Introducing The Ampersand

Coming soon, a new podcast series from Erika Randall, a dancer, professor, mother, filmmaker and writer who explores the alchemy of ANDing.

Music by Nelson Walker.

Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.

Episodes recorded at Interplay Recording in Boulder, CO.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
(upbeat violin music)
- Why do we take for granted
in ourselves what we see asextraordinary in someone else?
- I was told, I want youto take a single theme,
Dr. Sammy, the Scientist.
So, no more music.
Don't do the music thing.
That's too confusing for people
that you're singing in English,
you're singing in Thai,you're doing entomology stuff,

(00:20):
you're doing public speaking stuff,
you're talking about faith stuff.
It's all too much. Pick one.
- So often, we put ourpassions and our weird back
into a proverbial box and weonly show a single interest.
This coloring box containsat least 64 flavors
that together, make the worlds
of our making that muchmore vibrant and unique.
- I was talking to my partner and saying,

(00:40):
"I don't know how to getthem engaged in this."
And he said, "You goto Russia all the time.
You love Russia. Tell themabout going to Russia."
- I'm Erica Randall, adancer, professor, mother,
filmmaker, and now,host of "The Ampersand,"
a podcast dedicated to what wecall "The Alchemy of Anding."
- There's some memories that we all have
that are permanently seared in our brains.

(01:01):
So, this conversation withmy parents was one of them.
- Why "The Ampersand?"
An ampersand is atypographical representation
of connection, and over eight episodes,
we will hear stories ofhumans who imagine and create
by colliding their interests.
- At that time, I mean,keep in mind it was 2007,
we weren't thinkingabout the gut microbiome.

(01:22):
So, the idea you could,like, inject a bacterium
and get antidepressant effects,
it's kind of, peopleare like, wait a minute.
- Rather than thinking of'and' as a simple conjunction
in that conjunction junctionkind of way, our guests see
'and' as a verb, a wayto speak the beautiful
when you intentionally let the soft animal
of your body love what it loves.
I'll meet a productmanager/dancer who crushes it

(01:43):
at Instagram.
- My identity journey was,like, I was only a dancer
and then I only worked in techand now, I'm finding balance,
but the reason, I think,that the balance is coming
to me now later in life is because it was
all of the things were already in there.
- A filmmaker working to seeher community represented

(02:04):
on the big screen.
- I just saw her in awe.
Like, it might have notbeen our representation,
but it was representation.
It was such a big movement for her
and I was like, I wannado that for my mom.
- An oncologist who makesthe invisible visible.
- And so, really justlinking the experiences
of communities in Eswatiniin Southern Africa
particularly experiencing this drought
with the struggles that mycommunities, and communities

(02:26):
of color that I had grown up with,
were experiencing as well.
- And many more stories ofpeople who fuse together
what makes them bright
and colorful and extraordinary humans.
Mostly, we want you to hear these stories
and reflect on yourselfand the people around you.
Everyone has this dynamismand we hope you'll imagine
what it could be like totell your story this way.

(02:46):
- I worked as a DIconsult for a few banks,
and I had to come
in as my 20 year old, female, brown self
and sit myself down inan office of executives
from ages 50 to 70, I wanna say.
- As St. Mary Oliver asks,"What is it you plan to do

(03:07):
with your one wild and precious life?"
Oh, I love this question.
When I'm mothering,creating, and collaborating,
it reminds me to replace a singular idea
of what I think I should become
with a full sensoryverb about experiencing.
Join me on "The Ampersand" and discover
"The Alchemy of Anding."
(bright music)