John Kennedy
DIY Editor
John Kennedy is the DIY editor at Popular Science. He loves learning new skills and solving problems, often in pursuit of his ultimate goal of making peoples’ lives at least a little bit easier. When he’s not taking things apart or putting them back together, he’s playing sports, cooking, baking, or immersed in a video game.
Highlights
- Wide-ranging writer and editor driven to simplify our information-dense world by breaking down complex ideas, topics, and procedures in a way readers can apply to their everyday lives.
- Past bylines at Law360 and the Journal Inquirer.
Experience
John joined the PopSci team in early 2019, after four years covering a vast swath of legal news at Law360, including building and leading its construction law section. Before that, he spent two years reporting for the Journal Inquirer in Connecticut, solidifying his staunch support of local news. True to his jack-of-all-trades nature, he has also built and remodeled houses, worked as a fencing coach, and shelved books at a library.
Because of the breadth of DIY topics he covers, he considers himself “pretty good” at many things, and excels at finding unconventional solutions to challenges with whatever he has on hand. His PopSci stories have run the gamut from home repair to making memes and other tech tips, just to name a few of the countless topics he has covered and edited. He has also appeared on PopSci’s Ask Us Anything podcast, and has guided Best of What’s New: Home for the past three years.
Education
John graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism, as well as a minor in music. He was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Daily Campus, when it won a Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists award for an in-depth series on gambling in college to which he also contributed reporting. He later earned his master’s degree in journalism from the Columbia University School of Journalism after attending part-time while working as a full-time journalist.
Favorite Weird Science Fact
You can get a sunburn on your eye. John has experienced this and does not recommend it.
Notable Work
- There are no shortcuts when you build a drone destined for Mars Pop Sci
- How Ubisoft built the world of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Pop Sci
- The best way to reheat a pizza (and some things you should never do) Pop Sci
- The safest ways to stay warm during a power outage Pop Sci
- That 12-year-old screaming at you while playing “Call of Duty” might actually be gaming for school Columbia Journalism, on behalf of Quartz