This chart shows the number of democratizing and autocratizing countries since 1900. During that time, there have been three waves of democratization with following reversals.
It's not just you: Democracy is STRUGGLING. The US has lost its status as a liberal democracy. And we may now be in a wave of autocratization. 🫣
www.not-ship.com/democracy-in...
Mental health care is scarce everywhere — but in poor countries, it barely exists.
Depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems are common everywhere. They are not confined to any particular income level.
In 2 weeks I'm running a (now, rare) live online 'Masterclass in Data Visualisation' course. It is open to anyone and everyone!
Across 3 days (4 hrs per day) you'll learn about all the ingredients that make up the modern-day sophisticated data viz craftsperson.
visualisingdata.com/2026/01/new-...
A reminder that if you’re looking for dataviz content on Bluesky, there’s a lot here 👇📊
Substack and Patreon lied to you. You can't just publish great work and get paid. You have to promote your revenue streams. Whether it's subscriptions, sponsors or a tip jar, you have to promote and persuade people to pay you. There's no shortcut and no handouts. Just talk about it. A lot.
The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping chokepoint, raises an uncomfortable question: Without global trade, could countries actually feed themselves?
📊 📉 🗺️
www.not-ship.com/self-suffici...
Here's a periodic reminder that I sell all kinds of interesting data art in my shop! Prints, clothing, some other strange little things.
All proceeds go to paying my rent.
www.jerthorp.me/category/all...
This is a screen capture of the Anthropic job chart that has been going viral online. I've annotated it to say: "Theoretical AI coverage: A series of assumptions, judgments and guesses." and "Observed AI coverage: Actually just the use of Claude for work-related tasks, not the wider AI ecosystem."
I'm not usually one to "weigh in". But ...
AI job predictions are nothing more than 'statistical theatre.' Hunches wrapped in percentages and charts imply that someone, somewhere, has measured something real about our future careers.
But they haven't.
www.not-ship.com/the-problem-...
Lol my "analysis". Thanks Justin!
You've seen that Anthropic chart going around? It reminded me how meaningless AI predictions are — yet how authoritative they seem. It's like "statistics theatre". I have opinions!
www.not-ship.com/the-problem-...
We stopped calling it "women's work," but we never stopped making it women's work. Today, women across the world spend 17% of their time on these domestic, unpaid tasks. Men? About 7%.
Just a little something to think about this International Women's Day.
www.not-ship.com/hey-guys-you...
You guys are too kind! To be honest, my constraint is primarily for myself. I have a short attention span for things that go on too long (to be clear — not the same as things that are long for a good reason!). So I gotta keep it short and tight for my own sanity. 😅
That's so kind of you. thank you! I probably spent too much time on it before I launched. Lol. I think I was procrastinating.
Yeah it takes some getting used to. It probably helps that I come from journalism and not academia! lol
It's not a hard rule, but it means that the piece will never be too long. And I think since there is a lot of data, that's important. I hope that helps answer your question!
How I figure out how far to dive into the topic ... well that's a bit of an instinct I've developed from doing this for years. But basically I try to keep the idea to a single take-away (ie: wealthy live in the shade!), and I try to keep it under about 1000 words.
Thank you! I have a spreadsheet of ideas. Every time I see something interesting (online or in the real world) I pop it in there. So I have a big list of things that are interesting to me that I can look at if I'm stuck. But coming up with the idea is easier. The hard part is how deep to go...
This is a map of Sydney showing the average shade across different regions. Gentrified and trendy, Surry Hills and Strawberry Hills have relatively more shade.
Looking for the rich? Check in the shadows. 👀
This week's data dive has it all: Detailed city maps! Calling out the wealthy! Shadow puns!
www.not-ship.com/wealthy-shad...
Does everything feel like a lot? That's because everything IS ALOT!
Here's a reminder that you can just go listen to the birds.
It helps.
Thank you! 💙
📆 Last chance to join us for today's webinar at 12pm EDT / 6pm CET!
We're diving into everything tables—from creation to stunning design using Datawrapper. Don't miss out on tips to make your data shine. 🪄
Register now 👇
streamyard.com/watch/2UhTfG...
The State of the Union presentation you ought to see...
The most helpful men in the world still do less unpaid labour than the vast majority of women. Yeesh.
Lots of fascinating data and charts in this one!
www.not-ship.com/hey-guys-you...
Good questions! I'm sorry I don't know the answer to either of them. I know that @freerangestats.info got the incorrect life expectancy data fixed, but I don't know how that changes the final number. It hasn't been updated on the SDR site, for one: dashboards.sdgindex.org/explorer/?me...
lol. If you find one, let us know. Then I’ll definitely be going!
I'll be first to buy tickets when the DPU gets its major cinematic release!
Who's thinking about going to the Visualising Climate conference this fall? I'm working out which events to go to this year, and it looks intriguing! #dataviz
visualisingclimate.com
Thanks Andy! ❤️
