John Walker
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jhonhwalker.bsky.social
John Walker
@jhonhwalker.bsky.social
260 followers 360 following 14 posts
Bicycle commuter, Amazonian archaeologist, historical ecologist; Faculty at University of Central Florida | Illinois, Philadelphia, Florida, Orlando, Bolivia, Beni, Santa Ana del Yacuma.
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jhonhwalker.bsky.social
John Walker @jhonhwalker.bsky.social · Nov 27
Hello! I am an anthropologist studying the archaeology of landscapes, especially in the Bolivian Amazon. I am interested in agriculture, especially the possibility that archaeological evidence could be useful for farmers today.
jhonhwalker.bsky.social
Sad story from ProPublica: www.propublica.org/article/usai...
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...
www.propublica.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by John Walker
ichnologist.bsky.social
This poster showing a stunning array of crayfish species in Georgia helps deliver the message that freshwater ecosystems of the southeastern U.S are among the most diverse in the world. 🧪
December 13, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by John Walker
fade.bsky.social
I read this classic again every time I see it.
December 12, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by John Walker
neal.fun
Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/
December 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by John Walker
gdstone.bsky.social
Incredible, mind-blowing, life-changing interview. I can't even.
exchange.prx.org/pieces/59592...
Glenn Davis Stone, PhD, author of The Agricultural Dilemma: How Not to Feed the World, discusses the legend and unintended consequences of the Green Revolution.
Did you know that the “Green Revolution” is a cultural narrative that is rarely questioned? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Glenn Dav...
exchange.prx.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by John Walker
immokaleeworkers.bsky.social
ciw-online.org/blog/2025/11...

30 years ago, the Immokalee farmworker community, the principal source of labor for Southwest Florida’s massive agricultural industry for several decades, came together across linguistic and cultural divisions and erupted in its first-ever general strike...
Lucas Benitez, CIW Co-Founder, Turns 50, as CIW Turns 30!
Thirty years ago this month, the Immokalee farmworker community -- the principal source of labor for Southwest Florida's massive agricultural industry for several decades -- came together across long-...
ciw-online.org
November 20, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by John Walker
wfwalker.bsky.social
time for Friday Jazz Happy Hour! grab that beverage and join us!

youtu.be/NOudqih6OCU
Bill Walker's Friday Jazz Happy Hour # 279 (Nov 28, 2025)
YouTube video by Bill Walker
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by John Walker
eriknordman.bsky.social
I wrote an accessible introduction to the life and work of the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics - Elinor Ostrom. She showed that are not doomed to fall into the "tragedy of the commons." Collaborative governance is possible.
islandpress.org/books/uncomm...
October 18, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by John Walker
celestelabedz.bsky.social
It's over.

Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.

www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.
www.dailynebraskan.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by John Walker
tomgauld.bsky.social
My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com
A small child approaches his scientist father who is working at a large, strange, contraption. His face pressed to a viewing tube. “Are you looking forward to Christmas, papa?” Asks the child. “Yes,” replies the scientist“ turning round, “that is exactly what I am doing” then he adds “Thank you for the socks.” We can now see that the viewing tube breaks the border of the comics panel, passes through complicated machinery and allows the scientist to see into the next comic panel: Caption: December 25th A Christmas scene. The child and father-scientist open presents before a Christmas tree. The father has just unwrapped some socks.
December 7, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Reposted by John Walker
antiquity.ac.uk
Carnac (🇫🇷) is the site of thousands of standing stones, constructed ~7,000-years-ago #StandingStoneSunday

Radiocarbon dates indicate people added to and changed the complex over a 300 year period, painting a picture of a dynamic #megalithic landscape

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Several megaliths stood in a grassy field.
December 7, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by John Walker
mcsweeneys.net
Big Mouth Southern Smokehouse Burger – $14.99
The charred black bones of the farmhouse coughed and hissed and exhaled into the early morning fog, ghosts of smoke swirling whitehot against the sun, contrast in defiance of God ordained.
Chili’s Menu, by Cormac McCarthy
Southwestern Eggrolls – $9.95 In a tortilla made by the boy’s abuela he watched her, with her armfat and canvas apron, cast frijoles negros upon fl...
buff.ly
December 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by John Walker
propublica.org
The U.S. government’s grazing program was established a century ago to prevent abuse of public lands.

It’s grown into a massive subsidy program that benefits wealthy ranchers and corporations.
Wealthy Ranchers Profit From Public Lands. Taxpayers Pick Up the Tab.
A ProPublica and High Country News investigation found that government programs supporting grazing on public lands prop up a wealthy few while harming the environment. The Trump administration is supe...
www.propublica.org
December 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by John Walker
timhowles.bsky.social
Huge congratulations to the wonderful Donna Haraway for winning the 2025 Erasmus Prize:
erasmusprijs.org/en/laureates...
December 4, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by John Walker
maggiestiefvater.bsky.social
Every novel is a game the reader and the writer agree to play together, but some novels require more agreement than others. INVISIBLE CITIES really asks you to buy in. How to describe it?

