Picture a man in a wheelchair high in the Waldorf Towers, his legs crushed, enduring constant pain after dozens of surgeries. From that chair he composed some of the most joyful, glamorous music of the 20th century. The disconnect between Cole Porter’s suffering and his sophisticated soundtrack is profound.

This episode examines the architecture of the facade Porter spent his life building. From his suffocating Indiana wealth to the platinum-walled parties of Paris, the intricate genius of his lyrics and melodies, and the riding accident that forced him to live inside his own fantasy, we explore how he mastered the art of hiding in plain sight.

• His mother faked his birth year to make him seem more of a prodigy
• How he secretly switched from Harvard Law to music to deceive his domineering grandfather
• The devoted, mutually protective ‘lavender marriage’ to Linda Lee Thomas
• His use of chromaticism and cascading internal rhymes to smuggle subversive themes past censors
• How his 1937 horse accident, 34 operations, and Kiss Me Kate triumph hardened his fortress of joy