A digital publication that...

A digital publication that...

Amber Thomas

Amber Thomasis a former journalist-engineer at The Pudding. She is a data-lover, story-teller, and pro question asker. She spends time away from her keyboard exploring the outdoors around Seattle and hanging upside down in aerial silks. You can follow her on the socials or check out her website. She has worked on 27 stories to date. Explore them all below.

Stories

#133

Mar 2021

makeup shade names

Not all nudes are the same. We looked at how names for 6,816 makeup foundations can reveal bias in the beauty industry.
#123

Nov 2020

cloud zoo

Need a cute animal fix? Here’s a menagerie of live-streams from your favorite zoos and aquariums all in one place.
#119

Aug 2020

middle class

Using 50 years of data, we explored economic mobility and determined just how rigid the middle class really is.
#114

Jun 2020

you know karen

Using baby name data, we found the names that could be at risk of becomming future "Karens" in 10, 20, and 30 years.
#110

Apr 2020

infinite monkey

What happens when you combine music, a monkey, Joe Rogan, and probability? You get this experiment.
#109

Apr 2020

kidz bop censorship

When it comes to sanitizing lyrics, where does Kidz Bop draw the line? (This was pre-WAP though; now all bets are off.)
#106

Feb 2020

rain by cities

These are the cities where you’ll need your umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh. Seattle may be less rainy than you think.
#104

Feb 2020

author proximity

Do authors write where they know? We calculated the distance between where authors lived and where their books were set.
#97

Oct 2019

dog adoption

Everything’s bigger in Texas, even the number of exported adoptable dogs. Here’s where the dogs in your state are from.
#91

Jun 2019

hipster reading list

Our 2019 hipster summer reading list will introduce you to an artisanal selection of obscure books before they’re cool.
#86

May 2019

names in songs

Billie Jean is not my lover, but it’s one of the names we tracked for this project. Here’s how often names are in songs.
#82

Apr 2019

colorism in fashion

We looked at 19 years of covers to see if Vogue represents women of all shades. You can guess how this went.
#76

Mar 2019

high school to the nba

Do high school basketball stars live up to the hype? Here’s how many find success in the NBA.
#74

Feb 2019

school dress codes

School dress codes send the wrong messages about womens’ and girls’ bodies. An analysis of 481 policies shows why.
#69

Nov 2018

boy band database

Because you just can’t get enough of them, we found every boy band to chart the Hot 100 since 1980.
#60

Aug 2018

women's pockets

We went there. A data investigation into the travesty that is women’s pockets.
#56

Jul 2018

birth control

No TMI here, just 20,759 people describing their experiences with contraception... and us charting it.
#52

Jun 2018

makeup shade colors

Fenty is a champion for makeup inclusivity, but how do other brands compare? We charted their foundation skin tones.
#48

May 2018

the average cookie

We baked the most average chocolate chip cookie. Recipes written by computers — what could go wrong?
#45

Mar 2018

neighborhood places

In a love letter to NYC and Seattle, we pinpoint the types of businesses that distinguish one neighborhood from another.
#39

Dec 2017

things everyone hates

We can all agree that drain hair is gross. But it’s a thin line between love and hate for more than 3,000 other topics.
#36

Oct 2017

news racial diversity

What is black and white and red all over? The racial gap between a newspaper’s staff and the community it covers.
#33

Sep 2017

abortion driving time

In 2017, we mapped the cities and places with the worst access to abortion based on driving times.
#32

Aug 2017

film gender tropes

Men "gallop" and women "giggle," at least according to the gendered tropes found in 2,000 scripts.
#30

Jul 2017

eating alone

I’m dining solo, I’m dining solo, solo (Jason Derulo voice). We looked at the dining habits and companions of Americans.
#27

Jul 2017

whales and dolphins

What’s best for animals in aquariums? We look to the past & present to gauge the future of captive whales and dolphins.
#24

May 2017

baby making timing

Hurricanes, bankruptcies, and the World Series are all said to spark baby booms.But is there any truth to these tales?