I could tell you, I suppose, that it's a dreamy travelogue of invented cities—
December 3, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Reposted by John Walker
aroddick.bsky.social
A recently published illustration by @kjkillackey.bsky.social . screw AI, hire an artist.
An illustration by Kathryn Killackey of late formative ceramics from Highland Bolivia
December 3, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Reposted by John Walker
andrejpaleo.bsky.social
Isn't that crazy -- there was a dog breed which was solely dedicated for powering wheels which turned meat on fire!?
Just how many kinds of such 'techno-animals' existed and went extinct? This is cultural and biological evolution all at once.
🧪 #EvoBio #Paleobio
Illustration of a dog turning wheel and meet on fire. Description of an extinct dog breed which was dedicated for turning wheels
December 3, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by John Walker
🧪Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by John Walker
greenleejw.bsky.social
Ok...sure. You NEED eels at your Christmas feast. But what *else* do you need?

In 1245, Henry III ordered his sheriff at Cambridge to deliver the following to him by Christmas:

2 cranes
24 swans
10 boars & their pickled heads
50 bitterns
6 peacocks

And 10,000 eels. Of course.
🗃️🧪
Meme. Medieval illumination of Henry III. He is seated against a field of blue, and he looking right at you. In his left hand he is holding a scepter, or possibly a wand. It depends on whether you want him to be a king or a wizard. In his right hand he is holding what looks like a model of a cathedral. He is holding it lightly, with panache. Henry's hair is escaping in curls from under his crown, and his left eye looks a bit droopy. His right eye, though...the gaze from his right eye is hammering into you like a moose through the windshield of a highway-speed Yugo. Henry's mouth is set in a tight frown, like he knows what you've done, and he's not happy. It's possible that you are screwed. Perhaps Henry has used his magical powers & his wand to shrink a real cathedral down to a portable size. This way, he always has one with him. He'll just expand it when he gets where he's going...instant cathedral! Just watch your toes, everybody. Meme text reads: "The eels are for me The boars' heads are for the kids' stockings"
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by John Walker
antiquity.ac.uk
In ancient hilly landscapes, agricultural terraces were a necessity for farming. In #BronzeAge north-east England, their construction coincides with that of roundhouse settlements and field systems, possibly indicating a population boom.

🔗 from 2023 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology
Shaded relief map of topographic features overlaid onto a satellite image of the hilly landscape of the Cheviot Hills. Annotations indicate the locations of prehistoric terraces, as well as an Iron Age hillfort, medieval ridge and furrow, a modern plantation and more.
December 1, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by John Walker
scottzona.bsky.social
Many plants defend themselves with physical defenses. Spikey armaments, at various scales, are the subject of this week’s posts. Let’s start with root spines: Adventitious roots that harden & become sharp. Cryosophilla palms do it best. 📷: Cryosophila warscewiczii #root #Arecaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of the trunk of the palm showing numerous, needle-like root spines pointing slightly downward. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.
December 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by John Walker
tomgauld.bsky.social
Now for some sports news...
(this week's cartoon for @theguardian.com books pages)
Panel One: A sportscaster speaks to a television camera "You join us just in time for the annual booksellers versus librarians tug of war." Panel Two: We see the participants warming up as he continues... "Two very strong teams this year, they’ve both been in training since February. As always, the real skill in this match is not to start chatting about boo-" Panel Three: "Too late!! A pair of librarians are discussing the new Margaret Atwood! A crowd is forming! The booksellers are joining in! It's all over!!" We see all the participants chatting. Panel Four: The sportscaster finishes up to the camera: "The rope lies untouched! The discussions continue! We have a draw for 325th year in a row! Join us again next year!" End. Bonus alt-text Content: Fun fact! The first tug of war was between the staff of Cranston Library and those of Daniel Midwinter Booksellers www.cranstonlibraryreigate.com/ www.blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscripts/2017/11/10/booksellers/
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by John Walker
erikhoffner.bsky.social
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯

One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference

Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by John Walker
tadethompson.bsky.social
Can I tempt you to read this book?
A black book cover. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.
November 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by John Walker
tomgauld.bsky.social
Maths Puzzles for Conspiracy Theorists.
One of the cartoons from my new book 'Physics for Cats'. In good bookshops now and online in English, French, German and Spanish editions.
Title: Maths puzzles for conspiracy theorists. 1. A train departs at 2pm Travelling at 40mph. The next train follows an hour later, travelling at 45 mph. Why are we still using trains when the government has hyper-speed ufo technology? 2. Susie brings eighteen Apples and twelve Oranges to school and divides them equally Between her six Friends. How many of these children are in the pay of big fruit? 3. When Tom was eight, his sister, anne, was half his age. Tom is now 48, so why does Anne just laugh at him when he patiently explains to her that the earth is flat? From 'Physics for Cats' by Tom Gauld - order it at www.tomgauld.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:20 AM