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August 20, 2025 24 mins
ARE YOU READY FOR IT?! TS12 is coming soon 🧡 Tune in to hear my thoughts on the upcoming album and the iconic New Heights episode, as well as my feelings on the love triangle in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.' #TeamBonrad

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Heart and Soul Podcast with Catherine Banko.
I'm on a mission to celebrate breakthrough, empowerment and shameless
living in the lives of women everywhere. Join me and
let's live unashamed together.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to Heart and Soul.
If you can believe it, this is actually a new episode.
I'm so sorry about the last two weeks. I did
some throwback episodes, two of my favorite throwback episodes, so honestly,
you probably should go back and listen to them. Even
if they're a throwback, you might get some like little

(00:36):
nuggets out of them. But life has just been so
busy lately that I had not had any time to
record the last two weeks. And I also just like
want to preface this conversation with myself that if I
sound different, it's because I cannot breathe. My nose is

(00:56):
like so stuffed up, and I've can't really hear, Like
I don't know what's going on, guys, it's definitely something sinusy.
Like two days ago, I blew my nose hot. I know,
I blew my nose so hard though that like my
ears popped and then I got dizzy and Michael was like,

(01:17):
you need to sit down.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Like I thought I was gonna pass out. It was
that bad. So something's going on.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Fluid wise up in the head ear nose.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
Region of my body.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
So all that to say, this is only going to
be audio today because your girl looks just as bad
as she feels. But I did not want to do
another throwback episode this week. I want to remain as
consistent I can, and quite possibly the busiest season of

(01:53):
my life, we'll catch up.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
We went to Colorado.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Last week our family, and it was gorgeous out there.
Weather was perfect. It was really really nice to escape
this North Carolina heat and like like you're swimming in
a swamp everywhere you walk in this area because it's
so freaking hot and humid, and get away to like
clear air, dry air, cooler temps.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
It was great.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
It was It was that weather where it's like it's
like summer during the day, but then at night you
can like wear your shorts still and throw on like
a like cozy sweatshirt, And that, my friends, is my
favorite weather of all time. Something I'm learning about myself
is as much as I used to love thrive Off, summer,

(02:47):
the tans, the beach, the the longer daylight situation like
going to bed later. Ever since I had kids, and
the heat trajectory has risen to one million plus. I
don't even know if that's like scientifically it makes any sense.
But it's so freaking hot. I like, am gonna say

(03:11):
it hot take I like low key hate summer now.
Oh it's hard to say, but it's miserable walking to
my car and I'm dripping in sweat and I'm a
sweaty person, Like I so wet. When I think about sweating,
I start sweating. So it's been gross. Plus when you
have kids, like they just want to play outside and

(03:31):
then they get get nasty and then you like bathe
them every five hours, not really, but like you bathe
them so much because they're so dirty, and then they're overheated,
and then there's like all it's just a lot, like
I don't want to play outside. I'm ready for fall,
I'm ready for candles. I'm ready to be basic again,
just like your classic pumpkin side, spice latte, fall, candle,

(03:55):
cozy sweater, basic white girl situation. That is what I'm
looking forward to. And the best part about this, fall y'all.
Fall y'all is my girl, our girl. Hopefully if you're
listening to my podcast, then you know I'm like one
of the biggest fifties of all time and our girl,

(04:16):
Taytay is releasing a brahm new album this fall October third,
to be exact, what once was the Mean Girl Day?
And if you know, you know, like when Lindsay Lohan
asks what's his butt? What's his name, Aaron? I think
it's Aaron. When she asks Aarin what day is it

(04:38):
and he says it's October third, it's no longer the
Mean Girls Day, y'all, is now TS twelve day. And
I for one cannot freaking weight because if you listen
to the episode that Taylor like iconically released that she

