The Ampersand

Espresso stories of sonder: An interview with Camden Sharkey

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (a rabbit hole courtesy of today's guest Camden Sharkey) defines sonder as "the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own." While this may feel sad for some, Sharkey, who is an undergraduate at the University of Colorado Boulder majoring in political science and dance, finds the concept invigorating. Whether it means treating every individual coming to Dutch Bros coffee shop with care, arguing for social change at the State Capitol or crafting dance performances that bring voice to current issues, Sharkey navigates life with grace and humor that warms every passerby who comes into his orbit.
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To connect with Camden, see his TikTok page.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Searching for Self-compassion: An interview with Lauren Lewis

On The Ampersand, we love to highlight stories of people who bring together their widest interests, research and making. In most cases, these disparate facets of being shine from our brightest sides—but how can we find compassion for our darker corners? Today’s guest, Lauren Lewis, walks listeners through her journey navigating an eating disorder while learning to cook from the heart as a nutritionist and chef, guiding others to healing as a yogi, feeling at home in her body through dance and wake surfing, and how she seeks out love and self-compassion.  
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Lauren’s yoga website.
Take Lauren’s online yoga classes.
Lauren’s website dedicated to nutrition: The Pure Gourmet.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Living your North Star. Values and bringing human resources into the 21st Century with Bernadette Stewart

How do you pass your values on to those you love? Or live out those same values in your workplace?
On today's episode, Bernadette Stewart, assistant dean of people, engagement and culture at the University of Colorado Boulder, discusses the manner we not only articulate what we hold most dear, but live out our "North Stars" on a daily basis. From growing up in a military family to parenting to music/streaming lists to self-care and living larger, Stewart shares the experiences and lessons she gleaned over a lifetime helping people reflect on who they have become.
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Learn more about Bernadette Stewart by reading Bernadette's bio.
Connect with Bernadette on LinkedIn.
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Walk softly on this earth: The far right, Norse mythology, animism, metal, witches and more with Mathias Nordvig

On The Ampersand, we take pride in the ground each episode covers. Today's guest, though, sets a high standard for the breadth through which we can meander in 30 minutes. Mathias Nordvig is a teaching professor in the University of Colorado Boulder's Department of German and Slavic Languages and Literatures. He specializes in pre-Christian Nordic mythologies, folklore and Neo-paganism. From the far right's co-opting of Norse iconography and mythology, to Danish summer camps, heavy metal, animistic philosophy, witch hunts, issues of separating wilderness from society and more, a conversation with Mathias is like a grand epic just starting out by the episode's end.
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For more on Mathias Nordvig, check out his podcast, the Sacred Flame.
For more on his research and classes, see Mathias' faculty biography.
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

The universe, Dungeons and Dragons and self-discovery: An interview with Mikayla Huffman

Today's guest, Mikayla Huffman, is pursuing a PhD in astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Huffman's research delves into numerical modeling of impacts onto icy bodies, crater mapping on rocky bodies and cometary spectroscopy. She is also an exceptional dungeon master (DM) who leads epic, year-plus campaigns through a variety of Dungeons and Dragons worlds. Tune in to hear more about astrophysics and the manner D&D creates space for people to discover how they want to show up in our modern world.
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For more about Mikayla's research and love of Dungeons and Dragons, visit Mikayla's website.
Follow Mikayla on X. 
Mikayla's Youtube channel.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

We are coming: A collaborative project gives voice to the past and draws researchers closer in the present

What happens when you not only collaborate on a project, but you also meet your creative work and research bestie?
The result, in the case of today's guests, is We Are Coming, a project by Yumi Janairo Roth and Emmanuel David about Filipino pasts and futures. In 1899, Buffalo Bill's Wild West hired three Filipinos to join the Congress of Rough Riders of the World. Although the Filipino Rough Riders were largely forgotten to history, Roth and David are working with historic theaters in towns and cities where the Wild West show traveled to install the trio’s names —Ysidora Alcantara, Felix Alcantara, and Geronimo Ynosincio – on vintage marquees.
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Learn more about the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art's show, Cowboy, which features We are coming.
Bucking the myth of the American cowboy.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver Questions the Cowboy.
Learn more about the installation in Cody, WY. 
Learn more about Yumi Janairo Roth's work and the project We are coming.
More about Emmanuel David's work.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Studying the best of humanity, even our darkest parts

At what point does the drive for positivity become toxic? This week’s guest, June Gruber, studies moments that people deny themselves the full complexity of their emotions in order to try and stay happy, even when their experiences warrant feeling anything but joy. Gruber, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, studies the dark side of happiness, but in today’s interview she also explains how complex emotions give her hope in humanity’s capacity for good.
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To support Gruber's efforts to help student mental health, check out the Emerge Project.
To learn more about and support Gruber's work on happiness, emotions and well-being more generally, visit the Positive Emotion & Psychopathology (PEP) Lab's gift fund page.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.
 
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

The Ampersand Summer Special

We're back! Our lovely listening ANDers made season one such a huge success that we're spending this summer recording seasons two and three of The Ampersand! While we're hanging out at Interplay Recording in Boulder learning about toxic happiness, playing with gender in Dungeons and Dragons and the way music can mobilize people toward a just and equitable society, we wanted to offer listeners something to satiate their thirst for the alchemy of ANDing. 
I hope you'll enjoy this conversation between me, Erika Randall, and Producer Tim Grassley about The Ampersand's origins and the surprises along the way.
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Recorded at Interplay Recording.
Theme music written and performed by Nelson Walker.

“I’m like guacamole, baby. I’m extra.”

Sammy Ramsey’s interests have always been wide, but many mentors told him to keep those passions private and choose one professional lane. On The Ampersand’s final episode of season one, Ramsey, who is an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, discusses how he navigated these pressures, chose to embrace his full self even if it got him kicked out of graduate school and how fighting to bring his entire identity to work and life generally has helped him become a stronger biologist, speaker, graduate student mentor, researcher and human being.
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For more on his research and speaking opportunities, visit Dr. Sammy’s website and the Ramsey Research Foundation.
 
Music by Nelson Walker.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.

Fitting your story in: An interview with Sarah Sohkey

Why is it challenging to tell our stories, even when we are deeply passionate about the subject matter? On today’s episode of The Ampersand, Sarah Sohkey, an associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado Boulder, reflects on her fascination with Russia, policy reversals and territories within the former Soviet Union and the strategies she has tried to convey her research to students, colleagues and the public. She also describes her efforts to transform undergraduate research, wishing she grew up in the 1980s, effective lying and more.
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For more information about Sohkey’s research on Russia and policy reversals, visit Sohkey’s faculty bio or Sohkey’s research page.
Learn about CU Boulder’s undergraduate STUDIO Lab.
Music by Nelson Walker.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.