“Fatefully, I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me” This week, we're diving into the timeless influence of Greek mythology in Taylor Swift's music by exploring connections between Taylor's songs and classic Greek myths. Jodi finds links between Demeter and Persephone’s sorrow in The Hymn to Demeter and the Folklore song "My Tears Ricochet.” Maansi shows us how "Long Story Short” sounds like Odysseus recounting his epic journey as he returns home. And Jenn gets into the ancient story of the Labyrinth and how it reflects themes of self-discovery and transformation in "Labyrinth." Is Taylor Swift a modern-day Homer? Listen and find out!

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Mentioned in this episode:

Mythology, Edith Hamilton

The Iliad, Homer

The Odyssey, Homer

Metamorphoses, Ovid

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

E44: Metaphors + “The Tortured Poets Department”

E22: Mastermind

Homeric Hymns

The Hymn to Demeter

Hadestown (musical)

Hercules (Disney animated film)

E54: One Year Anniversary of AP Taylor Swift

Circe, Madeline Miller

Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Stephen Fry’s Mythos, Heroes, and Troy

Episode Highlights:

Introduction to Greek Mythology "my tears ricochet" folklore "long story short" evermore "Labyrinth" Midnights

Follow us!

• TikTok → tiktok.com/@APTaylorSwift
• Instagram → instagram.com/APTaylorSwift
• YouTube → youtube.com/@APTaylorSwift
• Link Tree →linktr.ee/aptaylorswift
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• Libro.fm → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals - krownedkrystals.com use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm - Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here tinyurl.com/aptslibro

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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.

“And I was catching my breath, barefoot in the wildest winter…” What happens when a 21st-century American poet meets a 19th-century one? In this Show & Tell episode, we explore the literary lineage between Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson. Each of us brings a favorite Dickinson poem paired with a Swift song that touch on shared motifs such as separation, isolation, and hope. Tune in to find out which modern-day Taylor tracks sound like 19th-century poetry—and why we think Emily might vibe with Evermore.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

The Letters of Emily Dickinson

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Hope is the Thing with Feathers

They Put Us Far Apart (Poem 474)

It Was Not Death, for I Stood Up (Poem 355)

Message in a Bottle – Taylor Swift

Evermore – Taylor Swift Karma – Taylor Swift Beauty and the Beast (live-action & Broadway versions) Hamilton

Taylor Swift by the Book Ancestry.com – Taylor & Emily’s distant cousin connection Emily Dickinson Museum Tikvah (Hebrew word for hope)

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Episode Highlights:

[6:26] “Message in a Bottle” + they put us far apart

[16:03] “Evermore” + It was not death, for I stood up

[29:31] “Karma” + Hope is a thing with feathers

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals - krownedkrystals.com use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm - Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here tinyurl.com/aptslibro

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.

"Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things..." In this deep dive episode, we dissect one of Taylor Swift's most iconic satirical masterpieces: "Blank Space" from 1989. Join us as we unpack the magic, madness, heaven, and sin of a song that dared to ask: what if we owned the narrative instead of fighting it?

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

• A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
• Pretty Little Liars (TV series)
• The Office (TV series)
• Wife of Bath from The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

Episode Highlights:

[04:29] Diving into “Blank Space”

[10:15] “New money, suit and tie” - character analysis

[17:27] Analyzing the chorus

[24:31] Shakespearean references

[30:50] “Cherry lips, crystal skies” vs. “stolen kisses, pretty lies”

[37:25] "I get drunk on jealousy"

[40:44] Bridge analysis: "Boys only want love if it's torture"

[46:59] Getting into the purpose of “Blank Space”

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

"I'm only me when I'm with you" This week on AP Taylor Swift, we're diving into an AP Lit favorite: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813). We trace Elizabeth and Jane Bennet's unshakeable sisterhood through "I'm Only Me When I'm With You," relive Darcy's catastrophically bad proposal through "Haunted," and land on "Lavender Haze" for a look at gossip, reputation, and what it means to fall in love in a world where marriage is a woman's only real option. Along the way: the literary canon, Regency courtship logistics, Bridgerton comparisons, and a debate about whether Elizabeth would be a Hinge girl.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Songs Discussed

"I'm Only Me When I'm With You"

Taylor Swift, Track 12 (2006)

Written by: Taylor Swift, Robert Ellis Orrall, Angelo Petraglia

"Haunted"

Speak Now (2010) / Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023)

Written by: Taylor Swift

"Lavender Haze"

Midnights, Track 1 (2022)

Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, Jahaan Sweet, Mark "Sounwave" Spears, Sam Dew, Zoë Kravitz

Episode Highlights

[01:01] Setting the scene: Pride and Prejudice, published 1813, and "a truth universally acknowledged"

[06:48] "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" — Jenn's pick and the case for Jane and Elizabeth as the book's real love story

[30:36] "Haunted" — Maansi's pick, staged around the infamous first proposal

[48:24] "Lavender Haze" — Jodi's pick, tied to the novel's opening line about marriage

Mentioned in this episode:

Books

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen — Bookshop.org

Emma, Jane Austen — Bookshop.org

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë — Bookshop.org

Pride & Prejudice (2005) — JustWatch

Bridgerton — JustWatch

& Juliet (musical) — Official site

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → use code APTS30 — libro.fm

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

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.

