Evolution of a Snake: The Taylor Swift Podcast

The Snakes are back post-hiatus with a surprise episode: a deep dive into folklore. In a year of surprises, The Evolution of a snake is taking a turn with the content and discussing 'current' events as well. After the shock of the surprise drop eased, Zack and Madeline jump into the album to discuss the production, writing, visuals, and promo of folklore. Track by track. Comparisons are drawn to the Lover era and...well... they're not flattering. The betty discourse is mentioned, the trilogy of songs is dismissed, Haylor continues to thrive, tour plans are discussed, Connor Kennedy is still on our minds in 2020, and a new chapter of Taylor Swiftology is unleashed on the masses. Send your feedback on this episode to @tswiftpodcast on twitter. @hoaxlakes and @tsfolklore for the hosts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a while....there's a pandemic but we're still thinking about the end of 2012. That's how monumental it was. We discuss the tumultuous highs and lows of one of the most prolific album cycles that Taylor Swift has barged through. We discuss the release strategy for Red, review all of the singles, and dive into a track-by-track review of what is widely thought of as her most experimental album. There's a lot of drama, too. Old flames flicker with John Mayer, Joe Jonas, and Taylor Lautner. We get a fresh and impending heartache in Harry Styles, and discuss one of Taylor's first intense public backlashes. We talk music videos, property purchases through shell companies, rocky live performances, and the sheer artistry behind some of the best writing in her career. Some of the juiciest easter eggs hatch in this short span of time. We rehash the fandom discourse of Taylor Swift becoming a pop artist, and revisit some foundational image changes, as well as the 'good girl' pathology that endured until very recently. Follow us on twitter for more updates, and let us know your thoughts @tswiftpodcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a long hiatus (that included an ENGAGEMENT!!) Madeline and Zack are back to discuss the game changing year of 2012. First off - we plug our Patreon! We need your support to continue creating high quality content. Taylor slowly but surely drops prehistoric easter eggs that she'll be releasing an album. The bangs that were cut at the end of 2011, seem to give her some power.....the power to become obsessed with the Kennedy's. Her hyper-fixation tendencies really jumped out this year. On today's agenda: her whirlwind romance with Conor Kennedy, her almost role in Les Miserables and acting chops in general, the Grammy serve of the century, a brief interlude with Zac Efron, some nasty words from the internet's garbage can John Mayer, and the show stopping Red live chat. Oh.....and a sweet ditty called We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Heard of it? We also discuss our upcoming plans to release two episodes a month, and to diversify our content. https://www.patreon.com/theevolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline deep dive into the second half of 2011 - which upon reflection, is a year of immense growth, evolution, and development. The Speak Now Tour continues and the arm lyrics and interviews that she gives on tour reveal a surprising amount of information if you know where to connect the dots. The earliest and purest form of the Easter Eggs reveal themselves as arm lyrics. Connecting the dots she draws leads us to the conclusion that perhaps her and Joe Jonas tried it again, or at least reconciled in this year. Taylor Lautner makes several unnecessary appearances and Miss Swift's bizarre obsession with the Kennedy's begins. We take a look at a few in depth profiles that are more revealing than they appear, and discuss Taylor's complicity in a goody-two-shoes imagery. T-Party is discussed publicly as a concept, and we analyze how that has changed - for worse - in recent years. Two final and superior singles with lacklustre videos wrap up the Speak Now era - Sparks Fly and Ours. Wonderstruck is dropped and we have to stan. Taylor gets her most iconic cat Meredith, and shockingly - in an earth shattering moment, cuts her hair and drops Safe and Sound in the same month. She turns 22 and never aged again.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline address an issue of housekeeping first and foremost. LEAVE US ALONE! Moving on, we discuss Taylor's incessant need to be everywhere during 2011 - and her slight obsession with the many boys of the hit television show Glee. There are some odd moments in the beginning of the year: Taylor performs on the high seas and attends the Montblan cocktail party with the one and only Emma Stone. We discuss some confusing single choices of songs that are pushed to radio concurrently, and we reiterate the fact that we are charting higher than Bob Lesfetz. We talk her Vanity Fair party serve of an appearance, that one famous gif that reigns supreme, and the gold cavalli dress that shook us all. We also discuss the Speak Now Tour in its entirety. We get into Madeline vs Swiftsecrets and the ridiculous quotes that stormed our dashboards way back in 2011. Please dear listeners, promise us, that you will never forget the essence of your spark.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Madeine and Zack pick up where they left off in 2010: Part 1 with the Mine video. It drops and we are completely and utterly shaken by the talent, the emotion, the power. Toby Hemingway is discussed as the elusive enigma that he is, and Taylor embarrassingly performs Innocent at the VMAs. We get four pre-releases from Speak Now that mislead us towards the greatness that is impending, and Taylor attends a taping of SNL where she meets someone who will change her life forever. Speak Now is released to critical and commercial acclaim, and we go through each song like the true Taylor Swift Sluts that we are. If This Was A Movie finally gets her chance to shine. John Mayer is very embarrassed. We get some incredible performances from the Thanksgiving special and Taylor spends the holiday with a family she grows close to. She is spotted arm in arm with a gentleman drinking maple lattes. Surely that is of some significance to you, Swifties. Back to December is made a single and we get some mixed performances. The year ends excruciatingly, with a guest mysteriously absent from Taylor’s 21st birthday bash. Buckle up y’all.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline dive into the year that catapulted Taylor from twangy teenager to adult pop star. 2010 was a professionally incredible year for Taylor that was unfortunately full of personal heartbreak . We get into the John Mayer saga, the emergence of Katy Perry & Taylor's friendship, as well as Taylor's longstanding beef with distinct nobody: Bob Lesfetz! Her disastrous acting career continues with Valentine's Day, and Zack and Madeline disagree about the merits of Today Was A Fairytale. The never-ending Fearless tour finally wraps up with a stadium show and Taylor wraps up living with her parents and moves into her now iconic Nashville apartment. We are served a legendary live chat with tea Miss Swift would never give us all at once in 2019. Speak Now is announced, Mine leaks and the experience of a leak scars Taylor for all of eternity. George W. Bush attends the premiere of Mine in Maine.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline pick up from where they left off in the first part of 2009. The impact of the VMAs shake the world so hard that President Obama chimes in and calls Kanye West a jackass. They discuss the media circus that unfolds as a result, and the classiness and godliness of Beyonce Knowles. A radio interview from this year is unearthed - an uncomfortable encounter Taylor had with a radio host who refused to stop badgering her, we hear the voice of the elusive (and now fired!) publicist Paula. The Platinum Edition of Fearless comes out, and The Other Side of The Door came in and spanked Madeline. The year ends rockily with Taylor's questionable SNL appearance, a horrific rendition of Forever and Always at the CMAS and a social justice (?) mishap at Katy Perry's birthday party. Yup, you read that right. Tune in to hear the drama.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline deep dive into the jam packed, legendary, very busy year of 2009 - where Taylor continues to conquer the world with Fearless, has her first questionable encounters with Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato and plugs You’re Not Sorry like it’s her next #1 single. We take a trip down memory lane to her first Rolling Stone profile, the iconic Fearless Tour, her dramatic wins at various award shows, the beginning of Taylor Squared, her continued beef with Joe Jonas, her first (terrible) Grammy performance, her short-lived friendship with Katy Perry and two music videos: You Belong With Me and Fifteen. The beginnings of her acting career are also discussed - Taylor Swift on CSI, anyone?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline dissect the year that skyrocketed Taylor Swift from a successful country artist, to a crossover pop star. 2008 was a formative year for TSwizzle creatively and personally - she continued her iconic work with Liz Rose, wrote much of Fearless by herself, and fell in and out of love with the famously intelligent Joe Jonas. This episode deep dives into the creative process behind Fearless and its astonishing commercial success, and follows some of the drama you may not have heard of - Emily Poe getting fired, anyone?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zack and Madeline discuss the beginning of Taylor Swift's career from the years 2006 to 2007. Covering her first music video, award show win, and album release period - the first episode of The Evolution of a Snake delves into some swiftie drama, Taylor Swift's legendary heart tattoo, the injustice done to "I'd Lie", the origins of some of the most legendary memes, a promotional moment for "Cold as You" and a word on Taylor's sketchy country accent. There is a track by track analysis of the debut with some hot takes (A Place in This World is garbage), a sponsorship from Drew Hardwick, a discussion of Taylor's brief interest in headset microphones, and a review of her first three singles and music videos, "Tim McGraw", "Teardrops On My Guitar" and "Our Song."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com  We did it. We each ranked our top five Taylor Swift albums—and no, we didn’t agree on everything. In this episode, we get into how our relationships with certain albums have changed over time, why emotional depth and live performances matter, and what it means to grow up alongside Taylor’s music. There are some hot takes, some tender moments, and at least one surprise contender. https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TIX TO THE SNERAS TOUR https://www.evolutionofasnake.com From Should’ve Said No to Illicit Affairs to Getaway Car, Taylor Swift’s stance on cheating has seriously shifted. We’re unpacking her evolution from calling out cheaters and “the other woman” to exploring infidelity’s grey zones—and sometimes diving right in. Growth? Hypocrisy? Maybe both. https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO THE SNERAS TOUR / SHOP SNERAS MERCH: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com  Before she was known as the host who got canceled, Ellen DeGeneres was the queen of daytime, and Taylor Swift was a frequent guest. This week on TayRewind, we're unpacking the cultural power of the Ellen Show, why it was both a blessing and a curse for Taylor and how it helped shape her media narrative from the Fearless era through to Lover. From awkward boy talk and surprise guests to the Joe Jonas moment and the now-infamous dating bell segment, we trace Taylor’s complicated relationship with Ellen and what it says about the pop machine of the 2000s and 2010s. https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One year later, The Tortured Poets Department is still driving The Snake Nation to the brink, and we love to see it. In this installment of Phone a Snake, you sent us your roses, your thorns,, and your most chaotic takes on Taylor’s messiest album. We discuss certified worm behavior, whether emotional cheating counts, the horror of thanK u aIMee and how TTPD turned casual fans into 1975 apologists. Plus: why Taylor might be an ethical cheater (but not an ethical billionaire), why Florida!!! smells like regret, and what happens when you stan a version of Taylor that never existed. GET A BONUS EPISODE OF EOAS RIGHT NOW: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com  One year ago, Taylor Swift dropped her messiest, most divisive album yet: The Tortured Poets Department. Critics rolled their eyes. Fans fought in the comments. But what really happened? And why does this era still haunt us? In this episode, we review the rollout, the reviews, the backlash, and the brilliance. We unpack the most savage takedowns, the misunderstood lyrics, and the cultural moment Taylor tried to close the book on, only for it to linger louder than ever. Was it a flop? A cult classic? Or something even weirder: a misunderstood masterpiece hiding in plain sight? JOIN US ON PATREON FOR WEEKLY EPISODES: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist  https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com In today's episode, we're revisiting the wonderful world of Taylor's Version. From the somewhat unexpected release of Fearless (Taylor's Version), to the latest release of 1989 (Taylor's Version), we figured it was a good time to go back into the archives and revisit these special projects. We're discussing the difference between the stolen songs and the re-recordings, what this project meant to us as long-time swifties, how it's changed the music industry, and where Taylor Swift will go from here. Debutation, anyone?  GET MORE EOAS WEEKLY: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com  Welcome back to Sister Songs, where we pull various numbers from Taylor Swift's discography and connect them by doing our very own meth math. Today, we're talking about romantic abandonment, commitment, and betrayal, and we ponder the question of whether Taylor Swift herself is indeed...The Bolter.  JOIN US ON PATREON FOR WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Phone a Snake, your beloved hotline segment. This week we've returned to a favorite format: reacting to YOUR unpopular Taylor Swift opinions. Please be sure to get ready to be silenced. Should Taylor Swift go to jail for not attending the iHeartRadio awards? Was Tortured Poets a mistake? Is Debutation dead in the water? Tune in to find out!  JOIN US ON PATREON FOR WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/SNAKE10 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $25 discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com Taylor Swift, HSIC (Head Snake In Charge), doesn’t just write songs; she writes Herstory, and some of that Herstory is written in blood. From publicly destroying Scooter Braun to obliterating Damon Albarn’s credibility in 280 characters, we’re ranking Taylor’s 10 greatest feuds and unpacking the power plays, petty drama, and career-shifting betrayals that defined them. Who deserves Tayvoodoo? Who was just collateral damage? And who got the last laugh? https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices