data is the new oil or is oil the new data?

Jul 30, 2026

Hi. It’s been a minute. This was going to be more of a podcast with links to what I have been thinking about to build the next 5 talks, oh wait, actually 3 workshops, one panel and 3 talks. But instead of “meditating” away distractions and whiplashing back to anchor and clearing my mind — I decided to get curious.

Is it true we begin anew with every fresh canvas or new page whether digital or captured on paper? Why does this song visit me with melancholy? Is it a particular chord? The costumes? I think it is something described by Gilles Deleuze as “the painting before the painting”. What appears blank is actually already holding our biases, cliches, anxiety and a lifetime of experiential emotion and pain (or joy for that matter). It is the first careless or angry brushstroke that breaks the spell of sameness. Putting words on the page that emerge from the clutter of chaos in your brain at any given moment.

My perspective on the stories I bring to life are my own but there is a choir humming along not too far in the distance. The voices begin quietly as authors of life changing books or podcasts more interested in invitations rather than clicks and likes. Conversations lilt like birdsong and small twigs are brought together as a communal nest.

Recently I brought a few work flows to life in real time. Headlines focus on place and our spatial intelligence brain engages. First there is an assessment of location and how the right questions and queries can bring the territory to life.

Data is often like poetry. The right tone and rhythm can hold space for powerful storytelling.

datasets of interest…

Arguably one of the most complex stories to distill involves the global energy infrastructure. Understanding where crude oil is located and if the Red Sea, Black Sea or Straight of Hormuz will be able to restore energy flow is one of the most important economic and world order decisions of the moment.

And yes, we have some data to help us understand.

https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-oil-infrastructure-tracker

What happens if we have crude oil but no way to move it around? We certainly aren’t going to move the products around — they will explode!

What happens to Bretton Woods agreements around the U.S. dollar as a trade guarantee if the U.S. is unable to keep Red Sea, Black Sea and Strait of Hormuz as safe passage?