Episodes

1d ago

This is one of our most requested episodes, and here it is, just in time for the holidays! Uncle Jerry picked up on something that Angela had never noticed in the poem, and they get into a bit of the Tay-lore about what inspired The Tortured Poets Department. Works Cited: e.e. cummings The Fates of Greek Mythology Just Kids – Patti Smith – Aff Link Breaking Up Is Hard to Do – Neil Sedaka Water Lilies – Claude Monet T.S. Eliot Misery (1990) Synecdoche Epistrophe Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Dec 11

After all the talk about Romanticism in the last episode, we’re taking it to the New Romantics this week. Uncle Jerry teaches us all about the sociocultural movement of the late 1970s and 1980s called New Romanticism, featuring The Blitz Kids, the London club scene, and all the fun and freedom of the era. Works Cited: Neoclassicism vs. Romanticism David Bowie Boy George Annie Lennox The Blitz Kids Sweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics – Dylan Jones – Aff Link Spandau Ballet Steve Strange Best of New Romantics – Spotify Playlist Road to Ruin – The Ramones Heartbreak Is the National Anthem – Rob Sheffield – Aff Link Adam Ant Taylor Swift’s Manuscripts – Natali Barbani Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Dec 4

We are letting Taylor Swift take us to the lakes today! These are the lyrics Angela used to convince Uncle Jerry to do this podcast, and his analysis does not disappoint. Come with us to learn all about Romanticism, The Lakes Poets, and how Taylor expertly weaves those two into this poem. Works Cited: A Brief Guide to Romanticism The Lake Poets Lyrical Ballads – William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge – Aff Link Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – Aff Link Romanticism vs. Neoclassicism The Last of the Mohicans – 1992 William Wordsworth Samuel Taylor Coleridge Dorothy Wordsworth Dove Cottage Robert Southey Thomas De Quincy John Keats Percy Bysshe Shelley Tales from Shakespeare – Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb John Ruskin Harriet Martineau The Lake Isle of Innisfree – William Butler Yeats Sonnets from the Portuguese 20: Beloved, my Beloved, when I think – Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sonnets from the Portuguese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Full Book Aff Link The Passionate Shepherd to His Love – Christopher Marlowe Hartley Coleridge Poetic Inversion Aurora Leigh – Elizabeth Barrett Browning Frankenstein – Mary Shelley – Aff Link I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud – William Wordsworth Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Nov 27

We are finally covering a song from Speak Now! I’m so sorry to all the Speak Now stans that it took this long, but we got here. Uncle Jerry takes us through Taylor’s word choice throughout Enchanted, and how it reveals the specific fairy tale inspiration behind the song. Angela explains the lore of this being Taylor’s only completely self-written album and the moment that inspired the song. Works Cited: Trochee / Trochaic Meter Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth We Wear the Mask – Paul Laurence Dunbar Caesura Mending Wall – Robert Frost Indirect Discourse Metonymy Some Enchanted Evening – South Pacific Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Nov 20

In this episode, we dig into one of most requested songs of late, The Black Dog. Taylor Swift mentioned in an interview that no one really understood this song, so we got Uncle Jerry on the case. Tune in to hear his take! Works Cited: Roland Barthes – The Death of The Author She Walks in Beauty – Lord Byron The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Aff Link The Malleus Maleficarum – Heinrich Kramer, James Sprenger – Aff Link For The Love of London Pubs – Doug Harper, Vic Norman, Andie Lafrentz – Aff Link The Pub: A Cultural Institution – Pete Brown – Aff Link Polysyndeton Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck – Aff Link To a Mouse – Robert Burns Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram

Nov 13

Well friends, I think we did it. Stay all the way to the end for a big surprise out of Uncle Jerry. In this episode, we're covering one of Angela's favorite TTPD tracks, Peter. Uncle Jerry finds layer after layer in the poem, and decides that this is a beautiful, melancholic reflection on the loss of innocence and youth, told through the lens of Peter Pan. Works Cited: Peter Pan - the Original 1911 Classic – J.M. Barrie – Aff Link Illustrated Peter Pan: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens – J.M. Barrie – Aff Link The Dead Poets Society (1989) I'm sorry for the Dead—Today – Emily Dickinson This Is Just To Say – William Carlos Williams In Just – Spring – e.e. cummings Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost Love's Labor's Lost – William Shakespeare Lyric Video Peter Surprise Song Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Nov 6

We’re taking it back to high school this week and exploring the country phenomenon that is Love Story. This is our first track from Fearless (2008), and Uncle Jerry explores all of the themes and tropes that are missing from the poem when compared to her current work, like complex metaphors and twisted idioms. Works Cited: Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare – Affiliate Link Catullus – Roman Poet Let Us Live and Love (5) – Catullus The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne – Aff Link Easy A (2010) Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak – Aff Link Deconstructionism Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 30

Step into our office and leave it with us. We protect the family! Join us as we walk through Father Figure from The Life of a Showgirl. Uncle Jerry gives his theories on the inspiration for the song, including many different movies, and Angela works out where she thinks the narrator changes mid-track. Pour yourself some brown liquor and you won’t be sleeping with the fishes. Works Cited: A Star is Born – All Versions Ranked All About Eve (1950) Goodfellas (1990) The Godfather (1972) The Freshman (1990) Ragged Dick: The 1868 Classic Rags to Riches Tale – Horatio Alger – Affiliate Link Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 23

We have officially entered our Showgirl era, and we’re kicking it off with The Fate of Ophelia. Uncle Jerry teaches us all about Ophelia’s role in Hamlet, one of the Ophelia paintings Taylor may have drawn inspiration from, and a couple of feminist critics’ takes on Ophelia. We then get into the song, Angela weaves in a few nuggets of Tay-lore, and they round it out by discussing the feminist issues with the track, watching the music video and listening to the voice memo of the writing of the song. Works Cited: Hamlet – William Shakespeare – Affiliate Link What are Foil Characters? Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism – Elaine Showalter Hearing Ophelia: Gender and Tragic Discourse in "Hamlet" – Sandra K. Fischer Desolation Row – Bob Dylan The Story of Ophelia – The Tate Pre-Raphaelite Women – Jan Marsh Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Ash Russell The Essential Pre-Raphaelites – Lucinda Hawksley – Aff Link The Language of Flowers – Margaret Pickston – Aff Link The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady – Edith Holden – Aff Link The King’s Two Bodies – Ernst Kantorowicz – Aff Link Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 16

We are wiping the incense dust off the shelf and picking ourselves up off the floor with Maroon this week. This Midnights track from 2022 is full of imagery, senses, colors, and so much more. Uncle Jerry also surprises us all with an interpretation from left field, which allows Angela the space to explain a specific sect of swifties. Enjoy! Works Cited: Richard Wright – Black American novelist Parallelism in Literature Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken Robert Frost – Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Lawrence Ferlinghetti – American Beat poet Gregory Corso – American Beat poet Jack Kerouac – American Beat poet On The Road – Jack Kerouac Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 9

We’re coming down from our Showgirl high, and taking it back to 1989 this week. Uncle Jerry takes us through Clean, and breaks down the metaphors and themes found in the poem, including addiction, healing, personal growth, and personal agency. He also asks Angela who this song was inspired by, and admits that he’s now wondering about that in all of these songs. :) There are links below to (most of!) the recommended literature from the episode. Some links are affiliate links, which means if you click and purchase, we will make a small commission at no cost to you. Works Cited: Metaphors We Live By – George Lakoff and Mark Johnson The Great War and Modern Memory – Paul Fussell Not Waving but Drowning – Stevie Smith Afterwards – Sara Teasdale After Love – Sara Teasdale Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 7

The Swiftie and The Scholar took a field trip to the movie theater this weekend to hang out with Taylor and the Swifties! This was Uncle Jerry's first in-person swiftie experience, and he gives us his thoughts, along with his first impressions of a few of the new tracks. Angela gives her first impressions on the album and discusses which songs the podcast will cover first. Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Oct 2

