In this episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Uncle Jerry and Angela dissect Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve from Taylor Swift’s 2022 album Midnights. They briefly discuss their own church connections, explore the various religious imagery and references used throughout the song, and come to understand that they relate to the song in similar but different ways.

Uncle Jerry grades the song and brings in some poetry by Elizabeth Barrett Browning to round out his thoughts on the sadness of the track.

Works Cited:

Rhetorical Theory and Practice

Immortal Technique – Dance with the Devil

Love Story (1970 film)

Sonnets from the Portuguese – Elizabeth Barrett Browning – Affiliate Link

Les Miserables – Victor Hugo, Christine Donogher – Aff Link

The Legend of Rose Latulipe

Uncle Jerry and Angela tackle Taylor Swift’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?’ in the second episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar. Uncle Jerry talks about his journey from hate to appreciation of this track, he introduces the concept of Monstrous Femininity, and they talk about the cultural image of the witch throughout history.

Angela gives a (not so) brief look into her role as a Swiftie, and they watch and discuss both the lyric video and the Eras Tour performance of this TTPD track.

Works Cited:

Allen Ginsberg – Howl

Thomas Chatterton

Chatterton – Painting by Henry Wallis

Dylan Thomas – Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Bohemian Coffee

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Snoweylily – Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee – Affiliate Link

The Monstrous-Feminine – Barbara Creed – Affiliate Link

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? – Official Lyric Video

WAOLOM Performance – Eras Tour – 5/9/2024

Sounds Like a Cult – The Cult of Taylor Swift

In the debut episode of The Swiftie and The Scholar, Angela McDow, the Swiftie, and her uncle Dr. Jerry Coats, the Scholar, dig into My Tears Ricochet, the fifth track from Taylor Swift's Folklore album.

They discuss the different folklore elements that Taylor uses in the song, the prevailing fan theory on the song's inspiration, and Uncle Jerry watches his first Eras Tour performance.

Works Cited:

The White Lady in Folklore

Morphology of the Folktale – V. Propp – Affiliate Link

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (A-K) – Stith Thompson – Aff Link

Motif-Index of Folk-Literature; Volume 6.1 Index (L-Z) - Stith Thompson – Aff Link

From the Beast to The Blonde – Marina Wariner

The Uses of Enchantment – Bruno Bettelheim – Aff Link

Yvonne Jocks - Goodreads

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