Jennifer Raff
@jenniferraff.bsky.social
Anthropological geneticist, NYT bestselling author, martial artist, professor, Ox mother. Rock chalk.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
The author Joan Didion embraced Thanksgiving. And she staged it the same way she conjured her essays, novels, screenplays and memoirs, with an almost military mustering of planning and ambition.
How Joan Didion Did Thanksgiving
The author’s newly unveiled papers reveal the meticulous planning and devotion to cooking that went into her big holiday meals.
nyti.ms
November 27, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The author Joan Didion embraced Thanksgiving. And she staged it the same way she conjured her essays, novels, screenplays and memoirs, with an almost military mustering of planning and ambition.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
November 27, 2025 at 7:05 PM
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
GitHub - alanrogers/popgen: A course on population genetics
A course on population genetics. Contribute to alanrogers/popgen development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
One of these people is a firefighter 😂
November 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
One of these people is a firefighter 😂
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
I estimate that 96% of deep-fried turkey attempts end in a house-destroying fireball, based on the clips I see on local news and the internet. And yet we keep doing it because this is America, we do not live in fear and THAT is what I'm thankful for
November 27, 2025 at 4:58 PM
I estimate that 96% of deep-fried turkey attempts end in a house-destroying fireball, based on the clips I see on local news and the internet. And yet we keep doing it because this is America, we do not live in fear and THAT is what I'm thankful for
Oh no
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Oh no
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
I talked to Joan Donovan about Twitter's very old foreign influence problem, which was unmasked in the funniest possible way over the weekend: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Twitter's foreign influence problem is nothing new
The platform's just-debuted geolocation tool illuminates a disturbing and persistent issue.
www.motherjones.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I talked to Joan Donovan about Twitter's very old foreign influence problem, which was unmasked in the funniest possible way over the weekend: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
The missing heritability question is now (mostly) answered
Not with a bang but with a whimper
theinfinitesimal.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I wrote a little bit about the "missing heritability" question and several recent studies that have brought it to a close. A short 🧵
Oh no I saw the thing. 🤢
November 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Oh no I saw the thing. 🤢
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
A very good boy! 🐾🐕😍
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
A very good boy! 🐾🐕😍
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
in many ways trump and zohran are the glinda and elphaba of our timeline
November 22, 2025 at 3:40 AM
in many ways trump and zohran are the glinda and elphaba of our timeline
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
We hereby retire the “record scratch-Freeze frame-You may be wondering how I got here” meme.
It’s over. It will never be topped by this image.
It’s over. It will never be topped by this image.
November 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
We hereby retire the “record scratch-Freeze frame-You may be wondering how I got here” meme.
It’s over. It will never be topped by this image.
It’s over. It will never be topped by this image.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
The arc of the moral universe was like
November 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM
The arc of the moral universe was like
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
LOL, inside the White House today. Dude REALLY got red pilled this time!
November 21, 2025 at 10:21 PM
LOL, inside the White House today. Dude REALLY got red pilled this time!
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
The 2026 EMBL symposium 'Reconstructing the human past using ancient and modern genomics' is live with a fantastic invited speaker lineup!
Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉.
Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.
Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉.
Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.
November 19, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The 2026 EMBL symposium 'Reconstructing the human past using ancient and modern genomics' is live with a fantastic invited speaker lineup!
Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉.
Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.
Abstract deadline 9 June. If work is ongoing, plan for Heidelberg in September😉.
Organised by Maanasa Raghavan, @matejahajdi.bsky.social, Choongwon Jeong & me.
So well-deserved, congratulations David!
November 21, 2025 at 2:11 AM
So well-deserved, congratulations David!
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
You can bully companies into dropping DEI programs, and you can force the public library to pull books with queer characters. But you can’t, in the end, force other people to approve of your bigotry, which is what they really want.
November 20, 2025 at 1:45 PM
You can bully companies into dropping DEI programs, and you can force the public library to pull books with queer characters. But you can’t, in the end, force other people to approve of your bigotry, which is what they really want.
RT'ing to remind myself to listen to this later. Can't do it now because I'm at an ACTUAL ANTHROPOLOGY conference which would have been nice for certain authors to attend and learn about ACTUAL RESEARCH. (I assume that's the gist of the podcast episode as well!).
This is not the worst book we've ever read but it is the meanest episode we've ever done.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
November 20, 2025 at 6:58 PM
RT'ing to remind myself to listen to this later. Can't do it now because I'm at an ACTUAL ANTHROPOLOGY conference which would have been nice for certain authors to attend and learn about ACTUAL RESEARCH. (I assume that's the gist of the podcast episode as well!).
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
🧪🏺🦣
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Did Neandertals choose their prey when practicing cannibalism?🍖
Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com!
We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago.
1/7
Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com!
We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago.
1/7
Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey
doi.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:25 PM
🧪🏺🦣
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Hugely important new data here, I need time to digest it (🙃), but this kind of detailed contextual work is EXACTLY what we need to avoid stereotypes that #Neanderthal body processing & cannibalism were simply "brutal massacres"
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
For those covering #autism news today, I offer this guide to avoiding ableist and stigmatizing language, complete with suggested alternatives.
🎉 Lab paper alert: “Autism ableism seen through research abstract contents: A mixed-methods analysis of language in NIH-funded genetic and genomic autism research.” We found ableist/stigmatizing language ubiquitous throughout grant abstracts from 1980-2022.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
journals.sagepub.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
For those covering #autism news today, I offer this guide to avoiding ableist and stigmatizing language, complete with suggested alternatives.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is the very definition of an evidence-based claim. Over a million children have been studied in every valid, ethical experimental design scientists can think of. More evidence-based claims: infections can kill people & we have vaccines that keep people alive.
November 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is the very definition of an evidence-based claim. Over a million children have been studied in every valid, ethical experimental design scientists can think of. More evidence-based claims: infections can kill people & we have vaccines that keep people alive.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
It's hard out there for a lickspittle.
November 19, 2025 at 7:32 PM
It's hard out there for a lickspittle.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
With the vote to release the Epstein files underway, let's revisit @annamerlan.bsky.social's piece breaking down just how the Trump administration ensured that the conspiracy theories surrounding the president's relationship with the convicted sex offender won't really end.
Now it’s Epstein forever
The Trump administration's ham-handed moves have ensured that Epstein conspiracy theories will never really end.
www.motherjones.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
With the vote to release the Epstein files underway, let's revisit @annamerlan.bsky.social's piece breaking down just how the Trump administration ensured that the conspiracy theories surrounding the president's relationship with the convicted sex offender won't really end.
Reposted by Jennifer Raff
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu