Thanks so much to those of you who have listened to and supported this podcast! I am so excited to announce that my book, Dear Reader: Taylor Swift and the Idea of English Literature, will be published by Hutchinson Heinemann in 2026.
You can find the press release here: https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/hutchinson-heinemann-exclusively-pre-empts-academic-clio-doyles-celebration-of-taylor-swift-lyrics
Meanwhile, I’m coming across all sorts of interesting ideas, having some weird ideas of my own, and generally marinating in Swift content. Hence… the newsletter!
I’m planning to round up my favorite Taylor-Swift-related (and some broader literature-related) reading and thinking every two weeks. You can expect: links to articles, including anything I publish, close readings of songs, updates on my teaching and book, reactions to Swift’s new releases, and anything else I think might be of interest. So please do subscribe if you want to go on this journey with me!
You can subscribe here: https://cliodoyle.substack.com/subscribe
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio and Meredith discuss sound studies and what it can tell us about the work of Taylor Swift.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Is Taylor Swift the new TS Eliot?
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
What does Stephen Sondheim have to do with Taylor Swift?
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
In this podcast's heart is a Christmas tree farm where the people would come and cite Kierkegaard.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio compares the short film of "All Too Well" to Citizen Kane, talks about the symbolism of hands, and makes some predictions about the year 2023.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio and Meredith discuss the page as matter and metaphor.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Don't read the last page, but Clio discusses the refusal of endings in Taylor Swift's "New Year's Day."
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Old episode, brand new phone. Clio talks about vintage clothing and millennial angst.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio revises her opinion of "All Too Well," at length, with only one minor passing mention of John Milton's Paradise Lost.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix. You can send questions or comments to studiesintaylorswift@gmail.com.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
This reissue of episode four of the podcast lingers like a tattoo kiss because it knew everything when it was young. Clio reads nostalgia in a whole lot of Taylor Swift's songs including "Haunted," "Style," "cardigan," "The Best Day," "seven," and "Wildest Dreams."
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Did this podcast used to be about... Olivia Rodrigo? That's uncanny. I could have sworn it was about Taylor Swift. Just kidding, deep down it was always about Freud.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio goes back to the stone every day to talk about the ecofeminist reading of "ivy" - the song, the plant, and everything in between.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio walks down Cornelia Street (again) and talks about street closures and traffic in relation to Taylor Swift's 2019 album Lover and the covid pandemic.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
Clio asks whether Taylor Swift has a style - and what is style - and should this podcast be renamed "Roland Barthes Reads Taylor Swift?"
Instead of getting bogged down in all these questions, Clio runs Taylor Swift songs through the textual analysis tool Voyant.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
This is a reissue of episode two of Studies in Taylor Swift, on Bakhtinian heteroglossia in Taylor Swift's "Love Story."
Do you bite your thumb at us, sir? Baby, just say yes.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
*This is an episode from the first three seasons of Studies in Taylor Swift, which ran from 2021-22. Although the entire podcast is no longer available, selected episodes will be regularly reissued.*
This is a reissue of the first ever episode of Studies in Taylor Swift, on the song "the lakes" from Swift's album folklore, read through the lens of (who else?) Roland Barthes.
If you're a real fan you've already heard this episode. But hey, maybe you're nostalgic for the good old days of the podcast, or the good old days when you could go die by a lake without anyone taking your picture (like Wordsworth, lol). Or the good old days when you could say that academics don't take Taylor Swift seriously? How young we all were.
Studies in Taylor Swift is produced and edited by Clio Doyle. Cover art is by Finley Doyle. Music is by Audionautix.
In this episode, the final episode of the podcast - for now! - Clio close-reads the song "Maroon" and its reflections on blood, wine, loneliness, haze, and talent.
Please take a moment to fill in this short questionnaire to help measure the podcast's impact: https://forms.gle/Fx6J3KX7iTcaNCTw9.
Clio has a PhD in English and uses it to interpret the songs of Taylor Swift. You can listen to her current podcast, Clio/Mireille: A Fan Fiction Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
Music is by Audionautix.