AP Taylor Swift

"What could you possibly get for the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?"

What happens when you reach a level of fame so singular that there's almost no one left who can truly understand your life? That's the question at the heart of "Elizabeth Taylor" (The Life of a Showgirl, 2025), and it's why Taylor Swift had to go all the way back to Hollywood's golden age to find her patron saint. This week, we go line by line through one of the standout tracks from “The Life of a Showgirl”, unpacking the Portofino references, the white diamonds, and why the bridge answers the song's central question in the most unexpected way.

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:

Elizabeth Taylor, Wikipedia

"Elizabeth Taylor," The Life of a Showgirl (2025)

Portofino, Italy

Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris

Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood

Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds perfume

How I Write podcast, Ward Farnsworth interview

Episode Highlights:

[00:00] Intro to "Elizabeth Taylor"

[03:00] Who was Elizabeth Taylor? The Vince Canby quote that sets up everything

[04:30] "Do you think it's forever?" 

[13:00] "All the right guys promised they'd stay" 

[17:00] "Been number one, but I never had two"

[30:00] "Be my NY when Hollywood hates me" 

[36:45]  "The girl who has everything and nothing all at once"

[40:00] “I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust (just kidding)"

[45:00] “Yhey say I'm bad news, I just say thanks"

[52:00] The bridge: White Diamonds, lovers, and what's actually forever

[57:45] Purpose round: Elizabeth Taylor as patron saint, mentor, and mirror

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast on social!

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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.

“Best believe I’m still bejeweled” and diving into an incredibly rich discussion this week! In this week's show and tell episode, we’re examining the age-old literary theme of luxury in Taylor Swift's music, through the songs “Bet You Think About Me” (Red Taylor’s Version, 2021), “Bejeweled” (Midnights, 2022), and “Elizabeth Taylor” (Life of a Showgirl, 2025). Join us as we dive into how the meaning and significance of luxury changes through each of these songs that span across Taylor’s discography, and how luxury can be used to comment on social status, identity, and emotional depth.

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: 

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jane Austen

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wild

 

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Episode Highlights

[00:00] Introduction to luxury as a theme in literature and music

[03:00] “Bet You Think About Me” - the contrast in social classes

[10:50] “Bejeweled”- precious jewels and self-worth

[20:36] The luxurious, lonely life of “Elizabeth Taylor”

[34:31] Conclusion: The Multifaceted Nature of Luxury in Taylor's Music

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 are continuing our full album deep dive series for our paid subscribers, and finishing up our analysis of Taylor Swift's self-titled debut (2006). In this preview, we dig into the second half of this album where we start to really get a sense of who Taylor Swift was and the budding talent of the Taylor Swift we know today! 

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

 

🔒 Subscribe on Substack to hear the full episode, including:

Track 8: “Stay Beautiful” (Written by Taylor Swift and Liz Rose; produced by Nathan Chapman)

Track 9: “Should've Said No” (Written by Taylor Swift; produced by Nathan Chapman)

Track 10: “Mary's Song (Oh My My My)” (Written by Taylor Swift, Liz Rose, and Brian Maher; produced by Nathan Chapman)

Track 11: “Our Song” (Written by Taylor Swift; produced by Nathan Chapman)

Unreleased Vault Song: “I’d Lie” (Written by Taylor Swift; produced by Nathan Chapman)

Album Purpose: All three of us hosts go around to discuss what we think the overall purpose of Taylor Swift’s debut album was, how she accomplished it, and how this album gives us a peak into the mind of the pop superstar to come.

 

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

"You had to make your own sunshine, but now the sky is opalite." This week we’re deep diving the second single from “The Life of a Showgirl,”  Opalite! We’ll explore why Taylor chose “opalite” over “opal,” what it means to create your own luck instead of waiting for it, and the song’s shift from being stuck in a cycle to finding resilience. Along the way, we debate who’s really speaking—is Mama Swift talking the whole time?—trace the song’s self-referential connections to “Daylight,” “Fearless,” “right where you left me,” and more, and unpack how this bubblegum pop track is actually a deeply philosophical song about agency, community, and paying it forward.

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: 

Right Where You Left Me - Deep Dive

The Fate of Ophelia - Deep Dive

Metaphors Show & Tell 

Hamlet, William Shakespeare

Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Episode Highlights: 

[01:57] What is “Opalite”?

[08:06] “I had a bad habit…”

[16:14] “Life is a song, it ends when it ends”

[20:59] “Dancing through the lightning strikes”

[28:38] “Sleepless in the onyx night”

[33:23] “You finally left the table”

[46:51] “All of the foes, and all of the friends”

[50:21] “This is just a temporary speed bump”

[59:48] “Oh my lord never met no one like you before”

[01:01:11] The Purpose: “But now the sky is Opalite”

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.

"Take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die." What's an AP class without a not-so-brief discussion about touching grass? In honor of Earth Day, we're exploring Transcendentalism — the 19th-century movement that said the divine lives in nature, not in dusty pews — and finding it everywhere in Taylor Swift's music. Jenn returns to "the lakes" (folklore, 2020) and pairs it with Ralph Waldo Emerson's foundational essay Nature to explore how Taylor's retreat from society mirrors the transcendentalist search for truth in the natural world. Maansi takes on "Bigger Than the Whole Sky" (Midnights, 2022), tracing its imagery and cosmic grief through themes of universal divinity and interconnectedness. And Jodi brings "Opalite" (The Life of a Showgirl, 2025) to pose a question: is this song an acceptance of transcendentalism — or a rejection of it? Dust off your Emerson, lace up your hiking boots, and get ready to go touch grass with us.

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

Discover all our book recs and episode guides: https://swift-recs-explorer.lovable.app/

Mentioned in this episode:

Nature, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Walden, Henry David Thoreau

E7: Ecocriticism — our original nature episode

E8: Deep Dive - the lakes

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Walt Whitman

Margaret Fuller

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:30] Introduction to Transcendentalism 

[08:29] "the lakes,” folklore

[18:28] "Bigger Than the Whole Sky," Midnights

[30:16] "Opalite” The Life of a Showgirl

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.