What we learned from Taylor Swift’s podcast debut

Swift then pulled out a vinyl copy of “The Life of a Showgirl,” which she said she worked on while on tour in Europe, writing and recording between tour dates and “literally living the life of a showgirl,” Travis Kelce said.

Her 12th album will feature 12 tracks — the last of which features pop superstar and “Espresso” singer Sabrina Carpenter — and will be released Oct. 3.

“This album was about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so super and electric and vibrant,” Swift said.

She noted that it’s a departure from her last album, which she said excelled lyrically, but this one matches how her life felt at the time of writing.

“I’m so proud of it, and it just comes from, like, the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic place I was in in my life. And so, that effervescence has come through on this record, and like, as you said, bangers,” Swift said.

But she promised that these 12 songs are it — and that there won’t be any surprise songs coming.

A ‘wild, romantic gesture’

Travis Kelce’s side of the story has been widely reported: He attended the Eras Tour in Kansas City with a friendship bracelet with his number on it. While he didn’t get it into Swift’s hands that night, a proclamation of his interest after the fact on an episode of “New Heights” apparently alerted Swift of his affection. The rest was history.

Swift’s point of view was divulged for the first time on the pod, describing what Travis Kelce did as a “wild, romantic gesture.” She said she was making her first podcast appearance only because “New Heights” “got me a boyfriend” after Travis Kelce made it “his personal dating app.”

While Swift admits Travis Kelce’s verve was a bit crazy, she said they got to know each other in a very natural way and that he often made her laugh.

“This is sort of what I’ve been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager,” Swift said of the wooing.

The couple also addressed the media attention their relationship has attracted, with Travis Kelce admitting that Swift is the professional when brushing off the negative attention. Swift went so far as to admit, “it’s hard to hurt my feelings at this point.”

“My name can be in the actual headline and it can still be none of my business,” Swift explained of blocking out the noise. “You should think of your energy as if it’s expensive, as if it’s like a luxury item. Not everyone can afford it.”

Tears when Swift reclaimed master recordings

Swift described the moment she and Travis Kelce found out she would get the opportunity to buy her master recordings from Shamrock Capital, tears in her eyes as she remembered the moment just months ago.

She said she heard from her mom and “very dramatically hit the floor” and started crying. She tried to collect herself to tell her boyfriend in “a normal way,” but instead broke down in sobs.

“I’m just so happy for you, because I’ve seen how you make music … I know how much it burned you that you didn’t have that, and you didn’t have your creation,” Travis Kelce said, adding that he too found the moment emotional.

On the Eras Tour

Jason Kelce made sure to give proper attention to Swift’s behemoth Eras Tour, which Swift said she misses but admitted “it feels great” that it’s over.

During the more than 100 shows, she said she and Travis Kelce traded physical therapy notes.

“I’ve never played for crowds that were more committed,” Swift said, noting how the fans made the music an “event,” something she strives to do.

She said seeing the bonding between generations at the tour was “the most incredible feeling in the world,” and one of her favorite parts of it.

“I can see all that, I have LASIK,” the pop singer quipped.

She called the moment Travis Kelce joined her on stage at the Eras Tour “so special,” a moment Jason Kelce called his favorite.

“I was serious in terrifying fashion,” Travis Kelce said of his commitment to the role.

Swift’s still hiding Easter eggs

Swift wants to make something clear: She loves to hide Easter eggs, but they always lead back to music, never her personal life.

For example, she said she dropped a bunch of “lyrical Easter eggs” in the speech she gave upon receiving an honorary doctorate from NYU. When her next album, “Midnights,” came out, she said her fans were quick to realize “the whole speech was an Easter egg.”

The missing 20 minutes from Wednesday night

In those 20 lost minutes, Swift touched on a host of not-so-serious topics such as her best baking dish of the moment (cinnamon swirl sourdough), efforts to combat Jason Kelce’s anti-cat bias, denied rumors she played a bear in “Happy Gilmore 2,” and her explanation about entering the “Eras” stage area hiding in a cleaning cart.

“I wanted to curate and really romanticize the images that they were seeing first,” she explained. “So I didn’t want them to see my first outfit (a Versace bodysuit) and my first look, which would have given away what the first era (“Lover”) was.”

It didn’t take long for eagle-eyed Swifties to figure out she was sneaking in via that cleaning cart and that nightly entrance became its own ongoing joke.

“There’s like a weird little side of me that likes sneaking around,” she said. “And I think the fans found it funny too. They’re like, ‘What a weirdo. We’ve come to see a weirdo in concert.’ “

Despite playing before massive audiences every night during “Eras,” Swift admitted she was anxious and confused when attending the 2024 AFC title game in Baltimore, which the Chiefs won on their way to another Super Bowl triumph.

“And his mom goes, ‘All right, let’s go down to the field.’ And I was like, ‘What? We’re doing (what)? What do you mean we’re going? Why?’” recalled Swift, whose presence on the M&T Bank Stadium floor caused its own chaotic scene.

“The media sees me, and they’re like, ‘ahhh!’ and then they just start running at me and I’m looking at you (Travis) and then you’re screaming into the mic. Because when there’s a mic and there’s Travis, he physically needs to scream into it.”