"You don’t get to tell me about sad.” This week, we deep dive into Taylor Swift's song “Who's Afraid of Little Old Me” from The Tortured Poets Department. For this TTPD and Eras Tour favorite, we unpack the song’s references to fame, power dynamics, and female identity. We explore how this song brings up our experiences of passive-aggressive workplaces, and being asked to change our behavior to fit other’s expectations. It’s a meaty episode–listen and let us know what you think!

Mentioned in this episode: 

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Edward Albee

Apex Predator, Mean Girls  

E23: Mad Women

The Great Gatsby

Pirates of the Caribbean 

Les Misérables

Wicked 

Episode Highlights: 

[01:52 ] How we do a deep dive

[03:19 ] Unpacking references in the song’s title

[07:49 ] “The who’s who of who’s that”

[13:01 ] “If you wanted me dead, you should have just said”

[18:56 ] “So I leap from the gallows”

[21:20 ] “At all costs, keep your good name”

[32:25 ] “So tell me everything is not about me”

[37:57 ] "That's why you're still singing along"

[42:39 ] The purpose of the song

[52:00 ] Listener homework!

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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.

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