The Swiftie and The Scholar

01:21:22

The Christian Tendrils of But Daddy I Love Him

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/05/14

Buckle up for a long one! We are flooring it through the fences today with But Daddy I Love Him from Taylor Swift’s 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. We discuss common movie tropes, conservative small towns, and the lyrics Angela wants to have tattooed from this song.Works Cited:Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke – Aff LinkEast of Eden – John Steinbeck – Aff LinkRebel With a Cause (1955)The Notebook (2004)Inside Daisy Clover (1965)How The West Was Won (1962)AnaphoraEpiphora

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01:01:44

The Sentimentalism of Marjorie

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/05/07

In this episode, we are tackling marjorie, a track from Taylor Swift’s evermore album from 2020. Uncle Jerry teaches us about sentimentalism in literature, and Angela blows his mind by telling him the real life Marjorie’s backstory. Works Cited:AphorismDavid HumeImmanuel KantSentimentalismSentimental Novels in Early American FictionThe Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie – Aff LinkPamela: Or Virtue Rewarded – Samuel Richardson – Aff LinkSense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – Aff LinkA Treatise of Human

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01:16:22

Dr. Uncle Jerry University: Poetry 101

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/04/30

We’re doing something a bit different today! Some conversations have popped up in various comment sections about why Uncle Jerry prefers specific types of poetry, and which lenses we use to dissect those poems, whether we’re talking about Charles Dickens, Emily Dickenson, or Taylor Swift. So Uncle Jerry put together a lecture explaining how and why he views certain poetic styles the way he does, and explains the different criticism styles and theories we use to understand a poem’s meaning and

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01:21:14

Fate vs. Free Will in The Prophecy

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/04/23

We are getting witchy today as we dive deep into The Prophecy from Taylor Swift’s 2024 album, The Tortured Poets Department. Uncle Jerry teaches us about some specific references to tarot and the occult in literature, and how that shaped a few of his interests. Angela tells the story of a tarot reading that Taylor received from a friend, and how she thinks it inspired this song. Works Cited:The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats – William Butler Yeats – Aff LinkRosicrucian FellowshipThe Secrets of the

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01:19:01

Cardigan – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 3

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/04/16

We’ve made it to the third and final episode of our beloved Folklore Love Triangle! We hope you’ve enjoyed this little series as much as we have. This episode dives into all the poetry and themes of cardigan, and then Uncle Jerry wraps up all the themes and questions and answers found in these three songs.Works Cited:Rashomon EffectThe Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. HeiderDisnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Aff LinkDisnarration and the

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01:07:41

Betty – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 2

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/04/09

We’re back for the second installment of the folklore love triangle! Uncle Jerry really changed his tune on these lyrics, both as a poem and as a song, while Angela notices some “teenage diction” that she’s never picked up on before. Come back next week to wrap this all up with us!Works Cited:Rashomon EffectThe Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. HeiderDisnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Aff LinkDisnarration and the performance of storytelling

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01:08:44

August – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 1

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/04/02

Friends, it's finally here! Over the next three episodes, we are diving into our beloved Folklore Love Triangle. First up is August. Uncle Jerry begins by talking about the narrative of these three songs and how they are woven together across the album, and then we dissect the poem of August. These three episodes will all build on each other, and we’ll round out the discussion in week 3. Works Cited:Rashomon EffectThe Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. HeiderThe Blind Man and

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00:56:32

The Feminist Critique of Mad Woman

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/03/26

We are getting angry and witchy today with mad woman from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, folklore. Uncle Jerry teaches us where the word hysteria comes from, how women have been written about for centuries, and how sometimes, we make our own monsters. Listen to the song with us on Patreon!Works Cited:The Madwoman in the Attic – Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar – Aff LinkIn Medias Res: Definition and Examples To Start a Story in the MiddleDramatic MonologueOrion and ScorpiusThe Mourning Bride – William

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00:59:08

The Psychological Burden of The Albatross

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/03/19

We have a much-requested poem for you in this episode! Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle The Albatross from The Tortured Poets Department, but first, Uncle Jerry lets us all know how disappointed he is with us as a class lololol. Oops! Join us as we discuss relationships in the public eye, and the journey of repudiation and redemption the song takes us on.Works Cited:The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor ColeridgeAubrey & Maturin – Jack O’BrianBook of JonahCan’t Help Falling in Love –

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01:02:35

The Depth Without Darkness in Opalite

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/03/12

Join us today for some lighthearted fun as we discuss Opalite from 2025’s The Life of a Showgirl. When Taylor Swift made this song a single and gave us the most perfect music video in the history of music videos, I felt like we had to cover it. Be on the lookout for more Opalite content on Patreon!Works Cited:How to Write a Dizain IambsTrocheesPluperfect tensePossession – A.S. Byatt – Aff LinkAbout Time (2013)Brooklyn (2015)Follow Us:Patreon⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

