#93 - What's It Like To Be A Data Visualization Wizard - Shirley Wu (Shirley Wu Studio)
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
So, get this - how many times did you have one of your tweets go viral? Now, how many times did a tweet go viral for a project that you built around something that you really enjoy? And out of those times - how many times did a tweet go viral because Lin-Manuel Miranda himself retweeted you? Can't say that I am a member of that club, but luckily I know someone who is - Shirley Wu. Shirley is what I'd describe as a wizard of data visualizations. If you look through her work, you'll quickly realize that she's not just presenting the data, but painting a story around it. Whether it's for people of the pandemic, an analysis of Hamilton lines (that's the project I alluded to earlier), or a myriad of other projects, her work is truly second to none.
In this interview, I wanted to learn more about what sparked her interest in this field, whether the sudden visibility was a reward for hard work or instead added more pressure to produce more highly-visible projects, and of course - how to find your unique voice in a sea of people that do similar things (the Internet, if you didn't know, is truly vast).
The Show
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You can find Shirley on the following sites:
- 🎨 Shirley Wu Studio
- 🦋 Bluesky
Of course, do not forget to check out Shirley's book - Data Sketches.
The podcast was produced by Den Delimarsky.
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Transcript
Coming soon!
