From a millennial climate activist, an exploration of how young people live in the shadow of catastrophe
“Strikingly perceptive.” –Jenny Offill, author of Weather
“Beautifully rendered and bracingly honest.” –Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing
Warmth is a new kind of book about climate change: not what it is or how we solve it, but how it feels to imagine a future–and a family–under its weight. In a fiercely personal account written from inside the climate movement, Sherrell lays bare how the crisis is transforming our relationships to time, to hope, and to each other. At once a memoir, a love letter, and an electric work of criticism, Warmth goes to the heart of the defining question of our time: how do we go on in a world that may not?
NOVA PBS Official May 28, 2026 To keep the universe static, Albert Einstein invented something called the cosmological constant. He later abandoned it. Decades afterward, astronomers discovered the universe’s expansion is accelerating—reviving Einstein’s controversial idea.
Each time we have tried to elevate ourselves above the other animals by claiming singular possession of some faculty, we have been humbled otherwise: Language, it turns out, is not ours alone, nor is the use of tools, nor is music. Elephants grieve, octopuses remember and predict, crows hold grudges.
Perhaps one day this too will be snatched from us, but for now there seems to be one tumult of being pulsating in the human breast alone: the capacity to be sorry, to feel the soul-ache of remorse as the penitent past fangs the flesh of the present.
How to hold our remorse, how to make of it a catalyst for creation, is what the philosopher-artist Maira Kalman explores in her small and splendid book Still Life with Remorse — a collection of miniature essays, poems, and painted vignettes reckoning with remorse through Maira’s own family story, punctuated by glimpses of the lives of some of her muses: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Schumann, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Henri Matisse.
Objects in Matisse’s Studio by Maira Kalman
Defining remorse as “deep regret implying shame, implying guilt, implying sorrow,” Maira observes that “in still lifes and interiors there must be a certain amount of remorse lurking among the bowls of fruit, vases or flowers and objects scattered about the room.”
Rising from the pages is the intimation that memory is the still life of living, that while remorse may haunt the mental images of our recollections, we can find in it an occasion for beauty, for creative vitality, for defiant joy.
Tolstoy Eating Breakfast by Maira Kalman
Opening with an allusion to that immortal line from Anna Karenina — “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” — she considers the half-life of sorrow across generations:
Happy families, Unhappy families. All the same, right? Ach. ach. ach.
To begin You are born. To a long line of ancestors who are long gone but still yell or whisper in your ear in the depths of night. A game of telephone played from one generation to the next.
Garbled and confused. Glimmers of light. Misunderstandings. Errors.
And now, here you are. With the ones you love. Or the ones you don’t.
The ones you cannot live without. The ones you would like to smite.
Those who have disappointed you or betrayed you. Those who have been kinder than you deserve. And the kind ones who inevitably die. And leave you feeling very much alone. They are what you have.
And if you think, at any given point, that you know what is going on, you are sorely mistaken.
And yet.
With an eye to the complicated marriage of Sophia and Leo Tolstoy (so different from that of Anna and Fyodor Dostoyevsky) — the initial mutual infatuation, the thirteen children, the selflessness with which Sophia transcribed all of Leo’s writings, the mutual resentment of the end — she writes:
When trying to understand why human beings do what they do, a fog descends.
The verse to which Mahler wrote music becomes a quiet animating chorus for the book:
Dark is life. Spring is here. The birds are singing.
Virginia Woolf’s Writing Table by Maira Kalman
From the personal stories — her grandparents killed in the Holocaust, her father delivering milk as his cover while working for a Palestine liberation underground, Kafka’s troubled relationship with his own father, Clara Schumann’s tenacity and her tender unclassifiable relationship with Brahms — emerges a universal lens on suffering, remorse, and redemption, shining a sidewise gleam on what makes life worth living despite the almost unbearable brunt of being alive.
Your family. My family.
Your remorse. My remorse.
All the same, right?
Vast skies full of remorse. Oceans of remorse. But enough.
There should be merriment. And good cheer. Good tidings. Well wishing.
Tables laden with food. Children playing. Gathering of kinfolk.
Like Clara would have wanted. Seeing the best. Forgiving the worst.
If there is remorse, let there be a limit to remorse. A way to shake off the heavy weight.
But how can we make this happen? How to do this?
Dark is life. Spring is here. The birds are singing.
Depiction of Confucius by Wu Daozi, 8th century CE
“A man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who, in desiring attaining himself, helps others to attain.”
~ Confucius
Confucius, born Kong Qiu, was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the philosophy and teachings of Confucius. Wikipedia
Over 60 hours of light data was used to create this stunning view of the gravitationally bound “Leo Triplet” galaxies.
The Leo Triplet shines in deep space. (Image credit: ing. Cornelis van Zuilen)
Astrophotographer ing. Cornelis Van Zuilen has shared a staggeringly detailed image of the galaxies known as the “Leo Triplet”, after spending 60 hours capturing the light of the cosmic heavyweights from his balcony in the Netherlands.
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The Leo Triplet is made up of the spiral galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628, which are located about 30 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Leo. The group lies close to the bright star Chertan, which forms part of the hind leg of the great lion represented in the stellar formation, according to NASA.
“At the end of 2024, I bought my Askar 103APO telescope, giving me enough focal length to seriously focus on galaxies and begin my long-term project of photographing the entire Messier Catalogue,” Van Zuilen told Space.com in an email. “After finishing my first image of the Leo Triplet in 2025, I really wanted to see the gigantic tidal tail of NGC 3628 and decided to return with a much more ambitious goal.”
For 2026, Van Zuilen aimed to create a detailed composite shot of the galactic trio created from at least 60 hours of light data. “Beginning on April 6, I photographed the Leo Triplet over 18 clear nights, collecting 85 hours of data, of which exactly 60 hours and 3 minutes met my quality standards,” continued Van Zuilen.
Having met his target, Van Zuilen set to work combining and editing the data using the astronomy software PixInsight. The end result was a striking galactic portrait that revealed the intricate spiral structures of M65 and M66, along with the edge-on profile of NGC 3628, which is also colloquially known as the “Hamburger Galaxy” by dint of its distinctive dust lane.You may like
An annotated image of the Leo Triplet(Image credit: ing. Cornelis van Zuilen)The Leo Triplet shines in deep space.(Image credit: ing. Cornelis van Zuilen)An image of the Leo Triplet annotated with the positions of distant galaxies contained within the field of view.(Image credit: ing. Cornelis van Zuilen)A catalogue of galaxies contained within the Leo Triplet image.(Image credit: ing. Cornelis van Zuilen)
Van Zuilen’s image also reveals a 300,000-light-year-long “tidal tail” of stars and galactic material stretching away from NGC 3628. This structure is thought to have formed during a gravitational interaction with a galactic neighbor, according to the National Science Foundation’s Noir Lab.
“Using a PixInsight galaxy identification script, no fewer than 548 catalogued galaxies were identified within the image, highlighting the incredible depth achieved through 60 hours of integration time from my balcony here in Heiloo, a village in the Netherlands,” concluded Van Zuilen. “I hope you like this final image as much as I do!”
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
Patricia Quinn, Tim Curry and Nell Campbell in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’
It’s hard to believe that “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” has been playing in cinemas for 50 years with no end in sight. And the play that inspired the film, which opened in London in 1973, is currently one of the hottest tickets on Broadway.
“Rocky Horror” is indeed a phenomenon that has inspired millions of people to let their hair down, explore their sexual and gender identities, and just have a rocking good time.
“Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror” is a lovely new documentary that explores the complete story of this most unusual of occurrences. As the doc opens, “Rocky” creator Richard O’Brien is visiting his New Zealand hometown, where he visits a statue that has been erected in his honor and meets the woman who now lives in his childhood home.
“We call it the ‘Rocky Horror’ house,” she says, as she and O’Brien shake hands.
The film then flashes back to late 1960s London. Filmmaker Linus O’Brien, Richard’s son, has his father recall his early days in London’s musical theater scene. After failing to get a role in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the elder O’Brien takes his love for horror and science fiction films and creates a very gay homage to those films, a musical which became “The Rocky Horror Show.”
The play opens in a small, sixty-seat theater for a three-week run and quickly sells out. It moves to a larger theater where it continues to be a smash. It then moves to Los Angeles, where movie stars come out to see it. Can a film version be far behind?
Well, how ‘bout that? The majority of “Strange Journey” focuses on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” as the film came to be called, and includes a lengthy segment on the film’s production. Besides creator O’Brien, interviewees include director Jim Sharman, and actors Tim Curry (Frank N Furter), Patricia Quinn (Magenta), Nell Campbell (Columbia), Susan Sarandon (Janet), Barry Bostwick (Brad), and Peter Hinwood (Rocky).
