There was so much anticipation going into the latest episode of the New Heights podcast featuring, of course, Taylor Swift. And my curiosity yesterday about the timing of it was answered because it ended up kinda being like a livestream, albeit a pre-taped one. Which totally tracks with how Taylor would have wanted it produced: the show was intended to be a collective audio/visual experience, and this is not typical of podcasts in general. Podcasting as a media form is intended to be personal, individual, we listen when we can, on a commute or a long drive, independent of urgency. This podcast, however, played with the format and brought it back, in a way, to its grandmother, the radio show. Or, more specifically, the live radio show at a time when people “tuned in” at the same time. It was so smart of Taylor to do this, to make it so that her first ever podcast appearance, in an era when everyone does podcasts, set itself apart from the crowd. 

 

Not that her presence itself wouldn’t have already set her apart from the crowd, but adding this element of “tune in now!” was an indication that if she was going to do a podcast, she wasn’t about to half ass it, never. 

Still, I can’t say that it entirely worked for me. This is a minor quibble so I’ll just get it out of the way first. This episode was both an interview and a “seat at the table” conversation, and I wish they would have just picked one mood. Jason Kelce’s role here was to ask the questions to prompt Taylor to tell the stories she (along with Travis) was ready to tell – about buying back her masters, about The Eras Tour, about their relationship, and about the new album. 

If Jason wasn’t her boyfriend’s brother, I would buy that these were his questions. But … we already know, very well, how close they all are, how much time she’s spent with Travis and his family, so a lot of the questions felt perfunctory, like they were coming off a prepared list designed to guide the conversation from one topic to the next that Taylor had on her agenda. Those parts didn’t land for me because I didn’t buy that Jason didn’t already know the answers, and I get that I’m watching this through the lens of my job in broadcasting and media, which is not everyone else’s lens. For most of the audience, I’m sure this wasn’t a problem. For me though, and small cohort of people who produce interviews regularly, there was an artificiality there that seemed unnecessary. 

 

Because it wasn’t all like this. There were a lot of times when it was the three of them shooting the sh-t, giving the illusion that this might be how it would be like if there was a hidden camera at the family dinner. And it worked so well that it only made the “interview” bits that much more stilted. 

Now that’s out of the way, the episode itself was an extraordinary moment in pop culture. The show was over two hours of Taylor Swift expressing herself in a way that’s becoming more and more rare. She was more strategically forthcoming on New Heights than she’s been in a looooongggg time. It was a level of curated and performative access that was exceptionally generous for someone at her fame status, which is pretty much the highest status. 

For the gossips, what was most notable is that she and Travis indulged the public fascination with their romance, and it wasn’t just in the details about how they met and how he pursued her, which she said was the stuff of her dreams (and songwriting), it was also in their body language. The way he looked at her so adoringly, how tactile they were, how intimately familiar he is with her work, her music, in particular the new music, and the process of making it, which we know she is obsessively protective over, as she should be. It was a gossip feast, a GOOD gossip feast… and a timely one too! It's the summer of celebrity romance, after all. And TNT wanted a piece of it. 

In Travis, Taylor has a partner who is willing to be loved by her on camera and, most importantly, willing to love her on camera. And he’s comfortable doing it, maybe even more comfortable than she is. He spent several minutes praising her, with examples, for her hard work, her endurance, how much fun she is, all the reasons why he fell in love with her. And he delivered all this so sincerely that her real-time appreciation, in return, was a bit self-conscious. It’s an example of how disarming he is and, clearly, the effect he can have on her. This, obviously, is some romcom sh-t but that’s also the point. TNT has been a romcom, the most high-profile pop culture romcom, since fall 2023. 

 

And while all of that is to do with Taylor’s personal life, it is now connected to her professional life because the album cycle of The Life of a Showgirl begins on this romantic note, with Travis as the lover who accompanied her through its creation and introduction to the world. Easter egg analysis is not my strength as a non-Swiftie so I appreciate that so much of the mystery was taken out of it on the podcast or at least enough information was provided to satisfy those who don’t have the time or inclination to do the forensics. Both Taylor and Travis are giving a strong impression that the music is fun, that this is probably the most pure pop album she’s put out in a few years. With a “showgirl” theme, behind the curtain, threaded through the album’s narrative. 

I’m excited about this, both the vibe of the music and also some of the stories she might be exploring through the theme. Taylor was clear that she will continue to apply the stepping-away-from herself writing that she explored in Folklore to her showgirl era. My hope is that this is Taylor touring us through some of the most iconic pop culture showgirls while situating herself in that legacy. And the tracklist is giving me some theories.

The Life of a Showgirl tracklist

More on this in part 2… coming soon.

The first song on the album is “The Fate of Ophelia” and the most famous Ophelia in art and lit is of course Ophelia in Hamlet. Hamlet comes up a few times during the podcast with Taylor and Travis and the image of her that comes to mind first is her floating face up, heartbroken, to her death. What comes up less is the fact that, well, Ophelia was a showgirl! She sang her feelings – this is how she communicated her confusion, disappointment, her grief, just like Taylor. Ophelia literally sang as she died, falling into the stream and singing herself to her watery end. 

 

That explains, perhaps, the album cover and the visual of Taylor in the bathtub…

Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

… but she might also be deep-diving on how Ophelia expressed herself: through song! 

There’s also an interesting parallel between “The Fate of Ophelia” and “Lavender Haze”. Both are the first tracks on their respective albums, The Life of a Showgirl and Midnights. One of the most famous lines from Hamlet, related to Ophelia, is “Get thee to a nunnery”. Basically Hamlet and Ophelia are talking but they’re being eavesdropped on and he’s already suspicious and being a dick to her and he tells her to become a nun, aka the wife of Christ. 

 

Back in the day, though, “nunnery” was also slang for brothel. And in “Lavender Haze”, Taylor has a lyric about how “the only kind of girl they see is a one-night or a wife”. Which has been a consistent theme in her music about subverting misogynistic expectations for women. Ophelia was bound by those expectations, at the mercy of both her beloved and her father and brother. And, again, her only outlet to vent those frustration was …through music. 

After “Ophelia” on the album comes “Elizabeth Taylor” who Taylor has referenced many times through the years. They share a name and they are both super f-cking famous but what’s also not really talked about when Elizabeth Taylor comes up in terms of her movie stardom is that… she sang! This is for the old bitches out there who know classic Hollywood. Cleopatra, Virginia Woolf, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof – culturally these are the films that are most deeply ingrained in the public consciousness about Elizabeth but how about A Little Night Music? In which she sang, they dubbed her in the theatrical version but a record of her own voice during the performance is available and she trained, as so many actresses from that time did, in singing and dancing at the start of her career so of course Elizabeth Taylor was a showgirl. 

 

 

And those of us who f-ck hard with the 90s see the words “Father Figure” and remember George Michael. It’s an amazing song, and you’ll recall in the video, George’s love interest, played by Tania Coleridge, is a fashion model, another kind of showgirl. Tanya had a signature look in “Father Figure”, if you were around back then I know you remember it: black bob, blunt bang. 

In one of the shots from the album, Taylor is wearing this hair: 

Promo image for Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl

That’s three possible showgirl references on the album from classic English literature to classic Hollywood to classic pop...

All of whom Taylor can certainly find common ground with and setting to music. And they’re supposed to be “bangers”. If that’s where we’re headed, yes, please I’m in. 

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Photo credits: Instagram/ Taylor Swift

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