The Swiftie and The Scholar

We get into A LOT in this episode. Love bombing, toxic relationships, the connections Angela found to other songs that make it clear to her who inspired this song, and car salesmen. Hope you enjoy!

*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:

In Past Tense – Tara Boyd

Patient Zero – Hammerfall

Weasel/Patient Zero – Marvel Universe

Patient Zero – The Oute...

Buckle up, y’all. We’ve got a beefy one for you today! We’re tackling Babylon from Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore. I think we all knew this one would give Uncle Jerry plenty to think about and chew on and teach from, and he did not disappoint. Maybe grab your breakfast or dinner and a nice beverage and get comfy, because this is our longest episode yet.

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links, which allow us to make a small commission on your purchase at no cost to...

In this episode, we are taking it back to the very beginning with Tim McGraw from Taylor Swift’s debut album. Uncle Jerry finds plenty to discuss and is charmed by hearing both young Taylor’s early poetics and her country twang. 

Works Cited:

Tug McGraw

In medias res

Free indirect discourse

Alliteration

Metonymy

Signposting

Rasselas – Samuel Johnson

Palimpsest

Enjambment

Frame story or frame structure

Leitmotif

The Swiftie and The Scholar...

Today I have something a bit different for you! I sat down with Sarah Anderson, author of Fallow, to discuss getting published, her love of short stories, how she wrote the main character of the book, and so much more. All of the books we discussed are linked below.

Fallow – Sarah Anderson:

*Amazon

*Bookshop.org

*Libro.fm

Take Me to Kirkland – Sarah Anderson: https://joylandpublishing.com/fiction/take-me-to-kirkland/

The Best American Short Stories 2025 –  Celeste Ng, Nicole A. Lamy:

*Amazon

*Bookshop.org

We did it! One album down, lots to go. Uncle Jerry takes us through alllllll the unifying themes, devices, questions, and more (13 to be exact) of the folklore album as a whole. Thanks for coming on this journey with us!

*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:

Sonnets from the Portuguese 20: Beloved, my Beloved, when I think – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

*Aurora Le...

Well, guys, we’ve really stressed Uncle Jerry out with this one. He went so deep on the folklore album as a whole that this episode focuses mostly on the prologue and how it sets up this new style of storytelling, different from all her previous albums. Hope you enjoy, and we’ll see you back here next week for Part 2!

*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!

Wo...

We’ve made it to the end of the folklore road! Join Uncle Jerry and Angela as they discuss this is me trying, where the duo finds some Typical Taylor, ambiguity, paradox, multiple meanings, and so much more. 

Come back for the next two weeks as we wrap-up discussion of the album as a whole.

Works Cited:

Couplets

Heroic couplets

Anaphora

Starship Troopers (1997)

Enjambment

Ellipsis

In medias res

The Odyssey – Homer

Caesura

Why I...

Today we’re covering our penultimate folklore poem with Illicit Affairs. Uncle Jerry finds this song fits perfectly within the category of folklore, and shows us just how Taylor Swift’s use of language showcases the lack of love in this song.

*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:

Interlocutor

Imperative verb

Dramatic irony

The Book of Jona...

Did we finally find Uncle Jerry’s least favorite folklore poem? And maybe Angela’s too? In this episode, we dissect Peace from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, and Uncle Jerry finds many paradoxes and double meanings, while struggling to find a window to crawl through into the narrative. 

Works Cited:

Paradox

Apostrophe

Synecdoche

I Would Die 4 U – Prince

You’ve Got a Friend in Me – Randy Newman

Easy Silence – The Chicks

Two Sleepy People – Fats Waller

Stuck in the Middle With Y...

Buckle up, folks. This is a long one! Invisible String is up next in our folklore canon, and Uncle Jerry showed up PREPARED. He and Angela chat through folktales about the red thread, handfasting ceremonies, and more before diving into the poem. They then get into a long and philosophical conversation about fate and predestination and Forrest Gump.

JOIN US ON REDDIT!

*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...

We have the opening track of folklore for you today! Uncle Jerry and Angela discuss the relatable way Taylor Swift writes about the ruminations about the different lives we never got to live during this discussion of The 1. 

*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:

The Windhover – Gerard Manley Hopkins

Ellipsis

Caesura

Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory

...

In this episode, we are covering Hoax, the closing track from 2020’s folklore. Uncle Jerry starts out a bit iffy on his feelings about the poem, but talking through it with Angela helps him find extra meaning.

*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:

Anaphora

Ellipsis

Oxymoron

Polysemy

Parallelism

Paradox

Fatalism

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 d...

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...

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 6...

We’re back in our Speak Now era with Dear John. Angela explains the lore behind this quintessential track 5 from Taylor Swift, and Uncle Jerry talks himself into being a fan of this poem. 

*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:

Dear John Letter

Agnes von Kurowsky

*A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway 

A Dear John Letter – Jean She...

