The Swiftie and The Scholar

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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52 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes52

Newest first

Thursday · 1 hr 25 min
Finding Agency in Dear John
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 Shepard & Ferlin Husky Dear John Letter – Whitney Houston Epistolary frame Poetic Inversion Dramatic Irony Metapoetry Metonymy The Scholar-Gipsy – Matthew Arnold The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
July 23 · 1 hr 28 min
The Peak of Innocence in Seven
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 support! Works Cited: 7 as the number of completion Apostrophe Imperatives Pastoral PoetryDramatic Irony Assonance To His Coy Mistress – Andrew Marvell American Primitive – Mary Oliver* The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
July 16 · 1 hr 37 min
Superficial Celebrity Criticism in Shake It Off
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 Epizeuxis Polyptoton Tautological The Waking – Theodore Roethke Apostrophe Shake It Off music video Stars – Richard Dyer – Aff Link The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
July 9 · 1 hr 9 min
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 2 · 1 hr 8 min
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
June 25 · 1 hr 8 min
The Chronicles of Conflict in The Great War
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 – Siegfried Sassoon – Aff Link Goodbye to All That – Robert Graves – Aff Link All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) War Poems – Wilfred Owen – Aff Link Dulce et Decorum Est – Wilfred Owen Poetry of the First World War: An Anthology – Tim Kendall – Aff Link The Soldier – Rupert Brooke In Flanders Fields – John McCrae The History and Rhymes of the Lost Battalion – Buck Private McCollum – Aff Link Crimson & Clover – Tommy James and the Shondells The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
June 18 · 1 hr 13 min
The Parachute of Childhood in I Knew It, I Knew You
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 Epiphora or Epistrophe Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman Anagnorisis Epizeuxis Dramatic Irony Mnemonic I Knew It, I Knew You Visualizer The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
June 4 · 1 hr 27 min
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 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) It – Elinor Glyn – Aff Link Caesura Horatio Alger Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller A Cool Million – Nathanael West – Aff Link The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus – Christopher Marlowe To an Athlete Dying Young – A. E. Housman Idle Fame – John Clare The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson – Aff Link Fame is a fickle food (1659) – Emily Dickinson Fame is a bee. (1788) – Emily Dickinson Mirrorball/Clara Bow Mash-up The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
May 28 · 1 hr 12 min
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 Cultures Catoptromancy Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll – Aff Link Perseus and Medusa A Discovery of Witches (2018) 'Spirit mirror' used by 16th-century occultist John Dee came from the Aztec Empire Conceit Anaphora Inclusio Ouroboros Albertus Magnus and the Magic Mirror Loafing Him was Bread T-Shirt The House of Fame – Geoffrey Chaucer The Temple of Fame – Alexander Pope The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
May 21 · 52 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 Pronoun Autofiction as a Doorway Into Truth Conceit – Literary term Come One, Come All – All Time Low Slant Rhyme "Now give three cheers" – HMS Pinafore The Telephone Hour – Bye Bye Birdie The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe Annabel Lee – Edgar Allan Poe To -- -- --. Ulalume: A Ballad – Edgar Allan Poe Hyperion – John Keats Ode to a Nightingale – John Keats A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
May 14 · 1 hr 21 min
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 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 Epiphora (or epistrophe) the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls – e.e. cummings Footloose (1984) The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
May 7 · 1 hr 1 min
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: 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 Nature Paperback – David Hume – Aff Link The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
April 30 · 1 hr 16 min
