The Kinfolk Long Listen

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. At a time when Instagram boasts more than 400 million #selfie posts, Kinfolk examines the rise of narcissism, from its roots in psychological science to its more modern application as a derogatory diagnosis for ex-lovers, friends, bosses or presidents. In exploring the difference between self-esteem and self-obsession, the question becomes whether it's narcissism that's on the rise—or simply self-confidence.

In Ancient Greece, the nine Muses were goddesses who inspired artists to complete their work. Today, the figure of the muse is still shrouded in an other-worldly aura: from Dora Maar to Margot Robbie, the women who “inspire” artists are often treated as blank canvases primed to channel the creativity of others. So, is there any way a woman can be a muse and remain in the picture? Kinfolk, goes behind the scenes at the studio.

Taste has never existed in a vacuum. The things you like are influenced by the community around you, the people you admire from afar and the media you consume—Kinfolk, for example. But increasingly, taste is also affected by non-sentient influencers—through computer calculations that prod us toward the things we may also “like.” In the age of algorithms, Kinfolk explores one question that a Google search struggles to answer: can our taste ever be truly our own?

The non-fiction charts were once dominated by celebrity memoirs and self-help books. Now, they have taken a turn for the intellectual: from the history of man in Sapiens to the history of economics in Capital. At a moment in time when the bestsellers list looks more like a college reading list, Kinfolk charts how global uncertainty, social media overload and the TED Talks juggernaut all contributed to the rise of the “brainy book.”

If you can hack a computer's software, can you hack a person's life? During the first part of the 21st century, a wave of optimistic tech geeks thought so, proclaiming that the way to increase productivity—from sleeping efficiently to removing household stains—was to find and exploit shortcuts in the way we “code” daily life. At a time when our obsession with productivity shows no sign of waning, Kinfolk charts the rise and eventual mutation of this early internet philosophy.

If the heart is a lonely hunter, as Carson McCullers wrote, what does it want? Certainly, one can be as lonely in a relationship as when single, as lonely at a party as when home on the couch. At a time in which social apps used to avoid loneliness often seem to only exploit and compound it, Kinfolk shines a light on one of life's most concealed emotions and examines how, by identifying loneliness as an inescapable hallmark of human experience, it might just be harnessed for good.

Hey lovelies! Are you interested in an incredible business opportunity that gives you the ability to work from home? For decades now, network marketing companies have been dangling the promise of a rocketing income, flexible schedule and aspirational lifestyle in front of people desperate for a lucky break. But what happens when the dream of direct sales starts to look more like a nightmare? Debika Ray investigates. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Three in Fall 2019.

No one really knows why we spend one-third of our lives asleep. Until recently, research into the science behind sleep has been, well, sleepy, despite booms in both sleep anxiety and the industry surrounding it. Here, Harriet Fitch Little goes deep into sleep to find that, much like the human body itself, there's no perfect formula. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Three in Spring 2017.

Aristotle thought that the shape of your ears revealed your innermost psyche. BuzzFeed suggests that it hinges on your favorite Disney princess or pizza topping. From warfare to psych wards to the workplace, Harriet Fitch Little uncovers our long-standing fascination with personality tests. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Two in Winter 2016.

First there were two. Then there were three, four, or however many partners a shared Google Calendar could schedule. But what does intimacy look like for the growing number of couples who choose to open up to sexual, or even romantic, relationships with others? Stephanie d'Arc Taylor goes fishing in the brave new world of nonmonogamy and discovers that with great freedom comes great responsibility, and a whole lot of talking. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Four in Winter 2019.

Until a few years ago, astrology sat alongside crystal balls and Ouija boards as an eccentric, outmoded form of spirituality. Now, horoscopes are a mainstay of online media, advice columns and even dating profiles. Debika Ray charts astrology's cosmic journey back into the popular consciousness and learns why a non-hierarchical, culturally inclusive system of belief makes perfect sense to so many. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Four in Winter 2019.

The diet industry mines the deep seam of emotion that surrounds our eating habits to sell a precision-calibrated hope that morality, appearance, lifestyle, wellness—almost anything, really—can be improved if only we put different things in our mouth. Such advice usually nourishes insecurity more than it does the body. It turns out that the history of bad dieting advice is long and strange and full of charlatans out to profit from our gullibility. It's also a perfect example of the old adage, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Harriet Fitch Little examines its evolution. This essay appeared in Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Six in Winter 2017.