Boulder Weekly 05.15.2025

Dropped connection Five years, no in-person visits at Boulder County jail

P. 8

CONTENTS 05.15.2025

11 Credit: Sarah Eiseman

08

NEWS Boulder County jail hasn’t allowed in-person visitation for five years BY KAYLEE HARTER

10 MUSIC British indie-pop breakout Black Country, New Road

perfect the high art of friendship BY JEZY J. GRAY

19 NIBBLES How Boulderite Jim Sears created the world’s first space oven BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

22 VISUAL ARTS Asian American artists reframe the frontier in new Dairy exhibition BY TONI TRESCA

DEPARTMENTS 04 OPINION

Downtown Boulder is still great

11 MUSIC

The wizarding world of SPELLLING

12 EVENTS

Migratory birds and pint-sized Beethovens

12

16

ASTROLOGY Time to evolve

17 SAVAGE LOVE

Communication is sexy

23 ON DRUGS The rise of kratom

ONLINE • BoCo to weigh elk hunting plan: bit.ly/GovtWatchMay13 • Criterion dual release highlights brief but brilliant collaboration: bit.ly/WithnailAdvertising

BOULDER WEEKLY

MAY 15, 2025

3

NOW OPEN!

Get ready for

an experience that is wild, wonky and way beyond the ordinary!

mychildsmuseum.org

COMMENTARY

LETTERS

DOWNTOWN BOULDER IS STILL GREAT

O

n behalf of Downtown Boulder Partnership, I am compelled to respond to a May 1 Boulder Weekly article — the conclusion to the three-part series addressing office vacancy downtown. To answer the question asked in the incendiary headline in the online edition: “Are downtown Boulder’s best days behind it?” NO! Our best days are still ahead.

Having a 29% office vacancy rate is indeed a challenging economic indicator. But c’mon. This is a problem every downtown area is facing.

Our neighbors in Denver have a much higher vacancy rate, and instead of abandoning their downtown, their city leaders are doubling down on investment and committing to a brighter future.

Here in Boulder, before the pandemic, we had one of the highest rates of remote workers in the country. We weren’t reacting to a trend; we were setting it. And our business community is full of creative problem solvers and future-forward thinkers.

Boulder has always led with creativity and resilience. We got this.

Stroll through downtown and you’ll find a compelling mix of locallyowned and prominent national retailers, a lively and culturally diverse

BOULDER WEEKLY

MAY 15, 2025

5

LETTERS MAY 15, 2025 Volume 32, Number 39 PUBLISHER: Stewart Sallo

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle ARTS EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Tyler Hickman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, John Lehndorff, Hope Muñoz, Dan Savage, Bettina Swigger, Lindsay Temple, Toni Tresca Courtesy: Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau

restaurant community, children playing, musicians strumming and visitors marveling. It’s time to start being proud of our community and not tearing it down from the inside out.

Let’s talk data. According to location analytics company Placer.ai, downtown Boulder has consistently outperformed nearby shopping centers (e.g. Twenty Ninth Street and Flatiron Crossing) in terms of both visitation and dwell time, nearly every week of 2024, outside of the core holiday shopping season.

Compared with similarly sized retail districts across Colorado and nationwide, our downtown ranks in the 98th percentile for visitor traffic.

Is Boulder still great? Absolutely. Could it be even better? Without a doubt.

Downtown is a living work of art that requires care, collaboration and vision.

With the city potentially moving forward to create a Downtown Development Authority and the arrival of the Sundance Film Festival, our future is full of promise.

The passionate, dedicated, hard-working community that built one of the most successful downtowns in the country is still here. Others see the potential — Sundance saw it. So why can’t we always see it ourselves? Too often, perception overshadows reality, especially when negative narratives dominate the conversation.

The Pearl Street Mall remains Boulder’s living room. It’s where laughter, connection and creativity continue to thrive, whether you live five blocks or 50 miles away. Affordability is a deep-rooted challenge, but community can still flourish when people feel welcome, included and seen. Let’s celebrate what is working, invest in what’s possible and write its next chapter together.

— Bettina Swigger, Boulder 6

MAY 15, 2025

SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING: Kellie Robinson SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Austen Lopp SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer

CIRCULATION CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE BOOKKEEPER: Austen Lopp FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

1495 Canyon Boulevard, Suite CO 1, Boulder, CO 80302 Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday.

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NEWS

BOULDER COUNTY JAIL HASN’T HAD IN-PERSON VISITATION SINCE 2020 Sheriff says more employees are needed to make the return

BY KAYLEE HARTER

S

tephanie Patterson’s son was arrested in March 2022 and booked into Boulder County Jail when he was just 20 years old.

She immediately began making calls to find out how she could visit her son. In the wake of the pandemic, the only option for the entirety of his stay at the jail was phone and video calls.

“The whole time, I was like ‘I just want to hold my kid,’” she said. “I just want to give him a hug.”

It was over a year before Patterson was able to do that, after her son was sentenced to life and transferred to the prison in Sterling. Today, there’s still no inperson visitation for those incarcerated at the Boulder County Jail aside from professional visits like those with attorneys.

Jails and prisons across the county shut down in-person visitation in 2020 due to COVID protocols. Prisons have largely returned to offering in-person visitation, according to Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit research organization with a focus on mass incarceration and reform.

But many jails, including Boulder County’s, have yet to restore that option.

Currently, about 85% of the jail’s population is still awaiting a sentence.

“It’s like, how does he go from jail in Boulder County, where he’s not even convicted, to a prison with way more rights, way more availability, and being treated like a human instead of a caged animal,” Patterson said.

The average stay in the Boulder County Jail is 22 days, but that number gets skewed by many who are there just one night. Some are there for years, according to Boulder County Sheriff Curtis 8

MAY 15, 2025

Johnson, with one person currently approaching six years.

Since the pandemic, the jail has doubled its space for in-person visitation to allow for 10 partition-separated, no-contact slots at once. But each day, it sits empty, not yet open to visitors. Johnson says he wants to change that but lacks the manpower to do so.

“What we have struggled with is getting back to having appropriate staffing numbers, because it is a staff-intensive piece,” Johnson told Boulder Weekly.

“There are certain positions that have to be staffed every day,” he said.

“Somebody has to be in each module monitoring what’s going on in the jail, and those positions come first. They are a priority because we have to guarantee the safety and security of the people who are living there.”

In 2015, the county budgeted for 147 full-time equivalent employees (FTE) at the jail. By 2019 — the last full year the jail offered in-person visitation — that number was 170.

For 2025, commissioners budgeted for 243 FTEs for the jail.

Johnson said the majority of those staffing increases are due to support positions such as mental health and medical staff, while deputies are needed to supervise visitation. The number of deputies, he said, “have not really increased.”

The sheriff’s office made a $2.3 million budget request in March for 25 more employees, including 12 deputies, which it said would help make the return to in-person visitation, along with staffing the new 60-bed wing of the jail, but the request was denied. Commissioners said at the time their goals were ultimately in

alignment with the sheriff’s, but they wanted to find other options that did not involve additional employees.

Johnson said he plans to re-submit the request in the next quarterly budget amendment process, when commissioners can decide to reallocate money, which will be finalized June 26.

About five or six of those 25 requested employees, Johnson said, would be needed to get back to in-person visitation, though he said that number could fluctuate based on how popular in-person visitation is and how often the jail wants to offer it. Pre-pandemic, visitation was offered weekdays during the first half of the day. Johnson said the longterm goal would be to offer a “flexible schedule” for visitation that includes evening hours.

For Bertram, in-person visitation needs to be a priority for jails.

“When it comes down to it, this is not something that should be on the chopping block for jail budgets,” Bertram said. “There’s so many ways jails use their money … while the critical needs of incarcerated people go unmet.”

CONVENIENCE AND COST

Video visits first became an option for Boulder County Jail inmates about a decade ago. At the time, they were just that — an option, not a replacement for in-person visitation.

Used as a supplement, video visits can eliminate some of the barriers to in-person visitation, according to a report from the Prison Policy Initiative.

“For a lot of people, that is really a convenient way to visit someone, like if you live far away and want to see your loved one,” Johnson said. “I have a family member who was in the La Plata County Jail in Durango, and being able to schedule a video visit on a Saturday morning on my iPad, at least I got to see his face and talk to him without going all the way to Durango.”

The total number of video visits in 2024 was more than five times the combined number of in-person and video visits in 2019, according to data provided by the Boulder County sheriff’s office. Jake Stenzel, a commander at the jail, attributes that sharp rise to advances in the technology, a reduced cost for video visits since in-person was eliminated, and more comfort with using video chats.

While in-person visitation was previously only offered Monday through Friday in the first half of the day, video visitation is available any time folks are out of their cells; for many of the housing units in the jail, that means video calls can be scheduled in the morning, afternoon or evening.

“There’s a huge convenience factor and the ability to have a little more frequency, because it takes minimal effort on our part to make that happen,” Johnson said.

But for some families, the cost of video visitation may prove to be too much.

Patterson estimates her family spent hundreds of dollars on video and phone BOULDER WEEKLY

NEWS calls over the course of her son’s incarceration in the Boulder County Jail. The current advertised price of calls is 5 cents per minute, a reduced rate while video visitation is the only option.

Previously, calls were 20 cents per minute, a cost the sheriff’s office website says will return with in-person visitation.

The true cost of calls is even higher.

A log of Patterson’s video visitations through Combined Public Communications shows that for every $4.50 she spent on visitation, there was an additional $4.43 fee.

“I know for a fact, there’s people who can’t afford that,” Patterson said.

“There’s no contact with their loved ones at all. In-person visitation is free.”

Quality of video visits can be a challenge, too.

“These video calls are not top-of-theline quality,” Bertram said. “We’re not talking about the quality of the Zoom call that you and I would experience.

The connection is often bad. Calls frequently get dropped.”

That tracks with Patterson’s experience. Sometimes, she said, the audio would work but not the video, or vice versa. At one point, she said, the kiosk on the jail’s end was broken — something she said took a major toll on her son’s mental health.

“It really hit him hard when he couldn’t even have that consistency and that routine,” she said. “That’s when he was like, ‘I just want to give up.’”

Video visitation also makes it more difficult for families to get a sense of the state of their incarcerated loved one.

“You can’t get a very clear picture if you’re on a video call of the shape that your loved one is in,” Bertram said.

“That makes it very different from seeing this person face-to-face. You don’t have the same kind of feeling of closeness and proximity.”

Patterson was hospitalized twice while her son was in jail.

“One of the video visits I did from the hospital,” she said. “I think an in-person afterward to see like, ‘Hey, mom’s OK,’ would have been a lot easier for him.”

LOSING CONNECTION

The American Correctional Institute’s 2024 policy recommends offering a BOULDER WEEKLY

range of different options for visitation, but as an “enhancement” to in-person visitation. A few states — like Massachusetts, California and Connecticut — have passed laws and policies requiring in-person visitation in jails as an option.

One of two Denver County jails reinstated in-person visitation in 2024 after nearly 20 years following a 2017 recommendation from the city’s independent monitor, who said depriving inmates of in-person visits “isn’t humane.”

Not only are in-person visits important for those who are incarcerated and their families, they can also be beneficial to jails and the communities they’re in, Bertram said.

“As people lose their connection to their family or as that connection becomes less tangible and less meaningful, because the in-person visits are taken away, people start to get really stressed, and it has an effect on their mental health,” Bertram said. “It can actually lead to security problems for the facility.”

In Knox County, Tennessee, for example, the number of assaults between inmates increased by about 10 incidents per month after in-person visitation was banned.

“Common sense would tell you that if you allow someone to see their loved ones in-person, that may have a positive impact on their behavior and their ability to cope with the conditions of living in jail,” Johnson said. “No matter how nice we make a jail setting, it’s still jail. Any opportunity that someone can have to have a good day is good for everyone who works in that facility.”

Patterson says her son’s mental health has improved since being able to visit with his family in-person; he now heads up the kitchen in the Sterling prison and is on track to get his paralegal certification.

She has no words for the moment when she was finally able to see her son in-person, talk to him face-to-face and give him a hug.

“It’s indescribable,” she said with tears in her eyes. “It was just like the love that I had for him, I was able to finally show it.”

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MUSIC

SO TRUE BESTIE Black Country, New Road perfect the high art of friendship

BY JEZY J. GRAY

swapping their angular post-punk stylings for a sound that was brighter, bouncier and more baroque. Instead of replacing Wood with an outside hire, the now six-piece outfit redistributed their roles with pianist Kershaw splitting vocal and songwriting duties alongside bassist Tyler Hyde and alto saxophonist Lewis Evans (who would later turn the mic over to mandolinist Georgia Ellery). The shake-up was a seismic shift for a group

been surprisingly resilient and seem to kind of embrace the change, which is cool. Obviously there is a bit of an identity of the band, which some people still expect it to be — and it isn’t any more, necessarily, but that’s alright. It’s still a very, very lucky position to be in.”

CHANGE IS A SOUND

A little more than two years after their onstage reinvention, Black Country, New Road returned last month with hen May Kershaw stepped Forever Howlong, the collective’s first on stage at London’s Bush studio recording under the new lineHall a week before up. Continuing the sonic transformaChristmas 2022, the ground was movtion that began with their pivotal live ing beneath the feet of the classically album, the expansive third offering is trained musician and her five bandgalaxies apart from the wild and wiry mates in the shapeshifting art-pop outsound built in the late 2010s alongfit Black Country, New Road. side fellow avant-garde breakouts like Lauded by critics and obsessed Black Midi, Squid and Fontaines D.C. over by fans, the beloved Cambridge In place of Wood’s anguished and ensemble was reintroducing theminward speak-singing howl, a trio of selves to a live audience for the first women’s voices blossoms across the time without the brooding warble of new double LP’s sprawling, 52-minfrontman Isaac Wood, who left the ute runtime. Crashing between rollickgroup for mental health reasons four Dubbed “the best band in the entire world” by The ing waves of volume-up chamber pop days before the release of their hotly Quietus, English avant-pop tricksters Black Country, (“Happy Birthday”), surreal psych-folk anticipated sophomore album, Ants New Road perform with St. Vincent at Denver’s Mission (“Two Horses”) and polite earlyfrom Up There, 10 months earlier.

Ballroom on March 16. Credit: Eddie Whelan aughts indie rock (“Salem Sisters”), For the longtime friends who met as Forever Howlong finds cohesion teenagers, the three-night run of highamong its three songwriters through profile gigs — later memorialized on an unhinged swirl of narrative texture the recording Live at Bush Hall — felt and stunning instrumentation that is at like a trust fall. They weren’t just venturns delicious and demanding. turing into new territory without their “​​I feel like we’ve influenced each singular lead vocalist; they were other in a lot of ways I’m only beginscrapping the entire songbook that ning to notice,” Kershaw says of the had earned the collective a devoted band’s collective approach to songfollowing since turning heads with craft. “Just through spending so much their Mercury Music Prize-nominated time together, listening to Tyler’s and debut a year prior. They were, to put it Georgia’s songs and working on plainly, starting over. them, I think the way we arrange — “It was really scary, but we got all six of us — has really influenced all through it,” Kershaw, 27, tells Boulder of our individual processes.”

Weekly on a video call from a Take the album’s heady title track, Chicago hotel room with percussionist penned

by Kershaw, borrowing its Charlie Wayne. “It was a really supForever Howlong, the latest studio effort from Black Counname from a line tucked into the portive audience who were wanting us try, New Road, was released March 4. Courtesy: Ninja Tune back end of Tyler Hide’s effervescent to succeed in this new venture, and opening jam, “Besties.” While the latter that was really nice. It felt like a very short that had carved a singular niche among critics and listeners in the U.K. and single pulls its energy from a propulsive amount of time that we prepared the beyond. groove of squealing sax and irresistible material. So there was kind of a rushed “Uncertainty has always kind of defined hooks, Kershaw’s strange and somber element to it, but maybe that also helped, most of what the band has done really, so day-in-the-life epic reaches for somebecause we didn’t have too much time to it hasn’t been a massive change as far as thing more disarming. overthink. Maybe if we let it stew for lonthat’s concerned,” Wayne, 25, says.

“I shall boil some beans / I should get ger, it would have been even scarier.” my Vitamin B,” she sings achingly over an From there, the band lit out on a gruel- “We’ve always done things in a way which is fairly nonlinear. Our fans have orchestra of fluttering recorders. “The last ing world tour with a new configuration,

W

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MAY 15, 2025

video I watched told me the pH of my gut microbiome was certainly causing my blues / So I fill myself up with fiber / As dusk begins to set.”

‘FRIENDS FOREVER!’

With the miraculous and the mundane sitting side by side on Forever Howlong, the half-dozen members of Black Country, New Road are embracing their new era with an earthbound shrug and a wandering eye toward the cosmos as they continue their unpredictable evolution.

“We like playing together, and it feels like there’s still more directions left to go.

That’s always worth exploring,” Kershaw says. “It’s just kind of lucky people have liked it. There’s a risk that you make something people don’t like, but you’ve got to be willing to be OK with that.”

To hear them tell it, a big part of the band’s appetite for risk-taking comes from their bedrock bond as longtime friends.

The theme percolates throughout the 11-track offering, but it also lives in the arrangements themselves, with each acoustic instrument in giddy conversation like yapping besties at a delirious childhood sleepover.

“I’ve been playing with these musicians in one way or another since I was 16, and I’m about to turn 26. It’s kind of a nuts thing to be in that position where they were more or less friends I knew from school, and [performing together] has now turned into my full-time job,” Wayne says.

“There’s a friendship that exists outside of that, which is an enormous support. It means the band doesn’t necessarily have to adhere to these super rigid structures, where this is this and that is that.”

Perhaps the band put it best in the triumphant chorus of the opening track from their transformational live album. Partners on the precipice of an uncertain new frontier, the resilient young bruisers lean on each other as they cast a nostalgic glance back, and a confident nod to the future: “Look at what we did together / BC,NR: friends forever!”

ON THE BILL: St. Vincent with Black Country, New Road. 8 p.m. Friday, May 16, Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $65 BOULDER WEEKLY

MUSIC

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU The wizarding world of Tia Cabral

BY LINDSAY TEMPLE

C

includes Molchat Doma, Zola Jesus and the late David Lynch — Cabral released the carnivalesque Mazy Fly, followed by the lush and extravagant 2021 epic, The Turning Wheel.

Equal parts bright and dark, The Turning Wheel takes the otherworldly elements of earlier SPELLLING projects and refines them to their most concentrated, affecting form. Themes of isolation and humanity’s exploitation of nature emerge, sung in Cabral’s coquettish falsetto, like on the symphonic “Emperor with an Egg” and the trudging “Magic Act,” where she intones: “Take my body / Make my brain a garden.”

Cabral says the vocal stylings on her breakthrough third LP were inspired by the distinctive vocals of women performers she listened to in childhood.

“I tried to emulate all of them, like Amy Winehouse, Brandy and Janet Jackson,” she says. “On The Turning Wheel, I adapted the way I sing to fit the character

hrystia “Tia” Cabral’s immersion in the richness of Black culture showed her the depth of her own creativity.

“Growing up around other Black people, it’s like there was the ability to make everything more special than it is,” Cabral says. “Like the fantastical abilities of Black culture to be so prolific with whatever we have around us.”

“I relate more to being a wizard than a woman,” says Chrystia “Tia” Cabral, better known by her stage In a world where racial prejudice puts name, SPELLLING. Credit: Stephanie Pia boundaries on the self-expression mentioned “fantastical abilities” of When asked about the purpose of of people of color, it is precisely Black culture, it was an opportuni- angst in her life and music, Cabral says the culture and community of ty to bring a little more sorcery to she’s something of a late bloomer. A conBlackness that has empowered the table. tented yet emo teen who spent hours lisCabral, better known by her stage “I picture this sprite entity, and I tening to System of a Down’s Hypnotize name SPELLLING, to plumb her tried using my voice in a way that on repeat, she began finding language for own artistic well. Pivoting from a put the music in a magical realm,” that pent-up discontent in adulthood. background in visual art, the she says. “To me, that’s the ulti“I’m in my 30s now, and I’ve been 33-year-old creative born and mate form of magic and alchemy: addressing some of those wounds,” she raised in Sacramento, California the innovation of sound, [creating] says.

— who is also of Mexican a sound that has never existed But that’s not the only way Cabral sees descent — turned toward music before.” herself as a work in progress. Sometimes in 2015, releasing five full-length feeling out of alignment with her womanalbums in the decade since. hood, the artist’s inner vision is still evolv“Creativity is not about how you ‘MORE WIZARD ing as she pushes against rigid expectawork or style yourself or what you THAN WOMAN’ tions of gender expression. do,” Cabral, now based in On her new record Portrait of My “Even when [fans] call me ‘mother,’ I Oakland, tells Boulder Weekly Heart, released March 28 via know it’s coming from a place of love, but ahead of her upcoming May 17 Sacred Bones, Cabral pushes I also feel like I relate more to being a show at Denver’s Bluebird against the edges of her seemFeaturing guest appearances by Chaz Bear of Toro Y Moi and Turnwizard than a woman,” she says. “It’s Theater. “It’s about wit and the ingly boundless artistry. Still true stile guitarist Pat McCrory, Portrait of My Heart by SPELLLING was taken a long time for me to heal old ability to be mentally sharp and to her signature haunting, romanreleased March 28. Credit: Sarah Eiseman wounds and own my power. I have a lot innovative. In that sense, I feel tic tone and open-hearted lyrics, of strength and untapped potential in my like I’ve never been limited.”

I wanted the listener to experience. I the LP is an indelible rock album, full of relationship to being a woman I hadn’t wanted there to be this unpinnable girlish- songs about breakups, devotion and misallowed myself to dig into.” ness.

There was this borderline eerie managed expectations in love.

‘THE ULTIMATE FORM sound I wanted on the songs that are Songs like “Love Ray Eyes” and the OF MAGIC’ more conceptually sinister and existential. grunge-inspired “Alibi” (featuring Turnstile Cabral self-released her first LP, As a producer, I used effects to play that guitarist Pat McCrory) sound like tunes Pantheon of Me, in 2017, a mystical ON THE BILL: SPELLLING up.” made to be belted in the shower while no record with sparse instrumentation and with Ramakhandra. 8 p.m.

