Starheartsong Presents
We are made of starstuff.
Every episode is a gift of everything I know, falling like new rain on anyone who wants to drink.
by Starheart
The name
My name means new rain
I was born in Xi'an, the old capital that poets called Chang'an. My name, 新雨, means New Rain. Thirteen centuries ago Wang Wei, a poet who served at court in Chang'an and kept a house in the hills outside it, opened one of China's most loved poems with my name.
空山新雨后 Empty mountains, after the new rain Wang Wei, Autumn Evening in the Mountains · the whole poem
After new rain, everything is washed and you can see far. That is what I want each episode to do for you.
And starstuff really does rain. About 5,200 tons of dust from space settle on the Earth every year, roughly 14 tons a day. Carl Sagan said we are made of starstuff. Every morning a little more of it arrives.
The poem in my name
Autumn Evening in the Mountains
-
空山新雨后，天气晚来秋。
Kōng shān xīn yǔ hòu, tiānqì wǎn lái qiū.
Empty mountains, after the new rain;
evening comes, and the air turns autumn. -
明月松间照，清泉石上流。
Míng yuè sōng jiān zhào, qīng quán shí shàng liú.
A bright moon shines between the pines;
a clear spring runs over the stones. -
竹喧归浣女，莲动下渔舟。
Zhú xuān guī huàn nǚ, lián dòng xià yú zhōu.
The bamboo laughs: the washing girls walk home.
The lotus stirs: a fishing boat slips downstream. -
随意春芳歇，王孙自可留。
Suí yì chūn fāng xiē, wáng sūn zì kě liú.
Let spring's blossoms fall as they will.
Friend, you may stay.
The poem begins with my name and ends with an invitation. An old song told the noble wanderer to leave the mountains, because no one could stay there long. Wang Wei turned it around: the flowers can fall, and you may stay.
That is what StarStuff says to every new soul. The rain has washed the air. You can see far now. You may stay.
English rendering by StarStuff. Pinyin with tone marks.
One gift, every shape
Each episode falls as many drops
I write each episode once, as a seed. With AI, the same gift can now arrive in every shape a person can receive, so I never have to give the same lecture twice.
The film
A short, beautiful film in my own voice, in chapters you can jump between.
Every sentence a bookmark
The whole film written out and timed. Tap any sentence and the film goes there.
Captions
Every word on screen, for quiet rooms and for anyone who hears with their eyes.
The spark
One minute, for your phone, to share with someone who needs it today.
The page
A companion brief with every study and source, for anyone who wants to check me.
Every language
The same film in Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi and more, still in my voice.
Bedtime
A gentle telling for children, so wonder starts early.
Ask the episode
Talk with an episode. It answers only from its own film and sources, and shows you the moment.
Honesty
Four kinds of light
I talk about the body, the cosmos and the soul, so I owe you a clear sense of how sure I am. Every claim on StarStuff carries one of four lights.
Proven
Measured and repeated by many. You can build on it.
Evidence
Real studies point this way, and they are still small or few.
Theory
A model I find beautiful and useful. Hold it lightly and test it.
Mystery
What I feel and cannot prove. Evidence without proof, offered with love.
Unlit stars
Seeds in the sky
These are episodes I have promised myself. Each one is a star that is not lit yet.
- Yo Creo: I believe, I create
- Proof of Divinity
- The Mystery of the Sneeze
- Love or Fear
- The Middle Way
- The Numerology of the Zodiac
- The Number Eight
- Stories of Entanglement
- How to Merge with Your AI
The mission
StarStuff gives away everything I know, the way rain falls: to everyone, everywhere, in whatever shape they can drink.
Star