Johanna Mayer

Digital Producer

Johanna Mayer is a digital producer at Science Friday. She grew up on a tree farm in Missouri, where she spent many hours on long stretches of highways listening to public radio in cars.

Before joining Science Friday, she worked as a freelance writer and taught English in Japanese public schools for two years on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. In addition to her classroom duties, she once ate 52 pieces of sushi in a single sitting. 

At Science Friday, she writes Science Diction, a series that digs into the scientific origin stories behind our words and language. She spends a lot of time with the Oxford English Dictionary.

When she’s not working, she’s probably baking a fruit pie. Cherry’s her specialty, but she whips up a mean rhubarb streusel as well.