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

SaltLakeUsersGroup
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2021–2026
YouTube
800K views · 14 years ago · other · evergreen

A scene from the TV series The West Wing in which the Organization of Cartographers for Social Equality argues that the standard Mercator map misrepresents the size of countries. It is a short dramatized lesson on how map projections shape what we see.

HN brings it up whenever map projections come up, as the memorable scene on how Mercator distorts the size of Africa and North America.

“There was a memorable scene from "The West Wing" on the biases imposed by most map projections”
Maps & cartographyDesign critique & analysis
#mapprojections#mercator#thewestwing#cartography#tvclip

8 comments from Hacker News

y
@yboris2022 · in “The world map that reboots your brain”
Must watch: Why are we changing maps? from The West Wing ▶ this video
Strongly recommendsView on HN
g
@gundmc2021 · in “The True Size of Africa (2015)”
This reminds me of my favorite scene from The West Wing where they talk about how misleading the Mercator projection is with regard to the size of Africa. ▶ this video
RecommendsView on HN
j
@joshstrange2026 · in “UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa's true scale”
Obligatory West Wing “Organization of cartographers for social equality” clip: ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
p
@paganel2026 · in “Is liberal democracy in terminal decline?”
Hopefully, yes. Also hilarious how even on this downward trajectory the liberal order's main propaganda entities (like the FT here) run with geeky and nerdy stuff like charts (?!), that will show 'em!! A true sign that they know nothing of the real (ideological world). Just the other day they (the FT, that is) were also running with that mantra of "Trump is invading Greenland only on account of him getting messed up by the Mercator map projection!!", which was straight West Wing [1 ]heavy-liberal territory. Like I've said, they know nothing of the real world. [1] ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
s
@sircastor2024 · in “Princeton astrophysicists re-imagine world map (2021)”
Coincidentally, yesterday I saw (again) “The West Wing” scenes[1] that express this problem (and the related social issues). It was the first learned about map projections and I think if they aren’t already an explicit topic in school, they ought to be. I find it very interesting. [1] ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
r
@randcraw2023 · in “Maps distort how we see the world”
There was a memorable scene from "The West Wing" on the biases imposed by most map projections, in particular, how Mercator makes North America look huge: ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
c
@casefields2022 · in “The world map that reboots your brain”
Same here. I do remember the famous scene from West Wing which lead me to research the topic. Scene here: ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
t
@tardismechanic2021 · in “The True Size of Africa (2015)”
Reminds me of this scene: Why are we changing maps? (from The West Wing) - ▶ this video
CitesView on HN