"You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset..." Welcome to Season 3 of AP Taylor Swift! What happens when we can't trust the person telling the story? In this week's Show & Tell episode, we explore the concept of unreliable narrators through three Taylor Swift songs that demonstrate how perspective shapes truth. From teenage crush confessions to post-breakup rants to defiant love declarations, we examine how Taylor uses narrative techniques that make us question what's really happening beneath the surface of these seemingly straightforward stories.
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Mentioned in this episode:
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
After Party (Apple TV+ series)
The Residence (Netflix)
How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
Episode Highlights:
[01:22] Introduction to Unreliable Narrators [08:47] "You Belong With Me" (Fearless, 2008) [19:55] "Mr. Perfectly Fine" (Fearless Taylor's Version, 2021) [26:15] "But Daddy I Love Him" (The Tortured Poets Department, 2024)
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Affiliate Codes:
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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.
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