WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness with Clarissa Dolphin

Clarissa Dolphin

WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness is a deep-dive podcast where astrologer Clarissa Dolphin brings in experts, thought leaders, provocateurs and full astrologer panels to decode what's really going on in America: the culture wars, the economy, the collective unraveling, and the real unabashed impact of what it feels like to be living through all of it. Through serious, technical, unapologetically badass astrology, we connect the cosmic to the real: your relationships, your body, your bank account, your rage, your freedom. There will be no doomscrolling or gurus here, just the chart, the lived experience, authenticity and the truth.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Technology with Alexander Kriech and Catie McQ

    OK, Robot Apocalypse! Is AI the beginning of the end or an actual tool for building something better? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, astrologer-medium Alexander Kriech and neoclassical Uranian astrologer Catie McQ join me to dig into the third house of the Sibley chart — technology, information, how we talk to each other — and what the upcoming Saturn opposition and 2027 Uranus return mean for where this is all headed. We get into trillionaire wealth concentration, AI’s real relationship to the climate crisis, kids growing up with phones as limbs, and genuine, hard-won optimism about where this cycle actually leads. Biggest Takeaways Catie’s framing: the US’s Aquarius Moon in the third house means the American people and their information environment function almost as one organism — we don’t just adopt new technology, we get reconstituted by itAlex’s point: Pluto approaching the US’s South Node right now points to a real reckoning in how we talk to each other, both within the country and with the rest of the worldCatie’s read on AI specifically: she’s not worried about a “Terminator” future — the real opportunity is regulation and collective ownership, giving the public an actual stake in the technology rather than just revolting against itMy own addition: the current Saturn opposition is also squaring the US’s natal Mars-Uranus conjunction in the seventh house — Mars-Uranus is literally open combat, which explains why this doesn’t feel like a quiet moment for technology, it feels like a fightCatie’s hopeful case: AI could genuinely normalize neurodivergent thinking and personalize how people learn, rather than just automating jobs awayMy own harmonic read: America is a 5th harmonic country (invention, creativity), a 19th harmonic country (management), and a 9th harmonic country (community and healing) — which is why, underneath all the anxiety, this country has always been wired to eventually figure it out Connect with Alexander Kriech: dogstaroracle.com Connect with Catie McQ: celestialhealingarts.org Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: Spirit Stomach – Enrollment Dynamic Ad Spirit Stomach isn't a course. It's three months of one-on-one spiritual initiation — just you me me, tailored to your unique medicine and spiritual lineage. No cohort of strangers or generic curriculum. This round is almost full. If you've been circling this, stop circling. Spirit Stomach

    Technology with Alexander Kriech and Catie McQ
  2. Oct 27

    The Astrologers’ State of the Union with Tara Aal and Tasha Beg

    The president delivers a State of the Union every year with updates on the country’s progress and trajectory. But what’s actually going on with America right now astrologically, house by house? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, astrologers Tara Aal and Tasha Beg join me for a full sweep of the Sibley chart — every house axis, one by one — where we break down the astrological temperature of the country. We get into the military-industrial complex and shifting alliances, Pluto bearing down on the US’s South Node and what that means for the economy, a real-time example of third-house succession playing out in the news and the Chiron transit that’s triggering old wounds around power and pride. It’s a lot of ground to cover and we cover all of it. Biggest Takeaways Tara’s read on the 1st/7th axis: an approaching Mars return in the seventh house signals a redefinition of alliances — maybe discovering some “enemies” aren’t and some “allies” areMy framing on the 2nd/8th axis: the populace (Jupiter-ruled, routed through the eighth house) keeps asking where the shared money is actually going, while Pluto bearing down on the US’s South Node points to an economic restructuring that’s not optionalTasha’s historical parallel: Pluto was out-of-bounds in the 1930s-40s, the same era the military-industrial complex took root — now that Pluto is out-of-bounds again, she reads it as a recalibration of where power actually sitsOn the 3rd/9th axis: a real political succession story broke the same week we recorded, which Tasha used as a live example of third-house “who inherits the family legacy” energy playing out in real timeTara’s read on Chiron in the fifth house squaring Jupiter: a wounding around pride, kingship, and who gets to be “the most important” — exact Chiron return is June 8, 2027, with a rare Saturn-Chiron conjunction the year afterThe hopeful thread running through the 6th/12th axis: both Tara and Tasha point to the rise of mutual aid, large-scale wealth redistribution (MacKenzie Scott’s giving model came up more than once) and a generational handoff already underway — people with lived experience of hardship stepping into leadership because they know how to actually organize care Connect with Tara Aal: TaraAal.com Connect with Tasha Beg: agentofpluto.com Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: Lunar Nodes – 15% Off Dynamic Ad Forget karma or past-life debt you're doomed to keep repaying. The Lunar Nodes: Unstoppable Living redefines the Nodes as points where your life force meets zero resistance, or in other words, where you're already a shooting star in motion, magnetizing exactly who you need along the way. $99, self-paced, no prior astrology knowledge required — 15% off with code WTFUSA15 Lunar Nodes E-Course

    The Astrologers’ State of the Union with Tara Aal and Tasha Beg
  3. Oct 20

    Children and Families with Megan Green and Sara Murray

    Oh, kids these days, says every generation. But how do kids and moms actually show up in America’s birth chart? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, astrologers Megan Green and Sara Murray join me to map out the third, fourth, fifth, eighth and tenth houses of the Sibley chart — children, parents, sex, and power — and what they say about this country’s relationship to its families. We get into the US Moon-Venus-Mars-Uranus midpoint and why this country keeps producing women patriarchy can’t actually contain, the surprisingly recent history of women’s financial independence, and some real raw personal moments that ground the whole conversation in the gravity of lived experience on this subject. Heavy in places, genuinely funny in others, despite it all, there’s hope for a brighter future. Biggest Takeaways My own house breakdown to frame the conversation: the fifth house (children, procreation, recreation, teaching), the fourth house (father, roots), the tenth house (mother), and the third house (the kids themselves, naturally ruled by Gemini)My own harmonic read: the US Mars-Venus-Uranus midpoint (22' orb) is why this country produces unstoppable, boldly sexual women — Josephine Baker, Madonna — patriarchy has never actually managed to lock that downMy own historical throughline: child abuse runs through this country’s entire history — Native American genocide, enslaved people’s families torn apart, child labor and up through the Epstein files — it has been a pattern, not an aberrationSara’s read: Ceres conjunct Nessus in Pisces in the third house points to a kind of invisible, collectively-agreed-upon abuse — if we don’t name it, it doesn’t exist, the same logic that let slavery and Epstein both hide in plain sightA fact worth sitting with: American women could only get credit in their own name without a husband’s permission starting in 1974 — full female financial autonomy is barely a generation oldMegan’s framing: abuse of children is inseparable from how mothers themselves are treated — the patriarchal trickle-down means a kid’s wellbeing tracks with how supported their mother isA moment in the conversation gets genuinely personal, and it changes the stakes of everything we’d just been discussing from chart theory into something very realThe hopeful close: both Megan and Sara read the current Saturn-Neptune-Chiron transit as dismantling before rebuilding — more freedom of expression for the next generation, and real optimism about where kids raised now are headed Connect with Megan Green: mercurialmegan.com Connect with Sara Murray: TheSensibleAstrologer.com Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: Evergreen Mid-Roll – General CTA If any of this is hitting you in the chest right now, that's not a coincidence; that's the astrology doing its job. No vague guidance or love-and-light platitudes here. Find horoscopes, readings, and real spiritual work that gives you clarity, power, and a precise vision for what's next all at clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com. Clarissa Dolphin Explains It All