Cabral’s penchant for otherworldliness one else is home, the hook to the latter rich layers of her self-taught vocals coursSaturday, May 17, Bluebird extends to her stage moniker, which she offering a stinging catharsis: “You’re a ing throughout its 38-minute runtime. The Theater 3317 E Colfax Ave., describes as “an entity that’s outside of psychopath / and I love you for that / but I next year, after signing to Sacred Bones Denver. $33 me.” For an artist steeped in the aforewon’t take you back this time.”

— the Brooklyn-based label whose roster BOULDER WEEKLY

MAY 15, 2025

11

EVENTS

Wednesday, May

14

FREE

velvet vinyl presents: stevie’s picks

The Rolling Stones

$19

Friday, May 16

FEES INCL

Claire Heywood w/ Riley J Band

UDED

presented by 105.5 The colorado sound

Saturday, may

17

Sturtz and soultru

$19

FEES INCL

FREE

velvet vinyl presents: stevie’s picks

Led Zeppelin

22

Thursday, may

FREE

KGNU’s 47th birthday bash!

$19

24

Saturday, may

Peak2Peak

LIVE WELL, LOVE YOURSELF: A SELF-CARE MEETUP 1-2:30 p.m. Friday, May 16, Waneka Lake Park, 1600 Caria Drive, Lafayette. Free

21

Wednesday, may

UDED

16

FEES INCL

UDED

Fill your social and spiritual cup with a mindful sensory walk around beautiful Waneka Lake. You’ll be joined by others looking to slow down and connect; this monthly meetup, hosted by Lafayettebased mental health counselors, explores different self-care practices every time they get together. Bring water and wear comfortable shoes.

16

GO WEST: EXHIBIT OPENING 5 p.m. Friday, May 16, Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

Head to the Dairy to celebrate Go West, a group exhibition running through June 29 in the McMahon Gallery featuring work by 12 Asian American artists whose practices reflect on identity, diaspora and the enduring myth of the American West. The opening night event features artist meet-andgreets, live music by Sheela Bringi and refreshments available for purchase.

See story on p. 22.

17– 18

STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL VINTAGE & ANTIQUE MARKET

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 17 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. $11 ($10 for cash payments) Oh, look, a strawberry! Get your fill of strawberry shortcake and weekend antiquing at this yearly festival supporting historic preservation. A bit of history for you: The strawberry festival was Longmont’s first major social event, back when the town was still called The Chicago Colony.

$10

Sunday, may 25

Boulder q+ tea dance party

wednesday, may

28

FREE

velvet vinyl presents: stevie’s picks

Beach Boys Summer Kick off

saturday, may

31

Three Year Birthday Bash!

$23

With Tejon Street corner theives & Dig Deep

sunday, june 1

Arkansauce with derek dames ohl duo

5

Thursday, june

Sicard hollow with tonewood string band

sunday, june 8

David Lowery

Presented by 105.5 the colorado sound

12

MAY 15, 2025

$20

FEES INCL

UDED

$20

FEES INCL

UDED

$34

FEES INCL

UDED

16

WORLD WHISKY DAY: MYSTERY THROWBACK SALE 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 16, Spirit Hound Distillers, 4196 Ute Highway, Lyons. $60

Embrace the unknown with a $60 bottle of unmarked booze to celebrate World Whisky Day. You may not know what you’re getting, but the distillers at Spirit Hound promise “vintage throwbacks and limited releases.” Play hooky or head over for a truly happy hour. Online bookings required: spirithounds.com/ lyons-tasting-room.

17

SUMMER CONCERT SERIES KICKOFF

6-9 p.m. Saturday, May 17, 2nd Ave. from Murray to Franklin Street, Niwot. Free It’s not quite summer, but The House Blend Band is ready to hit the stage for their weekly open-air concert series.

BYO chair and mingle with your neighbors as they take over the streets for camaraderie, comfort food and entertainment. Spaghetti and salad will be served and sold, with proceeds from the latter supporting local food resilience nonprofit Slow Food Boulder County.

17

CROCHET & CHILL

1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 17, Thompson Park, 5th Ave. and Pratt St., Longmont. Free Join your community of crocheters in the sunshine for an afternoon of crafting at this monthly gathering in Longmont.

Pull up a chair and gab while you needle away on your project, or get some one-on-one instruction from a pro if you’re just starting out. Event will be moved to Juniper Goods at 659 4th Ave. in case of rain.

BOULDER WEEKLY

EVENTS WEDNESDAY• 05/14 TRIVIA NIGHT THURSDAY• 05/15 BOULDER COMEDY HOUR FRIDAY • 05/17 WIL SWINDLER QUINTET: GOODRATTLE SATURDAY • 05/18 JOE ANDERIES QUINTET FEATURING GABRIEL SANTIAGO SUNDAY • 05/18 BIONDO KOPPER PEÑA TRIO

17

SPRING CLOTHING SWAP

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 17, Nude Foods Market, 3233 Walnut St., Boulder. Free The only fashion trend that never goes out of style is sustainability. Bring your old clothes to swap in the free section or add to the consignment options. In the spirit of spring, Nude Foods is adding a plant swap, so come with cuttings and seedlings to swap for new plants.

18

BOULDER SYMPHONY PRESENTS: BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 9

4 p.m. Sunday, May 18, Grace Commons Church, 1820 15th St., Boulder. $30 Celebrate 15 years of the Boulder Symphony with this stirring rendition of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the first concert performed by the ensemble in 2010. Come early to Grace Commons Church to catch Music Academy students ages 5-11 as they perform Beethoven’s Ode to Joy before the main event.

20

BOULDER CYCLING CLUB: TUESDAY NIGHT RIDES

5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, leave from Twisted Pine Brewery, 3201 Walnut St., Boulder. BCC memberships starting at $30/year Slap on your Lycra, strap on your helmet and get social with your riding. Pick your poison from one of three rides of varying lengths: This week, short (~11 miles) medium (20 miles) and long (27 miles). After, enjoy 15% off your entire tab at Twisted Pine.

22

OPEN GAME NIGHT IN THE GARDEN

17

WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, Walden Ponds, 75th St. and Valmont St., Boulder. Free

This one’s for you, bird nerds. Whether you’re bird curious or a certified feather fanatic, come learn from the experts about coexisting with our avian friends returning from their winter nesting grounds. Participate in family-friendly bird ID games, water activities and see live birds of prey during this annual event hosted by Environment for the Americas.

BOULDER WEEKLY

20

JUNKYARD ECSTATIC DANCE INITIATIVE

6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, Junkyard Social Club, 2525 Frontier Ave. Unit A, Boulder. $10 suggested donation The force is strong within you. Let it out and dance the night away at Junkyard Social Club’s monthly J.E.D.I event.

Feel the rhythm and let the energy take control of your body in this “soul-stirring dance journey” as you connect with your community like never before. All levels of dance experience welcome.

4-9 p.m. Thursday, May 22, Left Hand Brewing, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free Grab your sportiest friends — or your funnest ones — and get ready for some friendly competition. First-come, firstserved setups provided for volleyball, bocce, cornhole and spike ball. Left Hand’s $5 rotating tap specials are the perfect way to celebrate your victory, mourn your loss or replenish your energy.

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

MAY 15, 2025

13

LIVE MUSIC T H U R S D AY, M AY 1 5 SCOTT VON. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont.

Free CLARE ELICH WITH EVA ROSE KING. 7 p.m. The Times Collaborative, 338 Main St., Longmont. $18 JUNK YARD DAWGS. 7:30 p.m.

Nissi’s, 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, Lafayette. Free ZOË KEATING. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35 THE GARCIA PROJECT. 8 p.m.

Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

F R ID AY, M AY 1 6 THE ATOM COLLECTIVE. 5 p.m.

Left Hand Brewing, 1265 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free JUMPIN AT SHADOWS. 5 p.m.

Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free RYAN BENTHALL WITH DAVE WATTS. 6 p.m. Stone Cottage Studios, 1928 Pearl St., Boulder. $40 THE SANCT. 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free TENBUCKSIXER!. 6 p.m.

Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free WILL SWINDLER QUARTET. 6:30 p.m. Full Cycle Café & Bar, 2355 30th St., Boulder. $25 FREYJA WILD & THE GATHERING STORM. 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

14

MAY 15, 2025

THEO TAMBER. 7 p.m. Juniper Goods Co., 659 4th Ave., Longmont. $18 CLAIRE HEYWOOD WITH RILEY J BAND. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19 GARRETT T. CAPPS & NASA COUNTRY WITH HONEY BLAZER AND JAKE LUNA BAND. 8 p.m.

Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $15 ST. VINCENT WITH BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $65 STORY ON P. 10 MATT FLAHERTY BAND. 9 p.m.

Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

SAT U RD AY, MAY 1 7 THE LILT COLLECTIVE. 6 p.m.

Spirit Hound, 4196 Ute Hwy., Lyons. Free THE JOE COOL BAND. 6 p.m.

Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free MAD DOG BLUES. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont.

Free JOE ANDERIES QUINTET WITH GABRIEL SANTIAGO. 6:30 p.m.

Full Cycle Café & Bar, 2355 30th St., Boulder. $25 FOXFEATHER WITH MONIC MARIE LABONTE. 7 p.m.

Butterscotch Studios, 620 Kimbark St., Longmont. $20 TOM OSDTIEK DUO. 8 p.m. Longs Peak Pub, 600 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

BOULDER WEEKLY

LIVE MUSIC

vv vv

JUST JUSTANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED JUL 31...................................................................................

A VERY JERRY EVENING MAY 15....................................................................................

THE GARCIA PROJECT SEP 12 .............................................................................................................MELVINS OCT 24................................................................................................... WOOKIEFOOT NOV 1 .................................................................................................WAYLON WYATT

THU. FEB 20

FRANC MOODY THU. MAY 15

OTT.

PHOEBE NIX

THU. MAY 15 BLOOMURIAN

SUN. MAY 18

ZOË KEATING SAT. FEB 22

GROVE, SKETCHWORK THE LEMON TWIGS

FRI. MAY 30 SHAKEDOWN STREET

SAT. FEB 22 FRI. MAY 23

MAX GOMEZ THU. FEB 27

BLUEHOUSE

FREE BEFORE 9PM! 21+

HONEY BLAZER

OZOMATLI

MOUNT EERIE

RAGANA BRANDON “TAZ” NIEDERAUER FRI. FEB 28 SAT. MAY 24

THE BROTHERS COMATOSE EMO NITE TWO RUNNER FT. GUEST DJ BRANDON SALLER (OF ATREYU) SAT. MAR 1 FRI. MAY 30

Prolific Brooklyn rapper MIKE brings his lyrical prowess and off-kilter samples to Gothic Theatre in Englewood for a May 18 performance with support from Anysia Kim and Duendita. The 27-year-old emcee performs in support of his latest full-length album, Showbiz!, out now via 10k. See listing for details.

SPELLLING WITH RAMAKHANDRA. 8 p.m.

Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $33 STORY ON P. 11 MATT FLAHERTY BAND. 9 p.m.

Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

S UN DAY, MAY 18 LOCO UKULELE JAM. 2 p.m.

Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free BEETHOVEN’S 9TH SYMPHONY

BY BOULDER SYMPHONY. 4 p.m.

Grace Commons Church, 1820 15th St., Boulder. $30 SASHA STONE BAND. 5 p.m.

Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free BIONDO KOPPER PEÑA TRIO. 6 p.m. Full Cycle Café & Bar, 2355 30th St., Boulder. Free (contributions accepted) BOULDER WEEKLY

THE LEMON TWIGS WITH HONEY BLAZER. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25

RIVER SPELL

SUN. MAR 2 SAT. MAY 31

POKEY LAFARGE GIMME GIMME DISCO CICADA RHYTHM

DANCE TO 70S & 80S HITS FROM THE BEE GEES, ABBA, CHER & MORE! THU. MAR 6

TUE. JUN 3

GUTHRIE BROWN IRIS AND THE SHADE

WWW.FOXTHEATRE.COM WWW.FOXTHEATRE.COM

113513TH 13THSTREET STREET BOULDER BOULDER 720.645.2467 720.645.2467 1135

TUE. JUN 17 DANIEL DONATO’S COSMIC COUNTRY

TYCHO FRI. FEB 28 WED. JUN 18 CHAMPAGNE DRIP AHEE, CANVAS BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY

GUERRILLA FANFARE SAT. MAR 1

BUFFON FEST 2025 PICKIN’ THE DEAD FT. RNGR, HAMI, LØU, CHEETAH PRINT

DONAVON FRANKENREITER FOXAVI 33RDKAPLAN ANNIVERSARY!

STURTZ AND SOULTRU. 8 p.m.

Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19

RAILROAD EARTH

THE GARCIA PROJECT FRI. FEB 21

ON THE BILL

JUSTTHU. ANNOUNCED FEB 20 AUG 8 ....................................................................SANTANA TRIBUTE: SANTA RIOS OCT 2.......................................................................................................... NOAH REID OCT 24.............................................................................................. MARTIN SEXTON NOV 21............................................................................................MARIA BAMFORD FRI. FEB 21 DEC 14 .................................................................................................. JOHN WATERS

SEE FULL LIST OF SHOWS

EGGY

THU. JUN 19

REID GENAUER A.J. CROCE PRESENTS FRI. MAR 7 - SAT. MAR 8 CROCE PLAYS CROCE JUN 20 PIGEONSFRI. PLAYING PING PONG

SQUEAKY FEET (3/7), SQWERV (3/8)

THE ENGLISH BEAT TUE. MAR 11 SAT. JUN 21

NORTH MISSISSIPPI DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS +ALLSTARS DEER TICK JONTAVIOUS WILLIS THELMA AND THE SLEAZE

WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM WWW.BOULDERTHEATER.COM 203214TH 14THSTREET STREET BOULDER BOULDER 303.786.7030 303.786.7030 2032

MIKE WITH ANYSIA KIM AND DUENDITA. 8 p.m.

Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $40 BW PICK OF THE WEEK

M ON D AY, M AY 1 9 THE BRUDI BROTHERS. 8 p.m.

Globe Hall, 4483 Logan St., Denver. $21

TU ES D AY, M AY 2 0 CHUCK SITERO AND FRIENDS. 5:30 p.m. Spirit Hound, 4196 Ute Hwy., Lyons. Free

W ED N ES D AY, M AY 2 1 OPEN BLUEGRASS PICK. 6 p.m.

The Garden at Left Hand, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont. Free LOFTY PINES. 6 p.m. Rosalee’s Pizzeria, 461 Main St., Longmont.

Free MAY 15, 2025

15

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): What may appear to be slow or static is actually moving. The developing changes are imperceptible from day to day, but incrementally substantial. So please maintain your faith in the diligent, determined approach. Give yourself pep talks that renew your deeply felt motivation.

Ignore the judgments and criticism of people who have no inkling of how hard you have been working. In the long run, you will prove that gradual progress can be the most enduring.

