Renting the American Dream
Plus: New Deal projects, retirement, and grief
Hi! I have been super busy of late, most recently because last weekend I was helping judge the Sigma Awards which was an honour and a privilege. It was honestly so refreshing to see so many great projects from newsrooms large and small, and I was really impressed at some of the portfolios sent in by individuals.
What I love about the data vis/journalism community is that self-learning and exploration is actively encouraged and that you can do great, award-winning things just using open source software.
On the home front
This is a really cool clickable map of 18,000 sites in the US which are New Deal projects. There’s over 100 in every state. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt the Works Progress Administration (WPA)—which was just one of several programs the government became involved in—“created 8.5 million jobs and produced more than 650,000 miles of roads; 125,000 public buildings; 75,000 bridges; and 8,000 parks.”
This is a local story from Atlanta about how “Metro Atlanta has become ground zero for an investor takeover of the American Dream.” Companies buy up homes within hours of them going on sale, sight unseen, then rent them out. And it’s pushing homeownership out of reach for first-time buyers.
Elsewhere
The Countries With the Longest — and Shortest — Retirements
This is a really nice data-led piece about retirement around the world, compared with life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Me? I am taking notes and using these figures to plan my retirement. Lol, I jest, retirement will not exist when I am that old.
Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces
An interesting look at the front line in the Ukraine war—details about towns on the edge and the battles that have been fought there.
NASA satellite data reveals scale of devastation in Türkiye and Syria after earthquake
Scientists at NASA used synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to assess the damage after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. It looks…awful. I feel so sorry for anyone caught up in this.
Territory Gained and Lost by Russia in Ukriane
This is a Reddit link but it’s ostensibly from the FT. I couldn’t figure out where it came from but it’s also posted by Steven Bernard who made it, so I’m sure he won’t mind me using this link.
Odds and ends
I love love love this. Stunning and beautiful presentation (cyanotype prints of flowers!) of the emotional toll (loss, love, grief) behind huge numbers (the Covid pandemic).
Ally also talks about her process in an equally fascinating Twitter thread. If you click on one thing in this newsletter, it should be this one.
The Greatest Unexpected NBA Performances (Video)
I’m trying to “understand” basketball as much as I can before I see an actual game next month (don’t worry, I am going with someone and I have forewarned them that I am going to be asking annoying questions). This was not quite what I hoped it would be BUT it is very much what it says on the tin: ie complete outliers in performance in the NBA. Pretty cool if you are into the NBA and also stats.
This is a nice piece about the rise (and decline) in the popularity of rom-coms. Personally I hate them and I am glad to see them go the way of the Dodo, but I guess other people feel differently? We are not the same.
Diversity behind the camera in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
“It took almost a decade, and 17 movies, for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to branch out from white, male directors. But once it did, the floodgates opened.”
That’s everything I have this week. Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed it, do forward to friends and family (and maybe enemies, if you are so inclined!)
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