    Children and Families with Megan Green and Sara Murray
  4. Oct 13

    Education with Duna Haller and Alex Mikinaak

    Is American education a tool of liberation or assimilation? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, historian-astrologer Alex Mikinaak and punk astrologer Duna Haller join me to dig into the third house (basic education) and ninth house (higher education/ideology) of the Sibley chart. We trace Indigenous boarding schools' brutal history alongside the Native lawyers and leaders they inadvertently produced, connect Mars-Uranus in Gemini to the WWII code talkers and compare American gun violence in schools to Duna's experience growing up in Spain. Heavy history, real astrology, but we are left with genuine hope by the end. Biggest Takeaways Duna and Alex's core framing: the third house (basic/mandatory education) and ninth house (higher education/ideology) are in constant conversation in the Sibley chart — the norms universities set filter down into what children get taughtAlex's history: Indigenous boarding schools were built to strip culture and language from Native children through real abuse. And those same schools produced the first Native lawyers, doctor and leaders who later rebuilt tribal sovereignty from the insideMy own family history: as a third-generation master's degree holder on my Black side, descending from a formerly enslaved great-grandfather who became a successful businessman and invested in HBCUs — education as both a wound and a genuine path to survivalAlex's read on Mars-Uranus in Gemini: knowledge as literal weapon of war, most strikingly embodied by the Navajo code talkers of WWII, beaten for speaking their language in school, then called on by that same government to win a war with itDuna's parallel between the Black Panthers' community education programs and the May 1968 student movements in France, both emerging under a similar Uranus-Pluto signature that's echoing again right nowMy addition: the US's high 5th and 12th harmonics point to education as both creativity/invention and a place where society's outcasts can finally receive real care — the hopeful flip side of everything else discussed Want to go deeper into harmonics? The 5th and 12th harmonics came up again in this one — creativity, invention, and care for the overlooked. Harmonic Astrology 101 walks you through finding these layers in your own chart. Self-paced, $155, yours forever, 15% off for podcast listeners with code WTFUSA15. Harmonic Astrology 101 Connect with Duna Haller: dunahaller.pb.studio Connect with Alex Mikinaak: ishpimingastrology.com Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: HA101 – 15% Off Dynamic Ad You know your sun sign. Maybe your moon, rising and other placements, but something's still missing. You know there is more and if that's where your astrology education stopped, you're working with just a fraction of your chart. Harmonic Astrology 101 explains the sh*t you've been through, the complex interdimensional forces that make you, you, and shape every facet of existence. $155, self-paced, yours forever — 15% off with code WTFUSA15 HA101 E-Course

    Education with Duna Haller and Alex Mikinaak
  5. Oct 6

    WTF USA? Culture Wars: LGBTQ+ with Colin Bedell

    Can you even see queerness in an astrology chart — and should you try? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, astrologer Colin Bedell joins me to dig into repression, chosen family, LGBTQ+ history and the contradictions baked into the American story. Colin makes the case for never diagnosing someone's identity from their chart. We dig into the paradox that the states with the most restrictive anti-trans laws also search for trans content the most and we talk about ballroom culture and chosen family as a living expression of Jupiter in Cancer. It's emotional and beautiful. Biggest Takeaways Colin's stance: he deliberately doesn't diagnose queerness from a chart — a person's own self-identification always leads, not the astrologer's interpretationA striking paradox Colin points to: the states with the most restrictive anti-trans laws also have the highest search rates for trans content — repression and desire, tangled togetherMy own read: the Sagittarius rising and the Jupiter-in-Cancer/7th-house-ruled-by-8th-house placement both point to a chart built on multiplicity and contradiction — the exact terrain queerness in America has had to navigateColin's framing of chosen family: ballroom culture, born from Black and brown queer communities, as one of the clearest living expressions of Jupiter in Cancer in the 7th houseMy parallel: the same "protect the children" rhetoric shows up in both anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ politics — claiming to protect kids while gutting the support that would actually help themColin's closing line, and the one that stuck with me most: "None of us have a monopoly on truth... put the predictions down, put the people skills up" Connect with Colin Bedell: colinbedell.com Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: Evergreen Mid-Roll – General CTA If any of this is hitting you in the chest right now, that's not a coincidence; that's the astrology doing its job. No vague guidance or love-and-light platitudes here. Find horoscopes, readings, and real spiritual work that gives you clarity, power, and a precise vision for what's next all at clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com. Clarissa Dolphin Explains It All

    WTF USA? Culture Wars: LGBTQ+ with Colin Bedell
  6. Sep 29

    Sex and Romance with miz Charli and Stefanie Iris Weiss

    Are dating apps actually killing American romance, or just exposing what was already broken? In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, sexologist and astrologer Stefanie Iris Weiss and Professional Matchmaker and Muse miz Charli join me to dig into sex, power and relationship dynamics tied to commodification in the American chart. We trace Pluto's return through the second house since 2008 and what that says about capitalism infecting our relationship to literal bodies. I bring in the Mars-Venus-Uranus midpoint (in the 30th harmonic) to explain why this country is so overtly, boldly sexual and we get into the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries as a possible turning point away from patriarchy. This episode is raw, funny and it does not hold back. Biggest Takeaways Stefanie's read: Pluto's return through the second house since 2008 tracks with how capitalism has infected Americans' relationship to their own bodies and desire — we have to consciously strip that commodification out to access anything authenticmiz Charli's stat: after an estimated 30,000-50,000 conversations with people nationwide as a professional matchmaker, her consistent finding is that dating apps feel "trash"My own read: the US Mars-Venus-Uranus midpoint (in the 30th harmonic) explains why this country is so overtly, boldly sexual — from Josephine Baker to Madonna — and it's the same placement underneath the current "national p***y drying" energy around American masculinityStefanie and Charli's shared theory: the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at 0° Aries this past February may mark the start of a multi-year reset away from patriarchy as a structuring forceMy synthesis: sex lives in both the fifth house (casual, playful) and the eighth house (merging, power, coercion) — and the eighth house's darker themes of coercion, extraction, repression and secrecy map disturbingly well onto everything from the Epstein files to closeted political hypocrisy Want to go deeper into harmonics? That Mars-Venus-Uranus midpoint I kept coming back to lives in the 30th harmonic — one small example of how much a chart holds beyond the basics. Harmonic Astrology 101 teaches you how to find placements like this in your own chart. Self-paced, $155, yours forever, 15% off for podcast listeners with code WTFUSA15 Harmonic Astrology 101 Connect with miz Charli: mizCharli.com Connect with Stefanie Iris Weiss: stefanieirisweiss.com Connect with me: clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com Mentioned in this episode: HA101 – 15% Off Dynamic Ad You know your sun sign. Maybe your moon, rising and other placements, but something's still missing. You know there is more and if that's where your astrology education stopped, you're working with just a fraction of your chart. Harmonic Astrology 101 explains the sh*t you've been through, the complex interdimensional forces that make you, you, and shape every facet of existence. $155, self-paced, yours forever — 15% off with code WTFUSA15 HA101 E-Course

    Sex and Romance with miz Charli and Stefanie Iris Weiss
  7. Sep 22

    WTF USA? The Economy with Rachel Lang

    Astrologer Rachel Lang says there's no such thing as a "bad money chart" and in this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, she breaks down why. I connect Chiron's upcoming move into Taurus — the sixth house of the US Sibley chart, ruling jobs and service work — to a very specific history: the 1971 Powell Memorandum, where corporations organized to fight back against civil rights-era gains, and the 2010 Citizens United decision that opened the door to unlimited dirty money in elections. We dig into transit Pluto hitting the USA's Lunar South Node sitting in the second house of the Sibley chart. The second house of national resources says so much about corporate power, wealth concentration, and who's really running the show when it comes to economic disparity. Rachel connects Pluto in Aquarius to historic political upheavals (1776, the Copernican Revolution) that reshaped how humanity understood its place in the cosmos, shares her own Mars-Uranus story of running for Ojai City Council and out-hustling opponents who underestimated her, and leaves us with genuine, hard-won optimism about where the country is headed by the 2030s. Biggest Takeaways My read on the sixth house and Chiron in Taurus: the throughline from the 1971 Powell Memorandum's corporate response to civil rights, straight through to 2010's Citizens United, is how corporate money ended up controlling government policyPluto and the Lunar South Node in the second house of the US Sibley chart map directly onto corporate power and the concentration of national wealthRachel's core reframe: "there is no such thing as a bad money chart"Pluto in Aquarius has historically coincided with massive shifts in how humanity organizes itself politically, tied to breakthroughs in how we understand our place in the cosmosRachel's own city council campaign is a real-world case study in Mars-Uranus energy: written off as "a young weak female," she won by knocking on every door in her districtThe long view we both land on: Uranus moving into Cancer in 2032, conjunct the US natal Venus and Jupiter, points toward a cultural shift away from military spending and toward care, connection and collective wellbeing Connect with Rachel Lang: Website: https://rachellangastrologer.com/ Connect with me: Website: https://www.clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com/ Mentioned in episode: Spirit Stomach: https://wtfusapod.captivate.fm/spiritstomach Mentioned in this episode: Spirit Stomach – Enrollment Dynamic Ad Spirit Stomach isn't a course. It's three months of one-on-one spiritual initiation — just you me me, tailored to your unique medicine and spiritual lineage. No cohort of strangers or generic curriculum. This round is almost full. If you've been circling this, stop circling. Spirit Stomach

    WTF USA? The Economy with Rachel Lang
  8. Sep 22

    WTF USA? Culture Wars: Race with Tasha Beg and Diana Vanessa

    In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, astrologers Tasha Beg andDiana Vanessa join me for a wide-ranging, unflinching conversation about race and power in America and the astrology underneath it. We dig into transit Pluto in Aquarius conjunct the USA's South Node, which is occurring as the demographic makeup of the country shifts into a direction triggering racist backlash. We trace a direct astrological line from the 1950s Saturn-Neptune cycle in Libra (Brown v. Board of Education) to today's Saturn-Neptune in Aries squaring the US natal Sun, and we talk about whose story the Sibley chart was really built to tell. It's heavy, it's honest, but it ends somewhere hopeful. Biggest Takeaways Transit Pluto conjunct the USA's South Node in Aquarius tracks with a real demographic shift: by the end of this transit, the country's racial majority changes and much of the current political backlash reads as a subconscious reaction to thatThe Sibley chart itself carries a non-neutral perspective: Tasha frames it as the chart of "whoever's in charge," built by and for the people who broke from Britain. Conceptually, it wasn't a chart that was ever built to represent everyone demographically speakingMy point of view on narrative control: Hans Christian Andersen (the source of nearly every fairy tale we grew up on) who had his Lunar North Node in Capricorn speaks to a bigger pattern of whose stories get framed as THE quintessential cultural story and whose don'tThe Saturn-Neptune in Aries transit squaring the USA natal Sun directly echoes the 1950s Saturn-Neptune cycle in Libra that produced Brown v. Board of Education and integrated schools. This current transit seems hellbent on upending what came beforeDiana's framing of the USA as "an eighth house country" sustained by resources extracted from others, historically and presentlyThe hopeful counterpoint: New York City. With its Cancer Lunar South Node and this year's prior Jupiter-in-Cancer transit, Mamdani's win and the cultural momentum there is a real, live example of where seeds of change are already taking root in the whole country and where Cancer’s tribalism can actually be unifying Connect with Tasha Beg: Website for 1-on-1 sessions: https://www.agentofpluto.com/ Connect with Diana Vanessa: Website for discovery calls and sliding scale sessions: https://www.dianavanessa.com/ Connect with me: Website: https://www.clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com/ The Lunar Nodes Are Running This Whole Episode. Pluto on a Lunar Node, generational nodal shifts this episode is saturated in nodal astrology, and if that's got you curious about what your own Lunar Nodes are actually pointing you toward, The Lunar Nodes: Unstoppable Living is where I break that down. It reframes the nodes as points where you are unstoppable in life, not karmic debt. $99, self-paced, original research, yours forever, 15% off for podcast listeners with code WTFUSA15 https://wtfusapod.captivate.fm/lunarnodes Mentioned in this episode: Lunar Nodes – 15% Off Dynamic Ad Forget karma or past-life debt you're doomed to keep repaying. The Lunar Nodes: Unstoppable Living redefines the Nodes as points where your life force meets zero resistance, or in other words, where you're already a shooting star in motion, magnetizing exactly who you need along the way. $99, self-paced, no prior astrology knowledge required — 15% off with code WTFUSA15 Lunar Nodes E-Course

