Stars and Stars with Isa

Self-described “Black Feminist Love Evangelist,” Alexis Pauline Gumbs has been widely praised for her incisive thought and inspired prose. The author recently released her new book Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde. Alexis is the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde’s manuscript archives, and the book illuminates Lorde’s understanding of survival on a changing...

Actor and producer Johnny Sibilly is known for his roles in the hit show Pose, the reboot of Queer as Folk, and the award-winning HBO show Hacks. As a pre-teen, stumbling across the original Queer as Folk on his family’s TV helped him to understand himself more fully, and ever since Johnny’s carried a commitment to the fullness and mess that real representation requires. Isa Nakazawa sits down wit...

Vanessa Benavente currently plays none other than Mary, the mother of Jesus herself, on Netflix’s The Chosen. Vanessa describes the years that led up to this role as “the typical overnight success that takes 15 years.” Working on the show has been more than a career highlight, it’s expanded her views on spirituality. Isa Nakazawa sits down with Vanessa to talk about how her Sagittarius sun has all...

As an award-winning poet, writer, and performer, Danez Smith’s words are always right on time. This year they released their latest poetry collection BLUFF, calling out the dualities and contradictions alive in all of us, including themself. As one reviewer wrote, they demonstrate that we all contain “protest and police, cowardice and commitment, money and kindness, looting and food drives.” Isa N...

DJ, producer, and musician Jahi Sundance’s Cancer Rising allows him to build sonic and emotional worlds for his listeners. His Cancer’s sensitivity balances his more angular earth placements in the house of Gemini, which Isa Nakazawa says could make the birth chart of a “con artist.” But Jahi is anything but as his star map also provides equilibrium. Isa catches up with Jahi at the Blue Note Jazz...

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is the award-winning author of two books: her nonfiction debut, The Undocumented Americans, and her latest, a novel called Catalina. Catalina follows a Latine senior at Harvard who feels stuck between the opportunities an Ivy League diploma offers and the limiting realities of being undocumented in America. Though Catalina may be loosely autofiction, Karla deftly gives...

A writer, therapist, and political organizer, Prentis Hemphill moves through the world with the intensity, depth and the tenderness of their Scorpio moon. Host Isa Nakazawa spoke with Prentis shortly after the publication of their deeply moving book “What It Takes to Heal.” The book is full of the learnings from their time as Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter Global Network and from t...

From making history as the first Indian woman to perform at Coachella to revitalizing the Desi-futurist genre across three studio albums, Raveena Aurora blends the intensity and devotion she pours into her career with an intuitive softness only an Aries moon and Cancer rising can stir together. Raveena’s music is deeply connected to her past and future memories, which she nurtures through ancestra...

For our six-month anniversary, we’re bringing you a special edition of Stars and Stars with Isa! The one and only award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa interviews our host, Isa Nakazawa, on her lineage of Aquarians, how she developed her gift for astrology and the risks of astrology. Isa shows us how we are in charge of our own lives and destinies and how we can use astrology to enhance and unde...

For the writer, podcaster and social strategist Peyton Dix, diving into the messy corners of the internet feels like second nature. Her work centers on Black and queer stories with, as she says, “the occasional sprinkle of internet mess.” As co-host of the podcast “Lemme Say This” with best-friend Hunter Harris, she takes the pulse of today’s cultural zeitgeist. With a double-dose of earth energy...

Nella Rojas is a Latin Grammy winning singer and songwriter whose music is a fusion of folk sounds from her home country of Venezuela, with flamenco, jazz, and pop. Her powerful voice mesmerizes listeners with its fierce energy. Her latest album, “En Otra Vida,” honors the sounds of Latin American musical giants across ten covers and guides listeners on a journey to the origins of her inspirations...

Comedian, writer and actor Jes Tom has worked on HBO’s Our Flag Means Death and voice acted on Adult Swim’s Tuca & Bertie. Their solo show, Less Lonely, was featured in the Netflix comedy special Gender Agenda, hosted by Hannah Gadsby. Jes’ work plays with their movement through queer worlds since coming out at 13. With seven placements in Capricorn, Jes tells host Isa Nakazawa about their struggl...

Born in ‘90s Havana, Cuba, Daymé Arocena has been surrounded by music her whole life. The singer, composer and arranger is deeply influenced by the voices of the legendary women in her family. As a Cancer Rising, her music moves fluidly from jazz to latin pop. She defies the exclusion of Black women from the music originated by global Black cultures. Isa Nakazawa sits down with Daymé to discuss he...

For Bay Davis, a community organizer, poet, and model from South Central L.A., beauty and justice are deeply intertwined. Her advocacy for those silenced by mass incarceration, addiction, and violence is informed by her own identity as a Black trans woman — who resists the politicization of her being. Her Libra rising and Aquarius Sun balance outward charm with introspective depth, while her Venus...

Stephen Satterfield is an award-winning food writer and sommelier, and you may know him as host of the Netflix docu-series “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America.” A self-proclaimed origin forager, Stephen starts his journeys with food from a place of pleasure and quickly goes deeper, seeking to understand a cuisine’s cultural roots. This Aries stellium joins host Isa N...

Musician Mireya Ramos is a Latin Grammy winning singer, composer, and founder of Flor de Toloache, an all-female mariachi band. Flor de Toloache went from busking on the New York City subways to reaching a global audience. As an Afro-latina in mariachi, Mireya knows what it means to be a trailblazer in a narrow industry. She talks with host Isa Nakazawa about the work ethic and enduring spirit of...

In her nearly 25 years in the music industry Kathy Iandoli has become known for showing the humanity of musicians behind the sheen of fame. She’s written some of the most intimate biographies of Black women in hip hop, from Lil’ Kim and Eve to Aaliyah. Kathy’s connection to the spiritual world runs deep and she envisions her work as an offering to the music she’s long admired. In true Pisces fashi...

Benjamin Earl Turner is a recording artist, actor, writer, educator and multi-hyphenate on shows like Blindspotting, Rap Sh!t and Snowfall. Ben captivates in any medium he chooses as an insatiably curious soul, guided by an exquisite ethics of love. Isa Nakazawa sits down with Ben to discuss how as a Scorpio Sun, Scorpio Moon, and Pisces Rising, he is always seeking ways to subvert stereotypes – w...

Jessica Dore's skepticism of fate is the culmination of her roles as a writer, tarot reader, and licensed social worker blending the secular with the spiritual. In her book Tarot for Change, featured in The New York Times, The Cut, and Vogue, she radically converts tarot from prophecy into a foundation for growth and movement. Host Isa Nakazawa sits down with Jessica to explore how the constant ev...

Gaby Moreno is a Grammy-award-winning Guatemalan singer-songwriter and guitarist whose bilingual lyrics take listeners on vivid journeys. She was awarded the Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2023 for X Mi (Vol. 1). Her decades-spanning career is defined by a tenderness for her home of Guatemala, as told through folklore in her songwriting. Her ninth studio LP, Dusk, released earlier this year, i...

Dr. Bayo Akomolafe is a widely celebrated international speaker, teacher, author, and self-described "recovering psychologist.” As a Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon and Pisces Rising his chart is full of beautiful contradictions—dealing in the details and seeing the big picture, searching for meaning and knowing there is no singular answer, and often existing most comfortably in the liminal. Bayo joins I...

Roxane Gay’s writing explores sexuality, race, feminism, and body image, often through her own personal experiences. From reality TV to that prestige series, to politics, Roxane’s cultural commentary crystallizes so poignantly what these pieces of culture tell us about ourselves and our society. Isa Nakazawa sits down with the New York Times bestselling author and editor to discuss her Libra stell...

Poet and writer Yesika Salgado is a two-time National Poetry Slam finalist and the recipient of the 2020 International Latino Book Award in Poetry. Informed by her Salvadoran roots and her love for Los Angeles, Yesika explores yearning: a longing for lovers, home, big dreams. She is the author of the best-sellers Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa, and her works have been featured in the New York Times,...

Rico Nasty began releasing mixtapes online, self-teaching and innovating when she was in high school, leading to collaborations with rapper Lil Yachty, two studio albums, and her latest EP, Hardcore Dreamz. Rico’s journey into motherhood and her rap career developed hand-in-hand, and her story is one of personal resilience and creative shape shifting. Rico liberates herself and her fans from the s...

Multidisciplinary artist, poet, and writer Fariha Róisín is a Capricorn Sun and Cancer Moon and Rising. Host Isa Nakazawa sits down with Fariha to unpack how her chart illuminates the trajectory of her writing career, from a critical examination of wellness culture to her own healing from childhood abuse. Fariha shares details of her journey to mending her body and spirit through liberation. Isa a...