The Swiftie and The Scholar

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! [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] Works Cited: General Reference Pronoun [https://www.thoughtco.com/reference-grammar-1692032] Autofiction as a Doorway Into Truth [https://writers.com/feature/autofiction] Conceit – Literary term [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/conceit] Come One, Come All – All Time Low [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNAL7iAjFW8&list=RDZNAL7iAjFW8&start_radio=1] Slant Rhyme [https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/slant-rhyme] "Now give three cheers" – HMS Pinafore [https://gsarchive.net/pinafore/web_opera/pin08.html] The Telephone Hour – Bye Bye Birdie [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bNq_L1jMow] The Raven – Edgar Allan Poe [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48860/the-raven] Annabel Lee – Edgar Allan Poe [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44885/annabel-lee] To -- -- --. Ulalume: A Ballad – Edgar Allan Poe [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44889/to-ulalume-a-ballad] Hyperion – John Keats [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44473/hyperion] Ode to a Nightingale – John Keats [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44479/ode-to-a-nightingale] A Rose for Emily – William Faulkner [https://facultyweb.wcjc.edu/users/jonl/documents/RoseforEmily.pdf] The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnP9Eoffzj1LWvQWstsaL5K1Q2eXiSoJUvNRaqcUpEY/edit?usp=sharing] Follow Us: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/swiftieandscholarpod/] Threads [https://www.threads.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/angelawyattmcdow] Uncle Jerry’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drunclejerry/]

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 [https://amzn.to/4n2F6iO] East of Eden – John Steinbeck – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4t93joY] Rebel With a Cause (1955) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/] The Notebook (2004) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332280] Inside Daisy Clover (1965) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059314/] How The West Was Won (1962) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056085/] Anaphora [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/anaphora] Epiphora (or epistrophe) [https://www.thoughtco.com/epiphora-rhetoric-term-1690663] the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls – e.e. cummings [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47245/the-cambridge-ladies-who-live-in-furnished-souls] Footloose (1984) [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087277/] The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnP9Eoffzj1LWvQWstsaL5K1Q2eXiSoJUvNRaqcUpEY/edit?usp=sharing] Follow Us: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/swiftieandscholarpod/] Threads [https://www.threads.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/angelawyattmcdow] Uncle Jerry’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drunclejerry/]

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 [https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/aphorism] David Hume [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/] Immanuel Kant [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/] Sentimentalism [https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/sentimentalism] Sentimental Novels in Early American Fiction [https://literariness.org/2025/04/30/sentimental-novels-in-early-american-fiction/] The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4t6cGpw] Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded – Samuel Richardson – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4ubJrTk] Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/425JOTn] A Treatise of Human Nature Paperback – David Hume – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/424zLOA] The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnP9Eoffzj1LWvQWstsaL5K1Q2eXiSoJUvNRaqcUpEY/edit?usp=sharing] Follow Us: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/swiftieandscholarpod/] Threads [https://www.threads.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/angelawyattmcdow] Uncle Jerry’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drunclejerry/]

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 [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/marxism] Post-Colonial Criticism [https://art.washington.edu/sites/art/files/documents/about/an_introduction_to_post-colonialism_post-colonial_theory_and_post-colonial_literature.pdf] Reader-response theory [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/reader-response-theory] Key Theories of Wolfgang Iser [https://literariness.org/2018/02/12/key-theories-of-wolfgang-iser/] Is There a Text in This Class? – Stanley Fish – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4mTTD0i] Psychological Criticism [https://writingcommons.org/section/research/research-methods/textual-methods/literary-criticism/psychological-criticism/] Feminist Theory [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/feminist-theory] New Criticism [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/new-criticism] Felicia Dorothea Hemans [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/felicia-dorothea-hemans] On the Intentional Fallacy [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/blog/uncategorized/50844/on-the-intentional-fallacy] Hyperion – John Keats [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44473/hyperion] Affective Fallacy [https://literariness.org/2016/03/17/affective-fallacy/] Queer Theory [https://literariness.org/2019/03/04/queer-theory/] Deconstruction [https://literariness.org/2016/03/22/deconstruction/] Semiotics [https://literariness.org/2016/03/20/semiotics-semiology/] Critical Race Theory [https://literariness.org/2018/08/20/critical-race-theory/] New Historicism [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/new-historicism] Stephen Greenblatt and New Historicism [https://literariness.org/2017/11/16/stephen-greenblatt-and-new-historicism/] Sketches by Boz – Charles Dickens – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/3OF9Nhu] Sonnets [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/sonnet] Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems – William Shakespeare – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4mTfLI8] Limerick [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/limerick] Haiku [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/haiku-or-hokku] Ballad Meter (or Common Measure) [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/common-measure] Villanelle [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/villanelle] Concrete Poetry [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary/concrete-poetry] Life Studies – Robert Lowell – Aff Link  [https://amzn.to/4tFa4jI] The Collected Poems – Sylvia Plath – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4t1Yz4J] My Papa’s Waltz – Theodore Roethke [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43330/my-papas-waltz] The Real Slim Shady – Eminem [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ZI1uc6iBM&list=RDY8ZI1uc6iBM&start_radio=1] Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture Paperback – Dana Gioia – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4sVk5YJ] A Bit Much – Lyndsay Rush – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/3QA1hkm] Lyndsay Rush – Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/maryoliversdrunkcousin/] Amanda Gorman [https://www.theamandagorman.com/] The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnP9Eoffzj1LWvQWstsaL5K1Q2eXiSoJUvNRaqcUpEY/edit?usp=sharing] Follow Us: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/swiftieandscholarpod/] Threads [https://www.threads.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/angelawyattmcdow] Uncle Jerry’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drunclejerry/]

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 [https://amzn.to/4vK2QfF] Rosicrucian Fellowship [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosicrucian_Fellowship] The Secrets of the Belline Oracle – Sylvie Steinbach – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4dXtgUM] Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck [https://www.tarot.com/tarot/decks/crowley] Visconti-Sforza Tarot Cards – The Morgan Library [https://www.themorgan.org/collection/tarot-cards] Visconti Sforza Tarot Cards Cards – Stuart R. Kaplan – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4crCoQk] Miniature Rider-Waite® Tarot – Pamela C. Smith – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4u5CFys] Rider Waite Gold Foil Tarot Deck – Aff Link [https://go.shopmy.us/p-54025832] The Original Rider Waite: The Pictorial Key To The Tarot: An Illustrated Guide – A.E. Waite – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4cMNVsC] Tarot Revelations – Joseph Campbell, Richard Roberts – Aff Link  [https://amzn.to/4cnXpvk] A to z Horoscope Maker and Delineator – Llewellyn George – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4vQOPwT] A Treatise on the Astrolabe – Geoffrey Chaucer – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/3QlXBmd] Antithesis – Rhetorical Device [https://www.britannica.com/art/antithesis] Gimpel the Fool: And Other Stories – Isaac Bashevis Singer – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4tZraZ4] The Miller’s Tale – Geoffrey Chaucer [https://www.owleyes.org/text/canterbury-tales/read/the-millers-tale] Morphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Aff Link [https://amzn.to/4sI1KhD] Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index [https://guides.library.harvard.edu/folk_and_myth/indices] Taylor Swift’s Tarot Card Revelation Proves None of Travis Kelce Romance Was Accidental [https://www.eonline.com/news/1417883/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-tarot-card-reading-revealed] Inclusio [https://www.gotquestions.org/what-is-an-inclusio.html] The Swiftie and The Scholar Grading Matrix [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fnP9Eoffzj1LWvQWstsaL5K1Q2eXiSoJUvNRaqcUpEY/edit?usp=sharing] Follow Us: Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheSwiftieandTheScholar] ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/swiftieandscholarpod/] Threads [https://www.threads.com/@swiftieandscholarpod] ⁠Angela’s Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/angelawyattmcdow] Uncle Jerry’s Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drunclejerry/]