Brad Lepper
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Brad Lepper
@brad-lepper.bsky.social
Senior Archaeologist for the Ohio History Connection's World Heritage Program
Please vote for the Octagon Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Site as the USA Today's Best New Attraction! And you can cast a vote every day!

(Pretend you did't notice that the image they've chosen is actually Mound City.)
Octagon Earthworks at Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks
10best.usatoday.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Brad Lepper
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
On this hour of All Sides, we will learn more about the stories written on this land.

Guests include Logan York, tribal historic preservation officer, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Jennifer Aultman, director of historic sites & museums, Ohio History Connection
New WOSU docuseries examines the wonder of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks
The project is a collaboration between WOSU Public Media, the Ohio History Connection, the National Park Service and a Tribal Advisory Council.
www.wosu.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"In this segment of How It’s Math, join Caroline and the Math Chicken as we explore the hidden math inside these giant earthworks with archaeologist Brad Lepper..."
Ancient Geometry: The Math of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks | How It’s Math
YouTube video by Doodles and Digits | Educational Math Videos
www.youtube.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:02 AM
"Why are museums filled with artifacts from the past and stories about the past? Why don’t museums include things from the future? These are normal questions that everyone has about museums, not just me, Donald J. Trump. ..."
Donald Trump’s Perfect Museum
Why are museums filled with artifacts from the past? Why don’t they include things from the future?
www.theatlantic.com
August 21, 2025 at 6:43 PM
July 31, 2025 at 2:43 AM
"Today, as in the past, one group—people classified as white men—is overrepresented in the sciences, whereas other groups are underrepresented in nearly every scientific field..." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This is not the time to step back from diversity, equity, and inclusion
Recently, I exchanged views with a prominent Ivy League scientist who was complaining about the minority students and junior faculty applying to his program. He claimed that the university, through di...
www.science.org
July 31, 2025 at 2:38 AM
This was videotaped in March, but only recently posted. It's the short version of the discovery, excavation and analysis of the Burning Tree Mastodon.
2025-03-19 Brad Lepper on Burning Tree Mastodon
YouTube video by The Scioto Post
www.youtube.com
July 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
"It once was the cultural and spiritual center of eastern North America—the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hopewell world. ..."
The hidden science at the Newark Earthworks
Today, mounds in Ohio can look like nothing but grassy hills, but this sacred place was once the Mecca of North America. Here are the hidden science and a visitors’ guide, from Ohio State University.
alumnimagazine.osu.edu
June 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"The arc of history is long and it bends towards justice, but it doesn't bend by itself! It's not efing gravity. People have to bend it. YOU have to bend it!"
Jon Stewart on Fighting for the Modern American Dream - After The Cut | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
www.youtube.com
June 14, 2025 at 3:52 AM
May 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Brad Lepper
Carl Sagan on how humanity can create its purpose and make its existence meaningful.
May 4, 2025 at 1:32 PM
“They worked in huge numbers completely cooperatively without an authoritarian leader. In that sense, they’re smarter than us because we haven’t figured out how to do that."
Were Hopewell people 2,000 years ago smarter than us? Experts debate on World Heritage Day
The accomplishments of the Hopewell people who lived here and visited here more than 2,000 years ago beg the question, "Were they smarter than us?"
www.newarkadvocate.com
May 4, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Working with Milo is all kinds of fun!
The Archaeological Site With Real Sacred Geometry: The Octagon Earthworks
YouTube video by Miniminuteman
www.youtube.com
April 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
In the latest issue of the Journal of Ohio Archaeology, Rob Cook and I review the history of the amazing Serpent Mound, and address how this history has been ignored or distorted by people with varying agendas that are all tied to the racist Moundbuilder Myth.
ohioarchaeology.org/file_downloa...
April 25, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Octagon Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Site
April 14, 2025 at 9:49 PM
"We are not interested in joining your theater of compliance.

We are not interested in gutting equity programs that serve actual children in exchange for your political approval. ...."
Still Not Signing: A Superintendent's Response to the Department of Education's Anti-DEI Ultimatum
The federal government gave us 10 days to sign away our values. Here’s our answer.
closertotheedge.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 9:48 PM
"America is a shocking place — shockingly beautiful and shockingly violent. And the people in it will make you weep with every emotion that can prompt tears. Jubilant, sad, ridiculous, sublime. It’s America, after all."
Opinion | What exactly does Trump think is in the Smithsonian?
Following his most recent executive order, I went in search of some “corrosive ideology.”
www.washingtonpost.com
April 5, 2025 at 3:26 AM
"The quest for truth—the mission of science—requires that scientists freely explore new questions and report their findings honestly, independent of special interests. The administration is engaging in censorship, destroying this independence."
Public Statement on Supporting Science for the Benefit of All Citizens
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE We all rely on science. Science gave us the smartphones in our pockets, the navigation systems in our cars, and life-saving medical care. We count on engineers when we drive acr...
docs.google.com
April 2, 2025 at 11:57 PM
“We see real danger in this moment. We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united as researchers in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry. We are sending this SOS to sound a clear warning: the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated.”
More than 1,900 scientists write letter in ‘SOS’ over Trump’s attacks on science
Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine warned Americans of ‘real danger in this moment’
www.theguardian.com
April 1, 2025 at 4:09 PM
It was great fun working with Milo to share the story of the Great Circle Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Spectacular Archaeology of the Great Circle Earthworks
YouTube video by Miniminuteman
www.youtube.com
March 16, 2025 at 11:06 PM
March 16, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Brad Lepper
Come on down to the White House Tesla Auto Mall!
March 12, 2025 at 9:02 PM
"There may be even more moons around Saturn awaiting discovery, potentially in the thousands."

It seems like this situation is getting out of hand.
Saturn Gains 128 New Moons, Bringing Its Total to 274 (Gift Article)
The objects around the ringed planet are tiny, but some of them may have formed relatively recently in the solar system’s history.
www.nytimes.com
March 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
March 12, 2025 at 2:12 AM