A Data Visualization Newsletter

Several months ago, we wrote about the fact that gun sales in the United States had increased dramatically since 1999. Since the time of writing, the FBI has released additional data that provides a more complete picture of US gun sales for 2017. In light of the tragic events in Florida several weeks ago, we’ve elected to update our previous piece with more recent figures and added nuance.

Roughly half of the world’s birds species migrate each year, sometimes weathering treacherous conditions to find greener pastures. In this collab with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Geographic maps the migration paths of seven birds species throughout the Western Hemisphere. Crazy fact: some birds embark on a journey longer than two full trips around the globe every year.

While we love to share and promote the best in data viz each week, we can’t forget to pay homage to the pioneers of the industry. RJ Andrews’ recent project does exactly that by showing us the first appearance of many common visualization types, including the bar chart -- a cornerstone of data viz -- which was first drawn in 1786.

In the latest story from the Pudding, Matt Daniels and Russell Goldenberg dive deep into a comedy special by stand-up comedian Ali Wong. They find the “laugher climax” (that’s a technical term) and work backwards to understand how the structure of Wong’s routine builds to that moment. It’s a must read for anybody interested in performance art and story structure.

A recent report from economists at UC Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics puts America’s income inequality on the same level of Russia’s. It’s the result of three decades of growing gap between rich and poor in the U.S. This interactive map from Esri provides a deep dive into the prevalence of income disparity in six major US cities and highlights how the South is suffering the most.