I’m dying to see how this one ends. We talk about satire - what it is, how it’s different from parody or hyperbole, how Taylor uses it and why. Jodi starts with the quintessential satirical example from Taylor’s catalog - “Blank Space,” Jenn argues that Reputation is actually a satirical album, and Maansi makes a case for satire in “Mastermind.” Find out what witch hunts and chess have to do with it all. We acknowledge that satire is an intellectual form of comedy, which requires us to examine what Taylor is saying in a more nuanced way. Hear our first read interpretations, and then hunker down for the second read interpretations that unravel the threads of satire a bit to get to the heart of what she’s trying to say. Mentioned in this episode:  "Blank Space" 1989 "I did something bad" reputation "Mastermind" Midnights Oxford languages dictionary, Satire The Onion SNL Weird Al  Animal Farm, George Orwell Best in Show Scary Movies Hunger Games Weekend Update, SNL “A Modest Proposal” Jonathan Swift, 1729 Aristophenes English Professor Discusses Satire & Performs Rhetorical Analysis on Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” Witches, midwives, and nurses, Barbara Ehrenreich The Prince, Machiavelli The Art of War, Machiavelli Queen’s Gambit Looking for an audio book? Check out our Libro.fm playlist https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI *** Episode Highlights:  [00:38] What is satire and how is it different from Parody? [04:33] Jonathan Swift satire [07:33] Blank Space [20:28] I did something bad [32:28] Mastermind   Subscribe to get new episode updates: aptaylorswift.substack.com/subscribe   Follow us 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 → https://tidd.ly/47uhRVI 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.