AP Taylor Swift

E28: Deep Dive - Shake It Off

That’s What People Say (ooh ooh). In this deep dive episode, we get into the groove of Taylor Swift's “Shake It Off” from her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version). We start by discussing how the song acts as a strategic move by Swift to rebrand herself as a pop artist and connect with a larger audience. We look at how Taylor addresses the haters and criticisms she’s received over the years through her lyrics. And we make the case that this is not a simple song–it’s a therapeutic anthem of resilience, empowerment, and growth. Jodi and Jenn get flashbacks to grad school thinking about this song, and Maansi…well, listen to hear what Maansi really thinks about this song. 
Mentioned in this episode: 
“Shake It Off”
How Taylor Swift Made Me a Better Marketer
The Spare
Clare @colormelovely
Mean 
TIME Person of the Year profile
Risky Business, the rock band at Ross
Mean Girls
 
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***
Episode Highlights: 
[02:15] How “Shake It Off” fits into Taylor’s musical catalog 
[07:01] “It’s gonna be alright” 
[10:44] Taylor as a marketing GENIUS
[16:41] “I stay out too late”
[22:52] Looking at this song 10 years later
[30:30] Was there another option as the first single?
[37:25] The purpose of the song
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
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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.

E27: Show and Tell - Poetic Repetition

You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me. Let’s get ready for "The Tortured Poets Department" and explore the concept of poetic repetition in Taylor Swift's songs. From understanding epizeuxis and anaphora to seeing how Taylor uses these devices in “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”’ “Shake It Off” and “This Love,” we discuss how repetition can seem deceptively simple while still communicating a clear message. Understanding the purpose of any text can help enrich your experience of that art, and this week’s episode helps us understand the power of some of Taylor’s less complicated lyrics. Tune into this week’s conversation to see why simplicity can be powerful, and perhaps we may even convince you to appreciate a song you don’t necessarily want to listen to on repeat. 
Note: This episode was recorded before the "The Tortured Poets Department" announcement. We hope it helps us all prepare for the album!
 
Helpful definitions:
Epizeuxis (a.k.a. palilogia) - the immediate repetition of a word or phrase for rhetorical or poetic effect. For example, "the children squealed with glee, with glee” or “Shake it off, shake it off”
Anaphora - repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. For example, Lincoln's "we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.” OR “Please don’t be in love with someone else, please don’t have somebody waiting on you.” 
Epistrophe - repetition of a word or expression at the end of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. For example, Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people.” or “And it was enchanting to meet you / All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you” 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
King Lear by William Shakespeare
Walden by Thoreau 
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Mean Girls 
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Friends
 
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***
 
Episode Highlights: 
[01:25] Introduction to Poetic Repetition
[06:43] “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Red (Taylor’s Version)
[22:00] “Shake It Off,” 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
[40:45] “This Love,” 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
 
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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.

E26: Deep Dive - Haunted

"It’s coming over you like it was all a big mistake." In this week’s episode, we dive into the Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) classic “Haunted.” We discuss how Taylor Swift’s song captures the haunting and fragile nature of relationships, the devastation of loss, and the immediate aftermath of a breakup. In true form, we also tie the idea of a haunting break up back to our careers, and what it can feel like when you are constantly wondering “what if” about your past decisions. Whether you want some strong emotions or a bit of verb tense analysis, we get into it all in our conversation about “Haunted.” 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Broadway Sings Taylor Swift
Phantom of the Opera
Romeo and Juliet 
Madeline 
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
“The Crown” Netflix
"The Year of Taylor Swift” from The Daily
Slaughterhouse Five 
Moulin Rouge 
 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
***
 
Episode Highlights: 
[00:25] Introduction to "Haunted"
[02:35] The theme of haunting in Taylor’s music
[14:18] When you’re haunted by work or other relationships
[22:24] When you’re haunted by the “what if”
[37:56] The purpose of “Haunted” 
 
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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.

E25: Show and Tell - "Pride and Prejudice"

All they keep asking me, is if I’m gonna be your bride. We’re a literary-focused Taylor Swift podcast, so it was only a matter of time before we brought Jane Austen into the mix. In this episode, we explore three songs in relation to Pride and Prejudice. Jenn focuses on the sisterly relationship between Elizabeth and Jane with “I’m Only Me When I’m With You.” Maansi zooms into the moment Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth, only to be brutally rebuffed, with the song “Haunted.” And Jodi explores the connections between the societal pressure to get married in Pride and Prejudice and “Lavender Haze.” It is a truth universally acknowledged that any conversation on this podcast will find literary and pop culture references to Taylor Swift, and this episode is no different! 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
 “I’m Only Me When I’m With You,” Taylor Swift 
& Juliet 
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte
“Haunted”, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
Hamilton
Emma, Jane Austen
“Lavender Haze,” Midnights 
Bridgerton
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
***
 
Episode Highlights: 
[01:14] Introduction to Pride and Prejudice
[05:39] “I’m Only Me When I’m With You” - Taylor Swift 
[27:23] “Haunted” - Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
[43:31] “Lavender Haze” - Midnights 
 
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Follow us on social! 
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Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
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.

E24: Deep Dive - right where you left me

Did you ever hear about the girl who got frozen? In this week’s deep dive episode, we discuss the evermore bonus track, “right where you left me.” We explore themes of feeling stuck, the haunting presence of the narrator, the plea for help, and how we see attitudes in the song mirrored in society. This beautiful and ultimately sad song also inspired a wide range of references from Elle Woods to Charles Dickens to Foucault. This song definitely has some layers, so join us as we unpack their meaning and ultimately try to get to the purpose of “right where you left me.” 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Arrested Development
Ghost (the movie) 
School Spirit (show on Netflix)
"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens 
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (song)
"The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde 
"The Age of Adelaide" (film) 
"The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" 
"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K. Rowling
Legally Blonde 
The Last Five Years
"No Exit" by Jean-Paul Sartre
"1984" by George Orwell
"Discipline and Punish" by Foucault 
"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury 
Jeremy Bentham’s body 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
***
Episode Highlights: 
[0:35] - Introduction to “right where you left me” 
[2:45] - Setting the scene of the song 
[7:07] - Metaphorically and literally being stuck 
[10:00] - The characters in this song 
[17:50] - “the glass shattered on the white cloth” 
[24:52] - The Panopticon and society’s expectations
[36:15] - Taylor’s use of “haunting” as imagery
[43:09] - The song as a metaphor for mental health 
 
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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.

E23: Show and Tell - Mad Women

There’s nothing like a mad woman, what a shame she went mad.  What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with some songs about women scorned? In this episode, we bring to you three songs that represent mad women. Maansi kicks off the discussion with the scornful, vengeful mad woman in “Better Than Revenge,” Jodi walks us through the woman who’s driven to insanity in “mad woman,” and Jenn wraps up the discussion with an example of the mad woman who is stuck in bonus track “right where you left me.” We close out the discussion by acknowledging how all of these songs are indicative of a movement that’s giving women everywhere the opportunity to reclaim the “mad woman” stigma.
Did we know this episode would drop on Valentine’s Day when we recorded it? No. Are we mad about it? Not at all!
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Hildegard of Bingen
Sigmund Freud
Mean Girls
“Before He Cheats,” Carrie Underwood
“Mama’s Broken Heart,” Miranda Lambert
“Jolene,” Dolly Parton
“Vigilante shit,” Taylor Swift
The Country of the Blind, HG Wells
Game of Thrones
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The Female Malady, Elaine Showalter 
Villette, Charlotte Bronte
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Cinderella’s Sisters: A Revisionist History of Foot Binding, Dorothy Ko
“Mama’s broken heart,” Miranda Lambert
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
***
 
Episode Highlights: 
[01:47] Intro to “mad women” & hysteria
[09:43] “Better than revenge,” Speak Now
[33:52] “mad woman,” folklore
[50:52] “right where you left me,” evermore
[1:13:02] Reclaiming the mad woman
 
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
Follow us on social! 
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Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
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.

E22: Deep Dive - The Outside

We’ve all been in a lot of lonely places. In this week’s deep dive, your hosts take you back to one of the original sad songs from Taylor’s debut album, “The Outside.” Perhaps more of a deep cut, this song cuts straight to the heart of what it feels like to be left out. Join us to discover what this song meant to us in our high school years vs today. We’ll explore how Taylor’s writing and musical styles may have changed, but she’s always known how to capture some of the most universal experiences, particularly for women! TW: We do discuss eating issues and disorders in this episode. We are fortunately recovered so the ultimate result is body positivity, but FYI! 
Mentioned in this episode: 
The Outside - the song 
Pride & Prejudice 
Lizzie McGuire 
Untangled by Lisa Damour
Queen Bees & Wannabes 
Robert Frost
The Good Enough Job 
Mean Girls 
Hamilton
 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
***
Episode Highlights: 
[00:56] Introduction to “The Outside” 
[02:59] Lizzie McGuire captures the spirit of “The Outside” 
[09:11] Taylor references Robert Frost
[17:01] “I’ve never been on the outside” 
[21:35] Is there a bridge in this song? 
[24:09] Feeling on “the outside” when you start a new job 
[30:48] The purpose of “The Outside” 
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
Follow us on social! 
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Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
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.

