Author: Brendan Barry

  • The Distribution of Debt in the United States

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    Brendan Barry
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    In a good example of comparing share versus actuals, the National Journal looks at the state of debt across the United States. The choropleth map shows adult share of debt while the bar charts show the regional value of said debt. While the south holds more debt, the west and east coasts have more debt.…

  • The Liberal to Conservative Spectrum of American Cities

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    Brendan Barry
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    Yesterday we looked at the growth of inland cities. Today, we follow up with a piece from the Economist that examines the political leanings of America’s larger cities. As one might imagine, the larger cities generally trend liberal. But the most conservative American cities are actually not very conservative. They are better described as centre-right.…

  • Growth of Inland Cities

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    Brendan Barry
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    Some of the nation’s fastest growing cities are inland, away from the coast where housing prices are high. To support an article about the demographic shift, the New York Times created this map. Circle size represents growth over a six-year period while the colour of the bubble represents housing prices. Credit for the piece goes…

  • Coal vs. the Great Barrier Reef

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    Brendan Barry
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    Your humble author is away this week. But the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is still here. For now. The Guardian takes a look at the growing threat to the World Heritage site from the coal industry in Queensland, Australia. The author takes you through the narrative in a chapter format, using charts and maps…

  • Facebook This Weekend

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    Brendan Barry
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    It’s Friday—about time I know. So let’s celebrate by looking ahead to your Saturday via Jessica Hagy and This is Indexed. Credit for the piece goes to Jessica Hagy.

  • Borehole Graphics

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    Brendan Barry
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    Long articles often mean lots of vertical space. But it is only every so often when an item can complement itself with a narrow, vertical graphic. The Los Angeles Times has just that in today’s piece, looking at the layers of sedimentation from a borehole. Credit for the piece goes to Thomas Curwen, Lorena Elebee,…

  • Earnings by Education

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    Brendan Barry
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    Vox has a piece that uses a modified version of a box plot to compare earnings of individuals based upon their level of educational attainment. Credit for the piece goes to Danielle Kurtzleben.

  • Scrabble Scores

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    Brendan Barry
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    Turns out that a large vocabulary is not necessarily what wins you games of Scrabble. Instead it has more to do with probabilities and statistics of values assigned to letters. Five Thirty Eight has a nice piece that charts the high scores of Scrabble games. Credit for the piece goes to Oliver Roeder.

  • The Siege of Sinjar

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    Brendan Barry
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    For those of you unaware, the United States became involved yet again in Iraq. This time, air dropping humanitarian supplies to Yazidi refugees near Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq. (Also, we have started bombing ISIS positions near Irbil, a large city in Kurdish-controlled Iraq.) In today’s post we have the Washington Post and its look…

  • Do You Know Africa?

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    Brendan Barry
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    Beyond the fact that it isn’t a country? This week the White House hosted the US–Africa Summit. The Washington Post took the opportunity to quiz readers on their knowledge of African countries’ locations on a blank map. So this Friday, you get to take the quiz and post your results if you dare. A nice…