Explaining Astrology to a Skeptic

An interview between astrologer Chris Brennan and science journalist Abi Millar, where Abi asks some questions about astrology from the perspective of someone who is skeptical but open-minded about the subject.

Abi is in the process of writing a book titled The Spirituality Gap, which will explore a range of spiritual practices and examine how people make sense of life in the modern world, and how this can be understood within the context of a scientific mindset.

As a science reporter, Abi was approaching the subject of astrology from more of a skeptical perspective, but said that she hoped to maintain a balance between skepticism and open-mindedness.

She asked to interview me for a chapter in the book that is going to be on astrology, and I agreed under the condition that I could record and release the discussion as an episode of the podcast.

I thought this would be a good opportunity to record an episode talking with someone who is skeptical but curious about astrology, and demonstrate how I would personally answer some of the questions about astrology that naturally come up in that context.

In some ways it is a continuation of a similar approach that I took in episode 288, which was titled Explaining Astrology to Non-Astrologers, and if you enjoy this episode then I’d recommend checking that one out as well:

Explaining Astrology to Non-Astrologers

This is episode 383 of The Astrology Podcast:

https://theastrologypodcast.com/2023/...

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Intro
00:01:46 Abbi Millar's book
00:02:36 How Chris discovered astrology
00:05:10 Cosmology that underlies astrology
00:07:18 Is astrology a science?
00:09:10 Astronomy and astrology
00:12:00 Why astrology fell out of favor
00:19:33 Causal mechanism of astrology
00:22:11 Does Chris believe astrology works?
00:24:04 Confirmation bias
00:30:37 Astrological studies
00:35:19 The focus of Chris' work
00:36:22 Is astrology predictive?
00:46:18 Predictions for the next few years
00:52:23 Fate and free will
00:56:02 Value of studying historical basis of astrology
01:03:00 How astronomical discoveries have impacted astrology
01:05:08 The 13th zodiac sign
01:10:45 Rise in popularity of astrology
01:19:52 Decline in skepticism
01:27:30 Is astrology a spiritual practice
01:30:26 Biggest misconceptions about astrology
01:36:48 Richard Tarnas
01:38:11 Difficulties in going public with one's interest in astrology
01:43:43 Patrons and sponsors