The Swiftie and The Scholar

By Angela McDow | Dr. Jerry Coats

A weekly podcast exploring the lyrics, lore, and literary legacy of Taylor Swift. Hosted by Angela McDow, the Swiftie, and Dr. Jerry Coats, the Scholar, we read between the lines AND the liner notes. ... more

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The podcast currently has 57 episodes available.

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Number 1: The Tragedy of Miscommunication in Exile
Continuing along our folklore journey, this episode covers exile, the collaboration between Taylor Swift and Bon Iver. Uncle Jerry teaches us about different types of exile and how they appear across literature and folk tales. We then dig into the poem and Uncle Jerry admits to Angela that he almost cheated and listened to the song because he was so ready to hear how they spoke over each other. Also, ICYMI, we will be finishing the entire folklore album. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as we tackle the remaining tracks and then do a comprehensive overview. Song discussion starts at 19:12 *Links with an asterisk are affiliate links, which allow us to make a small commission on your purchase at no cost to you. Thanks so much for your support! Works Cited: Just Give Me a Reason – Pink ft. Nate Ruess The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri Gilgamesh, Nature, and Civilization Paradise Lost – John Milton The Odyssey – Homer Exile of Ovid Poems From Exile: Ex Ponto, Book I – Ovid *Frankenstein – Mary Shelley *Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky *Ulysses – James Joyce *Dubliners – James Joyce *A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce Polyphony in Contemporary Literature Dramatic irony Assonance Alliteration Iambic tetrameter Iambic trimeter Ballad meter or common measure Synecdoche Phaedrus Epistrophe The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
August 20, 20261h 19min
Number 2: The Coming of Age Narrative in You’re On Your Own, Kid
Angela finally introduces Uncle Jerry to a pivotal track 5 from Taylor Swift’s discography—You’re On Your Own, Kid. They discuss the real life events that could have inspired the song and Uncle Jerry talks about other pieces of pop culture that tell a similar story. Works Cited: Anaphora Colloquial diction Dramatic irony Free indirect discourse Verbal irony Auditory imagery Metonymy Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain – Aff link The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri – Aff link Sonnet 73 – William Shakespeare The Great Escape (1963) Li'l Abner Parataxis Father and Son – Cat Stevens Keep a-Goin’ – Frank L. Stanton The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
July 02, 20261h 9min
Number 3: Finding Life’s Meaning in Epiphany
We are tackling one of the most underrated tracks from Taylor Swift’s folklore album, epiphany. The poem compares past war tragedies to 2020’s pandemic, and Uncle Jerry uses the poem to teach us about Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory. *Links with an asterisk are affiliate links, which allow us to make a small commission on your purchase at no cost to you. Thanks so much for your support! Works Cited: Wilfred Owen Siegfried Sassoon The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner – Randall Jarrell The Angels at Hamburg – Randall Jarrell Vignette poems Rhapsody on a Windy Night – T. S. Eliot Trochees Iambs The Song of Hiawatha – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory *Death in the Afternoon – Ernest Hemingway Caesura Parallelism Synecdoche *The Things They Carried: The Classic Work of American Literature on War, Memory, and Storytelling –Tim O'Brien *Man's Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent – John Milton The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram Angela’s YouTube Channel
August 13, 20261h 4min
Number 4: Imagined Futures in Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus
We are back in our Tortured Poets Era with Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus. This song was much-requested and was voted on by our Patreon subscribers. Angela and Uncle Jerry talk through the poem and Uncle Jerry concedes that sometimes we try to find too much meaning in certain images. Works Cited: Sadie and Maud – Gwendolyn Brooks maggie and milly and molly and may – e.e. cummings [in Just-] – e.e. cummings Brylcreem commercial Synecdoche Sonnet 12 – William Shakespeare Sonnet 60 – William Shakespeare Sonnet 73 – William Shakespeare My Boyfriend’s Back – The Angels Cold Cold Heart – Hank Williams Ellipse in Linguistics To His Coy Mistress – Andrew Marvell Tricolon The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
August 06, 20261h 24min
Number 5: The Mosaic of Love in State of Grace
Today we return to Angela’s beloved Red era with State of Grace! Uncle Jerry surprises her with his excitement about the poem, and they go through all the ideas of love Taylor presents throughout the opening track. And there’s gravy all over the plate! Works Cited: In medias res Kinetic or kinesthetic imagery Metonymy Parallel structure A Midsummer Night's Dream – William Shakespeare – Aff Link Concrete Poetry A to Z Horoscope Maker and Interpreter – Llewellyn George – Aff Link Synecdoche Synecdoche vs. metonymy Litotes The Literate Mode of Cicero's Legal Rhetoric – Dr. Richard Leo Enos Ph.D. – Aff Link Manos: The Hands of Fate – (1966) Hesiod – Richard Lattimore – Aff Link Sonnet 130: My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun – William Shakespeare Tricolon The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
July 09, 20261h 10min