In this week’s newsletter, we enter Richard Christiansen’s garden of earthly delights, talk media with Kinfolk editor-in-chief John Burns, revel in Lucy Sante’s sermons for Bob Dylan, and more.
Good morning!Sometime in mid-2020, I started seeing something called Flamingo Estate pop up on Instagram weekly, if not daily. This, it turned out, was just the beginning of what would become the rapid rise of a burgeoning wellness, beauty, and “home essentials” empire.
For this week’s episode of Time Sensitive, I sat down with the man behind the brand, Richard Christiansen, who built Flamingo Estate from—and named it after—his seven-acre estate in the hills of Los Angeles. What began as a Covid-times side project quickly became a cult business. In just a few years, Flamingo Estate has collaborated with the likes of Julianne Moore, Martha Stewart, and Ai Weiwei, and created some 200 or so products. A renowned creative director (prior to his current venture, Richard’s main focus was the agency Chandelier Creative, which he founded nearly 20 years ago in New York City), he also now considers himself, perhaps slightly cheekily, a “vegetable salesman.”
If what Richard is doing is great branding, and it is, it’s also part of a movement to give farmers a boost and to foster slower, more sustainable, largely pesticide-free ways of food production. Being near Hollywood, his operation may be celebrity-adjacent, but that’s really just part of its mythic allure. Flamingo Estate has also swiftly scaled a business around notions of slowing down, prioritizing pleasure, and reconnecting with one’s senses.
In our open, free-flowing conversation—which oftentimes felt stream-of-conscious, in a good way—Richard said so many things that have stuck with me since. Like: “Let’s lean into being sensitive and bruising easily.” Or, when talking about Flamingo Estate’s products: “I have become obsessed with this idea of radical inconsistency.” Or, and this is a sentiment I think we could all benefit from: “Just do your thing. And when you do it, the joy will land at your feet.”
Richard calls Flamingo Estate a “home for radical pleasure.” May we all embrace such a hedonistic sense of home.
—Spencer
“Real luxury is having all your senses on full volume.”
Listen to Ep. 124 with Richard Christiansen at timesensitive.fm or wherever you get your podcasts
Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker (Neal Porter Books)
Through haibun, a Japanese literary form that weaves together haiku and prose, author Holly Thompson narrates the life of the visionary Japanese American architect, designer, and woodworker George Nakashima in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography—from his upbringing in the Pacific Northwest; to his and his family’s incarceration in the Minidoka prison camp in Idaho during World War II, where he found comfort in the discipline of woodworking; to his life thereafter in New Hope, Pennsylvania, spent dedicated to the crafting of furniture from fallen or discarded trees. With a foreword by Nakashima’s daughter, Mira (the guest on Ep. 101 of Time Sensitive); earthy, grounding illustrations by Toshiki Nakamura; and robust back matter on woodworking and poetry, this artful book exquisitely expresses the master artisan’s love story with trees.
Fukumi Shimura at the Okura Museum of Art
Housed in the Okura Museum of Art, in Tokyo’s Toranomon district, this retrospective exhibition, on view through Jan. 19, celebrates the life and career of the dyeing and weaving artist Fukumi Shimura on her 100th birthday. Born in Omihachiman, Japan, in 1924, Shimura began creating textile art at the age of 31, studying under the artists Toshijiro Inagaki and Tomimoto Kenkichi. In the 70 years since, she has become known for her expertise in the arts of kimono-making and tsumugi (pongee) weaving, and has been recognized by the Japanese government as a Living National Treasure. Featuring works that span her life and career, including “Autumn Mist,” which first inspired her to enter the world of dyeing and weaving; “End of the Field II,” in which she reminisces on her early years; and the costumes for the new Noh play Jingu, based on an original work by Ishimure Michiko, the show offers a window into Shimura’s artistic evolution and the philosophy underlying her harmonious practice.
