and-coming main pop girl, Sabrina Carpenter, in honor of her #1 album ‘Short n...

The prologue to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is one of the most intimate looks into Taylor’s mind we’ve ever been given. It’s the perfect appetizer to this massive album, and it has not received the attention it deserves…until now! In today’s episode, join Olivia & Dani as they go through the prologue line by line to better understand the stories Taylor tells throughout the album. With all...

Taylearning is back for Season 4, and we are better than ever! Today’s Season Premiere is a continuation of The Muses miniseries, and it also brings us further into the lore of Matty Healy. As we discuss what songs The 1975’s controversial frontman may have inspired in Taylor’s discography, we also continue to unravel the story of ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ Taylor Swift gives us so much insi...

Welcome back to your favorite Taylor Swift podcast that dives into everything Taylor! From the music to the lore to the theories, you can Taylearn alongside us with new episodes every Wednesday. Season 4 premieres August 28, wherever you get your podcasts! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/taylearning-podcast/support Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ads...

SURPRISE! We are back today with a super special in-between-seasons episode! Today, we are so excited to feature one of our favorite SwiftTokers, Jake Deyton, to chat about the recent "controversy" surrounding Taylor's fight to stay #1 on the charts. With the release of Billie Eilish's "Hit Me Hard and Soft" and the rise of Charli XCX's "brat" summer, we are reminded...

It’s finally here. In today’s electric season finale, which serves as the longest informative episode of Taylearning released to date, your hosts cover a comprehensive timeline of the torrid & sordid relationship between Taylor Swift and Matty Healy. After scouring the internet, cross-referencing multiple timelines, and reaching out to personal contacts, Dani & Olivia have compiled ~150 no...

Who’s afraid of little old Taylor? Well, she tells us that we should be. In today’s penultimate episode of Season 3, Olivia & Dani revisit the Mental Cages series to dissect Track 10 from ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ This song, which is performed immaculately on The Eras Tour 2.0, is a personal and confessional look into how growing up famous/constantly scrutinized can turn a “good girl” i...

Have you ever felt scared to take a massive leap of faith? Because that’s what we talk about in today’s ‘Dear Taylistener’ episode! This miniseries is our version of an advice column, where we intake stories from you - the Taylisteners - and give advice through Taylor Swift songs. Today’s submission is all about the fear, loneliness, excitement, and confusion surrounding moving away from everythin...

This week, your Harvard education continues as Stephanie Burt joins your hosts in talking through many Taylor topics! Stephanie, the professor of the viral Taylor Swift class at Harvard University, takes the time to talk about what it’s like to teach about Taylor, thoughts on ‘The Tortured Poets Department,” and we finally touch on a subject many of you have requested: Gaylor theories. Tune in to...

Taylisteners, welcome to our first Harvard class! In today’s episode, prolific and iconic legal scholar/Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein joins your hosts to talk about his new book, “How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be.” This book, released this week, covers the magic and madness of how people become famous- and how they don’t. Taylor Swift...