Maps, Mindsets & Media Magic 🗺️🌿

Hello Benchies!

This week, we’re zooming out and looking inward — from the global to the personal, from data points to daily balance. Learn to build interactive maps with GeoJSON, hear from Mexican entrepreneur Germán Ahumada Alduncin on the Creesiendo podcast about happiness and growth, and see how AI and animation continue to transform storytelling in newsrooms.

Plus, we’ve got a fun quiz from The New York Times to test your social side (and maybe your empathy). 

Let’s get right into it 👇

Here is our featured content this week:

🗺️📍 Learn How to Create Maps That Connect the Dots with GeoJSON

A tutorial by our very own Dan Zedek walks through how GeoJSON files let you turn data points into maps — from simple “Point” markers to lines and polygons that trace paths or regions. This piece shows how to draw your own GeoJSON via visual editors like geojson.io, and where to source existing map data for use in tools like Leaflet, Mapbox, and Flourish. Go crazyy!

🌿🎙️ “Find Your Happiness”: Mexican Entrepreneur Germán Ahumada Alduncin Shares the Keys to Personal Growth in the Creesiendo Podcast

After over 20 years in real estate and venture capital, Germán Ahumada Alduncin launched Creesiendo to spotlight balance as the foundation of well-being and success. In this interview, he explains how he curates guests, researches episodes, and invites listeners to join a journey of experimentation - not perfection.

Cool Stuff Corner: What are we reading?

😊👥How Healthy Is Your ‘Social Biome’? Take Our Quiz.

Think you’re really as social as you act? Does rainy weather crush your mood, or do you tear up when someone else does? Take The New York Times’ interactive quiz to see how your social instincts score, and maybe learn more about how you connect (or don’t) than you thought.

From The Vault 🏛️

📽️💡How Vox uses animation to make complicated topics digestible for everyone
Vox has perfected a storytelling technique few news outlets haven’t fully embraced — using animation to deepen audience engagement. As part of Northeastern’s Reinventing Local TV News Project, last April, we spoke with Joey Sendaydiego, art director on Vox’s video team, about how motion design helps explain complex topics and connect with younger audiences.

🥟🔍 Slurp on this: What Axios’ Soup Dumpling Index tells us about AI in the newsroom

Axios launched a quirky “Soup Dumpling Index” to track how many pork xiao long bao you can buy for $10 across Din Tai Fung locations worldwide, then used the data to explore price, and automation trends.Their team gathered price info via menus, photos, Google/Yelp listings, and direct calls, and now experiments with AI (e.g. auto-generating chart alt texts) to streamline mapping and publishing workflows. Hope this doesn't make you very hungry!

That's all we've got for this week! Thanks for reading, and let us know if there's anything you'd like to see in these newsletters or in our coverage at [email protected].

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