Andrea Thompson

Programmer, Sophie's Parlor Women's Radio Collective

Andrea Thompson first found WPFW as a college student in the 1990s, listening without yet supporting the station. In 2004, at 31, she was recruited and trained into the Sophie's Parlor Women's Radio Collective by Marietta Ulacia, who was then also hosting a weeknight Latin Flavor program. She has been hooked ever since.

Andrea is an advocate for people telling their own stories, and the chance to do that at scale for women from all over the world is what keeps her in the chair. Her mantra is that everyone deserves to tell their own story, whether through their voice or through their music.

Two broadcasts stand out in her memory. While living in China between 2007 and 2008, she used Skype to call into the studio and co-produce two shows with guests in Washington, years before the pandemic made remote broadcasting routine. Colleagues at the station were amazed it worked. The other was a Saturday in the mid-2000s when Sophie's Parlor took over the station for several hours of International Women's Day programming featuring local women artists across every genre.

Sophie's Parlor is a show by women, about women, for everyone. It is the oldest continuously running women's music radio collective in the United States and has been on WPFW since 1977, carrying a music and public affairs format.