This week is the one year podcast anniversary, and Angela saved this song especially for this episode. But before we tackle seven from folklore, Angela and Uncle Jerry reflect on the past year and Angela surprises him with a little quiz to see just how much he’s learned about Taylor Swift and swiftie culture.

Thanks for being here with us!

*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 su...

We’re taking it back to 1989 with the only Taylor Swift song Uncle Jerry knew before we started this project. Angela expected this to be a quick, simple episode, but Uncle Jerry found a lot of deeper meaning in the glitter gel pen poem.

Works Cited:

Catalog Poem

Dr. J. Don Vann

A Handbook to Literature – William Harmon & Hugh Holman – Aff Link

Goblin Market – Christina Rossetti

Why We Oppose Pockets for Women – Alice Duer Miller

Anaphora

Metonymy

Onomatopoeia

Epize...

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

S...

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

Son...

In this episode, Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle The Great War from 2022’s Midnights. Uncle Jerry wrestles with the idea of using a horrific event as a metaphor, and he teaches all about the many floral symbols used throughout the poem.

Works Cited:

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady – Edith Holden – Aff Link

The Great War and Modern Memory – Paul Fussell – Aff Link

The Strange Destiny of Rupert Brooke Hardcover – John Lehmann

Siegfried Sassoon

Memoirs of an Infantry Officer: The Memoirs of George Sherston – S...

Man, it’s been a while! Today we’re covering the newly released I Knew It, I Knew You from Toy Story 5 and current #1 on the Billboard 100 chart.

Uncle Jerry takes us through the poem, talking all about childhood and friendship and how both this song and the movie franchise showcase the magic of being a kid. 

We bring in a special guest–an expert–at the end to grade the song.

Works Cited:

Homonym

Runnin’ Wild – Some Like It Hot

Volta

Emjambment

We are taking it back to the 1920s (and then the 1970s) today with Clara Bow from The Tortured Poets Department. Uncle Jerry talks all about the early film industry, Stevie Nicks, the violence of beauty and fame for women, and so much more. 

Works Cited:

Clara Bow

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Greta Garbo

Douglas Fairbanks

John Gilbert

Michael Curtiz

Casablanca (1942)

The Lodger (1947)

World’s Columbian Exposition (1893)

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

It (1927)

We’re back in our folklore era with mirrorball today! Uncle Jerry had some extra time with this one and doesn’t even know where to start the discussion. We get into the uses of mirrors in folklore, how this was made during the pandemic, and discuss the many facets of celebrity. Make sure you come back next week for another song discussing the nature of fame.

Works Cited:

The Philosophy of Reflection: Mirrors as Symbols Across Cultures

Catoptromancy

Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll – Aff Link

Perseu...

FIXED AUDIO!

Call all your friends and cousins, we’re finally covering How Did It End? from The Tortured Poets Department. Uncle Jerry finds tons of beautiful poetics and dark humor in this one, and Angela discusses its connections to both The Prophecy and But Daddy I Love Him. If you want to vote for a specific song for June, join us on Patreon to play along!

Works Cited:

General Reference Pronoun

Autofiction as a Doorway Into Truth

Conceit – Literary term

Come One, Come All...

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 Link

East of Eden – John Steinbeck – Aff Link

Rebel With a Cause (1955)

The Notebook (2004)

Inside Daisy Clover (1965)

How The West Was Won (1962)

Anaphora

Epiph...

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:

Aphorism

David Hume

Immanuel Kant

Sentimentalism

Sentimental Novels in Early American Fiction

The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie – Aff Link

Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded – Samuel Richardson – Aff Link

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – Aff Link

A Treatise of Human...

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 impact.

Hope you enjoy! Please leave any questions in the commen...

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 Link

Rosicrucian Fellowship

The Secrets of the Belline Oracle – Sylvie Ste...

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 Effect

The Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. Heider

Disnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Aff Link

Disnarration and the performanc...

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 Effect

The Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. Heider

Disnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction – Marina Lambrou – Aff Link

Disnarration and the performance of storytelling in Taylor Swift’s...

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 Effect

The Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree – Karl G. Heider

The Blind Man and The El...

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 Link

In Medias Res: Definition and Examples To Start a Story in the Middle

Dramatic Monologue

Orion and Scorpius

The M...

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 Coleridge

Aubrey & Maturin – Jack O’Brian

Book of Jonah

Can’t Help Falling in Love...

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 

Iambs

Trochees

Pluperfect tense

Possession – A.S. Byatt – Aff Link

About Time (2013)

Brooklyn (2015)

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 Waller

Apostrophe literary device

Gerard Manley Hopkins

William Somerset Maugham

The Burning of Lor...

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 Feud

Cassandra in Greek Mythology

The Iliad – Homer

The Odys...

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 Williams

The Ways We Touch – Miller Williams – Aff link

Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone – Lucinda Williams

Because I could not stop for Death – Emily Dickinson

Porphyria’s Lover – Robert Browning

Paradise Lost –...

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 Unger

A Rose for Emily – Willia...

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 Rasa

Dactyl

Iamb

Yellow Rose of Texas

The Ballad of Jed...