    WTF USA? Culture Wars: Race with Tasha Beg and Diana Vanessa
  9. Sep 22

    The USA 2026 Solar Return: America's Birthday Trajectory with Celeste Brooks

    Oh boy, America just had its 250th birthday. In this episode of WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness, I sit down with OPA-certified astrologer Celeste Brooks to break down the United States' 2026 solar return chart, which took place on July 5th with a 15° Gemini rising. We discuss what it means for the economy, the midterm elections, the ongoing war in Iran, immigration, and the wild, unstable "roller coaster" energy so many of us are feeling right now. We get into Mercury retrograde in the money house, the Mars-Uranus-Neptune-Pluto configuration behind the country's institutional upheaval, the Leo solar eclipse that Celeste calls "the fall of kings". I bring in my own historical parallel – Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) as a ninth-harmonic leader whose New Deal answered a moment eerily similar to this one – and call out exactly what harmonic is running the current administration. And yes, there's an impromptu tarot reading for the soul of the nation. Biggest Takeaways The 2026 solar return's Gemini rising + retrograde Mercury points to a "herky-jerky," communication-and-tech-driven year: AI, data centers and surveillance are spotlight themesMercury retrograde in the nation's money house, paired with Saturn in its fall, signals real financial strain ahead: Celeste doesn't sugarcoat the economy concernsThe Mars-Uranus-Neptune-Pluto lineup in the chart ties directly into institutional upheaval and secrecy: Celeste calls it "the emperor has no clothes" energyThe August 12th Leo solar eclipse is "the fall of kings" whiplashing a potential turning point for high-profile leadersMy own historical parallel: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was a ninth-harmonic leader (Lunar North Node in the ninth harmonic) whose New Deal and Social Security emerged directly out of a Great Depression-era crisis – the same harmonic now activated in this year's solar returnWhen Celeste asked what harmonic the current administration is running on, my answer: an 11th harmonic – chaos, entropy, insatiable restlessnessThe chart's ninth-harmonic-dominant energy triggers community, healing and pooling of shared resources, it is the throughline of hope in an otherwise heavy outlook Connect with Celeste Brooks: Website: https://www.astrologybyceleste.com/ Connect with me: Website: https://www.clarissadolphinexplainsitall.com/ Want to go deeper into harmonics? The ninth harmonic we talk about in this episode (the one behind the community-and-healing thread I keep returning to) is the novile and is prominent in all of our lives. Harmonic Astrology 101 teaches you how to read this in your chart and beyond. If this conversation made you want to understand how your harmonics vibe, that deeper layer of how you’re wired, HA101 is self-paced, $155, yours forever — and as a podcast listener you get 15% off with code WTFUSA15. https://wtfusapod.captivate.fm/ha101 Mentioned in this episode: HA101 – 15% Off Dynamic Ad You know your sun sign. Maybe your moon, rising and other placements, but something's still missing. You know there is more and if that's where your astrology education stopped, you're working with just a fraction of your chart. Harmonic Astrology 101 explains the sh*t you've been through, the complex interdimensional forces that make you, you, and shape every facet of existence. $155, self-paced, yours forever — 15% off with code WTFUSA15 HA101 E-Course

    The USA 2026 Solar Return: America's Birthday Trajectory with Celeste Brooks
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About

WTF USA? The Astrology Behind the Madness is a deep-dive podcast where astrologer Clarissa Dolphin brings in experts, thought leaders, provocateurs and full astrologer panels to decode what's really going on in America: the culture wars, the economy, the collective unraveling, and the real unabashed impact of what it feels like to be living through all of it. Through serious, technical, unapologetically badass astrology, we connect the cosmic to the real: your relationships, your body, your bank account, your rage, your freedom. There will be no doomscrolling or gurus here, just the chart, the lived experience, authenticity and the truth.

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