Six Sermons for Bob Dylan (Tenement Press)
“In August 2016 I received an email from Jeff Rosen, Bob Dylan’s majordomo.… He explained that he and Bob had been discussing a film project, to focus on his ‘Gospel Years,’ 1979–1980. They had some great footage—not the rather stiff performances intended for an unmade TV special, but the rougher takes made for pick-ups. Bob had the thought that he’d like to interrupt the footage with sermons delivered by an actor. Would I consider writing the sermons?” writes Lucy Sante (the guest on Ep. 108 of Time Sensitive) in the foreword of Six Sermons for Bob Dylan (Tenement Press). “I gulped, but I said yes.” After a little hand-wringing and a lot of research to fill this tall order, Sante, who’s also the author of the recent memoir I Heard Her Call My Name (Penguin Press), eventually landed on recorded sermons by Black, mostly Southern preachers of the 1920s and ’30s as her stylistic inspiration. This just-published unabridged collection of the resulting six commissioned sermons, with an afterword by the music journalist and cultural critic Greil Marcus, is a spiritual tonic for the modern day, urging us to look inward, to rediscover the humanity in ourselves and others, and, above all, to love.
Since its genesis in 2011, the magazine Kinfolk—founded in Portland, Oregon, and now based in Copenhagen—has presented, through its signature minimalist lens, a slower, simpler, more considered way of life. With its new book, Kinfolk Journeys (Artisan Books), the company brings this viewpoint to travel, pushing forward the idea that journeying is as much a state of a mind as it is an action or itinerary. From cycling through the craggy Lofoten Islands north of the Arctic Circle, to driving along Namibia’s desolate coastline, to taking an all-day train to the outermost reaches of Australia, the 18 enclosed stories traverse some of the world’s most exquisite, untouched landscapes and include thought-provoking reflections on responsible travel. Here, we speak with John Burns, the book’s editor and Kinfolk’s editor-in-chief, to learn about the media that helps inform this ethos.
How do you start your mornings?
Honestly, it takes me ages to get going in the morning. I will press the snooze button on my phone about three times, and then I’ll make coffee, water my plants, if I remember, then read the headlines and glance at my emails so that there are no surprises when I get to the office. If it’s warm outside, then I like to walk to work and call a friend on the way; otherwise—like everyone else in Copenhagen—I cycle.
Where do you get your news?
I stick to broadsheets and watch the evening news on DR, the Danish public broadcaster. I used to read The Guardian and The New York Times, but I’ve come to prefer the Financial Times over the last year or two. Its news coverage feels much more measured, and it has good weekend supplements. For more curious stories, I like looking at the curated links section of Damn Interesting.
Do you have any favorite newsletters?
I usually delete newsletters as soon as I see them! The only one I do keep and read is Alison Roman’s newsletter in case there’s a recipe in there. I’m sure there’s a whole world waiting for me on Substack, but I just don’t use email for reading.
Do you have any favorite podcasts?
I like true crime or investigative journalism podcasts, like In The Dark by The New Yorker. Otherwise, I have listened to Pot Psychology for a really long time, ever since it was part of Jezebel. For background noise, I listen to NPR’s Life Kit, which for the most part tells you how to do things you already know how to do, so it’s good for falling asleep to.
What are your favorite magazines?
I like The New Yorker, BUTT, and the FT Weekend.
What book or books are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading a book called Steeple Chasing by Peter Ross, which is a tour of Britain’s churches. I’m not religious, but the writing is beautiful and makes me homesick for England. Otherwise, I read to my stepson most days. Right now, he likes a book called Burglar Bill, which is about a thief who accidentally steals a baby.
Any guilty pleasures?
I like British satirical magazines like Private Eye and Viz—an adult comic from my hometown that’s basically puerile toilet humor. I don’t know if I feel guilty about it, but I guess it’s “off-brand.”
Our handpicked guide to culture across the internet.
Tilda Swinton and David Marchese have, in our view, one of the more extraordinary, connective conversations of 2024 [The New York Times Magazine]
Business consultant Holly Howard interviews Spencer about “till-based knowledge,” the potent role that drumming plays in his life, and the quiet power of “soft marketing” [Cultures Within Capitalism]
Host Jeanne Marie Laskas and audio producer Erin Anderson move to the rural town of Donora, Pennsylvania, and document small, everyday miracles there across a three-year timespan in this moving 10-episode podcast series [Cement City]
Architecture critic Michael Kimmelman (the guest on Ep. 14 of Time Sensitive) discusses the remarkable restoration of Notre Dame, five years after it was decimated by a fire [The Daily]
Artist Rashid Johnson (the guest on Ep. 25 of Time Sensitive) gets the Calvin Tomkins profile treatment [The New Yorker]