Studios swallowed stories about Republican (8)
I believe the answer is:
ateliers
'studios' is the definition.
(atelier is a kind of studio)
'swallowed stories about republican' is the wordplay.
'swallowed' becomes 'ate'.
'stories' becomes 'lies' (I've seen this before).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'lies' placed around 'r' is 'liers'.
'ate'+'liers'='ATELIERS'
(Other definitions for ateliers that I've seen before include "Artists' studios" , "Accommodation" , "workshops" , "Artist's workrooms" .)