I wish I could tell you the first time I saw a STARLOG magazine. It was probably lurking on a shelf at the Waldenbooks at the Manalapan Mall, where I first bought The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Star Trek Compendium, calling to me, like a beacon: one day, you and I will be as one.

Having a limited allowance, and also needing to fill my gaps of Pink Floyd, Yes, and Rush tapes next door at Music Den, STARLOG was something I would regularly gaze at in awe, count my coins, sigh, then put back. Yet somehow issues made it to my bedroom — borrowed from friends? Gifts from an aunt? It’s as if it were transported there by wormhole.

In pre-online days, STARLOG was the first and best network patch into a larger world of big ideas, groundbreaking subcultures, and myriad fictional realms I was eager to learn more about, as well as an invitation to a passionate community that tended to see everything just a little bit differently. Plus: all the data. I don’t know about you, but only STARLOG offered sturdy checklists of the different robot movies I needed to hunt down and watch. STARLOG gave me the tools I needed to become the person I am today.

And now it’s back.

You, dear reader of The Lodestar, have an opportunity to spend a small sum of your hard-earned pay on a gorgeous, thick, glossy, reborn STARLOG magazine. Just click on this link. And if you wanna go nuts you can buy a hat, too. (I have a shirt and both styles of hats, but I do not have a pin or a coffee mug yet. I’ll be checking my mailbox just like you!)

Everything starts shipping on Friday, November 13. What’s more, that’s when STARLOG magazines will start appearing in the wild. Bookstores first, then airport kiosks, then supermarkets. Go buy milk, bread, and articles about farming in outer space.

I’ve been witness to this rebirth since the beginning. Believe me, it took a long time. My personal involvement has for the most part been in writing this newsletter, creating the weekly podcast with Dave Gonzales, and sitting in on meetings where my primary contribution is to say “hey, that sounds great!” (I also have one article in the new magazine, on page 56, but I’ll get more into that another day.)

When I got my early copy of STARLOG Vol 2 #1 (also known as Legacy #375), the first thing that grabbed me, other than the weight, was how striking it was to look at all the gorgeous art on slick, thick paper. Not on my laptop, not on my phone.

There is a loose three-arc structure to the thing. Articles are divided into the categories of Space-Time, Alternate Worlds, and The Unknown. There’s material in here about work you are familiar with like Dune and Star Trek and Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, but also an introduction to books, films, and personalities that, we all hope, are new to you. Also, poetry. Yes, science fiction poetry is in the new STARLOG.

There are 100 pages of this wacky thing if you count the back cover (and you should, it looks wild!) and we’re going to be talking about it for a long time to come. The future is here.

Jordan Hoffman, Communications Officer

In addition to great reporting, like talking with the creators of shows like The Bionic Woman and movies like Squirm, plus a profile on William Shatner (and a benediction of sorts from Isaac Asimov), STARLOG served a key function in a pre-internet time. It was brimming with raw data. Episode guides, color photos, blueprints of the Enterprise, dorky puzzles and word games, plus listings of SF events coming to a town near you. This information was lifesaving for desperate and lonely nerds who may have been surrounded by no one but normies. STARLOG was there to help.

The new STARLOG doesn’t need to function on that granular level anymore, but the mission remains the same — expanding the minds of its readers. Though, quite frankly, hosting puzzles is a good note for future issues.

This week’s guest on The STARLOG Podcast is one of the best yet. Alan Sepinwall revolutionized what it means to be a television critic, so it’s only fitting that the subject of his new book is someone who revolutionized what being a television creator could be.

It’s not likely that anyone reading The Lodestar is unfamiliar with Rod Serling and his most famous work, The Twilight Zone. But how much about Serling’s life, and his other work, do you know? Sepinwall’s book spins this tale out in a compelling way, using his classic, eerie stories as touchpoints for this most midcentury American man’s personal history.

But be forewarned: reading Serling: A Journey into The Twilight Zone with TV’s First Visionary is a time suck. Not because it is slow reading, but because you will feel compelled to rewatch old episodes, which luckily are all streaming.

In our conversation, Alan tells Dave and me about how he approached Serling’s life, and also the murderers’ row of famous people who practically begged to be interviewed. We also talk about classic Twilight Zone memories, and get into just what the deal was with Rod Serling and carousels.

The new episode of The STARLOG Podcast, like the ones before it, is on whatever podcasting platform you prefer. Or you can just click the little “listen” button below.

SCI-FI

A Star Trek hero and a scientist on the edge of particle physics research? I don’t know about you, but that’s a chat I’d like to listen in on, no? Luckily, it’s one of the centerpiece stories in the new STARLOG magazine. For more of what’s in the first issue of Vol 2, take a look right here.

SCIENCE

Voyager 1, the probe with the Golden Record that launched 49 years ago, is now officially a Light Day away from Earth. ScienceNews has a fresh look at what it has been up to.

CULTURE

Lt. Cmdr Data was often seen in his quarters, painting a canvas. Today when we talk about AI art, it’s mostly the cheapo stuff derived from prompts (oftentimes to make ugly takeout menus). But what about incorporating robots in the act of making art alongside humans? This study at the University of Michigan explores.

ETHICS

Google’s search function has become a part of daily life. It would be difficult to do without it. The company, however, may start taking it away from certain institutions — like schools — if they don’t play by their rules. One such rule: using AI. Read more from this report.