S1E83: Will Taylor Swift win the Nobel Literature Prize someday?

One of our guests also shows us the brilliance of her lyrics by reading them out to us. What are your faves? Synopsis: Each month, The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene. American superstar Taylor Swift has dominated pop culture with her mega-successful Eras Tour, her historic fourth Grammy win for Album of the Year in 2024 and her fairytale-like romance with American football star Travis Kelce.  And she will soon be bringing her tour for a sold-out six-night show at National Stadium in Singapore from March 2-9. Ahead of her concert, #PopVultures host Jan Lee sits down for a throwback to her English-literature-student days. Joining her in this episode to explore Swift's multi-generational appeal, are Life correspondent and "Swiftie" Yamini Chinnuswamy, 15-year-old Gen-Z "Swiftie" Yvonne Inglin as well as Ravi Agarwal, a 51-year-old connoisseur of Swift's lyrics. Together, they discuss the literary value of her songs while Ravi also reads out the best of her lyrics. They analyse the appeal of her songs and how different songs reflect different periods in Swift's life.  They spotlight three of Swift's most famous songs from different eras of her career - Blank Space, Anti-Hero and All Too Well (10 Minute Version) - and talk about Swift's use of metaphors, rhymes and sentence structure. They also talk about their own impressions of these songs and why it fascinates and appeals to them. They also ponder the very important question: Is a Nobel Literature Prize in Swift's future?  Highlights (click/tap above): 3:30 Introduction and everyone's favourite Swift kitty - is it Olivia Benson, Meredith Grey or Benjamin Button? 7:00 Favourite songs 9:30 Dissecting Blank Space 16:40 Examining/Exploring Anti-Hero 26:20 Debating All Too Well (10 Minute Version) 35:30 Rapid-fire Swiftie questions for Yvonne & Ravi Watch the special video version of this episode on the new Straits Times’ Podcast YouTube channel, where Yamini has set up a mini-Taylor Swift shrine: https://str.sg/itdC Download ST's Taylor Swift 9-era infographic series in high-res PDF: https://str.sg/qQQU More of ST's Taylor Swift coverage here: https://str.sg/CJDx  Produced by: Jan Lee ([email protected]), Yamini Chinnuswamy ([email protected]), Amirul Karim and Eden Soh Video Producers: Joel Chng, T Kumar, Zeke Tan and Marc de Souza Edited by: Amirul Karim and Eden Soh Follow #PopVultures here every month:  Channel: https://str.sg/JWad Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaA Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaP  SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: [email protected] Follow Jan Lee on Instagram: https://str.sg/Jbxc Read Jan Lee's articles: https://str.sg/Jbxp Read Yamini Chinnuswamy's articles: https://str.sg/h4rH Follow Yamini Chinnuswamy on Instagram: https://str.sg/sVdB --- Discover more ST podcast channels: COE Watch: https://str.sg/iTtE In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad Music Lab: https://str.sg/w9TX Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts --- Special edition series: True Crimes Of Asia (6 eps): https://str.sg/i44T The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuZ2 Invisible Asia (9 eps): https://str.sg/wuZn Stop Scams (10 eps): https://str.sg/wuZB Singapore's War On Covid (5 eps): https://str.sg/wuJa --- Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #PVSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.