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Why are we changing maps? (from The West Wing)

SaltLakeUsersGroup · comedy · Watch on YouTube

Film & TV clipsData visualization & information designVisual arts, photography & architecture

What it is

A short clip from The West Wing in which staffers meet a group advocating the Peters projection and challenge the Mercator map. It was shown as geography humor at a Salt Lake GIS user group meeting.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN links it in any thread on map projections and the Mercator distortion of country sizes, often calling it a favorite scene.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2021, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “my favorite scene from The West Wing”

    West Wing scene on Mercator distortion

    gundmc, 2021-05 · Recommendation · in “The True Size of Africa (2015)”

  2. “the biases imposed by most map projections, in particular, how Mercator makes North America look huge”

    West Wing scene on map projection bias and Mercator distortion

    randcraw, 2023-06 · Recommendation · in “Maps Distort How We See the World”

  3. “I think if they aren’t already an explicit topic in school, they ought to be.”

    West Wing scenes about map projection problems and related social issues

    sircastor, 2024-05 · Recommendation · in “Princeton astrophysicists re-imagine world map (2021)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: mercator, west wing, cartography, map distortion, geography

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