- This event has passed.
A Physical Education: Casey Johnston in conversation with Rebecca Grant
A Physical Education traces Casey Johnston’s journey of calorie restriction and obsessive cardio—making herself small in almost every way—to finding healing through the (unexpected) practice of lifting weights. As she progresses, carrying groceries and closing heavy doors become easier. As she diligently practices checking in with how she feels, she begins to question not only how she has treated her body, but how she sees herself and the world. This growth also fuels a deeper understanding: how the mainstream messaging she received about women’s bodies has seeped into almost every other area of her life.
Combining wit, rage, and a reporter’s eye for detail, Johnston recounts how she learned the process of rupture, rest, and repair—not just within her cells and muscles, but within her spirit. A love letter to the science of female strength, this is a book for anyone who’s ever longed to return home to their own body.
Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is an acclaimed writer and cultural critic. Her work covers the intersections of a diverse range of topics, including politics, identity, health, technology, power, womanhood, and embodiment, and has earned critical acclaim from numerous outlets.
Casey grew up in the Adirondacks, and received her Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Physics from the Columbia University engineering school. She has worked in media for 15 years, as a senior tech/science/health editor at The Outline; a senior health/tech editor at the New York Times’ Wirecutter; and as the culture editor at Ars Technica. Most recently, she was the editorial director of health and lifestyle coverage at VICE. In 2016, Casey started a science-based column about strength called Ask A Swole Woman, which now lives within her newsletter, She’s A Beast. In December 2021, she published LIFTOFF: Couch to Barbell, a book and training program for total lifting beginners who want to feel stronger and build a more meaningful, functional relationship with their bodies.
In addition to writing and speaking, Casey is an inveterate podcast guest. If you’re interested in anything of those things, she hopes that you will say hi. She loves lifting, watching TV, playing video games, and eating interesting snacks and inadvisably un-photogenic meals. She hangs out most with her partner, Seamus McKiernan, her two black cats, Fletch and Gert, and her dog, Luca.
Rebecca Grant
Rebecca Grant is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon, who covers reproductive rights, health, and justice. Her work has appeared in NPR, New York magazine, The Atlantic, VICE, The Nation, The Washington Post, Mother Jones, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, HuffPost, and The Guardian, among other publications. She has received grants and fellowships from the International Women’s Media Foundation, the International Reporting Project, The Fund for Investigative Journalists, and Type Investigations, reporting stories around the US and the world. Rebecca studied English and art history at Cornell University and served in the Peace Corps in Thailand. Before full-time freelancing, she worked at Washingtonian Magazine and wrote about startups in San Francisco. She is the author of Birth and Access.
