iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 27/07/2026

This chart shows that we're teaching more abstract words to ESL students compared to 1953. My untested theory: This why my parents and I use English to talk about physical things but Korean to talk about feelings and thoughts. pudding.cool/2026/07/esse...

Bar chart showing abstract vs. concrete words on ESL lists, 1953 and 2023.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 10/06/2026

And as always, a behind-the-scenes blog post: buttondown.com/charthead/ar...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 24/03/2026

🙃 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/o...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 27/02/2026

Hey, guys, let's maybe not build this particular dystopic world. Kthx. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 13/02/2026

Nice data piece, with a clever use of UN resolution votes. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 07/01/2026

Another argument for high-speed rail in the US. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 10/12/2025

Fascinating post from @ashendruk.com on how we don't "linger" as much. www.not-ship.com/we-dont-ling...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 20/11/2025

Right-wing YouTubers use political identity to make big money. Lefty shows do less of it. A really great data analysis: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 04/11/2025

My latest piece for @puddingviz.bsky.social: In pursuit of democracy pudding.cool/2025/11/demo...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 07/10/2025

top tier data viz defector.com/name-a-28-ye...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 29/08/2025

I'm completely obsessed with this art treatment. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/inter...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 22/08/2025

Great. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 20/08/2025

An incompetent, egotistical, uncurious administration. www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 11/08/2025

A cruel, irresponsible, undemocratic, incompetent administration. projects.propublica.org/venezuelan-i...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 01/08/2025

No respect for democracy, in maps www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 23/07/2025

Arrests spiked after Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem ordered ICE to meet an arrest quota so they can get to 1 million a year. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Line chart showing spike in ICE arrest of those with no criminal records after Stephen Miller meeting.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 11/06/2025

This is why visual news judgment is so important.

Bar chart showing 38% of all adults think LA protesters are mostly peaceful and 36% are mostly violent.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 13/05/2025

In reading this piece, I'm realizing Trump and his cronies don't understand how someone could devote their lives to discovery, or how someone could devote their lives to improving other people's lives. Don't let bullies undermine our sense of wonder and empathy. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/13/o...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 12/05/2025

Congestion pricing made everything better. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 10/04/2025

The guy who was confirmed unanimously by the US senate wants to deport someone for their "past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful." www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 04/04/2025

This is a helluva fast turnaround for this valuable piece. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 25/03/2025

Damn. Which influencers are getting paid 100k to launder reputations??

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 25/03/2025

This MLB batting stance dashboard is incredible. baseballsavant.mlb.com/visuals/batt...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 20/03/2025

Such important journalism. I'm so glad The City exists.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 13/03/2025

I'd love to see every local education reporter do this story: www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/12/n...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 04/03/2025

Fantastic piece on responsibly reporting public sentiment. Added to my teaching materials. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 27/02/2025

A really great data overview of US imports: www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 27/02/2025

A growing gap news.gallup.com/poll/656891/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 25/02/2025

Plaster this everywhere. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 25/02/2025

I find this hugely worrisome: The top AI use-cases are to research, write, and edit. In other words, gathering information, forming coherent thoughts, and communicating them. www.pewresearch.org/social-trend...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 21/02/2025

The incredible human cost of cutting 1% of the US budget, driven by a conspiracy theories of how the money is used. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 20/02/2025

Call out lies and liars. www.npr.org/2025/02/19/n...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 11/02/2025

Simple and powerful www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/u...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 04/02/2025

Tina Belcher run www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/s...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 04/02/2025

Every book, visualized in ISBN space. phiresky.github.io/blog/2025/vi...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 31/01/2025

What a cool data viz of pin code popularity. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 17/01/2025

They spend their lives curating their reality so they can **feel** like a good person. In that reality, it isn't possible for them to be a bad person. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/17/o...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

The results show alarming levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium, and other pollutants. At one site, a lead wipe test showed levels 1,700 times higher than what the EPA considers a potential health risk for humans.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

The Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab worked with a researcher to test homes and schools within 1.5 miles of a plant in Monterrey.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

Those plants reclaim zinc from the toxic dust. In the process, the plants release toxic substances into the atmosphere.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

That toxic dust is shipped to processing plants other countries, like Mexico.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

The US gets 70% of its steel from a recycling process that produces a toxic dust.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

The visuals in this piece are excellent. I'm sure the authors are hearing from all the dudes who think they're economically conservative and socially liberal. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 14/01/2025

The US ships hazardous waste to a plant in Mexico. Testing within 1.5 miles of the site revealed a "toxic cocktail" of lead, arsenic, and other pollutants. I'm proud to have played a small part in this project: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 06/12/2024

You could read this chart as: Nonwhite areas moved toward Trump. You could also read it as: Intraracial dynamics among POC are really fraught right now. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/u...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 03/12/2024

I love all these ideas to make baseball more fun to watch, even if it’ll inevitably screw over my small-market team.

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 03/12/2024

This is a helluva diagram from @lazarogamio.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 25/11/2024

I genuinely don't know how to square this data showing Gen Z thinks they need a $600k salary to be financially "successful." I'm somewhere between "this is because of influencers" and "this is because of climate change so they want financial bunkers." www.axios.com/2024/11/22/b...

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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 27/06/2023

a few humans can make decisions that destroy huge amounts of nature. www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23766056/…

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