How Taylor Swift is related to poet Emily Dickinson

Why Emily Dickinson's poetry remains popular in the 21st century

Dickinson remains widely read and is often considered one of American literature's greatest poets. This short documentary from PBS uses a 2017 museum exhibition on the writer to explore her long-lasting impact, with input from Barbara Howe, a contemporary poet, and Marta Werner, a Dickinson scholar.

In 'Life of a Showgirl,' Taylor Swift nods to Pre-Raphaelite muse Elizabeth Siddal

Born in 1829, Siddal was an artist and poet who would become immortalized when she modeled for John Everett Millais' 1852 painting 'Ophelia,' depicting the suicidal lover from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.' For years, Swift has alluded to Siddal as an exemplar of the sidelined female artist.

How Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman grappled with the American Civil War

Whitman, whose brother was injured while fighting for the Union, was often overt in his pro-Union poems. Dickinson, whose brother paid to have someone enlist under his name, was more subtle, though equally as affected, as this comparative analysis makes clear.

Taylor Swift helps drive fan engagement by filling her music with easter eggs

Taylor Swift is famous for incorporating Easter eggs—specifically, hidden messages and clues—in her music. Her music videos are often sprinkled with visual nods to her past, and fans pore over her lyrics for the cryptic messages they frequently contain.

A profile of Dickinson's ambiguous but close relationship with Susan Gilbert

Gilbert met Dickinson in 1850, and the two women quickly became very close, with Dickinson often pining for Gilbert in letters. In this essay, critic Maria Popova calls the relationship "beautiful, heartbreaking, unclassifiable," and details how it came to inspire Dickinson's writing, even after Gilbert married Dickinson's brother.

Taylor Swift was 16 when she released her debut album

When Taylor Swift released her first album, she was a little-known country singer-songwriter. A decade later, she was a world-famous pop superstar. In the first 10 years of Swift's career, her songwriting talent, savvy marketing, and engagement with fans helped propel her into stardom.

Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt were 5th cousins, once removed

This means the couple shared great-great-great-great-grandparents but from different generations of the same family line. Fifth cousins are considered distant relatives, with only a 10% to 15% chance of sharing detectable DNA.

Rockefeller heir Rebekah Harkness served as inspiration for Taylor Swift

In 2020, Taylor Swift wrote a song that highlighted her similarities to Rebekah Harkness, the former owner of Swift's Rhode Island beach house. Harkness filled the Rhode Island home's pool with champagne, courtesy of her late husband, a Standard Oil heir.

A comprehensive understanding of Taylor Swift

The podcast Every Single Album: Taylor Swift on The Ringer covers everything you need to know about Swift's vast and successful music career. From changes in her voice over the years to the popularity of her album re-recordings, the hosts of this show offer a comprehensive understanding of Taylor Swift's impact and her evolution over time.

Taylor Swift's feud with executive Scooter Braun

Braun, whom Swift said had a personal vendetta against her, purchased the rights to Swift's early music throguh his company.

Rhode Island plans to impose a ‘Taylor Swift tax’ on second homes

Starting in the summer of 2026, the state will impose a new property tax surcharge on second homes valued at, or over, $1M that aren’t used as primary residences. Some are calling it the “Taylor Swift tax,” given that Rhode Island is home to the pop star’s gargantuan historic beach house.

Read biographies of 3 generations of the Adams family

The Massachusetts Historical Society provides biographical profiles covering three generations of the Adams family—using its extensive archive of family papers and correspondence to trace one of the most notable dynasties in American political history.

Twain claimed to possess 'mental telegraphy'

In an 1891 essay, the writer claimed to possess psychic powers. It’s something that seemingly supported by his mother and his own death: Twain predicted he would die the day after Halley’s Comet returned in 1910, which did indeed happen.

Country music can be traced back to Colonial America

The genre begins with the folk music of the Colonial settlers, blending the area’s regional sounds, including gospel, African spirituals, and Anglo-Saxon, Scottish, and Celtic ballads.

What is transcendentalism?

The 19th-century movement, largely centered around the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson, believed that individuals needed to form transcendent connections with the universe. For many transcendentalist philosophers, writers, and religious figures, that meant seeking it in nature. This Stanford explainer on the philosophy digs deep into its major concepts and figureheads.

The US president who had the most children

John Tyler, America’s 10th president, was born in 1790, yet still has one living grandchild. This bizarre phenomenon can be explained by his 15 children, which he had throughout all stages of his adult life. Tyler had eight children with one wife and seven with another, leading him to hold the title as the US president with the most children. Tyler was also the first US president to get married while in office.

Read a list of people Elon Musk has been romantically involved with, including musician Grimes

Elon Musk shares six children with his ex-wife Justine Musk, who he was married to from 2000 to 2008. He has also dated celebrities, including actresses Amber Heard and Talulah Riley.

Veteran pilot guides 21-year-old pilot through emergency landing

Soothing words from Chris Yates helped guide Taylor Hash, 21, through an emergency landing after he learned she shared the same first name as his daughter.

Queen Elizabeth's 70-year pen-pal in North Dakota

Adele Hankey, 96, a resident of Park River, North Dakota, has exchanged letters with the late Queen Elizabeth II for 70 years on their shared birthday.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Why is Bob Dylan on Patreon?

The singer's notorious for his inscrutability, but his venture into the content subscription website might be one of his stranger choices, especially given the posted content that resembles AI-generated material. Pitchfork's Nina Corcoran surveys the site and tries to make sense.

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

Austen grew up as a member of the 'pseudo-gentry'

Her family grew up near the upper crust of society, but was never fully of it; at times, the family struggled to make ends meet. Austen scholar Dr. Lizzie Rogers said this made her part of the "pseudo-gentry," a contemporary term naming a respected group that still fell short of the aristocratic "landed-gentry." Rogers believes that perspective informed the writer's novels, which often dealt with social conventions.

The grandfather paradox of time travel

If you went back in time and killed your grandfather when he was a child, what would happen to you? One of your parents would never be born, so you wouldn’t be born either. But, if you’re never born, how could you kill your grandfather in the first place? This so-called grandfather paradox is something physicists, philosophers and sci-fi writers constantly ponder. Read the piece to learn how they’ve been trying to reconcile it.

Nina Simone's childhood home was preserved in 2017

Four visual artists purchased the home in Troy, North Carolina, in 2017 to preserve it as an arts space. The house is where Simone, a jazz legend and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, learned to play piano.

Parton is famously apolitical

Unlike some of her contemporaries, Parton refrains from expressing her political opinions publicly or endorsing political candidates. President Donald Trump offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice, but she declined both times. After Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) used Parton's song “9 to 5” at a campaign event, Parton’s team requested that Warren stop using it.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Poison ivy's rash-causing compound is found in the plant's roots, stem, and leaves—so coming into contact with any part of the plant can lead to rashes for the 85% of people who are allergic to it.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes