Portrait of Maura Johnston

Birthday profile

Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston, American journalist, critic, and academic

Born
May 28, 1975
Age in 2026
51
Zodiac sign
Gemini
Birth year
1975

About Maura Johnston

Maura K. Johnston (born May 28, 1975) is a writer, editor and music critic. A member of Boston College's journalism faculty, she has written for Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Pitchfork, The Awl, The New York Times, Spin and The Guardian. Johnston was a founding editor of Gawker Media's Idolator, where she worked until November 2009. In April 2011, she became the music editor of The Village Voice, holding that position until September 2012. In 2013, she launched the culture periodical Maura Magazine, which was published by 29th Street Publishing through 2015. She is an adjunct professor at Boston College, which named her the inaugural Institute for Liberal Arts Journalism Fellow in 2013. From 2010 to 2013, she taught at New York University's Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Johnston is involved with Boston College's non-commercial radio station WZBC as a DJ and advisory board member and has DJed at WNUR and WPRB. She has discussed music and popular culture on NPR, WNYC, WBUR and CBC Radio. She has appeared in a handful of music videos, including Speedy Ortiz's "The Graduates", and contributed violin and viola to records by artists including Lefty's Deceiver and Kincaid. A native of Hicksville, New York, Johnston graduated from Northwestern University in 1997.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Maura Johnston was born

Maura Johnston was born in 1975. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1975

  • #1 song"Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille
  • Top movieJaws
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookShogun – James Clavell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMuhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III "Thrilla in Manila"
  • Top headlineFall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
  • Technology milestoneAltair 8800 — first personal computer kit
  • Defining fadPet Rocks — 1.5 million sold
  • Notable inventionPet Rock
  • World population4.09 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGerald Ford
  • Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
  • Also wonGolden State Warriors (NBA)
  • U.S. population215.9M

1975 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Maura Johnston's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19752026
Gas$0.57$3.45/gal
Average home$28,900$435,000
Average income$14,700$67,500
Minimum wage$2.10$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.05$11.95
Postage stamp$0.10$0.73
Population215.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Muck Rack. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.