Welcome to our final SCOPE Selects of the semester! Meet Sam, one of our brightest gen-comm members. Sam’s playlist has a track for every mood: heartfelt acoustics, nostalgic anthems, and fun pop moments to get you through the last weeks of the semester!
Name: Sam Wirth
Hometown: West Des Moines, IA
Year: Junior
Field(s) of Study: B.A Communication Studies, Minors in Media Management and Sport Media and Culture, Certificate in Event Management
SCOPE Position: Gen. Comm. --- Talent Buying Committee Member 🌟
Spotify Playlist
SCOPE Selects: Sam Wirth on Spotify
The Deep Cuts
Most of my favorite songs are ones with vulnerable, relatable, and detailed songwriting– when I’m listening to music, I want to be told a story that will make me overthink every aspect of my life. However, I also like to balance that out with fun, silly pop music (being a pop music hater does not make you cooler than everyone else!!!) that is often the soundtrack to my summers and car rides with my friends!
When you listen to my playlist, you’ll hear the music that helps me survive sad girl autumn, hits from the latest pop girlies, and songs that I scream in the car (my personal favorite to scream being “The Black Dog” by Taylor Swift). I also (very vulnerably I might add) show you my inner gleek (perhaps controversial, but anything Darren Criss covers is better than the original) and reveal my love for the 2023 box-office-smash Trolls Band Together (don’t pretend the soundtrack doesn’t slay).
Finally, I must give a shout out to the two songs on this playlist that mention my name– “Too Slow” by Maude Latour (which mentions Samantha in the pre-chorus) and “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus” (thank you Taylor for including my name in the title of a top-3 song on TTPD). I feel like my SCOPE Selects playlist is 100% authentic– and what’s more authentic about myself than my own name?
Three Favorite Albums
folklore by Taylor Swift
A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco
Melodrama by Lorde
Favorite Concert Experience
Over the last year, I’ve been lucky enough to see amazing artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, MUNA, Clairo, and Boygenius. However, I think my favorite concert experience was seeing Maisie Peters in Minneapolis last summer!
Maisie’s concert was held at First Avenue, which is one of my favorite venues to go to– I love getting to see the artists I love and admire up-close in an intimate setting. This was also the opening night of her North American tour, so the setlist was a total surprise as well. I can’t be casual about anything ever, so I normally look up the setlist ahead of time or see spoilers on TikTok and Twitter, but the anticipation of wondering what song was up next was SO MUCH FUN!!! She also had the most amazing opener, Grace Enger, who’s become one of my favorite and most-streamed artists since the concert. I have the feeling she’s going to be huge someday– she has the most relatable, raw lyricism, and melodies that get stuck in my head on a daily basis. It’s her and her acoustic guitar against the world– and I can’t wait to watch the rest of the world fall in love with her like I have!
Hobbies / Interests / Fun Facts / Campus Involvement
When I get a break from being an academic weapon, I love to relax by watching sub-par movies (add me on Letterboxd @samwirth), listening to vinyl, and hyper fixating on my interest of the month (this month’s hyper fixation is Dancing With the Stars). I also love to read– I’m a big fan of contemporary romance novels, my favorite being The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Besides SCOPE, I’m also involved in other student orgs such as Zealous Magazine and PRSSA! I used to play competitive sports in high school (now I am a NARP 💔), so when I’m not screaming at the TV over a football game or soccer match, you can find me attempting to relive my glory days by playing intramural soccer and futsal with my friends.
However, what takes up the most of my time is my 8-year-old tuxedo cat, Lady Gaga, who is an icon and quite literally the love of my life. The best way I can describe her is by asking you to picture the most “dog-like” cat you’ve ever seen (ex: playing chase, getting tummy rubs, and licking your face and hands). If you want more content of the awesomest cat in Iowa City, follow @gagathetux on Instagram (shameless plug because I think she deserves to be an influencer).