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01:07:33

The Exploration of Depression in Evermore

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/03/05

In this episode, we are taking a trip through the wildest winter with evermore from 2020. Uncle Jerry once again blows Angela’s mind with some folklore tropes relating to the dog days, and with some tidbits about Carl Jung’s theory on the Anima.If you’d like to see us listen to the song and enjoy the episode ad-free, you can now join us on Patreon!Works Cited:Cats (2019)Fats WallerApostrophe literary deviceGerard Manley HopkinsWilliam Somerset MaughamThe Burning of Lord Byron’s MemoirsEmily

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01:17:11

The Exploration of Truth in Cassandra

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/02/26

JOIN US ON PATREON!In this episode, we are learning all about Cassandra from Greek Mythology, and Cassandra, the Taylor Swift song. Uncle Jerry teaches us Cassandra’s story, we dive into all the rich metaphors, and Angela spills the beans about Taylor’s Kim and Kanye feud. There’s also an existential moment where Angela can’t deal with the question of one universal truth versus many personal truths.Works Cited:Taylor Swift and Kanye West FeudCassandra in Greek MythologyThe Iliad – HomerThe Odyssey –

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01:18:44

The Tangled Ambiguity of Ivy

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/02/19

Affairs and graves and Emily Dickinson, oh my! Today, we are slowly meandering through Taylor Swift’s 202 poem, ivy. This track from evermore is full of ambiguous symbols, double meanings, and beautiful poetic elements. Uncle Jerry walks us through his many interpretations, and Angela’s brain short circuits through it all.Compassion – Miller WilliamsThe Ways We Touch – Miller Williams – Aff linkDown Where The Spirit Meets the Bone – Lucinda WilliamsBecause I could not stop for Death – Emily

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01:07:08

The Cultural Critique of The Last Great American Dynasty

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/02/12

We’re off to Rhode Island by way of St. Louis in this episode! We’re breaking down Taylor Swift’s ‘the last great american dynasty’, a track from 2020’s folklore and the final song she submitted for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Uncle Jerry explains how his opinion on this poem changed from his first few readings, and Angela talks through her thoughts on the five submitted songs as a whole and why she thinks Taylor chose them.Works Cited:Blue Blood – Craig UngerA Rose for Emily –

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00:51:29

The Satire of Blank Space

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/02/05

In this episode, we are covering the fourth song that Taylor Swift submitted to be considered for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame—Blank Space. This 1989 track was one of her first pop hits, and Uncle Jerry finds the humorous and feminist lenses the poem was written through to be interesting to dissect. We’ll wrap the conversation up and talk about the songs as a whole collection next week.Works Cited:Tabula RasaDactylIambYellow Rose of TexasThe Ballad of Jed ClampettGilligan’s Island

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00:54:06

The Self-Deprecation of Anti-Hero

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/01/29

We’re back and we’re kicking 2026 off with the three remaining tracks from Taylor’s submission to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Spoiler alert: she was inducted! We’ll talk more about that in the final of these three episodes, but today we are focused on Anti-Hero. Uncle Jerry wonders about Taylor’s psychological status when writing this song and Angela has an A-ha! moment about how the music cues us to maybe feel differently than the lyrics alone would make us feel.Works Cited:First Person

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00:45:35

The Resolutions of Love in New Year’s Day

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2026/01/01

Happy New Year! With New Year’s Day on our episode release day, it only felt right to cover this masterpiece from Reputation. Uncle Jerry unknowingly connects this song with many others, blowing Angela’s mind once again. We’re taking a short break after this episode, but we’ll see you back here in a few weeks with more poetry!Works Cited:Nine Princes in Amber – Roger Zelazny – Aff LinkWhen Harry Met Sally (1989)A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens – Aff LinkThe Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway –

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00:51:11

The Intertextuality of ‘Tis the Damn Season

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2025/12/24

Merry Christmas! Sorry for the sad song choice, but it just felt right. We’re trudging down the road not taken with evermore’s ‘tis the damn season. Uncle Jerry isn’t so sure about this one at first, but he comes around by the end. Works Cited:TropeSweet Home Alabama (2002)The Family Man (2000)Frank CapraAutofictionCatcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger – Aff LinkThe Road Not Taken – Robert FrostIntertextualityFire and Ice – Robert FrostMending Wall – Robert FrostLook Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe –

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00:57:04

The Double Entendre of LOML

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2025/12/18

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. cummingsThe Fates of Greek MythologyJust Kids – Patti Smith – Aff LinkBreaking Up Is Hard to Do – Neil SedakaWater Lilies – Claude MonetT.S. EliotMisery (1990)SynecdocheEpistropheFollow

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00:55:16

The 80s Club Vibes of New Romantics

The Swiftie and The Scholar ·

2025/12/11

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. RomanticismDavid BowieBoy GeorgeAnnie LennoxThe Blitz KidsSweet Dreams: The Story of the New Romantics – Dylan Jones – Aff LinkSpandau BalletSteve StrangeBest of New

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