June 15, 2022, 12:30 p.m.
A Random Experiment, Life After TikTok Fame and more
Projects from The Pudding about banknotes, heat records, research methods, and TikTok
The Pudding
In this edition of The Pudding newsletter, we’ll introduce you to four new stories that shed light on some of the things we take for granted. Whether they’re things we’re overly familiar with (like faces on our banknotes or our day-to-day weather), or stuff we simply fail to question (like research methods and pathways to success), we believe that with a bit more data and context, you’ll start to see the world around you a little differently.
Speaking of seeing things differently, did we mention we’re now on TikTok (@the_pudding)? See what happens when contributor David Mora uses our population data story to better understand some of the major metropolises around the globe.
As always, our work is brought to you in part by our Patreon supporters, whom we never take for granted.
Who’s in Your Wallet?
Who’s in your wallet, and how did they get there? No, not the Lego character you carry around for good luck, I mean the people illustrated on your banknotes, of course. Contributors Alejandra Arevalo and Eric Hausken set out to answer these questions, looking at representation across more than 200 bills from every region of the world. For anyone who’s ever wanted to grace a dollar or dinar, this story practically doubles as a how-to.
Daily Heat Records
In this localized follow up to our national map, we ask one simple question: Was yesterday a heat record in your area (if you happen to live in one of 400 US locations)? This walkthrough will help you understand how yesterday’s heat compares across decades of temperatures, and illuminates how often a record is set in your area.
We found this cool study about randomness that we wanted to show you
Russell Goldenberg and contributor Arjun Kakkar put together a new experiment to try and discover how random you are. Come for the quiz, stay for the discussion on replication and methods.
We tracked what happens after TikTok songs go viral
MySpace helped catapult Adele and Nicki Minaj to stardom. YouTube followed suit for The Weeknd and Shawn Mendes. In this video collaboration with Vox, Matt Daniels looks at TikTok, the rising social media force of the moment, to see how it’s shaping today’s up-and-coming musicians and the music industry at large.
TikTok!
Over the past few months, we’ve worked with contributor David Mora to produce a series of TikToks. Most talk about the many different reasons to appreciate data mountains, but we also went a bit meta and made a TikTok about TikTok, using the data from our Vox collaboration. Click the link below to see them all.
Watercooler moments at The Pudding
Here are some stories and projects that our team can’t stop talking about. Join the chat in realtime on our patron-only Slack channel #stuff-we-love:
Yes, People are Moving to NYC — Bloomberg
Life in Hong Kong’s Shoebox Housing — South China Morning Post
Get to know the Houston budget — HoustonBudget.cool
Design and plant gardens for endangered bees, butterflies and other pollinators using this algorithmic tool — Pollinator Pathmaker
That was a lot! Thanks for taking it all in and for continuing to subscribe. ❤️❤️❤️
P.S. questions? comments? email us at sup@pudding.cool
P.P.S. have a cool essay idea that you want to make? Check out our pitch guidelines and email us at pitches@pudding.cool
P.P.P.S. Want to hire our team to produce data-led, visual stories? Check out our sister studio, Polygraph.