LIT112: The Life of a Showgirl with Mara Eller
Class is in session!
After 16 years of teaching literature and writing, I’m bringing that same analytical energy to this controversial album. Think of this as AP Lit: Taylor Swift edition.
We’ll unpack TLOAS like a novel—tracing literary techniques, Shakespearean allusions, character arcs, and emotional architecture.
It’s like your favorite college English class, minus the assignments and grades. If you love peeling back layers of meaning and finding hidden connections (while enjoying some seriously fun music), this is for you!
Podcasting since 2025 • 20 episodes
LIT112: The Life of a Showgirl with Mara Eller
Latest Episodes
19: Finale — TLOAS is a culmination, not a contradiction (with Kelley Erickson)
For our last episode, I sit down with functional mental health practitioner Kelley Erickson to explore The Life of a Showgirl through the lens of emotional integration, identity, and resistance.We unpack why this album feels so ...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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1:27:02
18: The Crowd Is King — what the prologue poems reveal about the life of a showgirl
In this episode, we uncover the secrets hidden in the six poems that fans are calling a prologue for the album. From the meticulous preparatory rituals to the unspoken rules that keep a showgirl sane under the gaze of adoring—and so...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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50:49
17: Punk Scholar Meets Showgirl (with Micah Vandegrift)
For our second bonus episode and our first interview, I’m joined by musician and scholar Micah Vandegrift.Micah and I met in graduate school when we both studying American culture at FSU. He specialized in music culture, specifically loc...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:07:07
16: From Shakespeare to Swift: Can Popular Art Be Great Art?
In this first bonus episode, we step beyond the showgirl’s story to explore the bigger picture of Taylor's reception as an artist. I’m sharing an essay I wrote that’s been getting a lot of attention on Substack about why some art—li...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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21:55
15: “The Life of a Showgirl” — is this a comedy or a tragedy?
This final track takes us back to our showgirl’s beginnings when her idol warned her of the harsh reality behind the shimmering facade of sequins and lace.From star-struck encounters at glittering performances to the bruises that are the...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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22:41