(04:58):
was releasing a new album on a podcas which, by
the way, shout out to all podcasters out there, like
we are now the number one stream of media. I'm
gonna say it, Excuse me, I'm not sure if Taylor
listens to my episodes.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
I mean, a girl can dream.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Pretty sure she doesn't, but for her to choose podcasting
as the platform that she releases her twelfth album is
such a legendary moment for podcasters everywhere. And the fact
that we got a long form interview I'm talking like
a hour and a half maybe hour and a half
plus interview of her, of Taylor, Travy, and Jason just

(05:37):
chit chatting like a truly an in depth interview with
the one and only Taylor Swift is so insane to
me because that chick does not anymore sit down for
long form interviews. I think the last time we heard
Taylor talk that much outside of just like what she
says in between songs on the Aras tour for the
last two and a half years was in her documentary

(05:59):
back in twenty nineteen, Miss Americana, and that was not
an interview, even like she had control over that. So
it's it was like so just beautiful for me to
come home from Colorado and sit down and on YouTube
watch New Heights where Taylor and Travis break down their relationship.

(06:20):
They break you kind of see their dynamics. She announces
her new album. You see Jason Kelsey step into this
like just like solid Barbara Walters mode.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
He killed it.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
He was such a good interview and they were such
good interviewees.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
I feel like as swifties.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
We were fed as just like t Travis and Taylor
as like out there as they are with like paparazzi
photos and like going out on dates, and we've we've
been fed in that way, like we've really never seen
them together sit down and talk about their relationship or
see how they interact with one another. And if I

(07:01):
wasn't obsessed already, y'all, I'm a freaking obsessed with them.
I think they are end game. I think that it
is so my theory in life. And you can like
totally disagree with this, but I like low key think
that for a couple to make it, the man has
to love the woman just a little bit more than
the woman loves the man. Like they still love each other,
like they both love each other very much, but like

(07:23):
there's got to be a little bit more love from
the man to the woman. And they have that. They
have it. He is obsessed with her. He is also
not intimidated by her smarts. Like the whole entire interview,
she was using very very big words that I even
had to like look up some of them, and she

(07:44):
was just very intellectual, very tailor, and he was like
not just like nodding along and like encouraging it.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
He was like, Oh, that's so hot. I love when you.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Use big words like he loves her for everything that
she is, everything that we've wanted for our girl, Tytay.
He is like that guy for her, And it was
so cute in the interview. If you haven't listened to it,
I will just like paraphrase, but in the interview, she
was saying, I realized when like Travis was pursuing me

(08:15):
via his podcast and saying he wanted to get give
me a friendship bracelet with his number on it, and
he just like at like no, like whatever cost.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
He was gonna try and meet Taylor.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
I love that she recognized that, and she was like,
this is basically what I have been singing about in
all of my songs since I was like sixteen years old.
She wants a guy to like have this like eighties
rom com movie moment with her and like pursue her relentlessly.
And he did that, and she's getting her dream. She's
getting her man. She's getting her like she's getting her

(08:50):
flowers in all areas of life. She is finally being
recognized as one of the greatest songwriters of our generation
maybe of all time. She is finally a billionaire status.
She finally has her music back. She brought back her music,
which that part in the episode was so sweet to
see her kind of like get emotional about it, and

(09:10):
even Travis get emotional about it. And she has her
man and she's baking, y'all. She's back to baking. She's
got a break from the tour, which means she has
some more free time. She's doing She's making sourdough. She's
making different flavors of sourdough. She said cinnamon, she said blueberry.
Like this girl cannot be tamed. She anything she sets

(09:33):
her mind to, she will do, whether it's baking red
or selling out the biggest tour of all time, or
just like you know, spontaneously dropping an album and breaking
that news on a podcast on her boyfriend's podcast. To
say the least, it's just it's just like what a
time to be alive? I say this all the time,
but like, I am so thankful that I was born

(09:55):
in a generation that gets to consume Taylor Swift in
real time. Like what a time? What a time to
be alive? There's so much crap going on in our
world in our nation, but like to be alive in
the era of Taylor Swift releasing new music and like
even being born in nineteen eighty nine, Like, I just

(10:16):
feel so honored to be alive during this time. I'm
so excited for TS twelve. I think the way that
she teased it, and the way that even Travis kept saying, Oh,
it's a banger, it's a bigger, that's a banger, another banger.
It's gonna be like another pop album that we have
been kind of missing from Taylor. She did throw in

(10:37):
like a midnight situation where there were some pop songs,
but like for the most part since twenty twenty, she
has from folklore on been very much focused, and she
admittedly said this in her interview, And like her writing
and almost like being more in her feels, kind of
letting her music be like her diary, not necessarily putting

(11:02):
out like bops and bangers, but more so like putting
out her feelings. And I for one have loved it.
I think from folklore on, like we as Swifties and
the world as a whole has finally gotten to see
the depth in which she can write as a songwriter.
And I love it. I love crying to her songs.

(11:24):
I love going to the deepest, darkest places to her songs.
I love sitting in my car and letting that music
just play and me sometimes crying sometimes just like feeling
all the feels.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (11:38):
But I am very for TS twelve, for pop, for bangers,
for more style. She's with Max Martin again, producing so
more styles like reputation, like nineteen eighty nine, like some
of the Lover era, a little bit of like Red era.
I'm ready for that to come back, for us to

(11:59):
just like jam out and rock out and dance out
to our girl tite. So I honestly didn't know what
I was going to talk about on this episode. I
was just gonna have like a rambling of things I'm
just thinking about right now, and that's probably number one.
I'm thinking about TS twelve, but I'm also thinking a

(12:20):
lot about TSITP. And if you don't know what that
stands for, it's the summer I turn pretty. And yes,
I am a millennial mom of two thirty six years
old who is fawning over a teenage love triangle. And
I'm not ashamed to admit that shameless living. I love
the Summer I turn Pretty, and yes, I have read

(12:41):
the books, and by read, I mean listen, no audible,
because that's how I read now. But I've read the books.
I know what's going to happen in the books, and
I am just parying to the good Lord above that.
Jenny Hahn, the creator of To the Summer I Turn Pretty,
sticks with how the book ends. If she pulls some

(13:03):
like women empowerment crap, which I'm all about women empowerment. Hello,
that's what this podcast is for.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
But if she pulls some of this like Belly chooses
herself and chooses.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
No one, I'm gonna be pissed. I want her to
be empowered and also be in love. Is that a crime?
Since when is it a crime for a woman to
have empowerment and also get the guy? Like, what's the
wrong with that? When did we serve so far the
other way that now a woman just has to choose
herself and she can't be in love? Like, I'm not

(13:35):
feeling that for for tsitp I will said TS twelve
because there's so much TS and I think the episode
is gonna be just called TS and you just get
to decode it. But if your team, Jeremiah, I don't
understand you. I cannot connect with you, I cannot relate.
I think we like, even if we sat down for
coffee and you presented your ideas, I think I would

(13:56):
just like already be shut off to hearing them because
I am team Conrad. You should be team Conrad. Conrad
is the only one who selflessly loves Belly. Jeremiah loves
Belly because he wants to beat Conrad at something for
once in his life. It's for him, it's a game.
It's always been a game. Since season one when he

(14:18):
saw Belly and Conrad almost kiss on that deck with
the fireworks, he said, you know what I'm gonna ruin this.
I'm gonna be a butthole and I'm gonna shoot a
firework in their direction and stop them from kissing. Because
for him, it was always a competition game, and for
Conrad it's always been about making Belly happy. Yeah, he
was emotional in the first two seasons.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
Do you Blame the Guy? Season one, he finds out
his sick mom, who's dying of cancer, that his dad
is cheating on. Said mom, like, I'd be pretty emo too.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
He's also like eighteen cut the guy some slack, like
his brain's not fully developed. He's processing the hardest things
he's ever been through in his life, and then we
expect him to just be like happy, go lucky, golden retriever.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
Jeremiah.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
I get Jeremiah was like the I'm gonna say it's
not a word, I'm gonna say it. He was the
funner guy, the funner friend, the more appealing guy. In
season one, Season two even he would like shined a
little bit. But to me, if you go back and
watch which yes, I am that obsessed that I'm going
back and watching old episodes. He's always been such a

(15:28):
like drama king, so just in it for the chase,
so poudy, so just like almost manipulative, like making Belly
love him by acting like wow, wow, wow, woa is
me and like her feeling bad for him so she
chooses him. Where Conrad, on the other hand, has always
been selfless. Yes, been moody, but for good reason. Season one,

(15:51):
dad cheats on sick Mom. Season two said sick Mom
passes away devastating, So like, can you blame the guy
for feeling and being mood However, you can never blame
Conrad for being selfish. He is always putting Belly first.
He is always like doing what he thinks and sometimes

(16:12):
what he thought was wrong, what he thinks is best
for the girl he loves. It's selfless love. It's a
patient love, it's a steady love. He never he never wavers,
and how he feels about Belly for I guess now
in this season season three, they're supposed to He's supposed
to be like twenty three or something in med school.

(16:33):
So since he was a kid, he has been steady
in love with Belly, never wavered, never fallen in love
with anyone else. And he's patient. And he also realizes
that if he does not end up with Belly, it's
because he let Belly choose who Belly wanted instead of
like manipulating the situation.

Speaker 3 (16:52):
I love Conrad.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Not only is he selfless, but also he looks like
Leonardo DiCaprio did in Titi. And that's why all the
millennial moms out here are quaking over your Conrad.

Speaker 3 (17:04):
We love him. He's so cute.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
He brings us back to the nineties Arrow, where we
started having developing our first crushes and putting posters on
our walls of like Leo and you know, just like
Shaggy Hair boy band guys.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
You know, we loved that.

Speaker 2 (17:20):
And if you watched season or sorry, episode five and
episode six, and I realized this comes out on Wednesday,
but I'm recording this on Tuesday, so then episode seven
will be out by now. But if you watch episode
six and episode seven and still or sorry, gosh, my
brain it's fluid. It's all the fluid in me. If
you watch episode five and episode six and still think

(17:43):
that Belly should choose Jeremiah, like I cannot relate to you.
I honestly, like I don't understand you when he pulls
that T shirt out to wipe off the peach juice
from her face, the way I rewound that, the way
that I and bombarded with clips of it on my
TikTok algorithm. My whole algorithm is just replays of the

(18:07):
summer return pretty like people compiling it together with like
Taylor Swift songs and things like that. Like that's what
I'm here for, That's what I'm being fed. And if
you watch episode six and you saw that bathtub scene
where a Belly was like, hold up, we finally got
her narration back where She's like, I almost kissed him.

Speaker 3 (18:27):
I wanted to kiss him. She was the one that
leaned in. Conrad, on the other hand, was on a good, honest,
selfless brother and said, you know what, I'm gonna go
take a nap, even though he looked that good after
that surfing accident. She was the one leaning in the

(18:47):
sunlight was perfect. The False God music started playing Taylor
Swift's in the background, which you know when Taylor plays
it's Belly in love. By the way, the way that
Jenny Hahn uses music as like easter eggs, She's so
good at that. False God was also the song that
was playing in season one when but Hole Jeremiah shot

(19:09):
the fireworks out at Bonrad Belly and Conrad while they
were about to have their first kiss. That False God
was playing during that that scene. Yeah, I knew that.
I remembered it. So when False sCOD played in this
episode six, I'm like, endgame, endgame. It's a tie back.
It's a call back to season one. She's always wanted Conrad.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
It's always been bon Rad always, And if you disagree
with me, you're wrong. I'm sorry you're wrong, and it's
okay to be wrong. We can all humbly admit we've
been wrong at times. But if you are a team Jeremiah,
you're wrong.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
You're just wrong. I'm sorry, I might have lost listeners,
you might not agree whatever. As busy as I.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
Am in this life, which that was another thing I
was going to talk about, this is the busiest season
of my entire life. I will always make time for
Bonrad and Taylor, the always make time for the things
that matter most, you know, Jesus, Taylor Swift, and young
teen drama on television. Let's add reality TV to that
because obviously I'm watching Bachelor in Paradise, I'm watching my

(20:15):
Bravo shows like I am caught up. I'm being fed
in those aspects. But y'all, this is the busiest season
of my life. Like, I genuinely think that the reason
I'm like stuffy and sick right now is because my
body is like physically shutting down from the go go
go pace of life lately. Whether it's just like the
two kids, the traveling, like so much traveling, the works,

(20:40):
like just running my own business. Michael's working two jobs
right now. It's just been the craziest season of all time.
Like I feel like I'm just kind of treading water,
and yet I'm still making time for my favorite things,
which I want to thank you for making time for,
hopefully what is one of your favorite things and Soul

(21:00):
podcast and giving me grace during this crazy busy season.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
There might be more.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
Episodes this year where I have to do a throwback episode.
My biggest, like sometimes toxic trait is that I am
like a six loyal to a fault and I like
hate quitting. I hate not being consistent. So when you
see a re release of a throwback episode, just I
just want you to know that I am kicking myself

(21:26):
that I could not show up for you in that week,
and I want you to know that it's because I'm
just so slammed and I'm trying to make time for
me in the midst of all of this and it's
just really hard. And I thank you for your patients
and your grace and for still tuning in and catching
up with me in little ways.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
I just looked at the clock.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
I have been babbling for twenty two minutes about TS
twelve and TSITP and that, my friends, is who I am. Okay,
I'm never going to change. So if you're listening for
the first time. Welcome, this is who I am. This
is a little bit of what you're gonna get. You're
gonna get pop culture, you're gonna get teen drama, and
you're also gonna get some Jesus and you're gonna get

(22:13):
some interviews with other women who are awesome. It's gonna
be serious, it's gonna be light, it's gonna be everything
in between. And that's just because Shamle's living. That's our slogan,
and that's how I'm going to show up. As on
that note, I have so much snot a little like
what is it called when you like when they can

(22:34):
hear sounds ASMR. The ASMR of me sniffling is probably
too much for you as so much not coming out
of my notes. So I am going to end this
episode early and leave you with that. So I hope
you enjoyed my ramblings of today and that you are
also taking this time with a shorter episode to go

(22:54):
back and binge old episodes of the summer I Turn Pretty,
or if you haven't started season three, like what are you?

Speaker 3 (23:00):
What are you waiting for? Just start? Just get in it.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
Okay, there's seven episodes as of now out enjoy it
and like stream Tailor, like she needs our streams, but
like stream Tailor, in October, cannot wait. I do think
that there's going to be a single released in August.
That is my prediction. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and
I can humbly admit I'm wrong, But I'm not wrong
about Team Conrad and I'm not wrong about TS twelve
going to be a banger. So tune in next week.

(23:24):
I actually will have a guest. I do have a
guest lined up. It is going to be a new episode.
Tune in next week and we will chat then. Until then,
love y'all. Go subscribe to my YouTube channel. This one's
not on YouTube, it's audio only. However, still go subscribe.
It helps out the podcast. Leave a review on podcast
on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, like Hit the five Stars.

(23:48):
Leave a review. It really really helps me out. And
this is a girl who is doing this for pure passion.
Don't make a dollar off of this podcast, so it
just brings me joy to know that people are listening
and tuning in and actually enjoying it. Still, so love
you guys so much. Leave review, subscribe, and I will
talk to you next New Week.

Speaker 3 (24:05):
Bye.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
Thanks for listening to Heart and Soul. If this episode
encouraged you in any way, please leave a review on
Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Talk to you next week.
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