History: how we got here

Past choices, what followed, and the original texts. Every entry links to a primary source.

Open the Reading Room Time slider on the Map

1. Elections over time

On the Map, turn on History: presidential vote by county and drag the year slider (2000–2024). Click any county for its timeline. Data: MIT Election Data + Science Lab, County Presidential Election Returns 2000–2024 (CC0). World: past national elections from IFES ElectionGuide are coming soon.

County FIPS:

2. Founding choices

3. Source balance (coming soon)

For a topic, coverage from outlets across the spectrum appears side by side, with a balance meter showing how many sources from each side are covering it. We will show this only with data we are licensed to use. We never scrape other news apps.

Left / Lean left

Coming soon

Center

Coming soon

Lean right / Right

Coming soon

Planned ratings: AllSides Media Bias Ratings (CC BY-NC 4.0, attribution required; commercial use needs a license). Planned articles: GDELT (public display needs the Academic or a paid plan). Ad Fontes Media: license required.