Book of the Week' After All These Years

Canada's national newspaper The National Post ran a four-part series on its "non-fiction book of the week" the first week of July 2017. And -- wait for it -- yup, it was "Nine Nations."

The 2016 Voting Map of the Nine Nations

The quadrennial University of Michigan election maps are out, and sure enough, they illuminate the state of the Nine Nations. Joel finds the sixth map, by county -- that includes the purple results as well as the blue and red -- the most interesting.

Where Each State's Immigrants Were Born

Fascinating decade-by-decade for 100 years maps of where each state's then-largest immigrant groups came from.

Most Embarrassing Popular Google Searches By State

A Revisit in The New York Times

The New York Times, in "Room for Debate," publishes their package asking how the world's boundaries are being redrawn. One guy gives Siberia to China. Another draws the "real" Kurdistan. And oh yes, here is Joel's revisit of "The Nine Nations of North America," after all these years. It's amazing how durable have been these boundaries of culture and values.

Mapping Friendly, Conventional, Relaxed, Creative, Etc.

This is a painstaking and painfully earnest study of psychological variables and how they cluster regionally.

The Nine Nations Map of the 2012 Election

Mark Newman -- who studies complex systems at the University of Michigan -- produces some of the coolest electoral cartographs Joel knows. Newman morphs the maps to more accurately reflect population size and similar. Here are his maps for the 2012 election. The Nine Nations boundaries pop pretty nicely.

The 2012 Election

Joel Kotkin -- part of the original cabal of journalists who created the Nine Nations vision -- writes that the reason Ohio mattered so much becomes clear from a Nine Nations perspective.

The New Demographics of Smart Phones

The newest vexing conundrum: Blackberry or iPhone or Droid? Well, which smart phone you pick may depend on whether you are skinny, or Democrat, or like to live far from your neighbors.

The Cell Phone Nations of the U.S.

Researchers at MIT Senseable City Lab, AT&T; Labs-Research and IBM Research are revealing new research that redefines regional boundaries in the United States, using patterns of social connectedness across the country derived from anonymous and aggregated cell phone data.

The Breadbasket Demonstrates Its Resilience

The distinguished social scientist Robert Wuthnow in his new book "Remaking the Heartland: Middle America Since the 1950s" gets the Breadbasket right, according to this review.

The Magnum Opus From the Master

Wilbur Zelinsky is a demigod of cultural geography and regionalism. The emeritus Penn State professor has written witty, entertaining and learned analyses and celebrations of everything from North America's ethnic restaurant cuisines, to town welcoming signs, to modern male attire.

Still Talking About It

The extent to which Nine Nations is still a matter of rousing discussion and debate more than three decades after publication continues to amaze Joel. Check out this thread, for example. (Or Google "The Nine Nations of North America.")

Where You Live Forms What You Drive

Hard to believe, Lord knows, but back in the day, Detroit automakers used to send the same mix of vehicles to dealers no matter where they were in the country.

Increased Interest in 'Nine Nations'

Joel doesn't quite know what to make of this. But of his three books, Google is feeding back to him the most new references to "Nine Nations" -- the oldest.

Soybenia Forever!

When "Nine Nations" first came out in 1981, a number of newspapers across he country had a good time dividing their areas into "nations," demonstrating that this process can be applied at a variety of scales.

Whither Cascadia?

The New York Times, in the midst of the Vancouver Olympics, reviews where the whole Cascadia idea stands, especially in the context of the tougher border. It mentions Joel.

Ecotopia Lives?

Joel Kotkin, who, when he worked in The Washington Post's California bureau, was part of the cabal who first brought Joel Garreau's attention to Ernest Callenbach's "Ecotopia," takes another look, three decades later.