61 min listen
We Knew She Was a Mastermind: The "Midnights" Breakdown
We Knew She Was a Mastermind: The "Midnights" Breakdown
ratings:
Length:
73 minutes
Released:
Dec 1, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
This week, Ellie and Carrie continue their exploration of the Taylor metaverse by dissecting tracks 1-13 of the Midnights album. They discuss Taylor’s favorite images and leitmotifs — cages, towns, rain, the color gold, etc. — that recur throughout her discography and contextualize this album as part of a larger body of work. They mine her sonic imagery to examine how a song’s style might reinforce its substance and search for hidden meaning behind her poetic expression. But most importantly, they unpack the “sexy baby” conundrum and Taylor’s unapologetic embrace of both her carbon footprint and her cringe-y era. Topics discussed include the Lavender Scare and Gaylor theories, the body positivity movement’s reclamation of the word “fat,” Lana del Rey and the hyper-normative-feminine, and the enduring power of the inimitable Laura Dern.
Released:
Dec 1, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (26)
Fan Behavior: In this episode, Carrie recounts to Ellie a learning experience in which a parasocial relationship morphed into an unnatural in-person one. Enabled by Carrie's loneliness and lack of boundaries, "Meredith's" visit to Mom's house in East Hampton during the second major COVID surge left Carrie feeling entrapped in a cycle of panoptical performance (see Jon Mckenzie's 2001 work "Perform or Else"). Ellie helps her sister understand what she did wrong in the situation and stresses the importance of communicating clearly, even when it feels awkward or cruel. by All Each Other Has