Divine Rest Nests: An Invitation

May 22 - September 1, 2025

Image credit: Cal Duran, 2025. Courtesy of the artist.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): The most successful people aren’t those who merely follow their passion, but those who follow their curiosity. Honoring the guidance of our passions motivates us, but it can also narrow our focus. Heeding the call of our curiosity emboldens our adaptability, exploration and maximum openness to new possibilities. In that spirit, Taurus, I invite you to celebrate your yearning to know and discover. Instead of aching for total clarity about your life’s mission, investigate the subtle threads of what piques your curiosity. Experiment with being an intrigued adventurer.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Gemini author Huston Smith was a religious scholar who wrote 13 books. But he was dedicated to experiencing religions from the inside rather than simply studying them academically.

Smith danced with Whirling Dervishes, practiced Zen meditation with a master and ingested peyote with Native Americans, embodying his view that real understanding requires participation, not just observation. In the spirit of his disciplined devotion, I invite you to seek out opportunities to learn through experience as much as theory. Leave your safety zone, if necessary, to engage with unfamiliar experiences that expand your soul. Be inspired by how Smith immersed himself in wisdom that couldn’t come from books alone.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): More than 2,000 years ago, people living in what’s now the Peruvian desert began etching huge designs of animals and plants in the earth.

The makers moved a lot of dirt! Here’s the mystery: Some of the gigantic images of birds, spiders and other creatures are still visible today, but can only be deciphered from high above.

And there were, of course, no airplanes in ancient times to aid in depicting the figures. Let’s use this as a metaphor for one of your upcoming tasks, Cancerian. I invite you to initiate or intensify work on a labor of love that will motivate you to survey your life from the vantage point of a bird or plane or mountaintop.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): You now have extra power to detect previously veiled patterns and hidden agendas. That’s why I urge you to be alert for zesty revelations that may seem to arrive out of nowhere. They could even arise from situations you have assumed were thoroughly explored and understood.

These are blessings, in my opinion. You should expect and welcome the full emergence of truths that have been ripening below the surface of your awareness. Even if they are initially surprising or daunting, you will ultimately be glad they have finally appeared.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Renowned Virgo author Nassim Nicholas Taleb has called for the discontinuation of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He says it rewards economists who express bad ideas that cause great damage. He also delivers ringing critiques of other economists widely regarded as top luminaries. Taleb has a lot of credibility. His book The Black Swan was named one of the most influential books since World War II. I propose we make him your inspirational role model for now, Virgo. May he incite you to question authority to the max. May he rouse you to bypass socalled experts, alleged mavens and supposed wizards. Be your own masterful authority.

16

MAY 15, 2025

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): I predict that your usual mental agility will be even more robust than usual in the coming weeks. Although this could possibly lead you to overthink everything, I don’t believe that’s what will happen. Instead, I suspect your extra cognitive flexibility will be highly practical and useful. It will enable you to approach problems from multiple angles simultaneously—and come up with hybrid solutions that are quite ingenious. A possibility that initially seems improbable may become feasible when you reconfigure its elements. PS: Your natural curiosity will serve you best when directed toward making connections between seemingly unrelated people and fields.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): You’re ready to go to the next evolutionary stage of a close alliance. Although you may not feel entirely prepared for the challenge, I believe you will be guided by your deeper wisdom to do what’s necessary. One way I can help is to provide exhilarating words that boost your daring spirit. With that in mind, I offer you a passage from poet William Blake. Say them to your special friend if that feels right, or find other words appropriate to your style.

Blake wrote, “You are the fierce angel that carves my soul into brightness, the eternal fire that burns away my dross. You are the golden thread spun by the hand of heaven, weaving me into the fabric of infinite delight. Your love is a furnace of stars, a vision that consumes my mortal sight, leaving me radiant and undone. In your embrace, I find the gates of paradise thrown wide.”

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): In ancient Egypt, mirrors were composed of polished copper. To remain properly reflective, they required continual maintenance. Let’s take that as a metaphor for one of your key tasks in the coming weeks. It’s high time to do creative upkeep on your relationships with influences that provide you with feedback on how you’re doing. Are your intended effects pretty close to your actual effects? Does your self-image match the way you are perceived by others? Are you getting the right kind of input to help you stay on course?

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Chances to initiate creative transformations will come from unexpected sources in the coming days.

I guarantee it. But will you be sufficiently receptive to take maximum advantage? The purpose of this horoscope is to nudge you to shed your expectations so you will be tenderly, curiously open to surprising help and inspiration. What sweet interruptions and graceful detours will flow your way if you are willing to depart from your usual script? I predict that your leadership qualities will generate the greatest good for all concerned if you are willing to relinquish full control and be flexibly eager to entertain intuitive breakthroughs.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): For many Indigenous people of California, acorns were part of every meal. Nuts from oak trees were used to create bread, soups, dumplings, pancakes, gravy and porridge. But making them edible required strenuous work. In their natural state, they taste bitter and require multiple soakings to leach out the astringent ingredient. Is there a metaphorical equivalent for you, Aquarius? An element that can be important, but needs a lot of work, refinement and preparation? If so, now is a good time to develop new approaches to making it fully available.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): When Piscesborn Jane Hirshfield was a young poet, she mostly stopped writing poetry for eight years.

During that time, she was a full-time student of Zen Buddhism and lived for three years at a monastery.

When she resumed her craft, it was infused with what she had learned. Her meditative practice had honed her observational skills, her appreciation of the rich details of daily life and her understanding that silence could be a form of communication. In the spirit of the wealth she gathered from stillness, calm and discipline, I invite you to enjoy your own spiritual sabbatical, dear Pisces. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to relax into the most intriguing mysteries.

BOULDER WEEKLY

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE Q: My husband and I have been

together for 14 years. We are WILDLY different people — from who we used to be and from each other. I only just got my libido back at the age of 41. But my husband and I have also been going through marriage therapy and working on a number of issues. I really want to open a discussion with him about being non-monogamous, but I’m terrified and nervous about how to bring this up with him.

A: Just say it — but say it in the presence of a sex-positive couples’ counselor. Figuring out how to tell you’re ready start fucking again — just not him or not just him — is going to be tricky. You’re gonna need professional assistance.

Get on the apps (breaking the ice over DM is easier than face-to-face), be honest about your inexperience and don’t settle for someone who isn’t giving off generous, patient and kind vibes.

Q: I’m a queer woman in her senior

year of college who’s still a virgin. I know people are ready for sex at different times, and I didn’t come out of the closet until college, so I feel like I should be more patient with myself. On the other hand, I want to get it over with. But I have a hard time talking to people. I’m insecure about my body, I worry I’ll say or do something stupid and I worry I’ll fuck up any relationship I enter. What should I do?

A: Everyone is insecure about something related to their bodies, everyone worries about saying or doing something stupid, and everyone worries that they’re going to fuck up their relationship. The only thing that separates you from people who aren’t still virgins is a willingness to take “yes” for an answer when people find you attractive.

BOULDER WEEKLY

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Q: I love having my tits groped. How do I communicate this to guys I hook up with in a way that is sexy? I feel so much shame around communicating my inner slutty desires.

A: If you can’t bring yourself to use your words, take the hands of the guy you’re hooking up with and place them on your breasts. Put your own hands over his hands and show him exactly how much pressure you enjoy by applying that same pressure to your breasts using his hands.

Q: My partner and I

were traveling in Thailand. She got a vaginal discharge and asked me if I had slept with anyone else since I last saw her. I lied out of fear she would break up with me. I’ve now lost her. I apologized, sent flowers and offered to go to counseling with her. She is giving me the silent treatment. Is there anything I can do to retrieve the relationship?

A: Nope.

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Q: Is there a way to tell a partner

what you want in the moment while keeping it sexy?

A: If it’s something that’s easily incorporated into the action — you want your partner to call you something specific or hold you down or spit in your mouth — confidentially asking your partner to do that thing is sexy. (“Spit in my mouth, please.”)

If it’s something that can’t easily be incorporated into the action — you want your partner to tie you up in an elaborate way or fuck you in front of a room full of strangers or experiment with fisting you — initiate a little dirty talk with your partner about this hotbut-complicated thing you wanna do with them at some point down the road.

Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love MAY 15, 2025

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NIBBLES

BAKED IN SPACE The first device for cooking in space was born in a Boulder garage

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

B

archetta, Fringe, Audrey Jane’s, Pizzeria Alberico: Pizza joints are dishing out-of-this-world artisan pies near downtown Boulder. A mile or so away, Jim Sears is crafting a device which someday may bake the first real pizza in space.

It is the high-tech, AI-driven year of 2025, but the food that astronauts eat has remained miserably the same for 40 years, according to Sears.

“Basically, there are five space food groups: thermo-stabilized meals, freezedried food, sugary drinks, sweet snacks and very limited special foods each astronaut can take up for themselves,” he says.

There’s only so much that salt, pepper and hot sauce can do to save food that doesn’t undergo cooking and baking to produce flavor.

That’s where Sears’ particular brand of American genius came to the rescue in the form of SATED, an acronym meaning:

“Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient & Delicious.”

20-MINUTE LEMON CAKE

Sears’ North Boulder garage gives off a definite Thomas Edisonmeets-Bill Gates inventor vibe. This workshop wonderland is packed with power tools, half-assembled electronic components and ancient record players. On a work bench sits one of the precious blue SATED prototypes, about the size of a toaster. The only thing out of place are the packages of dried food on the Current space pizza looks less than appetizing. Courtesy: NASA shelves.

“The food is cooked from the outside in, Sears offers a fast space-cooking like a griddle,” he says. “This invention demo: He measures cake mix and uses centrifugal force to create artificial freeze-dried eggs with water in a special gravity. A spinning aluminum cylinder plastic bag. After setting the temperature pushes the food ingredients up against and Gs on SATED, Sears pours the batthe walls. Ceramic heaters cook the food ter into a heated spinning cylinder and from the outside surface towards the cencloses the top. ter.”

About 20 minutes later, we’re tasting The only limitation, Sears says, “is that moist and sweet lemon cake. The outyou can’t really stir anything.” side is light brown, lending that distinctive oven-baked flavor. SATED cooks faster than a conventional oven, to boot.

PANDEMIC PIZZA Ever the scientist and non-foodie, A Boulder resident since 1980, Sears Sears notes that “baking” isn’t an accufounded SATED in 2020 after a distinrate description. guished career as an engineer, develop-

SATED pizza looks and tastes like the real thing. Courtesy: SATED

BOULDER WEEKLY

ing everything from diving equipment for the Navy to satellite technology at Ball Aerospace in Boulder.

Cooking food in zero Gs presents a host of truly unique problems.

“The space industry has always said that cooking in space is impossible,” Sears says. “If you put a pan on a stove and had food in the pan, the first thing that would happen is the pan would float off the stove. Even if you hold the pan down, heating would send the food floating.”

Spending hours tinkering with multiple prototypes — the first was a tuna can —

The first SATED protoype was built in a tuna can.

The only thing SATED doesn’t cook, according to creator Jim Sears, is pop-

Now it makes whole cakes. Credit: John Lehndorff

corn. Courtesy: SATED

MAY 15, 2025

19

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MAY 15, 2025

he started answering the challenge using commonly available components.

“I get almost everything from Amazon, and incidentally, most of it is made in China,” Sears says.

The prime directive for any space equipment is to work safely in highly flammable environments. SATED “gets fairly hot,” Sears says: “around 400 degrees F.” But so far, it’s hit the mark.

“We’ve toasted piñon nuts and sautéed vegetables. The only thing I can think of that didn’t work was popcorn.”

‘BIGGER THAN A MEAL’

After a complex testing phase, the oven was named runner-up — and John Glenn on the cover of Time in 1962. awarded $250,000 — in the final From the personal archives of John Lehndorff phase of NASA’s Deep Space Food astically, and chef Charisse Grey helped Challenge in 2024, which encouraged demonstrate the device by crafting a the invention of food technologies to feed folks during deep space exploration quick and tasty cylindrical pizza.

“We just told her how it works and and extraplanetary habitation. gave her a recipe, and she used her These will not be quickie jaunts like the recent Blue Origin flight starring Katy skill as a chef to make an awesome pizza,” Sears says.

Perry, or the one where Scott Carpenter The group continues testing Sears’ orbited the earth in 1962 on Aurora 7, Boulder-born device with other foods to the capsule named after the Boulder create a potential menu of future dinstreet where he lived. ners.

“Already, astronauts are spending a With a new book, new restaurants year or more in space,” Sears says. and a new cooking show with Martha Boring food makes it much harder for Stewart to plug, Andrés still spent most astronauts to consume their required of his recent visit on The Tonight Show number of calories.

Starring Jimmy Fallon enthusing about “They have to exercise two hours a SATED, even pulling the device out to day just to maintain muscles and bone share a slice of Spanish tortilla — a density in zero G, and that burns a lot of potato omelet — with the host. calories,” he says. “The food needs to It still has to undergo a lot of conoffer more flavor, more variety. It needs to include familiar flavors from home. It’s trolled testing, but Sears hopes SATED will finally get to work in space in the bigger than just a meal.” next couple of years. The Smithsonian is already interested in acquiring a proTHE FINAL FRONTIER totype.

When Sears was getting ready to pitch “I am so enthusiastic about this task,” his device at the competition, his chilhe says. “It means taking the joy of dren offered him some advice. cooking into the future. I hope this tech “My kids said: ‘You’ve got to have a will help feed people for the next 100 professional cook be part of this.’ I said, years.”

‘I would do anything to work with José Andrés.’ I’ve always totally admired what he does on the world stage with the John Lehndorff has been invited to World Central Kitchen,” he says. develop a recipe for the first-ever The hugely popular celebrity chef had space pie. Are you a former astronaut already helped send paella to a Spanish who has eaten in space? Share your astronaut on the space station. The memories of dining in orbit: nibbles@ José Andrés Group responded enthusiboulderweekly.com BOULDER WEEKLY

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VISUAL ART

REFRAMING THE FRONTIER Asian American artists challenge the myth of the West at Dairy Arts Center

BY TONI TRESCA

I

n a political climate increasingly hostile to diversity, equity and inclusion, many artists of color are watching opportunities vanish before their eyes.

“I’ve had two projects canceled already this year,” says Denver-based visual artist Sammy Lee. “It feels like we’re in a different time. With this whole crusade against DEI, it’s like you have to pluck out any words related to identity to get support.”

That’s why Lee — and many others — weren’t sure the Dairy Arts Center’s Go West exhibition would happen. “I actually thought that this show would be canceled,” Lee says. “I contacted Stella Witcher [the Dairy’s visual arts curator] and asked, ‘Is this on?’ I was told the Dairy is very committed to this show, which was very refreshing in this political moment.”

Running May 16 through June 29 in the McMahon Gallery, the show features work by 12 Asian American artists whose practices reflect on identity, diaspora and the enduring myth of the American West.

Organized under the guidance of jurors Rajiv Menon and Roseline Neveling, and curated locally by Witcher, Go West invites audiences to reconsider whose stories the West has traditionally centered — and whose have been left out.

“The exhibit explores the legacy of the American West and how it has always had this kind of romanticized view through the lens of fiction and mythology,” Witcher says. “The purpose of this exhibition is to 1.) acknowledge that the past has been romanticized, and 2.) point out that it is often whitewashed in some way and doesn’t reflect the true legacy of the American West, which is one of diverse communities coming together from all over the world to make this place home.”

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MAY 15, 2025

RECLAIMING THE WEST

Roots Art Festival will feature panelists reflecting on their creative process, and an unanRather than reinforcing familiar nounced, on-theme film will images of cowboys or conscreen June 23. quest, Go West aims to reframe But even with support from the frontier as a site of converthe Dairy, there’s an undercurgence. The resulting exhibition rent of urgency for artists like spans a range of materials and Lee. “There’s still part of me scales: large hanging tapeswondering if this will be the last tries, tiny 3D-printed objects, year for this show,” she says. textile installations, paintings “Could something like this hapand intricately layered works on pen next year?” paper, all filtering the Western Since the Dairy doesn’t rely mythos through a diverse lens. on support from sources like Lee, a Korean-born artist the National Endowment for who moved to Southern the Arts, the center isn’t at risk California as a teen and now of losing funding in the current resides in Denver, is exhibiting climate — but as the rightward A Very Proper Table Setting, a lurch of the federal government collection of 40 cast-paper table generates a chilling effect arrangements based on true across cultural institutions stories from Denver communinationwide, Witcher says ties. Each was created through they’re committed to bringing public participation pop-ups, in art like Lee’s to Boulder audiwhich Lee invited strangers to ences for the foreseeable cook a meal for a loved one. future.

“This is my way to use food, “We’re hearing from artists dining culture and table settings Nartaki by Bala Thiagarajan, on view in the ongoing Go West exhibition at that their projects are drying to talk about many layers of difthe Dairy Arts Center through June 29. Credit: Bala Thiagarajan up. That’s erasure,” she says. ferent human relationships,” “We are not going to shy away from disLee says. “This is a very American project incorporates native Colorado plant dyes into Japanese textiles to explore ecologicussing diverse topics and allowing peobecause I am using dinnerware from my cal belonging. Mattie Hanson critiques the ple to share their lived experiences heritage almost as a container for other transnational adoption industry, weaving through their art. … Freedom of exprespeople’s culture.” sion is more important now than ever, Another contributor, Arvada-based artist together economics, personal identity and state policy. The variety of media and and that’s something the Dairy’s not Bala Thiagarajan, explores layered identinegotiating.” ty using a more symbolic visual language. approaches wasn’t accidental.

“We wanted to reflect the diversity of art With few platforms already available for A former biologist originally from Chennai, that Asian American artists are making in AAPI artists in Colorado, the show’s exisIndia, she blends South Indian decorative Colorado and the West,” Witcher says. tence feels both necessary and tenuous. traditions like rangoli with Western land“There are not a lot of events happenscapes in her richly textured paintings and “All the pieces in the exhibition really speak to the complexity of Go West and ing specifically for Asian artists,” ceramics. For Go West, she created new all of the expected and unexpected ways Thiagarajan says. “We are a small group. works featuring jagged Colorado peaks, this theme ties into every aspect of living We’re not going to be in every single autumn aspens and South Asian women. in Colorado and in the West. Not just for space, but if we can be in one or two “When you’re in a new place, in a difthese artists and for Asian Americans, but more each year, spaces where you know ferent place, even though there’s a sense for all of us.” there is some light on us, that we exist, of belonging here, you also want to hold that will help inspire kids and others to on to what was,” Thiagarajan says. “This value culture.” show is more about the story of migration. ART IN A CLIMATE All the artists are first-generation immiOF ERASURE grants or second-generation immigrants, The Dairy has planned several public so it’s not just physical movement. The programs to extend the exhibit’s themes ON VIEW: Go West: show is also about this transformation of beyond the gallery walls. The opening Celebrating AAPI artists in who you are, what your identity is and night reception on May 16 features a the American West. May 16 questions of how you bring your culture performance by Indian classical-fusion through June 29, Dairy Arts into your art.” artist and Naropa professor Sheela Center, 2590 Walnut St., Other works in the show push the Bringi. A June 10 artist talk moderated by Boulder. Free theme even further afield. Maki Teshima Melissa Utomo of Boulder’s Community BOULDER WEEKLY

ON DRUGS

THE RISE OF KRATOM Opioid-like effects hold promise, danger

BY HOPE MUÑOZ

D

uring a visit to the convenience store, customers expect to find shelves stocked with snacks and sugary drinks. But in recent years, a different product has emerged: 21+ beverages infused with kratom, a plantbased supplement with mood boosting opioid-like effects.

As kratom rises in popularity around Boulder and the rest of the country, some experts argue it is an accessible way to treat chronic pain and opioid withdrawal, while others warn the substance carries dangers of its own — including addiction.

OPIOID-LIKE EFFECTS

Kratom, also known as mitragyna speciosa (in the coffee family), is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia whose leaves can be chewed, made into tea or used as powder for capsules. The 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health Annual National Report found about 1.7 million people used kratom in the past year. In 2022, the number rose to 1.9 million.

During his seven years at The Root Kava Co. in Boulder, general manager Tekoa Williams has also noticed an increase in demand.

“When the bar first opened, there were times when nobody would come in during the day; you could take a nap on the couch,” Williams said. “That’s definitely not the case now. You’ll see people pack

BOULDER WEEKLY

it at almost any time of the day.”

David Kroll, a professor and program director at CU Anschutz Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, has studied kratom for eight years. He’s also noticed its rise in popularity during the past 12 to 18 months. He describes it as “not exactly a drug, but not exactly a food.”

“It’s not like marijuana,” Kroll said. “It doesn’t get you high or change your perception of time. It more so gives you a sense of happiness and well-being.”

NATURAL DOESN’T MEAN SAFE

Kratom is sometimes promoted as an aid for withdrawal from opioid addiction.

But the plant itself can be addictive.

“For the very same reasons that it can help people get off opioids, the positive effects are pretty reinforcing,” Kroll said. “They can make people physically dependent.”

In July 2024, a Colorado bill for kratom regulation went into effect. Most notably, it limited sales and consumption to people over 21. It also prohibited selling kratom mixed with other controlled substances, like alcohol.

But Kroll still worries users will mix it with cannabis or alcohol, which can suppress breathing.

“It makes me worry that people think just because it’s natural that it’s going to be safe,” he said. “Nothing could be fur-

Left: A fridge with kratom-infused drinks at Bova’s in Boulder on Wednesday, April 30. Credit: Hope Muñoz; Right: Tekoa Williams crafts beverages at The Root Kava Co. in Boulder. Courtesy: The Root

ther from the truth. Anytime you put together two types of suppressing drugs that work on the brain, you run the risk of having trouble with breathing.”

Among other risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautions users of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures and substance use disorder.

CAUTION WARRANTED

Because of its similarity to opioids, pain is a commonly cited reason for daily kratom use. A study published in 2025 in the Journal of Pain found that nearly half of their participants met the criteria for chronic pain; 69.2% shared that they had difficulties in obtaining adequate pain treatment.

Williams, for example, uses kratom as a daily alternative to coffee. He says it helps with pain from skateboarding and improves his focus.

Kroll has empathy for the folks using kratom. The onus, he believes, should be on regulators, but individuals still need to be careful.

“Our federal and state system is not set up well to handle these kinds of herbal chemicals,” he said. “Kratom should be treated with all the caution and respect that you would have for any other opioid-type drugs. My personal feelings are my professional feelings: I’ve studied the science long enough and have been around to cultivate compassion. We have so much control over opioids that a lot of people are suffering in pain without having access to medicine. It’s an unfortunate symptom of where the U.S. healthcare system is: People with pain and addiction go undertreated.

“People do need to have access to medicines that help them, even if they’re imperfect.”

MAY 15, 2025

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