E98: Taylor Swift's Unreliable Narrators: When You Can't Trust the Story - You Belong With Me, Mr. Perfectly Fine, But Daddy I Love Him

AP Taylor Swift

"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

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon

Atonement, Ian McEwan

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

After Party (Apple TV+ series)

The Residence (Netflix)

How I Met Your Mother (TV series)

E32: Love Story Deep Dive

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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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.