"It's nice to believe, when you think Tim McGraw." This week on AP Taylor Swift, we're going line-by-line through Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw" (debut, 2006) — her very first single. We trace a Chevy truck down some back roads, argue about whether "that's a lie" means something different by the end of the song than it did at the beginning, float (and mostly reject) a death theory, and land on why a 16-year-old writing about one summer might be one of the most quietly ambitious songwriting choices of her career.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates.

Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: http://aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: https://aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

• Anita de Monte Laughs Last, Xóchitl González — https://bookshop.org/p/books/anita-de-monte-laughs-last-xochitl-gonzalez/19987600
• The Last Song (2010) — https://reelgood.com/movie/the-last-song-2010
• Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) — https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/hannah-montana-the-movie
• To All the Boys I've Loved Before — https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before
• The Summer I Turned Pretty — https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/the-summer-i-turned-pretty
• Dirty Dancing (1987) — https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/danse-lascive
• Grease (1978) — https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/grease

Episode Highlights:

[03:38] "He said the way my blue eyes shined put those Georgia stars to shame that night. I said, that's a lie."

[05:43] "Just a boy in a Chevy truck"

[08:01] "I was right there beside him all summer long"

[10:46] "When you think Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song"

[11:35] "When you think happiness, I hope you think that little black dress"

[15:58] "September saw a month of tears"

[19:25] "In a box beneath my bed is a letter that you've never read from three summers back"

[33:55] Purpose of the song

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

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.

“Why you gotta be so mean?” In this week’s episode of AP Taylor Swift, we put “Mean” (Speak Now), “nothing new” (Red, Taylor’s Version), and “mirrorball” (folklore) under the lens of feminist literary theory. We talk about the male gaze, the ingenue, gendered violence imagery, the punishment of “unlikeable” women, and why a song written over a decade ago can still feel like it was written yesterday.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes.

Mentioned in this episode

• Middlemarch, George Eliot
• Unlikeable Female Characters: The Women Pop Culture Wants You to Hate, Anna Bogutskaya
• The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood
• Mean Girls (2004)
• Grease (1978)
• It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World, Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, San Diego State University

Episode Highlights

[00:23] Welcome to the Show & Tell — Women’s History Month and a primer on feminist literary theory

[04:59] “Mean” (Speak Now) — gendered weapon imagery and “you, with your words like knives and swords”

[20:37] “nothing new” (Red, Taylor’s Version) — false empowerment and “girls go out and have your fun”

[37:32] “mirrorball” (folklore) — adapting yourself for others’ approval

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 (code: APTS30) → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

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.

"I don't want to keep secrets just to keep you" This week on AP Taylor Swift, we're going line-by-line through Taylor Swift's "Cruel Summer" (Lover, 2019). This episode turns into a deep dive into fever dreams, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, attachment theory, and the surprising twist that the real red flag in this song might be Taylor herself.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: http://aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: https://aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Romeo and Juliet

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Attached

***

Episode Highlights:

[04:02] How we do a deep dive

[06:48] “Fever dream high in the quiet of the night”

[11:34] “Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes”

[13:20] “It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got”

[19:20] “Hang your head low in the glow of the vending machine”

[25:10] “Cut the headlights, summer’s a knife”

[29:47] “I’m drunk in the back of the car”

[34:15] “He looks up grinning like a devil”

[40:08] Purpose of the song

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

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.

"Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings" This is a re-air of one of our favorite episodes. We’re looking at the literary symbolism of summer — freedom, danger, nostalgia, and everything in between. Jenn breaks down "Cruel Summer" (Lover, 2019), Jodi covers "August" (folklore, 2020), and Maansi digs into "hits different" (Midnights, 2023). Along the way we bring in The Great Gatsby, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and more to unpack why summer shows up in literature as both a season of freedom and a season that can cut you to the bone.

Two ways to get more of AP Taylor Swift:

Substack: free subscribers get episode updates. Paid subscribers get After School: bonus episodes, our full written archive, and a vote in what we cover next.

• Subscribe: http://aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe
• First 50 people to grab a Substack After School annual plan get 40% off: https://aptaylorswift.substack.com/wishlistmemberdiscount

Apple Podcasts: paid subscribers get ad-free episodes, early episode access, and bonus episodes

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
• A Room with a View, E.M. Forster
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
• My Ántonia, Willa Cather
• A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle
• What Happened to Goodbye, Sarah Dessen
• "White Houses", Vanessa Carlton

Episode Highlights:

[02:30] Topic introduction — Summer in literature

[09:32] "Cruel Summer" (Lover, 2019)

[20:05] "August" (folklore, 2020)

[34:05] "hits different" (Midnights, 2023)

Follow AP Taylor Swift podcast 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 → tinyurl.com/aptslibro

Contact us at aptaylorswift@gmail.com

Affiliate Codes:

Krowned Krystals - krownedkrystals.com use code APTS at checkout for 10% off!

Libro.fm - Looking for an audiobook? Check out our Libro.fm playlist and use code APTS30 for 30% off books found here tinyurl.com/aptslibro

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.