Alan Smith

Fantastic detailed interactive graphic from the @financialtimes.com on the UK economy by postcode - lost myself in this - so much interesting detail Eg On household income, how come west London is falling? How come Cornwall is up? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

NEW: We uncovered another trip shared by Donald Trump Jr and Umar Kremlev, the Kremlin-linked oligarch who attended his wedding. In August, they went hunting for a rare wild sheep in the remote Mongolian wilderness:

sic

In fairness, this piece looks at lots of cliff edges, including student loan repayments (think of the 5mn), the higher rate (think of the top 19%). And doctors not working full-time because, as one said to me, they were having to "change nappies instead of using their medical degrees to save lives"

Thanks @chrisgiles.ft.com - this was a tad awkward to describe/label given the pre- and post- are two independent distributions!

Looking forward to tonight's second edition of our London Art of the Chart (in a Church) show with the @alphaville.ft.com crew. There will be limited exclusive merch for sale, including these tasty Visual Vocabulary t-shirts. www.ft.com/content/ca7b...

We are hiring in the US! The @financialtimes.com is looking for a DC- or NYC-based data journalist job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...

We're returning to the oldest parish church in London for the second edition of our Chart Show - #dataviz #wine and #medievalarchitecture - get your ticket here: www.ft.com/content/ca7b...

Your next chart could start with someone else's. DataViz Weekly brings you recent visualization projects as examples for your own work. Latest picks: ◆ Record U.S. heat & humidity ◆ How much of the web is AI ◆ Wages in Big Macs ◆ Premier League shirt sponsors

What can archaeological evidence tell us about extreme weather in Britain? ☀️🌧️ From Stone Age charcoal deposits to Roman-era tree rings, our latest YouTube video explores how people adapted to heatwaves, drought and changing conditions. Watch the full video on our YouTube. tinyurl.com/2tu9c5kk

I love how trees act as nature's archivists - fascinating little video from @butserancientfarm.co.uk, written, filmed and edited by my very talented neighbour Hollie Osborn www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIGW...

An FT reader has dubbed this streamgraph the 'melted ice cream infographic', which I'll take. New, with Dan Clark, an analysis of Premier League shirt sponsors in the wake of the (partial) gambling ban for the new season www.ft.com/content/4709...

The shipping container is just a simple steel box that can carry around 120,000 bananas. Yet it has transformed global trade, enabled China's manufacturing dominance - and is now pushing the global shipping network to its absolute limits: www.ft.com/content/b88c... @pmdfoster.bsky.social

Rolling out the Marimekko to visualise the impact of ODA funding cuts on African countries. Read from @pmdfoster.bsky.social and @lucyfisher.ft.com here www.ft.com/content/ef45...

🎓 Today's A-level results show private schools have pulled further ahead, economics entries are up by >10%, engineering degrees are rising in popularity, top unis are accepting more UK students, and a growing number of undergraduates plan to live at home while they study as.ft.com/r/c8ec132d-0...

We’re launching a major new programme on Humanity, Climate and Nature. We wish to commission discussion papers from researchers/policymakers/practitioners to provide fresh insight into these themes. We’ll pay £2,500 for around 4000 words. Apply by 16 Sept www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/internationa...

New from me: Britain’s graduate earnings premium is falling, cue “too many go to university!” But non-university outcomes are also bad, cue “we must reform vocational routes!” Both miss the point: people used to think education drove economic outcomes, but the economy drives educational outcomes.

The eyes of the world will be on the US midterm elections in November. Donald Trump may not be on the ballot, but he will still dominate the contest. These are the key Senate races to watch between now and November 3 ft.trib.al/BIhPVUg

Labour overtakes Reform UK in opinion polls for first time in more than a year as.ft.com/r/e139987e-9...

Mexico now exports more hardware for data centres than it does cars - quite the reshaping of an economy... New, with Christine Murray www.ft.com/content/ac32...

Check out those Reform voters! (Source: www.ft.com/content/4932...)

New from me: Until recently, the gap between comfortably-off and just-getting-started could plausibly be crossed in a decade or two of hard work. Growth in asset prices means that’s no longer true: even a lifetime of striving doesn’t offer a realistic prospect of feeling you’ve “made it”.

This is wildly irresponsible of Google - allowing people to create AI generated satellite images. Satellite imagery has always been such a useful and reliable source because it came from reliable sources, but now Google is messing with it at source. www.digitaldigging.org/p/how-to-pla...

Ok, this is a headline 🔗 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-07-31/yen-at-levels-when-top-gun-topped-box-office-sparks-currency-dogfight

New with Kieran Smith - why is UK mobile phone coverage so bad? www.ft.com/content/db17...

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Mapping Knowledge Across Time — finding order in the chaos of history ft.trib.al/AJx6imm

Of course this graphic also threw up the "where does the north start?" chestnut in the newsroom, to which there is only one answer for a Pompey fan: Heidi Alexander in Swindon South is the gatekeeper ...

By my reckoning the median latitude of the cabinet has shifted north from Wolverhampton/Leicester to betwixt Sheffield and Knowsley ...

This seems bad

Ready for this… 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇦🇷

NEW: China has made huge progress in cleaning up its air pollution since the 2013 peak, but reliance on coal during the Iran war has led to a deterioration in air quality this year. Huge thanks to Haohsiang Ko and Eleanor Olcott, read the report. www.ft.com/content/e67f... #dataviz

Friends who code say so much has radically changed in the last six months in what they do and this excellent piece gives great insights into how

wrote for the magazine about the open source software that underpins our digital lives, how it is being upended by AI code tools, and about maintainers as.ft.com/r/b7f62212-9...

Fascinating, beautifully written magazine cover story by @samlearner.bsky.social on how vibe coding is overwhelming the unsung human caretakers who keep the web running. Your weekend must read right here as.ft.com/r/1e761e4c-c...

Sobering to see in one chart how June temperature records have been broken this year in so many European countries www.ft.com/content/5f06...

every time a stutter step penalty is saved an angel gets its wings

NEW: a look at how surging power demands from data centers are helping to drive a shortage of electrical transformers ig.ft.com/transformers/

"Binface himself told the FT..." Get the lowdown on the Dunny-on-the-Wold/Clacton by-election from one of the leading candidates in our exclusive from Elizabeth Bratton as.ft.com/r/ec02c5a3-e...

We're hiring in my team at @financialtimes.com - please do reach out if you have any questions. Whilst this is currently a contract role we have every hope of extending. job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/financialtim...

'Match momentum' visual should just be a flat line. #PORESP #PORSPA

This is not Donald Trump's first intervention in a major football tournament.There was also the time he did the draw for the quarter finals of the Rumbelows Cup on Saint and Greavsie ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzO8...

Ukraine is striking Russian energy infrastructure at an unprecedented rate, according to an FT data analysis showing that Kyiv’s intensified drone campaign is spurring Russia’s worst fuel crisis in decades. w/ @theboysmithy.ft.com Anastasia Stognei @maxseddon.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/1368...

So many amazing/horrifying details and visuals in our piece on how Trump is remaking DC ig.ft.com/trump-dc/

Most people know that richer people tend to be thinner. Less appreciated is that this divide is largely driven by women. My column: The economics of women's weight 300 free clicks: as.ft.com/r/feaaaacf-8...

What happens with the AI boom ends, for the economy and for markets? Our piece on an interesting report from the Bank for International Settlements 👇 AI ‘exuberance’ risks ending in lengthy investment bust, BIS warns www.ft.com/content/e81c...