AP Taylor Swift

"Dear Reader, If it feels like a trap, you're already in one." This week we're kicking off Season 4 by looking at Taylor Swift's lyrics through reader-response theory. The framework, pioneered by Stanley Fish, argues meaning isn't fixed in a text but created in the act of reading—or in our case, listening! Jodi digs into "Forever and Always" (Fearless, 2008), Maansi takes on "Peace" (folklore, 2020), and Jenn closes it out with "Dear Reader" (Midnights, 2022) — a song that's basically begging for this exact analysis. Listen and learn why Swifties are the epitome of an interpretive community.

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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

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

Mentioned in this episode:

Stanley Fish & Reader Response Theory

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Miss Americana

Fearless Album Deep Dive (After School paid preview) — Substack version

"The Odyssey" and Taylor Swift's Songs | AP Taylor Swift E

Episode Highlights:

[01:12] What is reader-response theory?

[09:50] "Forever and Always"

[22:35] "Peace"

[32:37] "Dear Reader"

 

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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.

“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

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

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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.