There's no denying the popularity of Taylor Swift. Can't say the same about a somnolent English lit class. But a mashup of Tay Tay and Shakespeare? Now that's a "Fearless" idea.
So goes the rising popularity of a University of South Florida class treating pop songs as poetry and lyrics as literature. One of the instructors tells us how the course has the "Eyes Open" of students who have enrolled.
But before that, a USF security expert joins the show to discuss the risks, ripples and local effects of a possible U.S. military strike on Iran. What’s triggering the tension — nuclear ambitions, street protests or something deeper?
Iran out of time?
(0:00) Talks are still on tap. At the same time, the USS Gerald R. Ford is heading toward the Middle East to join the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group. Amid Washington’s “gunboat diplomacy,” we unpack the military buildup, President Trump’s demands, CENTCOM’s involvement and what a strike could mean at home.
GUEST:
- Arman Mahmoudian, research fellow at the Global & National Security
‘So High School’ in college
(21:03) Fans may think they know Taylor Swift “All Too Well,” but now there’s a USF class teaching critical analysis of her works. The instructors – all Swifties – started it to get students excited about literature. Is today’s pop icon tomorrow’s Jane Austen or Lord Byron?
GUEST:
- Jessica Cook, USF English literature professor
Art that rises through concrete
(36:09) In this 2025 interview for Black History Month, Studio@620 co-founder Bob Devin Jones explains why art is more than protest — it’s joy, refuge and resistance — and why creativity should be consumed daily.
More than a month – a mission!
(40:32) Speaking with WUSF in 2023, middle school teacher Larré Davis said Black history belongs in daily classroom conversations – not just February – reminding students that kings, queens and innovators shaped the world long before bondage in America.
‘Economic Empowerment Day’
(43:33) Candy Lowe started the Tampa Black Business Bus Tour 20 years ago as a way to support her tea shop and other businesses in Tampa. She said the tour not only exposes the participants to places they might not know about, but it also encourages them to spend money at each one.