Bonus - Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" Announcement Analysis

And so I enter into evidence…In this very special BONUS episode, your Unofficial Professors of Taylor Swift go deep into the artifacts that Taylor has released for her upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” From the album art, the title, and the poem, to the track titles, we discuss it all! Is this album going to be more intellectual or emotional? Is Taylor on defense or offense? How wrong will all of our predictions be when the album is actually released? Well, we give you our hypotheses for the first two questions, but we will all have to wait until April 19th to see how well this conversation ages!   
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
Euphues by John Lyly (origin of “all’s fair in love and war”)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 
The Poetry of Dorothy Parker
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise
Tick, Tick…Boom! by Jonathan Larson, Directed by Lin Manuel Miranda
 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
***
 
Episode Highlights: 
01:08 - Analyzing the Album Cover
03:07 - The Title: "Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department"
07:12 - The Poem: "And So I Enter Into Evidence"
36:30 - All's Fair in Love and Poetry
45:36 - Tracklist Analysis
54:11 - The Back Cover Image
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
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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.

E21: Show and Tell - Musicals

If I was a [rich] man, I’d be the man. Curtain up! Light the lights! Today we are finally devoting an entire episode to one of our favorite topics: MUSICALS. Jenn identifies “The Outside,” from Taylor Swift, as the perfect song for the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. (Never seen it? No worries, Jenn gives a full synopsis!). Then, Jodi finds parallels between “The Man” and “If I Were a Rich Man,” from Fiddler on the Roof. And finally, we can’t talk about musicals without Hamilton! Maansi brings it home by comparing “Midnight Rain” to “Satisfied,” and we wonder if (and when!) Lin Manuel Miranda and Taylor Swift will bring their lyrical genius minds together. 
 
Mentioned in this episode: 
“The Outside,” Taylor Swift, 2007
Phantom of the Opera Movie
Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux Book
Phantom of the Opera: Live from London 
“Musicals that wouldn’t exist if the man had just gone to therapy” 
“The Man,” Lover, 2019
Fiddler on the Roof
“If I Were a Rich Man,” Chiam Topol, Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
“Midnight Rain,” Midnights, 2022
“Satisfied,” Hamilton
Hamilton
Singin’ in the Rain
Mean Girls 
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
***
Episode Highlights: 
[02:01] Curtain up: Introduction to Musicals
[06:47] “The Outside” and Phantom of the Opera
[23:34] “The Man” and “If I Was a Rich Man,” Fiddler on the Roof
[36:50] “Midnight Rain” and “Satisfied,” Hamilton
 
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
 
Follow us on social! 
TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
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Link Tree →linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts
Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
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.

E20: Deep Dive - Mastermind

None of it was accidental. This week we’re going deep into Midnights favorite “Mastermind.” After looking at this Taylor Swift song from the perspective of satire in our previous episode, we take another look to examine what Taylor is actually “mastermind”-ing. Is it a relationship? Or is it a nod to her many (many) easter eggs she leaves her fans? Maansi explores how Taylor weaves strategic language into the lyrics to reclaim the idea that she’s “calculating.” Jodi finds connections to The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and Greek mythology to bring this to an AP-level conversation. And Jenn shares more context about why “all the wisest women had to do it this way,” has deep roots in literature and history. Join us as we unpack this cryptic and potentially Machiavellian song!
Mentioned in this episode: 
TIME Magazine December 7, 1981 “Crazy Over Cats” 
TIME Magazine Person of the Year 2023
Phantom Thread
Mythology, Edith Hamilton 
The Odyssey, Homer, Emily Wilson translation  
Oedipus Rex, Sophocles  
Guys and Dolls
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen 
Hamilton 
Founding Mothers, Cokie Roberts
RBG 
Jackie
The Voices of Neims, Suzannah Lipscomb 
Matilda, Roald Dahl  
Harry Potter, JK Rowling  
Broadway Sings
Mean Girls 
The Woman in Me, Britney Spears
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
I Care A Lot
 
Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
***
 
Episode Highlights: 
[02:23] “And now you’re mine” - WHO?
[05:05] Mastermind: Benji’s Vision 
[10:00] “The planets, and the fates…” Greek mythology 
[16:26] “We were born to the the pawn in every lover’s game”
[26:44] “I’ve been scheming like a criminal ever since” The Bridge!
[33:40] “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian cause I care” 
[43:31] “Check Mate: I couldn’t lose” 
[47:23] What is the purpose of this song?
Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
Follow us on social! 
TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift
YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift
Link Tree →linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
Bookshop.org → bookshop.org/shop/apts
Libro.fm → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI
 
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 akaScotty Z.