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 Criticism Post-Colonial Criticism Reader-response theory Key Theories of Wolfgang Iser Is There a Text in This Class? – Stanley Fish – Aff Link Psychological Criticism Feminist Theory New Criticism Felicia Dorothea Hemans On the Intentional Fallacy Hyperion – John Keats Affective Fallacy Queer Theory Deconstruction Semiotics Critical Race Theory New Historicism Stephen Greenblatt and New Historicism Sketches by Boz – Charles Dickens – Aff Link Sonnets Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems – William Shakespeare – Aff Link Limerick Haiku Ballad Meter (or Common Measure) Villanelle Concrete Poetry Life Studies – Robert Lowell – Aff Link The Collected Poems – Sylvia Plath – Aff Link My Papa’s Waltz – Theodore Roethke The Real Slim Shady – Eminem Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture Paperback – Dana Gioia – Aff Link A Bit Much – Lyndsay Rush – Aff Link Lyndsay Rush – Instagram Amanda Gorman The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
April 23 · 1 hr 21 min
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 Link Rosicrucian Fellowship The Secrets of the Belline Oracle – Sylvie Steinbach – Aff Link Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards – The Morgan Library Visconti Sforza Tarot Cards Cards – Stuart R. Kaplan – Aff Link Miniature Rider-Waite® Tarot – Pamela C. Smith – Aff Link Rider Waite Gold Foil Tarot Deck – Aff Link The Original Rider Waite: The Pictorial Key To The Tarot: An Illustrated Guide – A.E. Waite – Aff Link Tarot Revelations – Joseph Campbell, Richard Roberts – Aff Link A to z Horoscope Maker and Delineator – Llewellyn George – Aff Link A Treatise on the Astrolabe – Geoffrey Chaucer – Aff Link Antithesis – Rhetorical Device Gimpel the Fool: And Other Stories – Isaac Bashevis Singer – Aff Link The Miller’s Tale – Geoffrey Chaucer Morphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Aff Link Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index Taylor Swift’s Tarot Card Revelation Proves None of Travis Kelce Romance Was Accidental Inclusio The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
April 16 · 1 hr 19 min
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 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 folklore and evermore The Blind Man and The Elephant Split Narratives or Fragmented Narratives Enjambment Epistrophe Anaphora The Longest Time – Billy Joel Love Stinks – The J. Geils Band The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ Threads ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
April 9 · 1 hr 7 min
Betty – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 2
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 folklore and evermore The Blind Man and The Elephant Split Narratives or Fragmented Narratives Winesburg, Ohio – Sherwood Anderson – Aff Link Spoon River Anthology – Edgar Lee Masters – Aff Link The Flowers of Evil – Charles Baudelaire – Aff Link Flipped (2010) Apophasis Hyperbole Book of Genesis The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
April 2 · 1 hr 8 min
August – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 1
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 Elephant Disnarration and the performance of storytelling in Taylor Swift’s folklore and evermore Split Narratives or Fragmented Narratives Dramatic Irony Kenning The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
March 26 · 56 min
The Feminist Critique of Mad Woman
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 Mourning Bride – William Congreve Summa Theologica – Thomas Aquinas Handlyng Synne – Robert Manning of Brunne Christian Caldwell, Woman Witchhunter Cassandra x mad woman x I Did Something Bad Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ Uncle Jerry’s Instagram
March 19 · 59 min
The Psychological Burden of The Albatross
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 – Elvis Presley Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Ode to the West Wind – Percy Bysshe Shelley Wild nights - Wild nights! – Emily Dickinson Romeo and Juliet – William Shakespeare Antigone – Sophocles Antony and Cleopatra – William Shakespeare The Bad Seed – William March – Aff Link The Bad Seed (1956) Matthew 13 The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell – Aff Link Richard Traverner Barchester Towers – Anthony Trollope – Aff Link Doggerel L'Albatros – Charles Baudelaire Frame Stories Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠
March 12 · 1 hr 2 min
The Depth Without Darkness in Opalite
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) Follow Us: Patreon ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠

The Swiftie and The Scholar

Finding Agency in Dear John

The Peak of Innocence in Seven

Superficial Celebrity Criticism in Shake It Off

The Mosaic of Love in State of Grace

The Coming of Age Narrative in You’re On Your Own, Kid

The Chronicles of Conflict in The Great War

The Parachute of Childhood in I Knew It, I Knew You

The Light of Stardom in Clara Bow

The Nature of Fame in Mirrorball

The Inquisitive Human Nature in How Did It End?

The Christian Tendrils of But Daddy I Love Him

The Sentimentalism of Marjorie

Dr. Uncle Jerry University: Poetry 101

Fate vs. Free Will in The Prophecy

Cardigan – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 3

Betty – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 2

August – The Folklore Love Triangle Part 1

The Feminist Critique of Mad Woman

The Psychological Burden of The Albatross

The Depth Without Darkness in Opalite