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 EVOLUTION OF A SNAKE LIVE IN 2025: https://evolutionofasnake.com/ In today's episode, The Snakes expand their swiftie palette to wax poetic about the albums of 2024 that rocked the world, NOT authored by Taylor Swift. This year has been stacked in terms of splashy, attention-grabbing releases. A few of these iconic moments are revisited, but there are also detours into less popular waters...albums you may not have encountered as a swiftie if you weren't a listener of Evolution of a Snake, perhaps. On the agenda: Mitski, Cece Natalie, Sunday (1994), Ariana Grande, Charli XCX, Flo, and more.  JOIN THE PATREON FOR WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist  Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to https://Zocdoc.com/SNAKE to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GET TICKETS TO EOAS LIVE IN THE USA 2025: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com The Snakes venture into familiar but undesirable territory in today's episode: the Billboard slums. We’re here today, to examine some claims they’ve made about who is (or isn’t) in the Great 21st Century Pop Star Canon with our encyclopedic knowledge of Taylor Swift and our…many opinions on everything else. Should Taylor have gotten that #1 spot? Were there any egregious misses in the honorable mentions category? Should Justin Timberlake have rights? All this and more.  JOIN THE PATREON FOR TOUR PRESALE AND WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After 21 months, 149 shows, and roughly 10 million fans, Taylor Swift’s seemingly never-ending Eras Tour is closing in Vancouver this weekend. So, a retrospective is in order. The Snakes revisit their best memories from Singapore, Chicago, Seattle, London, and Dublin while also cataloging the many records this legendary outing has broken and how it has changed the music industry forever. Finally, love letters are read aloud and mused upon from the Snake Nation. Subscribe to our Patreon for an extra hour of Phone a Snake every week: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist  https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Snakes revisit Taylor Swift’s most amorphous and ambiguous record to date: her tenth studio album, Midnights. Has ambiguity persisted or ceased after two years of shocking revelations –– from the Joever of it all to the Matty Healy interlude? Diving deep into the lyrics on each track, pared with the luxury of hindsight, an answer to this Question…? is found. Subscribe to our Patreon for an extra hour of Phone a Snake every week: 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. This week, we asked you to call in with your strangest and most outlandish takes on the 2025 Grammy nominations. And boy, y’all delivered! Up top is some discussion about the nature of the Grammy’s itself: how this year is different from others in terms of the stiff competition, Taylor Swift’s likely appearance (what she’ll wear/perform/win), how we would like to see the Grammy process change, and the need for artist’s to get their ass up and promote their work these days! Subscribe to our Patreon for an extra hour of Phone a Snake every week: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist  https://bit.ly/evolutionofasnake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today’s episode, The Snakes critically analyze the 2025 Grammy contenders. It’s been an incredible year of music, particularly for our muse, Taylor Swift, and all of our other favorite pop girls as well. Here, the devil’s advocate is played: each nominee for Album of the Year is presented with their greatest strengths and mortal weaknesses, seeking an objective assessment of who the front runners in this category are. The other ‘big four’ nominations & pop categories are deconstructed elsewhere. One thing is for sure: this year is stacked. From Chappell and Sabrina to Charli, Beyonce, Billie Eilish, and the HBIC, it’s sure to be a night to remember. For ad-free episodes & weekly bonus episodes visit: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to a very special episode of Phone a Snake. This week, we asked you to call in with your unpopular opinions about the 'Taydaughters.' What exactly is a Taydaughter, and how do we spot one? That's something explored in this episode, along with a thorough analysis of Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, and more as potential proteges of the HBIC: Taylor Swift. Enjoy! Subscribe to our Patreon for a spicy bonus episode of Taydaughter Opinions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The year is 2019. 'Digital fur technology' is a term that has entered our lexicon. There is a suspicious amount of butterfly easter egging. Taylor Swift is cooking up her first record away from Big Machine, and she's drawing out the surprise. Like, a lot. Suddenly, there's a pair of wings in a Nashville parking lot. Then, the world goes dark. Welcome to what is probably the most 'negative' EOAS recap: Taylor Swift's disastrous first six months of her flop era. Reputation's baddie, idgaf, scorched earth queen has disappeared. Instead we have a 30 year old woman who attended cat school for 4 months and wrote SPELLING IS FUN! Enjoy GET MORE EOAS ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist SHOP MERCH: https://www.evolutionofasnake.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's episode of your favorite hotline segment, Phone a Snake, The Snakes contend with your unpopular opinions about Taylor Swift's 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department. Though your confessions are not as shocking as they once were in the past, there is plenty of delusion here that was smacked into oblivion. Guilty as Sin? Greatest song ever made, not taking further questions at this time. Enjoy! GET US WEEKLY ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/swiftologist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices