Encoreology

Happy 9th birthday, reputation! They said she would flop but the real swifties never bought that fake news. Nine years later we are revisiting the era everyone tried to rewrite to lay out the real truth: it was never a flop, it was a cult classic in real time and you just had to actually LISTEN. We get into why the hate was cool at the time, how Look What You Made Me Do pulled off the greatest comeback in pop, and why this is still the most singular, no-sister-record run of Taylor Swift's career.

With the addition of Patient Zero to Taylor Swift's long list of #1's, we decided to dig into the canon of these alleged "hits" and try to ascertain who the REAL show stoppers are...and we ended up surprising ourselves. Enjoy!

It's an exciting time to be a Swiftie. Taylor Swift has been out and about: performing The Fate of Ophelia for the first time at the Academy Gala, being the youngest person EVER in the Nashville Songwriter's Hall of Fame, politely snapping back at a 'fan' at the Chief's game, and serving absolute you know what while doing all of it. The hair is lobbing, the outfits are outfitting. There has also been an alleged 'leak' of the renderings of Madison Square Garden for her wedding to Travis Kelce! We discuss all of this and more in today's episode of Taylor Talk.

20 years ago, the greatest debut album of all time was ever made: Taylor Swift’s, Taylor Swift, 2006. It was a historic first step in a new leap for womankind. Our Song, for example, made Taylor Swift the youngest artist ever to write and perform a #1 country song. Featuring other smash hits like Teardrops On My Guitar, Should’ve Said No, and Picture to Burn…we revisit an album we haven’t listened to in full for a long time, to share our thoughts and feelings about it, as well as provide you predictions on what will happen for the inevitable release of Debut (Taylor’s Version): the vault tracks alone, are a ki…

Welcome back to Phone a Snake, the world's greatest hotline, where you call in with your unpopular opinions and we roast them, agree, or debate. In today's episode, we're Patient Zeroing in on Taylor Swift's new deluxe version of The Life of a Showgirl. It's titled "The Encore" and we sure hope that means this is the end of the road for the era...on the agenda today: is this just boring millennial pop for white women? Is the songwriting lazy? Will The Encore hurt Taylor's legacy? Why is Debut TV getting paid dust? Cleveland is camp, and more...enjoy!

With the addition of Showgirl: The Encore, we now have four new deluxe tracks to add into the canon of Taylor Swift songs that didn't make it to the album, but aren't one off singles or vault songs. We were inspired by Billboard's uninspired ranking of the same material, to give the Swiftie perspective on how these new songs rank compared to their sisters, while taking a walk down memory lane. Enjoy! 

Here we are again...at the most culturally irrelevant pop culture awards show! This year's VMA was, unsurprisingly, a snooze fest. And yet it was the highest rated show in years. Go figure. We get into all the winners and snubbed divas of the evening, including: Lisa, Madonna, Slayyyter, Pink Pantheress, Zara Larsson...and of course, a review and reaction to Taylor Swift's new music video for Patient Zero. Enjoy! 

GET EXCLUSIVE BONUS CONTENT ONLY ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologistWell, here we are again. Taylor Swift has released the deluxe version of The Life of a Showgirl, called The Encore, and we’re here to decode it for you. Four new tracks: Patient Zero, Pink Clouding, Cleveland!, and Babylon have entered the canon and we have thoughts about all of it: from the male-centered allegations, to the bizarre tone of…anger…and the desire to clap back at the haters, both real and imagined. We are always keeping it real.

WE WILL BE UPDATING IN REAL TIME ON SHOWGIRL: THE ENCORE ONLY ON PATREON! https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist The vault tracks have been one of the most special gifts that Taylor Swift has ever bestowed upon us, her fans. However. Are they all created equally? We're taking the magnifying glass to each and every vault track in the discography: from Fearless all the way until 1989, and deciding who the REAL divas are. Foolish One, you'll always be famous. Don't You...start running. 

This week on Evolution of a Snake we're doing the FULL autopsy of The Diva at the VMAs. From baby yeehaw Taylor on correspondent duty in 2008 to Kanye grabbing that mic in 2009 and rewiring her entire career, the painfully passive-aggressive Innocent era in 2010, the Red bangs relaunch in 2012, the Harry Styles revenge speech in 2013, that CURSED Shake It Off performance in 2014, the Nicki Minaj feud and Bad Blood sweep in 2015, the Lover overload in 2019, hijacking the show to announce Midnights in 2022, all the way to becoming the most decorated artist in VMA history in 2024. What awaits us in 2026?!