Even before the COVID-19 crisis, millions of millennials were finding new solace in an old celestial tradition: astrology. The onetime '70s fad is back as millennials are looking to the stars for answers on mobile apps, online, and in newspaper and magazine horoscopes.

The Pew Research Center reports a third of Americans aged 18 to 29 regularly follow the planets’ movements and positions. How did astrology, once considered merely light entertainment, become a cultural phenomenon for millennial Americans?

Guests:

Dr. Judy Tsafrir - Adult and child psychiatrist, Harvard Medical School faculty member, and local astrologer. She is also a certified member of The Organization for Professional Astrology.

Dr. Steven Novella - Neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine, founder and president of the New England Skeptical Society, and host/producer of the podcast, “The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.”

Morgan Hing - Former associate studio designer for Boston-based ad agency Hill Holliday and astrology fanatic.

Later in the show:

About 3.2 million Americans have the brain disorder schizophrenia, but about 40 percent of schizophrenics go undiagnosed. That was the case for many of Mimi and Don Galvin’s sons: six of 12 siblings whose story is the subject of Robert Kolker’s compelling narrative, “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.”

Kolker embeds their shocking and poignant family story into the ongoing scientific quest to understand how schizophrenia works and how to treat its victims. “Hidden Valley Road” is author Robert Kolker’s second book, and it’s our May selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.”

Guest:

Robert Kolker — author of “Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of An American Family,” which is available in bookstores and online now.

Show Credits:

We’re on the web at wgbh.org/news/undertheradarwithcalliecrossley and
available for download wherever you get your podcasts.

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of WGBH, produced by
Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.
Melissa Rosales is our intern.\

Our theme music is FISH AND CHIPS by #weare2saxys’, Grace Kelly and Leo P.

Astrology: Why Millennials Are Looking To The Stars For Answers 58:00 Share

Under the Radar Podcast

Shownotes Transcript

Astrology: Why Millennials Are Looking To The Stars For Answers