Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life of a Showgirl pays homage to the rip-roaring lifestyle of showgirls. TIME called up showgirls who have performed in Las Vegas, the longtime capital of showgirl shows in the U.S., to see how they think the album captured the life of a showgirl and what the life of a showgirl is really like.

When you think of "Old Vegas," the icons that probably come to mind are names like Elvis, Sinatra and Wayne Newton. However, there were many Asian American and Pacific Islander performers then, too, who played an integral role in shaping entertainment on the Las Vegas Strip in the mid to late 1900s.

Las Vegas has always been the epitome of glitz and excess, but there was a time when it became the birthplace of the greatest entertainment shows inspired by the famous dancers of the Folies Bergère in Paris.

It’s our first live episode of Milk Street Radio, recorded at The Beverly Theater in Las Vegas! In this special episode, Su Kim Chung shares Las Vegas’s most fascinating restaurants from history; “Top Chef” contestant and Black Sheep chef/owner Jamie Tran answers live cooking questions; and Neon Feast creator Al Mancini takes us on his ultimate food and drinking tour—complete with tiki rooms, hidden gems and one unforgettable dive bar that serve shots out of porcelain toilets.

Her job is to collect and document the history of Las Vegas at the UNLV Library, Special Collections and Archives division. Su Kim Chung on the history of Las Vegas and how she is working to preserve it.

March is Women’s History Month — and Las Vegas has no shortage of trailblazing women who have helped make our city what it is today. Essentially: If Las Vegas were to have its own Mt. Rushmore of notable ladies, who’d be on it?

The Las Vegas showgirl was beautiful, majestic, and larger than life. In full feathers and heels, a showgirl could measure 10 feet tall. She exuded poise and panache, and her revealing costume was bedecked in glimmering Parisian crystals and expensive fur. She was a city icon who helped Las Vegas become the Entertainment Capital of the World.The showgirl is a distant memory for most, but there is hope that she will one day return to the stage.

Before Nathalie Martinez graduated from UNLV in 2021, she worked as a student oral historian for the Latinx Voices Project, collecting oral stories in English and Spanish about the eastside of Las Vegas.