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The Swiftie and The Scholar: Daily Summaries Delivered
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. Join us each week for lyrical deep dive through Taylor Swift's eras.
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- Yesterday1h 27m
The Light of Stardom in Clara Bow
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 BowThe Jazz Singer (1927)Greta GarboDouglas FairbanksJohn GilbertMichael CurtizCasablanca (1942)The Lodger (1947)World’s Columbian Exposition (1893)The Birth of a Nation (1915)It (1927)It – Elinor Glyn – Aff LinkCaesuraHoratio AlgerDeath of a Salesman – Arthur MillerA Cool Million – Nathanael West – Aff LinkThe Tragical History of Doctor Faustus – Christopher MarloweTo an Athlete Dying Young – A. E. HousmanIdle Fame – John ClareThe Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff LinkFame is a fickle food (1659) – Emily DickinsonFame is a bee. (1788) – Emily DickinsonMirrorball/Clara Bow Mash-upThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- 1 weeks ago1h 12m
The Nature of Fame in Mirrorball
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 CulturesCatoptromancyThrough the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll – Aff LinkPerseus and MedusaA Discovery of Witches (2018)'Spirit mirror' used by 16th-century occultist John Dee came from the Aztec EmpireConceitAnaphoraInclusioOuroborosAlbertus Magnus and the Magic MirrorLoafing Him was Bread T-Shirt The House of Fame – Geoffrey ChaucerThe Temple of Fame – Alexander PopeThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- 2 weeks ago52 min
The Inquisitive Human Nature in How Did It End?
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 PronounAutofiction as a Doorway Into TruthConceit – Literary termCome One, Come All – All Time LowSlant Rhyme"Now give three cheers" – HMS PinaforeThe Telephone Hour – Bye Bye BirdieThe Raven – Edgar Allan PoeAnnabel Lee – Edgar Allan PoeTo -- -- --. Ulalume: A Ballad – Edgar Allan PoeHyperion – John KeatsOde to a Nightingale – John KeatsA Rose for Emily – William FaulknerThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- 3 weeks ago1h 21m
The Christian Tendrils of But Daddy I Love Him
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 (or epistrophe)the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls – e.e. cummingsFootloose (1984)The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- 4 weeks ago1h 1m
The Sentimentalism of Marjorie
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 Nature Paperback – David Hume – Aff LinkThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- Apr 30, 20261h 16m
Dr. Uncle Jerry University: Poetry 101
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 comments that he can answer either here or in a later episode. Works Cited:Marxist Literary CriticismPost-Colonial CriticismReader-response theoryKey Theories of Wolfgang IserIs There a Text in This Class? – Stanley Fish – Aff LinkPsychological CriticismFeminist TheoryNew CriticismFelicia Dorothea HemansOn the Intentional FallacyHyperion – John KeatsAffective FallacyQueer TheoryDeconstructionSemioticsCritical Race TheoryNew HistoricismStephen Greenblatt and New HistoricismSketches by Boz – Charles Dickens – Aff LinkSonnetsShakespeare's Sonnets & Poems – William Shakespeare – Aff LinkLimerickHaikuBallad Meter (or Common Measure)VillanelleConcrete PoetryLife Studies – Robert Lowell – Aff Link The Collected Poems – Sylvia Plath – Aff LinkMy Papa’s Waltz – Theodore RoethkeThe Real Slim Shady – EminemCan Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture Paperback – Dana Gioia – Aff LinkA Bit Much – Lyndsay Rush – Aff LinkLyndsay Rush – InstagramAmanda GormanThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTok
- Apr 23, 20261h 21m
Fate vs. Free Will in The Prophecy
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 Belline Oracle – Sylvie Steinbach – Aff LinkCrowley Thoth Tarot DeckVisconti-Sforza Tarot Cards – The Morgan LibraryVisconti Sforza Tarot Cards Cards – Stuart R. Kaplan – Aff LinkMiniature Rider-Waite® Tarot – Pamela C. Smith – Aff LinkRider Waite Gold Foil Tarot Deck – Aff LinkThe Original Rider Waite: The Pictorial Key To The Tarot: An Illustrated Guide – A.E. Waite – Aff LinkTarot Revelations – Joseph Campbell, Richard Roberts – Aff Link A to z Horoscope Maker and Delineator – Llewellyn George – Aff LinkA Treatise on the Astrolabe – Geoffrey Chaucer – Aff LinkAntithesis – Rhetorical DeviceGimpel the Fool: And Other Stories – Isaac Bashevis Singer – Aff LinkThe Miller’s Tale – Geoffrey ChaucerMorphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Aff LinkAarne-Thompson-Uther IndexTaylor Swift’s Tarot Card Revelation Proves None of Travis Kelce Romance Was AccidentalInclusioThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- Apr 16, 20261h 19m
Cardigan – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 3
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 performance of storytelling in Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermoreThe Blind Man and The ElephantSplit Narratives or Fragmented NarrativesEnjambment EpistropheAnaphoraThe Longest Time – Billy Joel Love Stinks – The J. Geils BandThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
About The Swiftie and The Scholar
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. Join us each week for lyrical deep dive through Taylor Swift's eras.
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