Best Stephanie Burt Podcasts (2024)

1
Southern Fork Sustenance: Talking Cookbooks and Editor Judith Jones with Author Sara Franklin 36:17

1h ago36:17

36:17

Over more than half a century as an editor at Knopf, Judith Jones became a legend, nurturing future literary icons such as Sylvia Plath, Anne Tyler, and John Updike. But although I was an English major, I first learned of Judith Jones years later, when I realized that Edna Lewis, M.F.K. Fisher, Claudia Roden, Madhur Jaffrey, James Beard, and, most …

1
Rollen Chalmers: Rollens Raw Grains (Levy, SC) 40:52

5d ago40:52

40:52

Rice was South Carolina’s first great agricultural staple. Before the American Revolution, it had already made South Carolina the richest of the 13 original colonies, and Charleston one of the richest cities in the world. But it did so on the backs of enslaved skilled laborers, most of whom had been kidnapped from the rice growing regions of West A…

1
Shaun Brian Sells: Cudaco (James Island, SC) 41:37

13d ago41:37

41:37

Shaun Brian Sells started life in a two-person tent surrounded by plantation ruins in the flats of Coral Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands. It was in that environment where his love for cooking began– by roaming and foraging through the valley, fishing off his dad’s sailboat and cooking for up to eight siblings at a time. Those challenges became the…

1
94. The Muses: Matty Healy (Part 1: The Timeline) 1:58:20

14d ago1:58:20

1:58:20

It’s finally here. In today’s electric season finale, which serves as the longest informative episode of Taylearning released to date, your hosts cover a comprehensive timeline of the torrid & sordid relationship between Taylor Swift and Matty Healy. After scouring the internet, cross-referencing multiple timelines, and reaching out to personal con…

1
Adrian Lipscombe: Chef, 40 Acres Project (Austin, TX) 38:23

20d ago38:23

38:23

Adrian Lipscombe is a native Texan, a chef, an urban planner, and a civic activist, though she prefers the term catalyst. In 2016, she moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin and opened Uptowne Café, a gathering place and a space for her to explore the synergy behind her Southern upbringing, Midwest ingredients and African American culinary history. In 2020,…

1
93. Mental Cages: Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? 1:06:00

22d ago1:06:00

1:06:00

Who’s afraid of little old Taylor? Well, she tells us that we should be. In today’s penultimate episode of Season 3, Olivia & Dani revisit the Mental Cages series to dissect Track 10 from ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ This song, which is performed immaculately on The Eras Tour 2.0, is a personal and confessional look into how growing up famous/c…

1
Juan Cassalett: Malagón Mercado y Tapería (Charleston, SC) 33:50

27d ago33:50

33:50

Although Charleston, SC, has changed a lot, it is still one of the cities in the US with a decidedly European feel. Many parts of it are very walkable, there are cobblestone alleyways and al fresco dining, and lingering over a meal is absolutely encouraged. One of the best places to linger this time of year -- or anytime really -- is Malagón Mercad…

1
92. Dear Taylistener: Finding a Place in this World - How to Process Moving Somewhere New 53:37

29d ago53:37

53:37

Have you ever felt scared to take a massive leap of faith? Because that’s what we talk about in today’s ‘Dear Taylistener’ episode! This miniseries is our version of an advice column, where we intake stories from you - the Taylisteners - and give advice through Taylor Swift songs. Today’s submission is all about the fear, loneliness, excitement, an…

1
Wes Eason: Sunburst Trout Farms (Waynesville, NC) 30:41

1M ago30:41

30:41

On a cool, misty morning when the trees were bright green with their first flush of leaves, I rounded a corner on Route 215 in the NC Mountains and arrived at one of Sunburst Trout’s rainbow trout farms. Pristine water flowed continuously into multiple holding ponds, which held different sizes of trout with plenty of room to move around and swim. H…

1
91. Taylor & Her World: Talking Taylor with Stephanie Burt, Professor of the Swiftie Harvard Class 1:18:47

1M ago1:18:47

1:18:47

This week, your Harvard education continues as Stephanie Burt joins your hosts in talking through many Taylor topics! Stephanie, the professor of the viral Taylor Swift class at Harvard University, takes the time to talk about what it’s like to teach about Taylor, thoughts on ‘The Tortured Poets Department,” and we finally touch on a subject many o…

1
Dave Smoke McCluskey: Corn Mafia (Augusta, GA) 34:37

1M ago34:37

34:37

Chef Dave “Smoke” McCluskey, an official member of the Mohawk nation, has spent more than 30 years in the culinary industry, in everything from fine dining kitchens to catering gigs to even organizing and hosting boucheries. Those are traditional gatherings centered around communal hog butchering that also offer a space to celebrate local foodways,…

1
90. How to Become Famous: A Look into Taylor's Fame ft. Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein 52:39

1M ago52:39

52:39

Taylisteners, welcome to our first Harvard class! In today’s episode, prolific and iconic legal scholar/Harvard Law professor Cass Sunstein joins your hosts to talk about his new book, “How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be.” This book, released this week, covers the magic and madness of how peop…

1
William Dissen: The Market Place (Asheville, NC) 41:43

2M ago41:43

41:43

Passion for your work can give you energy to do more than you ever dreamed you’d have time for. That’s the case for William Dissen, chef of The Market Place in Asheville, NC, which this year, its 45th in operation, was named a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. William began honing his skills through study at the…

1
89. State of Swift: What Went Down in Paris 44:29

2M ago44:29

44:29

What if we told you she’s back…with a whole new version of The Eras Tour?! Well, kinda. Over this past weekend in Paris, Taylor debuted a revised version of the tour we’ve come to know over the past 14 months. Between cutting tracks, adding a Tortured Poets Department set, 23 new outfits, and a Tayvis PDA showcase in the City of Love(r), we had to …

1
Huda Fakhreddine on Hiba Abu Nada ("Pull Yourself Together") 1:30:30

2M ago1:30:30

1:30:30

What can a poem do in the face of calamity? This was an extraordinary conversation. Huda Fakhreddine joins the podcast to discuss "Pull Yourself Together," a poem that Huda has translated into English and that was written by the Palestinian poet, novelist, and educator Hiba Abu Nada. Hiba was killed by an Israeli airstrike in her home in the Gaza S…

1
Jael Skeffington: French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC) 39:23

2M ago39:23

39:23

Jael Skeffington is the co-founder and CEO of French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC. What started in 2006 as a chocolate passion and a cafe in Costa Rica with her partner Dan, has grown to 85 employees, a Chocolate Lounge & Boutique in downtown Asheville, and an experiential Chocolate Factory & Cafe. French Broad sources the finest cacao from fa…

1
88. EXTRA CREDIT: The Beef Between Kendrick and Drake (& Where Does Taylor Fit In?) 16:22

2M ago16:22

16:22

Attention rap fans: do you now understand why Swifties are obsessed with analyzing Taylor's songs for tea? In today's extra credit episode, Dani walks you through the ongoing 'KenDrake' rap battle. Why, you ask? Because Taylor and her Swifties are somehow a part of the narrative, so it's probably important to understand what's going on. Hop in for …

1
Philippe Feret: Hilton Head Social Bakery (Hilton Head Island, SC) 36:00

2M ago36:00

36:00

Do you ever consider going to Hilton Head Island, SC for a fresh-out-of-the-oven French baguette or a raspberry tart that’s perhaps gilded with gold flakes and filled with lemon curd? Maybe not, but you might want to reconsider because Hilton Head Social Bakery, with two locations on the island, has been baking that and much more since Chef Philipp…

1
87. 'The Tortured Poets Department' Album Review + Our Officially Unofficial Album Rankings 1:06:27

2M ago1:06:27

1:06:27

Almost two weeks has passed since TTPD entered the Taylorverse. Is that enough time to pass judgement on the album and rank the tracks? Confidently, no, it is not...but we are going to try! In today's episode, Dani & Olivia talk criticisms, praises, and reactions to the album. Additionally, they rank each track in order of least to most favorite. S…

1
Librarians with Lattes: Stephanie Burt Interview 50:57

2M ago50:57

50:57

In this episode of Librarians with Lattes, we're joined by returning guest Melody Palmer, library ambassador, and newcomer Stephanie Burt, Professor of English at Harvard University and author of We Are Mermaids: Poems. Tune in as we chat about transgender identity, D&D, poetry, Taylor Swift, and more! *This interview was recorded in March 2024* Mu…

1
Southern Fork Sustenance: Talking "Why Wine?" with Author and Editor Ray Isle 32:17

2M ago32:17

32:17

Despite the bio I’m about to share, I think Ray Isle is one of the least pretentious people in the wine world today. He grew up in Houston, and he learned to see wine as an adventure, an adventure that’s taken him all around the world. Ray is the longtime executive wine editor for Food & Wine as well as the wine and spirits editor for Travel + Leis…

1
86. Honest First Impressions of 'The Tortured Poets Department' 54:26

2M ago54:26

54:26

All’s fair in love and poetry. But you know what’s NOT fair? Trying to quickly process a 31 song album, half of which was a surprise in the first place. In today’s episode, your hosts give their first impressions on each of the tracks and on the album as a whole. Together, they work through the good, bad, and ugly of TTPD to tell you what initially…

1
Robbie Robinson: City Limits BBQ (West Columbia, SC) 34:51

3M ago34:51

34:51

Augusta Road in West Columbia, SC, isn’t a storybook setting. Strip malls are lined up down the road, flanking a Wal-Mart and a sprawling old school U Haul campus. But just keep going and turn off the road at the Aldi and there’s a summer camp style building tucked in some trees and a modest BBQ sign. That’s when you know you’ve reached the city li…

1
85. Your Unofficial 'The Tortured Poets Department' Pregame 56:23

3M ago56:23

56:23

THIS IS IT. We have entered TTPD week! In less than two days, we all will hear ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ for the first time. And the second time, and the third time….because let’s be real, we will all be binge listening to it over and over again! To keep up with our traditions, your hosts spend this episode speculating on what each of the 20 …

1
Dayna Lee: Comal 864 (Greenville, SC) 35:35

3M ago35:35

35:35

According to Saveur magazine, Border Food is defined as Mexican food with a distinct identity —influenced by the cooking of Chihuahua and Texas, but with a number of little twists. Because Texas is so large and diverse, it’s a more nuanced label than the overarching Tex-Mex, and one surprising spot that it is celebrating with abandon is in Greenvil…

1
84. Mental Cages: Mastermind 50:16

3M ago50:16

50:16

What if Taylor Swift told us she was a mastermind? Well, she did! “Mastermind”, track 13 from ‘Midnights’, is a confessional track about how Taylor plays her life like chess: every move and countermove is intricately planned to get the result she desires. However, living life this way has proven to be draining for the pop star…if it’s true. She osc…

1
Nikko Cagalanan: Kultura (Charleston, SC) 36:11

3M ago36:11

36:11

Chef Nikko Cagalanan was born and raised in the Philippines. After immigrating to the states in 2011 and working as a nurse, he found himself inspired to pursue cooking with the desire to share his passion for Filipino food. He moved to Charleston, SC in 2018 and began Mansueta’s, a series of pop-ups in the city and the region that helped him hone …

1
83. Is Taylor Swift the 'Anti-Hero' of the Climate? A Deep Dive into Taylor's Carbon Emissions 1:07:04

3M ago1:07:04

1:07:04

Taylor Swift has mostly managed to dodge major controversy since her rise to fame 18 years ago. However, there is one topic that seems to haunt her: carbon emissions. In today’s episode, Dani & Olivia do a deep dive into Taylor’s carbon output. They aim to answer some questions: Why is high carbon output dangerous? How did Taylor become the poster …

1
82. Tipsy Swifties: Stand Back WASTED With Us- It's Misheard Lyrics Time! 1:10:27

3M ago1:10:27

1:10:27

What better way to come back from a midseason break than with a drunk episode? How about a highly requested episode? How about BOTH? In today’s chaotic third installment of the Tipsy Swifties, join Olivia, Dani, and Rebecca as they play a drinking game using misheard lyrics that YOU submitted! Taylor is not always the best at enunciating, and somet…

1
Emily Wilson on Sappho ("Ode to Aphrodite") 1:27:15

3M ago1:27:15

1:27:15

This is the kind of conversation I dreamed about having when I began this podcast. Emily Wilson joins Close Readings to talk about Sappho's "Ode to Aphrodite," a poet and poem at the root of the lyric tradition in European poetry. You'll hear Emily read the poem in the Ancient Greek and then again in Anne Carson's English translation. We talk about…

1
Robert Volpicelli on W. H. Auden ("In Memory of W. B. Yeats") 1:52:26

4M ago1:52:26

1:52:26

"Poetry," according to this episode's poem, "makes nothing happen." But as our guest, Robert Volpicelli, makes clear, that poem, W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats," offers that statement not as diminishment of poetry but instead as a way of valuing it for the right reasons. Robert Volpicelli is an associate professor of English at Randolph-Ma…

1
81. Remaining Relevant 105: Castles Crumbling 50:34

4M ago50:34

50:34

It's time for a throwback, Taylisteners! Our first ever mini series from Season 1, Remaining Relevant, is all about Taylor's songs that dive into her anxiety about staying famous. When 'Castles Crumbling' was released on Speak Now TV, it became apparent we needing to reopen our own vault to break this song down. Why did Taylor feel like her castle …

1
80. Can You Make a Career out of Being a Swiftie? ft. Bryan West of USA Today 33:35

4M ago33:35

33:35

To answer the question the title of this episode poses: yes, you CAN make a career out of being a Swiftie! To elaborate on this further, we brought in backup. 2x Emmy winner and acclaimed journalist Bryan West, the dedicated Taylor Swift reporter for USA Today, joins Olivia & Dani in today's conversation. Together, they talk through the life of a T…

1
Margaret Ronda on Walt Whitman ("This Compost") 1:49:36

4M ago1:49:36

1:49:36

How does life grow from death? When we taste a fruit, are we, in some sense, ingesting everything the soil contains? Margaret Ronda joins the podcast to discuss a poem that poses these questions in harrowing ways, Walt Whitman's "This Compost." [A note on the recording: from 01:10:11 - 01:12:59, Margaret briefly loses her internet connection and I …

1
79. How Taylor Swift Influenced the Chiefs Super Bowl Victory 1:02:59

5M ago1:02:59

1:02:59

Crazy to think that in her rookie season, Taylor Swift went to the Super Bowl and snagged a victory! Ha, we are kidding of course. While it is fun to think that Taylor had something to do with the Kansas City Chiefs being this year's Super Bowl victors, maybe it is just luck! Or teamwork from the Chiefs. Or maybe, it's ~TayVoodoo~. In this episode,…

1
Librarians with Lattes - LACLI Repository 41:08

5M ago41:08

41:08

Amanda is joined by returning guests, Emily Kilcer, Scholarly Communications Librarian, and Jesús Alonso-Regalado, Subject Librarian for History, Latin American Studies, & Romance Languages, to discussion on LACLI (Latin American, Caribbean, U.S. Latinx, and Iberian Free Online Resources) and open access. *This episode was recorded in November 2023…

1
Michelle A. Taylor on Patricia Lockwood ("The Ode on Grecian Urn") 1:56:45

5M ago1:56:45

1:56:45

What is a poem worth? What does beauty do to the person who wants it, or to the person who makes it? Michelle A. Taylor joins the pod to talk about Patricia Lockwood's poem "The Ode on a Grecian Urn," a wild and funny and ultimately quite moving poem (which is also, obviously, a riff on Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"). Michelle A. Taylor is a Postd…

1
78. Fantasy Football (Taylor's Version) - Round 4: Lover 38:53

5M ago38:53

38:53

In honor of this very happy Valentine's Day, your hosts have opted to take a special fan request and draft Lover! Lover, which came out in 2019, has always had a divisive nature amongst Swifties, with many people loathing it and many people loving it. Today, Olivia & Dani work through their own feelings about the album as they pick and choose their…

1
Sylvie Thode on Tim Dlugos ("The Far West") 1:32:58

5M ago1:32:58

1:32:58

How might a poem map the passage from life to death? Sylvie Thode joins the podcast to talk about a fascinating poem by Tim Dlugos, "The Far West." Sylvie is a graduate student in English at UC Berkeley, where she works on poetry and poetics, with particular interest in the poetry of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Though that focus roots her in the 20th cent…

1
77. State of Swift: Chiefs Game PDA from the Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department 1:08:52

5M ago1:08:52

1:08:52

This episode has a crazy title to match the crazy couple of weeks we have experienced in the Swiftie world! Taylor Swift's leading man, Travis Kelce, helped lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl game in five years...and our favorite couple engaged in some saccharine PDA to celebrate! The following weekend, Taylor not only made Gram…

1
Marisa Galvez on William IX ("The Song of Nothing") 1:03:44

5M ago1:03:44

1:03:44

For the first time in the run of this podcast (though certainly not the last!) today we have a poem in translation. Marisa Galvez joins Close Readings to discuss "The Song of Nothing," a poem by the first attested troubadour, William IX. The poem is something like 900 years old, and Marisa helps us see both its strangeness and the sense in which it…

1
76. A Look Into "Fan Favorites": Yours, Mine, & Our Top 3 Songs on Each Album 59:19

5M ago59:19

59:19

For every single Taylor Swift song, there is someone out there that would defend it to their grave. But, as we know, some songs receive more flowers than others when it comes to love from fans. In today's opinion-based episode, Dani & Olivia chat through their "Big 3" from each album, as well as tackling the favorites from around ~8,000 polled Swif…

1
A Special Episode from The One Recipe: Toni Tipton-Martin’s Recipe for Blackberry-Ginger Bourbon Smash 18:11

5M ago18:11

18:11

Hi y’all, It’s Stephanie, I’m excited to share with you another podcast you should check out through this episode of The One Recipe from APM Studios. On The Southern Fork I've talked to a lot of people about their food and their recipes. Pretty much everyone who cooks aspires to have a clutch of recipes they can make their own. The ones that we sen…

1
75. Taylearning (University Version) - A Degree in Swiftology? 48:50

5M ago48:50

48:50

Okay Taylisteners, are you ready to go back to college with us? In today's fun episode, your hosts tackle the newest collegiate trend: Taylor Swift-themed classes! Of course, you can't really get an education solely in Taylor Swift (unless you listen to us every week), but you can use Taylor as a vessel to learn about a variety of topics, from psyc…

1
Stephanie Burt on Allan Peterson ("I thought all life came from the alphabet") 1:23:01

5M ago1:23:01

1:23:01

Very few scholars have as much enthusiasm for poetry as Stephanie Burt, and so it was a delight to have her back for this episode. Steph has been in the news of late for offering a (very popular) course at Harvard on Taylor Swift, and we begin this episode by talking in fascinating ways about the long history of the relation between popular music a…

1
74. Mental Cages: Peace 59:01

6M ago59:01

59:01

"Would it be enough if she could never give him peace?" That's what Taylor laments throughout 'Peace,' a gutting track from 2020's Folklore. There is much to be anxious about in a relationship, especially for Taylor Swift. Is what she can give to someone worth the things she cannot? Is a lack of peace a deal breaker? What can we learn from this son…

1
Paul Fry on William Wordsworth ("A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal") 1:31:17

6M ago1:31:17

1:31:17

Some of the most profound insights I have ever had as a student of poetry occurred in the classroom of Paul Fry, and so this episode really is a dream for me. Paul Fry joins the podcast to talk about William Wordsworth's poem "A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal." Just an eight-line poem, but it opens for us into some big questions: Where does Wordsworth …

1
73. Taylor Swift's 2023 Year in Review (+ 2024 Taylor Predictions!) 46:41

6M ago46:41

46:41

There's no doubt about it: 2023 was the biggest year in Taylor's career so far! With more awards than ever before, more public appearances than we've had in the previous six years combined, even more records broken...Taylor was at the top of her game last year. To honor that, today's episode is a 'Taylor Wrapped' of sorts; a highlight reel from the…

1
Keegan Cook Finberg on Harryette Mullen ("Dim Lady") 1:32:35

6M ago1:32:35

1:32:35

What kind of love do we find in comparison? Keegan Cook FInberg joins the podcast to discuss Harryette Mullen's poem "Dim Lady," which is simultaneously a love poem and a (perhaps?) loving tribute to Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 (itself a love poem and parody). Keegan is an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.…

1
72. I Think You Should 'Speak Now': A World Tour Review 52:08

6M ago52:08

52:08

Happy New Year! As we enter the new year, we noticed it's been a couple of months without The Eras Tour, and your hosts are in withdrawal. To hold us over until Taylor hits the stage again, we revisited the Speak Now World Tour, which took place from 2011-2012. Go back in time with us as we talk through the set list, reception, and impact of this n…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Stephanie Burt Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide