The Ampersand

An ear to the stones: Paul Chinowsky

Institutions of higher education frequently work to understand its purpose and values. This process of shaping identities can often be seen in their buildings, where the choices of style and substance reflect what leaders hope to accomplish. This week on The Ampersand, Erika walks CU Boulder’s Quad to explore how our institution’s self-understanding shifted from its founding at Old Main to the Ivy-informed Hale; from Macky’s conglomeration of style to the library’s cohesion under the Tuscan Vernacular. Our guest is also our guide—Paul Chinowsky is a professor emeritus of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at CU Boulder. He is deeply invested in documenting our campus’ architecture to preserve the stories that shaped this institution and remember the traditions that came and went within these halls. As noted in the prologue, the history discussed in today’s episode begins in 1876. However, CU Boulder is located on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute and many other Native American nations. Their forced removal from these territories has caused devastating and lasting impacts. While CU Boulder can never undo or rectify the devastation wrought on Indigenous peoples, we commit to improving and enhancing engagement with Indigenous peoples and issues locally and globally. More information on the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Tribes [https://www.cheyenneandarapaho-nsn.gov/] and the Northern Arapaho Tribe [https://www.northernarapaho.com/]. More information on the Southern Ute Indian Tribe [https://www.southernute-nsn.gov/] and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe [https://www.utemountainutetribe.com/]. To further engage in reconciliation and learning, visit CU Boulder’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies [https://www.colorado.edu/cnais/]. --- Paul Chinowsky’s biography [https://www.colorado.edu/ceae/paul-chinowsky]. Follow Paul on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-chinowsky/]. --- Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley. Original music composed by Nelson Walker [https://nelsonwalkermusic.com/]. Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia [https://www.interplay-recording.com/]. Additional content recorded at the Fiske Planetarium [https://www.colorado.edu/fiske/]. The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder [https://www.colorado.edu/].

What makes a Grimm Brothers fairy tale? With Ann Schmiesing

We’ve read, listened and watched them on screens of all sizes. But what actually makes a myth or a fairy tale? Today’s guest, Ann Schmiesing, kicks off season five of The Ampersand by delving into mythmaking and the lessons we can glean from fairy tales. She is the best-selling author of The Grimm Brothers biography, which the New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/11/the-brothers-grimm-a-biography-ann-schmiesing-book-review] listed as one of its best books of 2025, a professor of Germanic and Slavic languages and the vice chancellor for strategic initiatives at the University of Colorado Boulder. Ann dives deep into the Grimms and disability studies while also exploring CU Boulder’s crafting of mythologies in its 150th Anniversary.   Learn more about Ann's research [https://experts.colorado.edu/display/fisid_106248].  Purchase The Brothers Grimm [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300285574/the-brothers-grimm/]. --- Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley. Original music composed by Nelson Walker [https://nelsonwalkermusic.com/]. Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia [https://www.interplay-recording.com/]. Music: Borodin's In The Steppes of Central Asia. Recorded, produced and released to the public by The Musopen Kickstarter Project. The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder [https://www.colorado.edu/].

Season Five Trailer: Into the woods

We love to explore the stories we tell about ourselves—paying special attention to the way they change over time, what that shift says about where we are and who we hope to become.  The Ampersand is back for season five! In a year when the University of Colorado Boulder turns 150, we're asking questions that anniversaries make possible: What stories have we told? Which ones still hold up? And what do the myths we carry say about the future toward which we aspire? This season, we're exploring the space between history and identity, where facts become folklore and where reflection and reclamation on these mythologies drive fresh creativity. Join us as we walk into these many woods. --- Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley. Original music composed by Nelson Walker [https://nelsonwalkermusic.com/]. Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia [https://www.interplay-recording.com/]. Music: Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - IV. In the Hall Of The Mountain King. Recorded, produced and released to the public by The Musopen Kickstarter Project. The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder [https://www.colorado.edu/].

To become a wild thing: Season Four finale with Joanna Lambert

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 the contextual realities around one's experience. Today's guest, on the other hand, looks with clear eyes at challenging field experiences, the inherent risks of life and severe discomfort, and she goes anyway. Joanna Lambert, professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a conservation rock star. Known more recently for her research on Colorado's reintroduction of gray wolves, on today's episode she discusses her unexpected journey from commercial art into conservation, her love of the Rolling Stones and the music she finds in tracking wildlife through Yellowstone's extremes. Joanna's website [https://www.joannalambert.com/] Joanna's research [https://www.colorado.edu/envs/joanna-lambert] Wolves in Colorado [https://cpw.state.co.us/bringing-wolves-back-colorado] --- Original music composed by Nelson Walker [https://nelsonwalkermusic.com/]. Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia [https://www.interplay-recording.com/]. Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Embracing (Family) Feud: Megan Stephenson

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 (usually me) hunched in a walk of shame away from the table. Imagine our delight when we began to work with today's guest, Megan Stephenson, who not only sees conflict as a means of connection and a path toward equity, but finds the reconciliation of differing views to be one way we can work toward a shared understanding. Megan is the College of Arts and Sciences' director of academic operations and student records, the college's hidden email voice and the person who helps students navigate academic policies. On today's episode, she discusses her take on conflict, how she arrived at this distinct stature, the way she sings through life and, yes, the sheer number of game shows on which she's competed.  For more about Megan, see her CU Boulder About me page [https://www.colorado.edu/artsandsciences/megan-stephenson]. See Megan's announcement on Family Feud [https://youtu.be/TqwCC7yP7Qw?si=uzCvkh3bp1h3mVsB]. --- Original music composed by Nelson Walker [https://nelsonwalkermusic.com/]. Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia [https://www.interplay-recording.com/]. 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.