Kea Johnston
@kjohnston.bsky.social
I’m an Egyptologist and digital humanist. I obtained my PhD from UC Berkeley in 2022.
I’m now a postdoctoral scholar working at the Field Museum and the ISAC Museum at the University of Chicago.
I’m now a postdoctoral scholar working at the Field Museum and the ISAC Museum at the University of Chicago.
2/2 I soon left for industry where the number of women engineers was even smaller. Summers’ remarks, couched in the language of science, were instead rooted in deep misogyny, As proof, see the recent Epstein letters, where Mr Summers can be found interacting with Epstein as a friend and fellow pig.
November 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
2/2 I soon left for industry where the number of women engineers was even smaller. Summers’ remarks, couched in the language of science, were instead rooted in deep misogyny, As proof, see the recent Epstein letters, where Mr Summers can be found interacting with Epstein as a friend and fellow pig.
1/2 In 2005, I was one of a handful of woman Computer Science majors at Brown University. This was the year when Larry Summers, president of Harvard, pontificated at length that the unequal numbers of women in science were due to natural lack of interest and aptitude. Biological differences.
November 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
1/2 In 2005, I was one of a handful of woman Computer Science majors at Brown University. This was the year when Larry Summers, president of Harvard, pontificated at length that the unequal numbers of women in science were due to natural lack of interest and aptitude. Biological differences.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the bad news these days. I know I often want to help but don’t know how. For now though, I’ve donated to the Food Banks in Chicago. There are a lot of awful, self righteous, cowardly people out there, but I think there are a lot of people who want to help, too.
Greater Chicago Food Depository
SNAP is our nation’s most important anti-hunger tool. With benefits paused during the federal government shutdown, 41 million Americans, including 900,000 neighbors n Cook County are at greater risk o...
giving.chicagosfoodbank.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:02 PM
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the bad news these days. I know I often want to help but don’t know how. For now though, I’ve donated to the Food Banks in Chicago. There are a lot of awful, self righteous, cowardly people out there, but I think there are a lot of people who want to help, too.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
October 12, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Spectacular googly-eyed octopus does battle with a lobster in this 2,000 year-old Roman mosaic from Pompeii! 🐙 🦞
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
October 6, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Spectacular googly-eyed octopus does battle with a lobster in this 2,000 year-old Roman mosaic from Pompeii! 🐙 🦞
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Fantastic fishy onlookers too! 👀
From the House of the Geometric Mosaics. Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
📷 by me
#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology
Whelp, one of the universities I’ve been involved with has done the dog-walk for Trump (and won’t receive another red cent if mine). Let’s see if Berkeley does it too.
October 4, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Whelp, one of the universities I’ve been involved with has done the dog-walk for Trump (and won’t receive another red cent if mine). Let’s see if Berkeley does it too.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
FREE HYBRID Event!
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
September 30, 2025 at 12:23 AM
FREE HYBRID Event!
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Investigating “Their Walls”: The 2024 Season at el-Hibeh (ancient Teudjoi)
Lecturer: Prof. Jean Li, Toronto Metropolitan University
University College, Rm 244 or by zoom: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
For more information sseatoronto.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/j...
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said that it is “hard to watch” kids with autism and that “we can end the suffering” and that autism “may be entirely preventable.”
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
Autism, MAHA, and the Face of God
One part junk science, two parts incompetent government, and with a dash of blasphemy, for seasoning.
www.thebulwark.com
September 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said that it is “hard to watch” kids with autism and that “we can end the suffering” and that autism “may be entirely preventable.”
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
What a grotesque way to talk about human beings; about children.
I’ve mentioned how I loathe RFK Jr, but have you noticed that Autism is also always mom’s fault? Whether she’s not seen as “warm” enough to her child or doesn’t suffer the maximum amount for 9 months, it’s always the mom’s fault.
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
September 23, 2025 at 1:41 AM
I’ve mentioned how I loathe RFK Jr, but have you noticed that Autism is also always mom’s fault? Whether she’s not seen as “warm” enough to her child or doesn’t suffer the maximum amount for 9 months, it’s always the mom’s fault.
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
And on top of that, this is all incredibly insulting to Autistic ppl
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Random 12 year old: I fucked your mom
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
September 17, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Random 12 year old: I fucked your mom
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
Republican: That's it I'm calling ICE, you insensitive bully
I think a better title might have been “RFK Jr Falsely links SSRIs and Mass Shootings,” because <<surprise>> science says he’s full of shit. Of all of Trump’s goons, I loathe RFK Jr. the most. I’m increasingly convinced he’s a eugenicist who wants people he thinks are unfit to die.
RFK Jr. links SSRIs and mass shootings. What does science say? — The Washington Post
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested that psychiatric drugs may have played a role in the Minnesota Catholic school shooting — a statement widely criticized as unsupported by science.
apple.news
August 30, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I think a better title might have been “RFK Jr Falsely links SSRIs and Mass Shootings,” because <<surprise>> science says he’s full of shit. Of all of Trump’s goons, I loathe RFK Jr. the most. I’m increasingly convinced he’s a eugenicist who wants people he thinks are unfit to die.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Привет, товарищи! It’s another glorious day in which Trump’s America is increasingly indistinguishable from Stalinist Russia, so I thought an armchair comparative analysis was in order.
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Bhattacharya is the New Lysenko
Starving the NIH through ineptitude, bitterness, and thirst for revenge
open.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Привет, товарищи! It’s another glorious day in which Trump’s America is increasingly indistinguishable from Stalinist Russia, so I thought an armchair comparative analysis was in order.
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
Specifically about Jay Bhattacharya's twin from times past, Trofim Lysenko.
open.substack.com/pub/rasmusse...
🎶Toad Maaannn🎶 (to the tune of Spoon Man. Like George R R Martin, I’ve gotten into mini painting. It’s relaxing and quick. Unlike Martin, I intend to work on my manuscript, to which I know the ending.
August 10, 2025 at 2:13 AM
🎶Toad Maaannn🎶 (to the tune of Spoon Man. Like George R R Martin, I’ve gotten into mini painting. It’s relaxing and quick. Unlike Martin, I intend to work on my manuscript, to which I know the ending.
Aw yiss! Look what I just scored!
July 17, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Aw yiss! Look what I just scored!
Reposted by Kea Johnston
A letter from Egypt by a woman called Serapias to her son-in-law. More information about it here: papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxf;... and here press.umich.edu/Books/W/Wome...
July 4, 2025 at 4:55 PM
A letter from Egypt by a woman called Serapias to her son-in-law. More information about it here: papyri.info/ddbdp/p.oxf;... and here press.umich.edu/Books/W/Wome...
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Happy 4th of July, Batman.
July 4, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Happy 4th of July, Batman.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
This rubbing of an ancient Egyptian stela was produced in the early 20th century by Chinese antiquarian Duanfang #ManuscriptMonday 🏺
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
June 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
This rubbing of an ancient Egyptian stela was produced in the early 20th century by Chinese antiquarian Duanfang #ManuscriptMonday 🏺
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
Lost during the 20th century, its rediscovery in the early 2000s sheds light on Egyptology in Late Imperial China.
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
When I was an angsty young thing, the character from Dickens I identified with was Sydney Carton. Now it’s Madame Defarge. Here she is making stitches for a snitch. (Illustration by A. A. Dixon)
July 3, 2025 at 12:08 AM
When I was an angsty young thing, the character from Dickens I identified with was Sydney Carton. Now it’s Madame Defarge. Here she is making stitches for a snitch. (Illustration by A. A. Dixon)
apple.news/AviS1IKXiSum... Oh wow. Careful investigation by non political pencil pushers saved the government 10 billion. In Medicare fraud. And how much did Elon moving fast and breaking (lifesaving medical intervention for poor malnourished children) save?
Inside Operation Gold Rush, largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history — The Washington Post
The U.S. government said it has busted the largest health care fraud scheme in history, which targeted Medicare and involved more than $10 billion in fraudulent claims.
apple.news
June 30, 2025 at 10:33 PM
apple.news/AviS1IKXiSum... Oh wow. Careful investigation by non political pencil pushers saved the government 10 billion. In Medicare fraud. And how much did Elon moving fast and breaking (lifesaving medical intervention for poor malnourished children) save?
I’m old enough to remember the death of web crawler search engines—the general enshitification of metatags that made Infoseek and Altavista and a dozen others increasingly useless. Here’s how you get AI free results on google. Results are still crap, but now you don’t have to wade through AI for ‘em
Google Search’s “udm=14” trick lets you kill AI search for good
The power of URL parameters lets you unofficially turn off Google’s AI Overview.
arstechnica.com
June 25, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I’m old enough to remember the death of web crawler search engines—the general enshitification of metatags that made Infoseek and Altavista and a dozen others increasingly useless. Here’s how you get AI free results on google. Results are still crap, but now you don’t have to wade through AI for ‘em
Reposted by Kea Johnston
Every time someone responds to an obviously normative-aspirational claim ("this not who we are", "this is not America", etc) with some I'm-very-radical descriptive rebuttal ("er actually America has always done <similar bad stuff>") an angel dies. Like, no joke, dead. Direct causal result of this.
June 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Every time someone responds to an obviously normative-aspirational claim ("this not who we are", "this is not America", etc) with some I'm-very-radical descriptive rebuttal ("er actually America has always done <similar bad stuff>") an angel dies. Like, no joke, dead. Direct causal result of this.
Reposted by Kea Johnston
archivists: we have no help maintaining the overwhelming pile of digital projects that were funded by one-time grants and have extensive recurring resource costs, this is a huge problem for literally every discipline
venture capitalists: would you like a sexy robot Amelia Bedelia that doesn't work
venture capitalists: would you like a sexy robot Amelia Bedelia that doesn't work
If tech people want to do something useful for historians, one problem that I actually have is that all the links to a less-than-10-year-old digitization project are fucking broken. Maybe get on the whole "making digital humanities last more than the time it takes to write a book" thing.
June 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM
archivists: we have no help maintaining the overwhelming pile of digital projects that were funded by one-time grants and have extensive recurring resource costs, this is a huge problem for literally every discipline
venture capitalists: would you like a sexy robot Amelia Bedelia that doesn't work
venture capitalists: would you like a sexy robot Amelia Bedelia that doesn't work