Kinship Medicine

“If there’s a word for the sickness that plagues our country, it’s hyperindividualism—and happily, as this fine book makes clear, there’s a cure: Connection. Relationship. Communion. Read this book—optimally in the company of others!” —Bill McKibben, author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon “In an age of disconnection, Wendy Johnson offers a vital prescription for both personal and planetary flourishing. By bridging ancient wisdom and modern science, she offers a fresh and deeply human perspective on thriving in today’s world. Kinship Medicine is the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve turned the final page.” —Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Drive and The Power of Regret “Such an important book for our time, for all times. We have much to discover about our body and the body of this earth and the profound connection between the two. This book opens those interconnected worlds for us.” —Rōshi Joan Halifax, founder and abbot of Upaya Zen Center “There could not be a more urgent need for Kinship Medicine. The book’s central message—that collective human wellness is inextricably linked to the health of the fellow beings with whom we share the planet—is an important contribution to contemporary discourse on topics ranging from climate change to economic inequality. Dr. Johnson argues that we are inherently part of the ecosystems we inhabit, and that we cannot be healthy when those ecosystems are sick and suffering. To the extent that we damage our biome, we also harm ourselves. Wendy makes these arguments cogently, and from the unique perspective of an experienced physician, activist, and public health expert able to limn connections between our individual health and the global forces that shape it.” —Dr. Paul E. Farmer, cofounder of Partners In Health “I devoured this book, hungry for its sumptuous wisdom on how we must come together in the soothing gardens of community if we are to nourish ourselves and the world. Dr. Wendy Johnson takes us to the cottonwoods and the coyotes and shows us the ecology cure to our individual and collective health. This book is a salve and a call to action.” —Sonora Jha, author of The Laughter “A necessary book for our times. Kinship Medicine weaves Johnson’s vast knowledge of human health from a physician’s perspective with global history and philosophy, and her own life story on the land and with its creatures. Taken together, the book makes a brave argument for hope for a healthier future for us all—humans, other-than-human beings, and the planet—through connection and community. Despite the darkness of our current moment, the book leans into the light just ahead.” —Robin McLean, author of Pity the Beast “Dr. Wendy Johnson has written a needed prescription not just for better medicine but for a better life at both societal and individual levels. Take as directed. Please.” —William Debuys, author The Trail to Kanjiroba “Kinship Medicine is a wondrous journey through the systems of life, health, healing, and death from which we have become estranged, even in times when we think we know them all too well. As we build the communities we’ll need to survive the climate crisis, it’s good to know we’ll be able to look to our side and see Wendy Johnson in the trenches, digging with us, and healing us when we blister.” —Raj Patel, coauthor of Inflamed “Dr. Wendy Johnson makes an elegant, intelligent, and heartfelt case for new ways of thinking about humanity’s place on Earth. Aspirational and celebratory, but also clear-eyed and historically informed, Kinship Medicine revolves around a central point: ideas matter, and the creation of a sustainable future urgently requires us to challenge some of the most basic cultural and philosophical assumptions of the Western world.” —Frank Huyler, author of White Hot Light and The Blood of Strangers “Kinship Medicine explores modern America’s destructive disconnection to the depth, breadth, and essential importance of the natural world. As Americans born into ‘ecological catastrophe,’ Johnson urges us to overcome our fog of amnesia and recognize our need to be in relationship with our environment. To regain our own health, we must commit to the care and protection of every species, every ecosystem. Johnson maps a way forward to a sustainable, hopeful future with wise and compassionate directives, encouraging us to step into wild places, engage in community-building partnerships and endeavors, and be informed and inspiring activists in the creation of a better world.” —Lesley Poling-Kempes, author of Ladies of the Canyons