When You Think Taylor Swift – Details, episodes & analysis

We're back to discuss the second half of TTPD — a track-by-track, our general takes, an a redone album (listen to Hannah and Madeline's Version here). Are you an anthology truther??? PLEASE send your thoughts.

31 SONGS??? We are wealthy. Today we're diving into our overall thoughts on the album — where it fits into Taylor's larger body of work, the side effects of her prolific output over the past few years, living inside of an imperial phase, musical and lyrical redundancies, Taylor's partnerships with Jack and Aaron — and doing a track-by-track vibe check of the (first) album. Come for the hot takes, stay for the alien abduction commentary. We'll be back soon to discuss The Anthology, because there is simply TOO MUCH GROUND TO COVER.

Things have been uneventful on the Taylor front recently, so we’re recapping the bits and pieces of news for you today — Harry Styles’ leaked song (as promised, the song backed by an exceptional photo compilation), Karlie’s TikTok presence, Joe Alwyn’s press tour, Where the Crawdads Sing, Taylor’s return to acting, and Drake’s Instagram — all punctuated by the sound of the freeway and occasional Google Maps directions for an immersive audio experience.

Sidebars this week: our road trip to Martha Stewart’s garage sale, whether Karlie begged Taylor for mercy in a Starbucks, the mystery lyric in “I Think He Knows,” the Sally Rooney oeuvre, the very dark shit surrounding Delia Owens and her family, and our exhausted inability to speculate on when we will get new music.

Today we are transitioning from Taylor-as-poet to Taylor’s literal poetry, circa 1999 and 2017. We’re reading Taylor’s three published poems — A Monster In My Closet!, Why She Disappeared, and If You’re Anything Like Me — and talking about why they feel like a new kind of peek into her psyche and her Enneagram type, Taylor’s deep need for being understood (even when There Will Be No Further Explanation There Will Just Be Reputation), and as usual, our plea for Taylor to get a therapist.

Sidebars this week: Taylor’s connection to Al Gore, the Cadbury commercial where kids wiggle their eyebrows, Madeline’s career as a public speaking tutor, the sentient Empire State Building, is Martha Stewart deuxmoi, and Colton Underwood’s connection to Scooter Braun.

With the turning of the calendar, it’s time for us to reflect — and look ahead to consider what the absolute hell is going to fall in our laps from the one and only Miss Taylor. We’re staking our claims and making our predictions for what is to come this year: tour? Re-records? A fresh album? A NOVEL?? Who knows.

Also — we’re on Instagram! Follow us at @whenuthinktaylorswift and send us your wildest theories, your requests for new episodes, and/or your top ten songs. We want it all.

SPOILERS ABOUND

WE LISTENED TO THE LEAKED VERSION

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unedited insanity for you all

BABY LET THE GAMES BEGIN — we’re in the final stretch pre-Red re-release. This week, we’re recapping what’s been happening in the Taylorverse on the eve of us finally having our grubby little paws on the ten-minute version of All Too Well (From the Vault) (Taylor’s Version). Theories swirling on Tik Tok & @deuxmoi, secret projects filmed in Taylor’s New York apartment, Taylor’s introduction for Carole King, and our most anticipated songs from Red — let’s get into it. We’ll be in person together for the re-record next week, so stay tuned for a boatload of content to match the boatload of songs coming soon.

Sidebars this week: John Mayer has a laundry detergent line now, Succession, squirrel gestation, the lost Palm Tree era, Taylor’s cheugy social media presence, and Cora Coleman from Music & Lyrics (iconic film).

As mentioned, here is Taylor’s speech and her cover of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow."

We’re back and in honor of August sipping away like a bottle of wine, it’s time to reflect on Folklore. We’re doing a track-by-track analysis, theorizing on the line between fiction and reality in the Taylorverse, discussing Taylor’s ability to draw a universal feeling from a wildly niche vignette, and generally deep diving left & right. Buckle in, babies.

Sidebars this week: Facebook Marketplace finds, “you’ll never get away from the sound of the woman who loves you,” Madeline’s pre-Folklore connection to Holiday House, Taylor Swift’s real estate investments, Hannah turning into a snob about vinyl, Nicole Kidman’s accents and wigs, is Jack Antonoff weird??, Strawberry Wine by Deanna Carter, Sally Rooney and Brandy Jensen in conversation with Illicit Affairs, Jill Gutowitz predicting Taylor’s bear suit Instagram, and Taylor’s cheugiest lyrics.

We’re sticking in the Evelyn Hugo universe for one last episode to talk about the brilliant, tortured, kindhearted Harry Cameron — and also the brilliant, tortured, kindhearted Harry Styles. We cover a lot of ground in this episode: the history of celebrity bearding, Evelyn and Harry’s relationship, Taylor and Harry’s relationship, literary and lyrical analysis, the utility of identity politics, chosen families, the snowmobile (??) accident (??), whether we’ll ever get a sit-down deep dive debrief from Taylor herself, and prioritizing platonic love. Without further ado, LET’S GET INTO IT.

Sidebars this week: the giant birdcage in Taylor’s Nashville house, Hannah mixing up Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne (SORRY), the “I want to be famous” Vine, Chely Wright, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield, the 2016 election’s ripple effect into Taylor’s personal life, the L Word, and Karlie Kloss’s Instagram. Please let us know if you have insight on the etymology of the term bearding!!!

The time has come for us to do a Deep Dive into The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This is part one: a hefty walkthrough of this book, the way it sheds light into the machinations of celebrity (and the correlating ethical implications), a continuation of our discussion on parasocial relationships with celebrities, the through line of Taylor Swift and other pieces of culture, and what to do with the bits of truth we have. Obviously, spoilers for Evelyn Hugo abound. Sidebars this week: should we start a side hustle of doing old-timey voices?, nobody replying to our question about drinking wine in the bathtub from last episode, Joshua Basset, and Stevie Nicks.

Find the masterpost accompaniment here.