Yes, this is comparing countries to a continent, but that’s a pedantic nit that misses the larger point: Africa is fucking huge.

This is an example of a great (simple) visualization that builds a bridge between the thing you (probably) know – the size of the US, and a thing you probably don’t know – the size of Africa. Comparing continents in the same way to do apples-to-apples would be building a bridge between two unknowns: theoretically correct, but practically less useful.
Makes me wonder which (screwed up) map projection I’ve been housing in my head all these years.

A really good use of 54 minutes. A look at information visualization and how it is transforming journalism. Some great insights from the folks at the NYT, Google, and IBM. I love the unemployment graph from the NYT and the porcupine diagram. Very clever. Must see.