Every place has a story.
Short films about why the world looks the way it does, told by Prof. Mercer with maps drawn from real data.
Explore the map
One pin so far. Prof. Mercer adds a new one with every video. See all videos
- Egypt: Why Do 95% of Egyptians Live on 5% of the Land?
Egypt
Why Do 95% of Egyptians Live on 5% of the Land?
Egypt is bigger than mainland France and Germany combined, yet about 95% of its people live beside one river.
Read the story
Prof. Mercer
“I draw the maps, you ask the questions.”
Professor Mercer is a fictional geographer with a satchel full of maps and very little patience for borders that make no sense. He walks you through each one: where the river runs, why the line bends, who built the road and why there.
He is an animated character voiced with AI. Every script is researched, written and reviewed by a person, and every figure is checked against its sources before a video goes out.
How we make every video
- One question, followed to its source
- Each video starts with a real puzzle on the map and follows the causes upstream, not just the dates.
- Maps drawn from data
- Borders, rivers and populations come from real geographic data, drawn in one style so you can compare them from video to video.
- Sources you can check
- Every figure is listed with its source on the video's page and in its description. When we get something wrong, we correct it in public.