Simon Rogers
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simonrogers.bsky.social
Simon Rogers
@simonrogers.bsky.social
Author: What We Ask Google, May 2026. Data storyteller @Google. Was @Twitter @Guardian. Co-host with Alberto Cairo & Scott Klein of http://datajournalismpodcast.com
Not since Ross Perot’s famous TV presentations using cardboard charts have politicians used charts so much. This week, Philip Bump joins Scott and Simon to talk about it, and how AI will impact data journalism
New podcast episode: Charts as Political Theater
This was a fun podcast episode to record - although my power outage resulted in the action shot above! Not since Ross Perot’s famous TV presentations using cardboard charts have we had a national figure who uses data visualization props quite like Donald Trump. This week, Philip Bump joins Scott and Simon to talk about Trump’s use of data, and how politicians more generally approach information visuals. Plus, they discuss Philip’s background, how he measures success as a solo blogger, and the future of AI in data journalism. Philip Bump was a…
simonrogers.net
October 14, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Probably the most fun project our team gets to work on each year! It's Frightgeist time, an exploration fo the top trending Halloween costumes in 2025. Pro tip: have the volume turned up!

frightgeist.withgoogle.com
October 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
How data storytelling has changed

New podcast: what is data journalism today? Data analysis is at an inflection point, with new technologies entering the field, and increasingly more practitioners working outside of journalism. This episode, Alberto Scott and myself reflect on how we got into data…
How data storytelling has changed
New podcast: what is data journalism today? Data analysis is at an inflection point, with new technologies entering the field, and increasingly more practitioners working outside of journalism. This episode, Alberto Scott and myself reflect on how we got into data journalism, and what’s changed over the years. We discuss how each of our career paths took us into newsrooms — and then out of them again — and identify key takeaways for those looking to get into data visualization today. ⁠⁠⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
simonrogers.net
September 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Our desire to be serious and be taken seriously sometimes gets in the way of something even more important. Scarry understood the power of using fun to explain things that are complicated. This is how we can learn from that today.

simonrogers.net/2025/09/01/h...
How Richard Scarry taught me everything I know about visual storytelling
On the 60th anniversary of Busy Busy World, what we can all learn from a children’s illustrator My grandparents built a boat, and sailed around the world on it. Grandad had been a bricklayer,…
simonrogers.net
September 1, 2025 at 9:35 PM
COMING SOON: my new book about how we search and what that says about us. It is about why I feel optimistic about who we are. Insights from the world’s biggest dataset: an epic snapshot, two decades long and counting, of our collective brain.

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/798252...
What We Ask Google by Simon Rogers: 9798217176984 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
Ever wondered what goes through other people’s minds—their silly questions, their inner anxieties, hopes, and dreams? In What We Ask Google, Simon Rogers explores insights from the world’s...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
August 15, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Check out our latest interactive: find out which WNBA team you search like.

Props to Annanya Raghavan and the Polygraph team caitlyn ralph and Matt Daniels

goo.gle/wnbasearchfanquiz
Take the WNBA Search Fan Quiz
Which WNBA team’s fans are you most like?
goo.gle
July 21, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Datapocalypse! Are we losing our public data?

Listen to the latest episode >> Cheryl Phillips⁠ is Hearst Professional in Residence at Stanford University’s journalism program, and founder of ⁠Big Local News⁠, which empowers journalists with data – and has twice been on Pulitzer prize winning news…
Datapocalypse! Are we losing our public data?
Listen to the latest episode >> Cheryl Phillips⁠ is Hearst Professional in Residence at Stanford University’s journalism program, and founder of ⁠Big Local News⁠, which empowers journalists with data – and has twice been on Pulitzer prize winning news teams. Now she has devoted herself to empowering journalists with access to the data they need to tell great stories. She joins Alberto, Scott and Simon to discuss the state of public data in the US in 2025, and what her team is doing about it. ⁠⁠⁠⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
simonrogers.net
April 22, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Data+Love+why it matters in the age of AI

One of my favourite data podcasts is Data+Love, hosted by the brilliant Zach Bowders. We chatted for the latest episode about why people should care about data, how to make it human and why it matters. Check it out!
Data+Love+why it matters in the age of AI
One of my favourite data podcasts is Data+Love, hosted by the brilliant Zach Bowders. We chatted for the latest episode about why people should care about data, how to make it human and why it matters. Check it out!
simonrogers.net
March 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Great work by Spiegel, with Trends data partnership from Leslie Luenberger on our team
What are people searching on Google when it comes to German election candidates?

We visualized it! 📊

➡️ first 10 free: www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web...
February 13, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Hiding from a rainy walk
February 10, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
this is exactly why San Francisco has an auxiliary high pressure water system, gravity fed reservoirs, and street cisterns, and salt water manifolds to pull in water from
the bay…

“independent of the domestic water supply, built solely for the purpose of firefighting”

sf-fire.org/our-organiza...
January 9, 2025 at 4:45 AM
First day of teaching data journalism @medillschool.bsky.social today and we started with visualizing data using Lego
January 9, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
In art and literature, "criticism" doesn't mean "pointing out flaws." It's something bigger and more interesting than a referee calling fouls. I think we should have the same ambitions for data visualization criticism!
January 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
With today’s news about the jump in the number of homeless people, this @propublica interactive story released today is even more timely.

The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps
“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps
Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so th...
projects.propublica.org
December 27, 2024 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
I believe such technical work is key to achieving our mission — making data easier for everyone to access and use.

But it is extremely hard to find funding for technical work.

If you’d like to support us, we would very much appreciate if you support our non-profit work: ourworldindata.org/donate
December 19, 2024 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
What I know about football (soccer to our American friends) you could write on the back of a tiny stamp...

...but if it's your thing HERE is a list of every male player ever to have received a Guardian top 100 ranking...happy Xmas football fans ⚽️🎁!!

www.theguardian.com/football/202...
See how every judge voted for the 100 best male footballers in 2024
This year 197 judges took part and here we give you the chance to see how every single point was awarded
www.theguardian.com
December 20, 2024 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
Great set of charts, although I feel bad posting it on Bluesky (next year, my pretty!)
sherwood.news/tech/the-ris...
December 15, 2024 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Simon Rogers
🖥️Today's edition of our daily roundup on journalism features an expert in open-source AI, a discussion of the power of data visualisation and a case of AI slop in Oregon.

With @marinaadami.bsky.social @fdaudens.bsky.social @simonrogers.bsky.social @albertocairo.com @caithlinm.bsky.social and more
December 10, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Want to see how the world searched in 2024? Our latest #YearInSearch is out today:

trends.withgoogle.com/year-in-sear...
Google's Year in Search
Explore the searches that shaped 2024, from Google Trends. #yearinsearch
trends.withgoogle.com
December 10, 2024 at 10:16 PM
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December 8, 2024 at 5:16 PM