The Ampersand

Your chosen family: Sarah Looper

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 world for over twenty-five years. She is also the beloved personality behind Loopersomm, an online presence that democratizes wine with content that rapidly switches between hysterical and informative. That presence and personality is authentically Sarah, and on today's episode she discusses her background, synesthesia, fascination with wine and interest in social media as a means to convey a topic she loves to her community.
Connect with Sarah three ways:
On Instagram @loopersomm.
TikTok.
Online at loopersomm.com.
This episode was recorded in October 2024. Since the interview, we are deeply saddened by the loss of Richard Chamberlain, who passed away in March 2025. Sarah remains a fan and noted, "If I could serve him one last wine, it would be a 1995 Roumier Bonnes Mares Grand Cru. And I would savor it with him and tell him how much I loved him."
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Music for Leaving: Erika's debut novel

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-hand.
Buy Music for Leaving on IngramSpark, our preferred vendor.
Music for Leaving is also available, often by request, from your favorite bookstore or online service.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Community through imagination: Marcia Douglas

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-falls into memory can be a lovely surprise, today's guest reaches intentionally into her imagination and shapes memories into gorgeous narratives of fiction and nonfiction. Marcia Douglas is an author, artist and professor of creative writing at the University of Colorado Boulder. Widely published and a winner of many awards, she discusses growing up in Kingstown, Jamaica, writing in community and her playful-profound approach to creative craft.
Visit Marcia's website and learn more about her current creative work.
To buy The Marvelous Equations of the Dread, visit New Directions Publishing.
Learn more about Marcia's research and creative work on her CU Boulder profile.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Finding fidelity: Monica LaBonte on the musician's road, teaching vocal lessons and parenting

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 you rediscover facets of our being that lived inside us all along? On today's episode, musical artist Monica LaBonte recounts a winding journey of discovering her love of music and performance, becoming a full-time musician, pivoting away to teaching and finding her love of expression through song again. 
 
Follow Monica on Instagram.
Check out Monica's website for future shows, private music lessons and to buy her most recent album See Through.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The ANDertones: Dan Carlin on punk, narrative storytelling and exploring the past

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 medium's gold standards for narrative storytelling. On today's episode, we dig into Dan's past, discover the music that defined his counter-cultural posture and learn how deep, detailed descriptions of our past are their own kind of punk rock.
 
Learn more about Dan at dancarlin.com or listen to his seminal podcast Hardcore History.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Ampersand, Season Four Trailer

ANDers, look at the horizon. Coming fast are an epic lineup of guests making up our fourth season of The Ampersand. Featuring Dan Carlin, Monica Labonte, Marcia Douglas, Sarah Looper, Cleo Washington, Nick Houy, Ed Chuong, Megan Stephenson and Joanna Lambert. Debuting on Radio 1190 AM Boulder, 92.9 FM Denver and coming soon to your favorite podcast platform. Tune in and discover the alchemy of ANDing.

OverANDing: Does ANDing encourage us to max out?

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? We've heard from many ANDing-curious listeners that they worry an emphasis on ANDing encourages busyness and maxing out the calendar with an ever-growing list of to-dos.
So, does it?
Erika and Producer Tim sat down to talk through that very question, recorded as a winter special just in time for these very busy holidays.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

When stories reflect the people we become: Jennifer Ho

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 today's episode, our finale for season three, Jennifer's ability to convey meaning through compelling narratives is on full display. She discusses growing up in California, navigating cultural differences in the U.S. South, finding joy in hardship, countering racism and the manner art can bring about true reconciliation.
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Learn more about Jennifer's research.
Learn more about the Center for Humanities and the Arts.
Follow Jennifer on Threads.
 
Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Of Muppets, ground-truthing and jazz: An interview with Eric Small

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 today's episode, Eric explosively (i.e., like a Muppet) walks us through the practice of matching on-the-ground maps with satellite data. Beyond the sheer hilarity of his and Erika's conversation, what makes this such a fun interview is his unwavering belief that easy answers are hard to come by and they only get more complex the closer you choose to look.
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Learn more about Eric's research.
 
Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Building bookshelves of connections—Charles Eagan

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 brings boons to our interpersonal, professional and emotional lives. The practical work of looking for opportunities to empathize often goes unsaid or appears trickier to realize. Today’s guest, though, is a veritable maestro in building connection points with those fortunate enough to meet him. Charles Eagan in an award-winning academic advisor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder. On today’s episode, he discusses some of the strategies he employs to create points of connection, even with the most withdrawn students, so that they feel seen, valued and willing to engage with their college experiences again.
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Learn more about Charles.
 
Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.