In this episode, Uncle Jerry and Angela get caught up on the latest Swiftie news, including the engagement and The Release Party of a Showgirl, and then they get into answering your questions from Instagram and TikTok. We cover poetry curriculum, how to get into scholarly pursuits, how Angela convinced Uncle Jerry to do the podcast, and how we select which songs we cover. There are links below to (most of!) the recommended literature from the episode. Some links are affiliate links, which means if you click and purchase, we will make a small commission at no cost to you. Works Cited: i carry your heart with me – e.e. cummings Epithalamion – Edmund Spenser The Hornblower Series – C.S. Forester Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Book 1) – C.S. Forester African Queen – C.S. Forester The Good Shepherd – C.S. Forester 2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke Stranger in a Strange Land Paperback – Robert A. Heinlein The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Oxford Book of Modern Verse – W.B. Yeats The Oxford Book of English Verse – Christopher Ricks The Norton Anthology of American Literature – Robert S. Levine E. E. Cummings: Complete Poems, 1904–1962 The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens: The Corrected Edition Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman Metaphors We Live By – George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair – Pablo Neruda The Poet and His Book: The Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry Paperback – Rita Dove American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume 1: Henry Adams to Dorothy Parker – Robert Hass The Oxford Book of American Short Stories – Joyce Carol Oates A Cool Million Paperback – Nathanael West Lucky Jim Paperback – Kingsley Amis Cold Comfort Farm Paperback – Stella Gibbons Bleak House – Charles Dickens The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ Angela’s Instagram

Sep 25

Come walk through the door with us, cause the air is getting cooooold. Our 10th episode is here, and we were hoping you had 10 minutes to spare for this one. We are digging deep into the All Too Well universe, and Uncle Jerry compares both the original version and the 10 minute version, what he thinks about the lyrics that were redacted for the edited version, and Taylor Swift’s masterful use of metaphor and other literary devices in every line of this song. Works Cited: The Prelude – William Wordsworth – Affiliate Link Orality and Literacy – Walter J. Ong – Aff Link Birches – Robert Frost Mending Wall – Robert Frost Metaphors We Live By – George Lakoff and Mark Johnson – Aff Link In Just – Spring – e.e. Cummings Poetry – Nikki Giovanni Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet 116) – William Shakespeare A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Sep 18

Dom Perignon, did you bring it? Today we’re toasting to Champagne Problems from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, evermore. Uncle Jerry discusses the different meter used throughout the lyrics, and also wonders if there’s a deeper meaning with society’s expectations and the narrator’s autonomy throughout the story. Angela brings up the Swiftie discussion about which word they’ll never say again, and they also tell the story of Uncle Jerry officiating Angela’s wedding. Works Cited: Night Train – Jimmy Forrest Take the A Train – Duke Ellington In Medias Res Heart of Glass – Blondie Iambic Pentameter Trochee Dactyl Anapest Disnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Affiliate Link Sociological Criticism Follow Us: ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

Sep 11

Today we’re putting the money in the bag and stealing the keys, and discussing Taylor Swift’s Getaway Car from 2017. This cult Swiftie fave is our first track from Reputation, and Angela chose it because she knew Uncle Jerry would love the Dickens reference in the first line. Watch as the duo dissects each line, and Uncle Jerry picks up on the self-reflection Taylor wrote into the song. Works Cited: A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens – Affiliate Link Shades of Gray – Carolyn Reeder – Aff Link Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens – Aff Link Lexical Ambiguity Getaway Car Shirt – Girl Tribe Co. Writing BTS with Jack Follow Us: ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ Angela’s Instagram

Sep 4

Let's talk through So Long, London! In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect the poetic lyrics of the fifth track from Taylor Swift's 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. They find tons of literary devices and references, and Uncle Jerry even makes another correct prediction on the song's intro. Stay until the end to hear Uncle Jerry's grade for the song as a whole. Works Cited: Life of Johnson – James Boswell – Affiliate Link Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry – Aff Link The Bells — Edgar Allan Poe Ignis fatuus Will-o’-the-wisp – Irish Folklore Odd Man Out – 1947 film The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison – Aff Link Lyric Video Eras Tour Performance Follow Us: ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ Angela’s Instagram

Aug 28

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela and Uncle Jerry are taking it waaayyy back to 2006 with Taylor Swift’s first ever track 5, Cold As You. It might seem like a weird choice, but Angela wanted to present Uncle Jerry with some of Taylor’s earliest work so he could gain context around her growth as an artist over her entire career. Uncle Jerry finds a few redeeming qualities in the song, and together they explore other break-up poetry from the greats. Works Cited: Percy Bysshe Shelley Modern Love: I – George Meredith Sonnet It’s Not You, It’s Me – Jerry Williams – Affiliate Link The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals Rosemary VanArsdel Prize Her Kind – Ann Sexton Heavy – Mary Oliver A Broken Appointment – Thomas Hardy The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff Link Heart! We will forget him! – Emily Dickinson I held a Jewel in my fingers – Emily Dickinson Eras Tour Surprise Song — Houston Follow Us: ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Angela's Instagram⁠

Aug 21

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela analyze Death By A Thousand Cuts from Taylor Swift's 2019 album, Lover. Uncle Jerry finds literary devices aplenty in the lyrics, and discusses how she uses those devices to deftly handle the storytelling in the poem via indirect characterization. They also discuss the roundabout inspiration of this song and the Swiftie tradition of friendship bracelets. Works Cited: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare – Affiliate Link Lingchi Death By A Thousand Cuts – Timothy Brook, Jérôme Bourgon, Gregory Blue – Aff Link Mandarin Squares Great Expectations — Charles Dickens – Aff Link Kyn You Believe It — IDK Traffic Light Anaphora Indirect Characterization Follow Us: ⁠YouTube⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Angela's Instagram⁠

Aug 17

In this bonus episode, Uncle Jerry and Angela discuss the excitement of the last week, including the cryptic Taylor Nation and New Heights posts, the countdowns, the new album announcement, and the two hour podcast episode heard 'round the world. Uncle Jerry teaches us a little bit about Ophelia and Hamlet to give some context around the album's opening track title, The Fate of Ophelia, and they discuss how Uncle Jerry got just a lilllll excited about the news.

Aug 14

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela asks Uncle Jerry about his favorite music before they dive into cowboy like me from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album evermore. Uncle Jerry teaches us about the dramatic monologue and how Taylor uses this device in the song. They also talk about the use of cliches, indeterminate endings, and they discuss whether they think the couple in the song ends up together or not. Works Cited: Blondie Stardust — Hoagy Carmichael Georgia on my Mind — Hoagy Carmichael Cantigas de Santa Maria Cantiga Medieval Babes Pomplamoose Pokey LaFarge Gilbert and Sullivan La Boheme Tosca Yeoman of the Guard Pirates of Penzance HMS Pinafore In Medias Res The Odyssey – Homer Dramatic Monologue My Last Duchess – Robert Browning Porphyria's Lover – Robert Browning The Most Dangerous Game – Richard Connell

Aug 7

In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve from Taylor Swift’s 2022 album Midnights. They briefly discuss their own church connections, explore the various religious imagery and references used throughout the song, and come to understand that they relate to the song in similar but different ways. Uncle Jerry grades the song and brings in some poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to round out his thoughts on the sadness of the track. Works Cited: Rhetorical Theory and Practice Immortal Technique – Dance with the Devil Love Story (1970 film) Sonnets from the Portuguese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Affiliate Link Les Miserables – Victor Hugo, Christine Donogher – Aff Link The Legend of Rose Latulipe

Jul 31

Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle Taylor Swift’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’ in the second episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar. Uncle Jerry talks about his journey from hate to appreciation of this track, he introduces the concept of Monstrous Femininity, and they talk about the cultural image of the witch throughout history. Angela gives a (not so) brief look into her role as a Swiftie, and they watch and discuss both the lyric video and the Eras Tour performance of this TTPD track. Works Cited: Allen Ginsberg – Howl Thomas Chatterton Chatterton – Painting by Henry Wallis Dylan Thomas – Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night Bohemian Coffee Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Snoweylily – Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee – Affiliate Link The Monstrous-Feminine – Barbara Creed – Affiliate Link Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? – Official Lyric Video WAOLOM Performance – Eras Tour – 5/9/2024 Sounds Like a Cult – The Cult of Taylor Swift

Jul 24

In the debut episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela McDow, the Swiftie, and her uncle Dr. Jerry Coats, the Scholar, dig into My Tears Ricochet, the fifth track from Taylor Swift's Folklore album. They discuss the different folklore elements that Taylor uses in the song, the prevailing fan theory on the song's inspiration, and Uncle Jerry watches his first Eras Tour performance. Works Cited: The White Lady in Folklore Morphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Affiliate Link Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (A-K) – Stith Thompson – Aff Link Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (L-Z) - Stith Thompson – Aff Link From the Beast to The Blonde – Marina Wariner The Uses of Enchantment – Bruno Bettelheim – Aff Link Yvonne Jocks - Goodreads Follow Us: Podcast Instagram Angela's Instagram Podcast TikTok