Mapping the Invisible: Inside the Atlas of Macroscopes

Welcome back to the show! This week, I sit down with three co-authors of the Atlas of Macroscopes—Katy Borner, Elizabeth Record, and Todd Theriault from the Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center at Indiana University—to explore what a macroscope actually is and how it differs from a standard interactive visualization. We trace the 20-year journey of the Places and Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit, from two-dimensional wall maps to the 40 richly interactive pieces featured in this stunning 11×14-inch MIT Press book. Along the way, we talk about design strategies for making complex systems legible to general audiences, the role of AI in data visualization, and what it takes to grab and hold attention on a museum floor. Each guest shares a personal favorite from the book—ranging from Smelly Maps to an Appalachian opioid overdose tool to a skills-landscape explorer—and we close with a look at the exhibit’s exciting third decade, focused on visualizing intelligences. Keywords data visualization, macroscope, atlas of macroscopes, interactive visualization, Katy Borner, Indiana University, Places and Spaces, complex systems, information visualization, scrollytelling, AI and data visualization, opioid epidemic mapping, data communication, science exhibit, data science podcast

You can listen to Mapping the Invisible: Inside the Atlas of Macroscopes online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Mapping the Invisible: Inside the Atlas of Macroscopes is an episode from The PolicyViz Podcast by The PolicyViz Podcast.

This episode is 45:27 long.

This episode was published on May 7, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The PolicyViz Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.