There are also extensive interviews with drag artist Trixie Mattel and actor Jack Black, who discuss how seeing the film inspired and affected them. “Rocky” cast members, among other things, sing the praises of the late Meat Loaf (Eddie) who nearly stole the show in his one-scene appearance.
Richard O’Brien in ‘Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror’
It’s hard to believe today, but when “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” first opened in 1975, it was a bomb. But then an executive at 20th Century Fox came up with the idea of playing it weekends at midnight, and the cult was born. It didn’t take long for people to start talking back to the screen and dressing up as their favorite characters.
Then came the shadow casts, fans who would act out the entire show in front of the screen as the film unspooled. These midnight screenings, which spread around the world, attracted straights, LGBT people, liberals and others, all caught up in the magic of this unusual phenomenon.
“Five days a week I’m a nurse,” says one young woman. “Two nights a week I’m a star.”
“Strange Journey” also pays homage to the late Sal Piro, former president of the Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club and the author of two books about the film. Piro was openly and unapologetically gay, and he didn’t care who knew it or what they thought of it. He was who he was, and let many “Rocky Horror” fans know that it was okay to embrace who they were. Piro, who lived and breathed “Rocky Horror,” is as responsible for the spreading of the cult as is Richard O’Brien himself.
The documentary also addresses Richard O’Brien’s gender identity. He says that he is 70% male and 30% female, another signpost to the fans that it’s okay to be who you are. This is an especially important message right now, given the attacks that the trans community is dealing with.
‘Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror’ is a terrific tribute by a loving son to his father’s work, a film that will continue to live on long after we’re all gone. It’s a work that’s as timely today as it was fifty years ago.
‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ continues to have monthly screenings (next: June 27) at the Balboa Theater, 3630 Balboa St., San Francisco https://www.balboamovies.com/
COLUMBUS, OH—Thryssskmsss, a 2-year-old barn funnel weaver spider, confided to friends Wednesday that she isn’t sure she’s ready for 3,000 children at this point in her life. “There’s so much I want to do—explore the world’s dark cracks, visit the drainpipes, see what it’s like to eat a dragonfly—but I can’t do those things if I’ve got several hundred spiderlings clinging to every leg,” the spider said from the eaves of her Columbus home. “If I had 3,000 hungry mandibles to feed, I’d be in the web catching flies all day, and that’s just not where I’m at right now.” Thryssskmsss added that she expects one day she’ll be ready to settle down and find a nice male to mate with and then devour.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You are often the best possible remedy for stale, unoriginal thinking that’s festering in your vicinity. And you are especially so these days. Others might have the gall to disrupt the deadening status quo, but you have the charm to do it without scorching every bridge and laying waste to the land. So I invite you to step into the role of cheerful troublemaker. Unleash your iconoclastic sparks with the intention of making life friskier and more imaginative, not more tangled and irritating.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In many farming cultures, including parts of India, growers speak or sing to their crops as they walk through the fields. It’s a gesture of personal care that mirrors growing scientific interest in how plants respond to sound and vibration. Some studies suggest that plants exposed to sustained speech and song may grow more vigorously. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Taurus, is to speak to the growing things in your life with similar devotion. Talk to your projects. Sing to your relationships. Tell jokes to your dreams. The universe is extra responsive to your sweet voice.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Neurologist Oliver Sacks said, “I am haunted by the density of experience.” He meant that every moment contains far more richness than we can fully register or remember. This observation will be especially relevant for you in the coming weeks. Your mind (and heart!) will be flooded with an abundance of stimuli, ideas, feelings and impressions. It might initially feel overwhelming, but will ultimately be a boon—especially if you prepare yourself for the intensity and abundance. Imagine yourself standing next to a fountain and feeling cheerful about getting soaked.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): You have superpowers that hardened hearts and tough guys can’t fathom. Receptivity is a key part of your genius, for example. Emotional fluency is at the root of your intelligence. Your ability to feel so much and so deeply makes you dangerous to status quos managed by people who overthink everything. Wait! There’s more. You can nurture without smothering and protect without imprisoning. You wield the powers of memory without being enslaved by nostalgia. You make home a verb, not a noun, as you build shelter for yourself and your tribe. I hope you will express these gorgeous talents to the max in the coming weeks and months.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): An astrologer rooted in older traditions might claim that now is an ideal time to promote your personal agenda through sly, gossipy maneuvering. But since I am devoted to building a new culture grounded in compassionate values that nourish the soul, my message is different. I’m pleased to tell you that the coming weeks will be a potent phase to engage in elevating gossip that serves the greater good, to celebrate unsung heroes, and to call attention to everything that is thriving. For practical dreamers like you and me, carelessly speaking ill of others undermines our own aspirations. One of the most effective ways to expand our own possibilities is to use the power of language to boost other people’s chances for joy and success.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The ancient Library of Alexandria contained over half a million scrolls. If you devoted eight hours a day to reading, you could finish about 5,000 books over the course of your life. The librarians back then knew they would never read all the texts they managed and protected. Their job wasn’t to consume all knowledge but to be stewards of abundance. They’re good role models for you, Virgo. The wonderful fact is that you don’t have to master every single thing that attracts your attention. Your far more relaxing task is to curate with care and wisdom. Your growing edge is to know what to preserve and what to release. One of your noblest projects is to commune pleasurably with the intriguing mysteries that life brings you, not obsess on them.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra psychologist Carol Dweck distinguishes between fixed mindsets (“I’m not smart enough”) and growth mindsets (“I can become smarter”). When you have a fixed mindset, obstacles weigh you down. With a growth mindset, they motivate you to develop. What determines your trajectory isn’t your current skill level but how you relate to your edge. With this in mind, Libra, I invite you to monitor your self-talk as you encounter challenges. Are you prone to thinking that limitations are permanent, or do you see them as temporary states you can use as opportunities? You now have a good chance to instill the latter as a root habit.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): What’s something you wish you could change about yourself? Is it a trait, pattern, fear or story about your body? And what exactly tells you that this can never change? Is it loyalty to old expectations or a rotting prophecy someone laid on you? Consider the possibility that maybe the “can’t” is really a “won’t,” or a “don’t know how yet,” or “I’m afraid of who I’d be without this.” Then imagine that you don’t have to transform this thing instantly, but, for starters, need only shift it by ten percent in the direction of mercy and freedom. What small, specific action would generate that ten percent?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): What’s your most vital relationship? I dare you to surprise each other in the coming weeks. Refresh your bond with playful experimentation. Here are adventures you two could explore: 1. Take a walk together with no destination in mind, letting curiosity guide you. Talk about the paths you have not yet taken in life but might like to. 2. Describe the most beautiful future you can imagine for each other. Share practical steps you could take to make these scenarios happen. 3. Choose a food treat you both love, speak a blessing over it, then eat it slowly together as you name what you are most grateful for in your connection.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Chess masters and accomplished musicians practice differently from amateurs. They focus most intensely on their weak points, less so on rehearsing what they already do well. It’s uncomfortable to confront inadequacy, but they’re better for it. In my astrological opinion, Capricorn, you should specialize in a similar courage during the coming weeks. I invite you to direct your generous attention toward your shakiest skills and most uncertain territories. Glorious growth will happen at the edge of your competence.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Be more like a lightning storm over a green meadow and less like a porch light attracting moths. Be more like a spiritual riddle in an ecstatic poem and less like a slogan printed on a T-shirt. Be more like a Miles Davis improvisation and less like a tune played note-for-note from the sheet music for a formulaic pop song. Can you stretch yourself into more fertile wildness, Aquarius? Will you expand your future with adventures that thrill your imagination? I believe you can and should. For bonus magic, be more like a dream of wandering in a rowdy paradise and less like the old version of yourself. Trust the frontier signals that make your pulse quicken, and speak less about the obvious truths that make everyone nod in agreement.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you ready to assess the state of your emotional pain? Every few years, I invite you to take stock. I ask you to reflect on how well you’ve been cultivating meaningful stress while avoiding useless pain and misery. So, how’s your progress since our last check-in? Have you improved at sidestepping dull torments you’ve relived a thousand times? Are you less vulnerable to being wounded by ignorant or thoughtless people? Can you more swiftly shake off the sting of minor troubles? Most importantly, are you increasingly magnetized to the intriguing dilemmas that challenge you to grow wiser and more resourceful?
Happy families,
