Issue Thirty-One The spring issue of Kinfolk builds on our foundational interest in design to consider the discipline in its most ambitious manifestation: architecture. Mid-century architect and furniture designer Charlotte Perriand, whose archives we delve into in this issue, once wrote: “The extension of the art of dwelling is the art of living.” We interrogate this close relationship between external surroundings and interior wellbeing and meet the architects chipping away at the partition wall between the two. Buildings affect the mood and behavior of their inhabitants. Equally, the things we build—or wish to build—reflect our own state of mind; blueprints of the ways in which we hope to reinvent the world. This issue of Kinfolk will pay homage to the architects with dreams too big for city planners to swallow—from an investigation into the history of utopian design to a photo essay about the most visionary projects that have been demolished, or simply never-built, over the last century. We also interview those who have bridged the divide and made their strangest whims a reality: like Asif Khan, whose belief in a future where architecture is “light, intelligent and simple” inspired him to build with bubbles. Elsewhere in the issue, we meet Sharon Van Etten, who talks about why she chose to study psychology while writing her new album, and we spend a day in the studio with Kyle Abraham—the choreographer making history at the New York City Ballet. As the weather turns warmer, our thoughts follow; this issue’s essays find our writers lingering on balconies, musing on the impossibility of “turning over a new leaf” and biting down on the juicy history of the peach.

Explore the art of mindful travel with Kinfolk, the pioneers in “slow living,” their philosophy of simplicity, authenticity, intentionality and community. With nearly 450,000 copies in print, the Kinfolk series has applied this philosophy to entertaining (The Kinfolk Table), interior design (The Kinfolk Home), and living with nature (The Kinfolk Garden). Now they have turned their attention to “slow travel,” offering readers a road map for planning trips that foster meaningful connections with local people and authentic experiences of local culture. Go museum hopping in Tasmania, or birdwatching in London. Explore the burgeoning fashion community in Dakar. Take a bicycle tour through Idaho, or a train trip from Oslo to Bergen. Drawing on the magazine’s global community of writers and photographers, Kinfolk Travel takes readers to over 20 location across five continents, with travel tips from locals, stunning images, and thoughtful essays.

Kinfolk magazine—launched to great acclaim and instant buzz in 2011—is a quarterly journal about understated, unfussy entertaining. The journal has captured the imagination of readers nationwide, with content and an aesthetic that reflect a desire to go back to simpler times; to take a break from our busy lives; to build a community around a shared sensibility; and to foster the endless and energizing magic that results from sharing a meal with good friends. Now there’s The Kinfolk Table, a cookbook from the creators of the magazine, with profiles of 45 tastemakers who are cooking and entertaining in a way that is beautiful, uncomplicated, and inexpensive. Each of these home cooks—artisans, bloggers, chefs, writers, bakers, crafters—has provided one to three of the recipes they most love to share with others, whether they be simple breakfasts for two, one-pot dinners for six, or a perfectly composed sandwich for a solo picnic.

New York Times bestseller When The Kinfolk Table was published in 2013, it transformed the way readers across the globe thought about small gatherings. In this much-anticipated follow-up, Kinfolk founder Nathan Williams showcases how embracing that same ethos—of slowing down, simplifying your life, and cultivating community—allows you to create a more considered, beautiful, and intimate living space. The Kinfolk Home takes readers inside 35 homes around the world, from the United States, Scandinavia, Japan, and beyond. Some have constructed modern urban homes from blueprints, while others nurture their home’s long history. What all of these spaces have in common is that they’ve been put together carefully, slowly, and with great intention. Featuring inviting photographs and insightful profiles, interviews, and essays, each home tour is guaranteed to inspire.

Kindling is the new magazine for people with children from the team who make Kinfolk. Packed with thought-provoking features, fun activities and playful photography and illustrations, it’s a place to explore the fresh perspectives that come with raising a child. For the Body Issue, we’ve teamed up with Wow in the World to answer children’s most curious questions about their bodies, from “What is a vaccine?” to “Why do my teeth fall out?” We also hear from the Swedish social worker who successfully campaigned for the “snippa”—a neutral word to replace the many euphemisms used for female genitals, and report on the important role of parents and caregivers in making children feel good about their bodies. Kindling is made to be read by adults and shared with children. In our fashion shoots, we’re making DIY hi-vis outfits and customizing crutches, wheelchairs and casts. PRAISE FOR KINDLING “A fresh approach to parenthood and a genuinely exciting new launch.”—MagCulture “Clever design and insightful articles... Having fun while making a magazine.”—Monocle “Graphic shapes, quirky illustrations, and the superb photography that Kinfolk is famous for.”—Print Mag “Kindling is a reminder that childrearing can be treated as a lens through which people can view the rest of their lives rather than the defining characteristic.”—Eye on Design

Kinfolk is a slow lifestyle magazine that explores ways for readers to simplify their lives, cultivate community and spend more time with their friends and family. It is the place to discover new things to cook, make and do. The fall issue of Kinfolk explores one of life's simplest pleasures: sharing a meal. The act of eating together - whether at a well-appointed table or in the simple breaking of bread - is an essential element of a well-lived life. As MFK Fisher famously wrote, sharing a meal can be more intimate than sharing a bed. In this issue, we examine the role of food in forming and sustaining relationships, its place in art and political history, and its significance to the arbiters contemporary culture. We visit a breadmaker in her Brooklyn studio, test a curated selection of recipes by a celebrated chef, thumb the pages of Dali's surrealist cookbook and revisit MFK Fisher's seminal writing on the joy of simple meals.

"[Here is] the Genesis for our generation and beyond."—Robert Fagles Genesis begins with the making of heaven and earth and all life, and ends with the image of a mummy—Joseph's—in a coffin. In between come many of the primal stories in Western culture: Adam and Eve's expulsion from the garden of Eden, Cain's murder of Abel, Noah and the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham's binding of Isaac, the covenant of God and Abraham, Isaac's blessing of Jacob in place of Esau, the saga of Joseph and his brothers. In Robert Alter's brilliant translation, these stories cohere in a powerful narrative of the tortuous relations between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, eldest and younger brothers, God and his chosen people, the people of Israel and their neighbors. Alter's translation honors the meanings and literary strategies of the ancient Hebrew and conveys them in fluent English prose. It recovers a Genesis with the continuity of theme and motif of a wholly conceived and fully realized book. His insightful, fully informed commentary illuminates the book in all its dimensions.