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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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- 3 days ago57 min
The Paradox and Parallelism of Peace
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:ParadoxApostropheSynecdocheI Would Die 4 U – PrinceYou’ve Got a Friend in Me – Randy NewmanEasy Silence – The ChicksTwo Sleepy People – Fats WallerStuck in the Middle With You – Stealers WheelYou Are My Sunshine – Jimmie Davis Standing In The Rain – John Paul YoungStanding In The Rain – Al GreenStanding In The Rain – Electric Light OrchestraThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s InstagramAngela’s YouTube Channel
- 1 weeks ago1h 51m
Time’s Mystic Meandering in Invisible String
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 your support!Works Cited:All in green went my love riding – e.e. CummingsLeaves of Grass – Walt WhitmanRed thread of fateHandfastingPope Innocent III and Handfasting2 Kings 14:21 – 16 as the age of ascensionEpizeuxis*The Sun Also Rises – Ernest HemingwayEnjambmentMetanarrativeSynecdocheGoddesses of FateHeart of Darkness – Joseph ConradCaesuraForrest Gump – Winston GroomForrest Gump (1994)Design – Robert FrostHap – Thomas HardyProverbs 16:33The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeRedditTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s InstagramAngela’s YouTube Channel
- 2 weeks ago1h 21m
The Lives We Didn’t Live in The 1
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 HopkinsEllipsisCaesuraErnest Hemingway’s Iceberg TheoryContrafactualitySight rhyme or eye rhyme*The Great Gatsby – F. Scott FitzgeraldTrochaic HexameterThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s InstagramAngela’s YouTube Channel
- 3 weeks ago1h 18m
The Devastating Paradox of Hoax
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:AnaphoraEllipsisOxymoronPolysemyParallelismParadoxFatalismFaithless Love – Linda Ronstadti sing of Olaf glad and big – e.e. cummingsTo a Mouse – Robert Burns*Of Mice and Men – John SteinbeckTo a Louse – Robert BurnsJonah 3 – Jonah Goes to NinevehSynecdocheMetanarrativeThe Lord’s PrayerThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s InstagramAngela’s YouTube Channel
- Aug 20, 20261h 18m
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 RuessThe Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri Gilgamesh, Nature, and CivilizationParadise Lost – John MiltonThe Odyssey – HomerExile of OvidPoems 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 JoycePolyphony in Contemporary LiteratureDramatic ironyAssonanceAlliterationIambic tetrameterIambic trimeterBallad meter or common measureSynecdochePhaedrusEpistropheThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThread
- Aug 13, 20261h 3m
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 OwenSiegfried SassoonThe Death of the Ball Turret Gunner – Randall JarrellThe Angels at Hamburg – Randall JarrellVignette poemsRhapsody on a Windy Night – T. S. EliotTrocheesIambsThe Song of Hiawatha – Henry Wadsworth LongfellowErnest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory*Death in the Afternoon – Ernest Hemingway CaesuraParallelismSynecdoche*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 MiltonThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s InstagramAngela’s YouTube Channel
- Aug 6, 20261h 23m
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 Brooksmaggie and milly and molly and may – e.e. cummings[in Just-] – e.e. cummingsBrylcreem commercialSynecdocheSonnet 12 – William ShakespeareSonnet 60 – William ShakespeareSonnet 73 – William ShakespeareMy Boyfriend’s Back – The AngelsCold Cold Heart – Hank WilliamsEllipse in LinguisticsTo His Coy Mistress – Andrew MarvellTricolonThe Swiftie and The Scholar Grading MatrixFollow Us:PatreonYouTubeTikTokInstagramThreadsAngela’s InstagramUncle Jerry’s Instagram
- Jul 30, 20261h 25m
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 LetterAgnes von Kurowsky*A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway A Dear John Letter – Jean Shepard & Ferlin HuskyDear John Letter – Whitney HoustonEpistolary framePoetic InversionDramatic IronyMetapoetryMetonymy The Scholar-Gipsy – Matthew ArnoldThe 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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