The Ampersand

I read once that bravery required feeling tangible fear. A Shackleton-style blistering confidence that barrels into harsh landscapes is not, by definition, brave, because it refuses to acknowledge th…

A moment of honesty: This producer shies from conflict. Most often, when someone disagrees, I perceive it as intellectual arm-wrestling—the more clever person winning the day and their opponent (usua…

ANDers, today's episode is a doozy. Today, we sit with Ed Chuong, associate professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and researcher at CU Boulder’s BioFrontiers Institute. Ed discus…

Okay ANDers, we need a moment to fawn. Today's guest, Nick Houy, is a Hollywood film editing badass with movie credits like Barbie, Little Women, Mid90s and Lady Bird. Full transparency, these are so…

Cleo Washington (DnceBFA'25) is a gifted dance performance artist who deftly performs pieces across styles—from ballet to house, Hip Hop to modern. Hers is a rare talent, but Cleo's journey to gradua…

Can we trust what we see on social? In the case of today's guest, the answer is adamantly the affirmative. Sarah Looper is a gifted sommelier and wine educator who has worked in the food and wine wor…

Erika and Producer Tim discuss Erika's debut novel, Music for Leaving, its origin story, what makes the story grand and how Erika and Tim navigate feeling like imposters, even with a gorgeous book in…

An encounter with the smallest material can spark nostalgia: the first bite of saltfish and home, the texture of satin and standing onstage, just the right weight of rain. While these unexpected free…

So many highlight their winding roads to self-discovery, but we still seem in a rush to get to our end fast. But could a wide curiosity of all of our becoming (i.e., reflecting on how you AND) help y…

In an era marked by impatience and shortened attention spans — Hang on ... I forgot where I was going with that. — Anyway, today's guest is Dan Carlin, whose podcast, Hardcore History, is one of our …

What we love about ANDing is synthesizing our interests, personalities, cultures and experiences into a swirling, gorgeous human that is you. But does that variety implicitly encourage overdoing it? …

If storytelling is an art, today's guest is a maestro. Jennifer Ho is a professor of ethnic studies and director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado Boulder. On to…

Beyond a wild ride of an interview, Eric Small gifted us a new favorite word that describes his hydrological research on water, energy and carbon budgets of the Earth's surface—ground-truthing. On to…

Empathy is trending again—we are reminded in venues as wide as SNL sketches and self-improvement podcasts that growing our capacities to step into another’s point of view and feel their perspective b…

Activists have expressed that the work of changing oppressive structures requires tirelessness and strength. When we consider how this looks lived out, striking photos and stories of campus protests,…

After reading a poem out loud, we hope you've had the experience of inexplicably welling with emotion. Be it joy, grief, adoration for beauty or those emotions harder to describe, we've found these l…

The Ampersand is bringing ANDing to the Big Apple! Join Erika and Producer Tim for an evening of networking and nostalgia at the first roadtrip version of Arts & Sciences CU After Work. We're busy in…

Nostalgia can be tricky business. Love of the past can lead to a slowing stasis of the people we are/were or our refusal to let relationships evolve. But remembering places and experiences can fill u…

Today's guest owns that dance. Tin Tin Su is an intellectual force, whose research on tiny fruit flies led to fresh discoveries and innovative approaches to radiation therapy for those living with he…