AP Taylor Swift

"Take a deep breath and you walk through the doors. It's the morning of your very first day." This week, we're going line by line through "Fifteen.” From the significance of 15 as an age that rarely gets its pop culture moment, to Abigail and the quiet power of female friendship, to the devastating simplicity of "and we both cried," we unpack why this deceptively simple song keeps hitting harder with every passing year. We dig into who the "I" and the "you" really are, debate whether that night ends on a high or a heartbreak, and explore what it means to pay it forward to a generation of girls who are still walking through their very first doors. 

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Mentioned in This Episode:

Fearless, Taylor Swift (2008 album)

"Beautiful Ghosts" — Taylor Swift (from Cats, 2019)

"You're On Your Own, Kid" — Taylor Swift (Midnights)

"All Too Well" — Taylor Swift

"Seven" — Taylor Swift (folklore)

"22" — Taylor Swift (Red)

Inside Out (2015 film) — Pixar / core memories concept

Episode Highlights:

[02:42] The title: Why Taylor chose “Fifteen” 

[16:23] "Feeling like there's nothing to figure out," and the count-to-10 anxiety hack

[23:07] Abigail, in-groups and out-groups, and the adolescent psychology of finding your people

[33:22] Second chorus debate: Does the night end on a high or a heartbreak? 

[43:00] The flower metaphor, purity culture, and what "everything she had" really means in context

[54:55] Getting to the purpose of “Fifteen” 

 

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This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z

“Time won’t fly, it’s like I’m paralyzed by it.” What happens when you try to pin down something as slippery as time itself? This week’s episode gets philosophical as we explore how Taylor Swift uses time as a literary device—as narrative structure, as metaphor, as a way to measure how much we’ve changed. From flashbacks and tense shifts to nostalgia and the ache of looking back, we unpack how time shapes Taylor’s storytelling. Maansi traces the dramatic irony of “15” (Fearless, 2008), Jenn explores how “Timeless” (Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 2023) removes time to reveal the purest form of love, and Jodi breaks down the stream-of-consciousness time travel of “All Too Well” (Red, 2012). Grab your clocks, calendars, and time-turners—class is in session.

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Discover all our book recs & episodes: https://swift-recs-explorer.lovable.app/

Mentioned in this episode:

Memento (2000 film)

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel

Inside Out (2015 film)

The Merge, [Author]

StoryGraph

Atonement, Ian McEwan

The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley

Outlander, Diana Gabaldon

The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young

The Good Place (Jeremy Bearimy)

 

***

 

Episode Highlights:

[01:12] Time as a literary device: structure, theme, and symbolism

[08:52] “Fifteen,” Fearless

[20:23] “Timeless,” Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)  

[31:39] “All Too Well,” (Red)

 

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast on social!

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Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift

YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift

Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift

Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

Libro.fm → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

Contact us at [email protected]

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals - krownedkrystals.com use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm - Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

“I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art.” This week, we’re doing a deep dive on “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” (The Tortured Poets Department, 2024, Track 13), written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff. A continuation of our Strong Women series, this episode goes line by line through one of Taylor’s most devastatingly relatable songs. We explore the rhetorical triangle of the I, the you, and the they; the “performative perkiness” of the chorus; why the poetry meter literally snaps to the beat of a performance; the crucial evidence hiding in drawers; and how dark humor becomes a coping mechanism. Whether you’re a Type A eldest daughter, a new mom, or anyone who has ever had to show up for work when their heart was broken, this one hits. Try and come for our job.

 

Subscribe for free to get episode updates or upgrade to paid to get our After School premium content: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe. After School subscribers get monthly bonus episodes, exclusive content, and early access to help shape future topics!

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Mentioned in This Episode

The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift (2024)

The Eras Tour Concert Film / Documentary

Moulin Rouge! (2001 film)

Harley Quinn / Birds of Prey (2020 film)

Barbie (2023 film)

Episode Highlights

[02:17] Verse one: “She’s having the time of her life” — glittering prime, sequined stars, and the opening twist

[08:23] Pre-chorus: “I’m a real tough kid” — internalizing what we’re told as little girls

[20:23] The chorus: “I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday every day” — dark humor as coping

[39:24] “Try and come for my job” — who is she talking to?

[50:54] Why this is a twofer song: the sad version and the celebration version

 

Follow AP Taylor Swift Podcast on Social!

TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift

Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift

YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift

Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift

Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

Libro.fm → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

Contact us at [email protected]

 

Affiliate Codes
Krowned Krystals — krownedkrystals.com — use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm — Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here: tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

"Never be so kind, you forget to be clever; Never be so clever, you forget to be kind." We're celebrating Women's History Month the only way we know how: looking at strong women in Taylor Swift’s music. Jenn traces the wisdom and boldness Taylor inherited from her grandmother in "Marjorie" (evermore, 2020), Jodi unpacks the resilience hiding in plain sight throughout "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart" (The Tortured Poets Department, 2024), and Maansi makes the case that "Eldest Daughter" (The Life of a Showgirl, 2025) is basically the anthem of every firstborn girl who had to figure it out before anyone else did. Plus: why the Iceland women's strike of 1975 worked, and why Taylor Swift might be the only person capable of organizing a global one.

Subscribe for free to get episode updates or upgrade to paid to get our After School premium content: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe. After School subscribers get monthly bonus episodes, exclusive content, and early access to help shape future topics! 

Stay up to date at aptaylorswift.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Unlikable Female Characters, Anna Bogutskaya

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Play the Patriarchy, Reductress

"The End of an Era" Documentary

"Marjorie," evermore (2020)

"I Can Do It with a Broken Heart," The Tortured Poets Department (2024)

"Eldest Daughter," The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

Iceland Women's Strike, 1975

 

Episode Highlights:

[00:34] Introduction to strong women 

[05:59] "Marjorie," evermore (2020) 

[16:03] "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart," The Tortured Poets Department (2024) 

[23:42] "Eldest Daughter," The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast on social!

TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift

Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift

YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift

Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift

Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

Libro.fm → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at [email protected]

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals - krownedkrystals.com use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm - Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here tinyurl.com/aptslibro

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

This week, we're going line by line through "Down Bad" from Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department (2024). Jenn, Maansi, and Jodi unpack one of the album's most emotionally raw — and unexpectedly hilarious — songs, diving deep into its extended alien abduction metaphor, what it really means to be "down bad," and how Taylor uses sci-fi imagery to explore love bombing, power dynamics, and the messiest stages of heartbreak. We also discuss how this song connects to last week's Hero's Journey episode, why crying at the gym might be the most relatable lyric Taylor has ever written, and what the repetitive, fading outro says about the cycle of emotional abuse. Plus: cow mutilation, Kate McKinnon's SNL alien sketches, Thor and Natalie Portman, and The Other Boleyn Girl.

Subscribe for free to get episode updates or upgrade to paid to get our After School premium content: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe. After School subscribers get monthly bonus episodes, exclusive content, and early access to help shape future topics!

Stay up to date at aptaylorswift.com

 

Episode Highlights:

[01:12] What does "down bad" actually mean? From Google's AI overview to Usher to Grease

[05:50] Verse one line by line: Being beamed up, cosmic love, and the alien abduction metaphor

[13:08] The chorus: Down bad, crying at the gym — from the cosmic to the devastatingly mundane

[31:52] The chorus again: "Like I lost my twin" — Plato's soulmate theory and twin flames in Taylor's discography

[34:18] The bridge: hostile takeovers, indecent exposures, and Close Encounters — loving all the red flags

[36:20] "I'll build you a fort on some planet" — savior complex, desperation, and what fort-building actually means

[43:35] The stages of grief in one song: is this processing, or just a very messy beginning of processing?

[46:03] Getting to the purpose

 

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast on social!

TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift

Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift

YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift

Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift

Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

Libro.fm → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

Contact us at [email protected]

 

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals — krownedkrystals.com, use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

 

Libro.fm — Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here: tinyurl.com/aptslibro

 

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z