Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrology and Monsanto

Dear Friend and Reader: Venus stations direct Sunday after a six-week retrograde. This is one of the rare Venus retrogrades I’ve experienced when it felt like, and where many people described it feeling like, Mercury retrograde. Venus and Mercury are both closer to the Sun than is the Earth, so there are similarities there. They … Read more

Life With and Within the Robot

Dear Friend and Reader: The other night I went to the movies with my cousin Dominick Vanacore, and we saw Ex Machina. One of my principles of film is that any movie worth seeing once is worth seeing twice, and Ex Machina qualifies. It’s the story of a programming genius (modeled after a search-engine billionaire who goes into … Read more

Pluto in Capricorn: Fiddler on a Roof

Dear Friend and Reader: Growing up an honorary Jew in New York City, my favorite musical was Fiddler on the Roof. My mom took me to see the first Broadway revival with Zero Mostel, who performed in the original 1964 production. I learned the song “Sabbath Prayer” in piano lessons. And I thought a lot about … Read more

Marketing Crisco

BY SUSHAMA GOKHALE Reprinted from Wise Traditions magazine. The FDA is creeping toward banning trans-fats, or what are technically called partially hydrogenated fats. I saw this article in Wise Traditions magazine and asked the author if we could reprint it — thanks for that permission, Sushama. I think you’ll love this work of journalistic art. … Read more

The Orius New Moon

Dear Friend and Reader: This past Monday, the Sagittarius New Moon was conjunct a newly discovered centaur planet called Orius. The Moon-Sun conjunction was to the exact degree, which is usually a good moment to suss out some clues regarding what the new point is about. Technically called (330836) Orius, it was discovered on April 25, … Read more