kennethreitz.org/tuftecms/templates/homepage.html

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{% block title %}Kenneth Reitz{% endblock %}

{% block description %}Kenneth Reitz — creator of Requests, the Python HTTP library. Writing at the intersection of technology and consciousness: mental health, AI collaboration, open source, and building software for humans.{% endblock %}

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<header class="home-masthead">
    <h1>Kenneth Reitz</h1>
    <p class="subtitle muted">Creator of <a href="/software/requests" class="project-link color-software">Requests</a>, <a href="/software/certifi" class="project-link color-software">Certifi</a>, <a href="/software/pipenv" class="project-link color-software">Pipenv</a> &amp; <a href="/software" class="project-link color-software">more</a>.</p>
    <p class="home-lede">I'm best known for <a href="/software/requests">Requests</a>, the Python HTTP library. Most of what I write these days lives at the intersection of technology and consciousness — what we owe each other when we build things people think through. I live openly with <a href="/mental-health">schizoaffective disorder</a>; I'm a husband and father. Tech used to be my identity; now it's <a href="/essays/2026-03-18-values_i_outgrew_and_the_ones_that_stayed">craft, not lifestyle</a>.</p>

    <nav class="home-actions" aria-label="Homepage paths">
        <a href="/archive">Archive</a>
        <a href="/random">Random Essay</a>
        <a href="/graph">Graph</a>
        <a href="/feed.xml">RSS</a>
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</header>

<section class="home-current" aria-labelledby="home-current-heading">
    <h2 id="home-current-heading">Current Work</h2>
    <div class="home-link-list">
        <p><strong><a href="https://github.com/kennethreitz/RetroVault" target="_blank">RetroVault</a></strong> A native macOS library and player for RomM, now available as a <a href="/essays/2026-08-05-announcing_retrovault">public preview</a>.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/music/interpretations">Interpretations</a></strong> A 24-track album composed entirely in Python.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/software/websites/kjvstudy">kjvstudy.org</a></strong> Scripture study tools built for slow reading and durable notes.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/software/pytheory">PyTheory</a></strong> Music theory as code, from chords and scales to full arrangements.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/software/responder">Responder</a></strong> A web framework built around the same old question: HTTP, for humans.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="https://rhymepad.org" target="_blank">RhymePad</a></strong> A scratchpad for poets &amp; rappers that <a href="/essays/2026-06-11-rhymepad_seeing_the_sound">hears the rhymes as you write</a>.</p>
    </div>
</section>

<section class="home-recent">
    <h2>Recent Writing <small class="h2-note">(<a href="/archive">archive</a>)</small></h2>

    {% for post in recent_posts %}
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        {% if post.unique_icon %}<img src="{{ post.unique_icon }}" alt="" class="recent-post-icon">{% endif %}
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                <strong><a href="{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></strong><span class="recent-post-date">{{ post.pub_date.strftime("%B %Y") }}</span>
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            {% if post.description %}
            <p>{{ post.description }}</p>
            {% elif post.excerpt %}
            <p>{{ post.excerpt }}</p>
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    <p class="muted home-next-links">Eighteen years of thinking out loud, <a href="/essays/2026-06-11-how_i_write_now">written the way I actually write now</a>. Browse the full <a href="/archive">archive</a>, subscribe via <a href="/feed.xml">RSS</a>, or wander in through a <a href="/random">random essay</a> or the <a href="/graph">graph</a> of how it all connects.</p>
</section>

<section class="home-threads">
    <h2>Threads</h2>
    <div class="home-thread-list">
        <p><strong><a href="/themes/for-humans-philosophy">For Humans</a></strong> Technology should serve human mental models, not the other way around.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/themes/algorithmic-critique">Algorithmic Critique</a></strong> How engagement optimization consumes virtue, language, love, democracy, reality, time, and diagnosis.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/themes/mental-health">Mental Health</a></strong> Notes from inside the system, written without pretending the system is the human.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/themes/consciousness-and-ai">Consciousness and AI</a></strong> What happens when language starts reflecting us back at ourselves.</p>
        <p><strong><a href="/themes/music-as-code">Music as Code</a></strong> Chords, theory, synthesis, and the pleasure of making sound with programs.</p>
    </div>
</section>

<section class="home-now">
    <h2>Now <small class="h2-note">(as of July 2026)</small></h2>
    <p><strong>Reading:</strong> <em><a href="https://poemsbysarah.com" target="_blank">The Becoming</a></em> by Sarah L. Reitz — my wife's poetry collection, tracing a journey from darkness through self-discovery to love. Free at <a href="https://poemsbysarah.com" target="_blank">poemsbysarah.com</a>, or in <a href="https://amzn.to/4qPQIH3" target="_blank">paperback &amp; Kindle</a>. I <a href="/essays/2026-01-30-the-becoming-building-a-poetry-publishing-pipeline-with-claude-code">built the publishing pipeline</a>; she wrote every word.</p>

    <p><strong>Playing:</strong> <a href="/music/interpretations">Interpretations</a> — a 24-track album composed entirely in Python. Sitar ragas, acid bass, ambient drones, trap beats — every sound generated from code. <a href="https://interpretations.kennethreitz.org/" target="_blank">Listen on the web</a>, or on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/1jYjggrr6HEKfV4FchcJWD" target="_blank">Spotify</a> / <a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/interpretations/1890986989" target="_blank">Apple Music</a>.</p>

</section>

<section class="home-closing">
    <p>Thank you for your attention — it's the only currency that actually matters. If anything here resonated, I'm glad. If you're curious about what drives the work, my <a href="/values">values</a> are the closest thing to a map I've got.</p>
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