AP Taylor Swift

Latest Episodes:

E12: Deep Dive - the last great american dynasty Nov 22, 2023

Show notes

"I had a marvelous time..." Take a step back in time with us as we deep dive into “The Last Great American Dynasty,” from folklore. Our hosts expand on what we learned in our Marxist Criticism episode to take an even closer look at Rebekah Harkness, who she was, and why Taylor Swift wrote a song about her. What do Taylor and Rebekah Harkness have in common, besides owning the same home?Is Rebekah Harkness really “middle class”? How does Taylor build empathy for someone called “mad” and “shameless”? We had a marvelous time diving into this one!

Mentioned in the episode:

“Blue Blood,” Craig Unger

“Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn Rand

Rebekah Harkness NYT Obituary, June 1982

"Is There a Chic Way To Go?" Blue Bloods NYT Book Review, May 1988

The Humble Beginnings Of an Elegant Mansion, NYT July 1971

“Hamilton”

***

Episode Highlights:

[01:49] Who is Rebekah Harkness?

[06:03] How Taylor’s country storytelling roots enrich the story

[10:53] What is an “American Dynasty”?

[15:52] Who’s mad, Rebekah or the townspeople?

[25:24] Why did Taylor write this song?

***

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This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E11: Show and Tell - Marxist Theory Nov 15, 2023

Show notes

What does a 19th century philosopher and economist have to do with Taylor Swift? In this week’s episode we put on our Marxist Theory glasses to consider how the ideas of ownership, value, and class differences help us understand Taylor’s music in a whole new way. Maansi teaches us what it means to belong to someone in “Mine.” Jenn digs into the political metaphors in “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.” And Jodi teaches us about social class differences with the incredible true story behind “the last great american dynasty.” Tune in to learn all of this and see how much fun it can be to play with new literary lenses (even if you don’t necessarily agree with the underlying philosophy).

Mentioned in the episode:

“Mine," Speak Now

“Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince," Lover

“the last great american dynasty," folklore

Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner by Katrine Marçal

“Politics of Love and Love of Politics: Towards a Marxist Theory of Love” by Raju Das

1984 by George Orwell

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Bluebood by Carl Unger (Rebekah Harkness biography)

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:25] Introduction to Marxist Theory

[04:07] “Mine” from Speak Now

[23:05] “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince” from Lover

[38:57] “the last great american dynasty” from folklore

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E10: Deep Dive - Red Nov 08, 2023

Show notes

Loving him was like…what? You may know all the words to this old favorite song, but do you know what they mean? In today’s deep dive, we’re unpacking “Red” from Red (Taylor’s Version). After our previous episode on Fall where we talked about why this is an autumn-coded song, our hosts spend more time trying to understand the many (many) metaphors (or is it similes? Analogies?) Taylor Swift uses to describe this relationship. We’ll get a High School English lesson, references to some Millennial-favorite TV shows, and a chance to explore Red as an analogy for Taylor’s transition from country to pop. And then we realize…there’s no right answer!

Mentioned in the episode:

“Red,” Red (Taylor’s Version)

“Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas”, John Pollack

Aesop’s Fables

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”

“august,” folklore

“Bridgerton”

E2: Deep Dive - Enchanted

E6 - Deep Dive - It’s Time to Go

“Picture to Burn,” Taylor Swift

“The Hills: New Beginnings”

“Complicated,” Avril Levigne

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:20] Introducing today’s deep dive song, “Red”

[01:42] 1st person, 2nd person…whose experience is this?

[04:38] How Taylor uses metaphors to make things universal

[08:07] Similes, Metaphors, Analogies, oh my!

[11:50] Are these tangible, universal metaphors?

[16:59] Red as a metaphor for Taylor’s career

[20:06] Our favorite part of any Swift song: the bridge!

[26:40] Do we actually understand this song?

***

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E9: Show and Tell - Fall Songs Nov 01, 2023

Show notes

It’s fall, y’all! From chai cookies to a whole new color palette, we have officially entered into the season of fall, and we want to celebrate it with some of our favorite Taylor songs! Join us as Jenn talks about why “You Belong With Me” is forever a fall song in her midwestern mind; Jodi gives us an overview of the fall-themed marketing that came with the release of Red; and Maansi shocks us all by proving that “Cornelia Street” is 100% a Fall song even though it’s on a summer album. Make sure to listen all the way to the end to get a glimpse into a heated topic of debate among your professors as well ;)

Mentioned in this episode:

Shortcut: How Analogies Reveal Connections, Spark Innovation, and Sell Our Greatest Ideas

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Taylor Swift Style, @taylorswiftstyled, Sarah Kucharski

@taylorswiftinstapostss for cataloging Taylor’s old Instagrams

“Basic Autumn Lovers Rise” TikTok, Tumblr re-enactment, Oct 2021, Taylor Swift

The Curious Symbolism of Autumn in Literature and Myth, Interesting LIterature.com

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:32] Intro to Fall topic

[01:00] “You Belong With Me,” Fearless (Taylor’s Version) 2021

[09:43] “Red,” Red (Taylor’s Version) 2021

[22:51] “Cornelia Street,” Lover 2019

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E8: Deep Dive - the lakes Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

"Take me on vacation, take me to anywhere, take me to the lakes!" After our Show & Tell on Ecocriticism, we’re ready to Deep Dive head-first into “the lakes,” bonus track 17 on “folklore (deluxe version).” Join us as we walk through Taylor Swift’s nature imagery and consider the lyrics in some historical context. We'll also unpack the speaker’s relationship with nature as we consider what the speaker is escaping from, where she is going, and why she is running away. And, we introduce a word of the day (“P-A-L-I-M-P-S-E-S-T”) and pull in references from the dictionary, textbooks, classic novels, and poetry for this one, with hopes of understanding the “waves of hurt” that are packed into this song.

Mentioned in the episode:

Palimpsest: something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface

Town & Country - Emily Doherty 2023

Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Victorian Flower Symbolism

Lady Chatterley's Lover, DH Lawrence

Douglass Livingstone “symbiosis or death”

The Spell of the Sensuous, by David Abram

***

Episode Highlights:

[01:16] A quick recap of ecocriticism

[03:29] Palimpsest: Heart-stopping waves of hurt

[06:56] The cause of grief: Some name-dropping sleaze

[10:32] Why does she want to escape: Hunters with cell phones

[12:14] Seeking refuge: Not without my muse

[16:59] The speaker and nature: I don’t belong

[21:49] Nod to Romantics: Is it romantic?

[26:17] Final thoughts: What do we think this song is about?

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E7: Show and Tell - Ecocriticism Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

“But the monsters turned out to be just trees.” Are trees good? Are trees bad? Why the tree imagery? In this episode of AP Taylor Swift, your hosts dive into the world of ecocriticism to explore and analyze how Taylor uses nature in her lyrics to create powerful metaphors that resonate with her listeners. Join us as Jodi discusses the dichotomy of the domestic vs the wild in “Out of the Woods,” Jenn shares some surprising history about William Wordsworth that may change the way you listen to “the lakes” forever, and Maansi teaches us about the sublime with “Snow on the Beach.”

***

Mentioned in the episode:

Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets

Dorothy Wordsworth poetry

William Wordsworth poetry

Wordsworth & Coleridge Lyrical Ballads

Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition

Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

“Out of the Woods”

“the lakes”

“Snow on the Beach”

***

Episode Highlights:

[0:27] Introduction to ecocriticism

[3:06] “Out of the Woods”

[21:06] “the lakes”

[38:22] “Snow on the Beach”

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

Special Episode: Our Eras Tour Reactions Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

It’s been a long time coming! To celebrate the release of the Eras Tour Movie, we’re releasing our first special episode: our Eras Tour Reactions! Back in July, our hosts sat down to relive the magic of our own Eras Tour concert experiences. Learn who went in blind, and who had a playlist of the entire set before they went to the show. Hear from Maansi as she reflects on hearing “Long Live” and “All of the Girls You Loved Before” at the Santa Clara show less than 24 hours after seeing Taylor Swift live; Try to hold back jealousy as Jodi recounts her not one, but two floor-seat experiences (including the “Speak Now” (Taylor’s Version) announcement); and remember the magic of those light-up wristbands with Jenn and hear all about her life-changing experience of hearing “Hits Different” live.

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:59] Maansi’s next-day concert reflections
[06:48] Who went in blind, and who knew the whole set list?
[10:27] How each era’s brand stands out on stage
[14:29] Songs that changed when we saw them on stage
[21:34] How Taylor Swift engages her audience
[26:19] Surprise Songs!
[33:03] Transcending generational divides
[35:18] Eras tour amnesia
[39:11] What does Taylor do next?

***

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift
YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift
Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E6: Deep Dive - “It’s Time to Go” Oct 11, 2023

Show notes

GTFO. After our last Show and Tell on Toxic Relationships, on this episode we do a deep dive into “it’s time to go,” Track 17 from "evermore" (2020). We explore how Taylor Swift uses universal experiences like infidelity and betrayal to help us empathize with her own (very unique) experience of losing her masters. It wouldn’t be an AP class without some literary devices, so we learn about internal rhymes and Taylor’s use of anaphora. What do “Cheetah Girls,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “The Little Mermaid,” and the January 6th insurrection have with this song? Listen and find out!

Mentioned in the episode:

“It’s time to go,” evermore

“You’re on Your Own Kid,” Midnights

The Odyssey, Homer

“Cheetah Girls”

Palace of Bones

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Little Mermaid

“Barbie” (2023)

Harry Potter Series

Anaphora: the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses

***

Episode Highlights:

[01:28] How we do a deep dive analysis on AP Taylor Swift

[02:30] “15 years, 15 million tears” - How Taylor makes us empathize with her own personal experience

[09:16] “Then the son of the boss gets the spot that was yours” - Getting into poetic analysis with internal rhymes and anaphora

[13:39] “When the words of a sister come back in whispers” - Who is Taylor talking to?

[18:33] “The snaps from the same little breaks in your soul” - Trusting your gut

[24:25] “Something walking out is the one thing” - Why word choice matters

[27:33] “it’s time to go” - Where we make a connection to January 6th

[30:15] “And you know in your soul” - Finding the purpose of the song

***

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E5: Show and Tell - Toxic Relationships Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

To stay, tolerate it, or go? Today’s assignment was to bring in a Taylor Swift song that represents toxic relationships. Toxic relationships exist in real life, and therefore show up frequently in art and literature – and Taylor’s music is no exception. Jenn walks us through “Stay Stay Stay” and discusses how these lyrics can carry a very different meaning depending on the age and context of the speaker; Maansi brings in “tolerate it” which sparks some conversations on feminism; and Jodi takes us home with “it’s time to go,” and shines a light on different kinds of toxic relationships. It’s a loaded episode, but you won’t want to miss a second of it. So grab your favorite blanket and maybe a pint of ice cream, and come along with us as we discuss how Taylor Swift’s music brings toxic relationships to life.

Mentioned in this episode:

“Stay Stay Stay,” RED (Taylor’s Version)

“tolerate it,” evermore

“it’s time to go,” evermore

“All you had to do was stay,” 1989

Psychology today’s definition of toxic relationship

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Mad Men Season 1, Episode 1

The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood

Mrs. Dalloway, Virgnia Woolf

To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

The Awakening, Kate Chopin

Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

***

Episode Highlights:

[00:48] Introducing today’s theme, toxic relationships - what is a toxic relationship?

[03:20] “Stay stay stay” - Romantic in the moment, but maybe not so much in retrospect

[13:50] “tolerate it” - A caricature of a disbalanced marriage, especially from times past

[30:53] “it’s time to go” - Different kinds of toxic relationships, not just the romantic ones

[38:32] When we start to realize how all these songs are connected

***

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

E4: Deep Dive - “Wonderland” from 1989 Sep 27, 2023

Show notes

Going Down the Rabbit Hole. Today we’re doing a deep dive on Taylor Swift’s song, “Wonderland,” from the album 1989. This episode builds on Episode 3 focused on Taylor Swift’s lyrical influences from the book “Alice in Wonderland.” In this episode, we explore whether the Cheshire Cat is calming or creepy; if New York City really is “Wonderland”; How Taylor Swift’s music, lyrics, and album branding are often at odds with one another; and how this song seems to reference “A Tale of Two Cities” and “The Great Gatsby” all at the same time.

Mentioned in the episode:

“Wonderland,” written by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Shellback

1989 (Taylor’s Version)

Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland, 1951 Disney Film

Alice in Wonderland, 2010 Tim Burton Film

“A Tale of Two Cities,” by Charles Dickens

“The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

***

Episode Highlights:

[01:42] We fell down a rabbit hole: How we do a deep dive

[04:13] Didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire Cat smile: Je suis calme!

[06:50] I should have slept with one eye open at night: A false sense of security

[15:06] Nothing’s as it seems: How Taylor's lyrics, music, and imagery inform the story

[19:03] Too in love to think straight: This love is not what it seems

[21:04] In Wonderland, we both went mad: When it all shifts in the bridge

[29:27] We found wonderland: How she used this literary reference

***

Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe

TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift
YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift
Link Tree → linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts

This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.

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