Stories
Data journalism and analysis of the world's national anthems
What the World Sings About, and What It Hides
A data-driven analysis of themes across 195 national anthems reveals a world obsessed with war, freedom, and nature, yet almost entirely silent on economic progress, science, and the future.
Read full story →Has Not Yet Perished: Anthems That Begin with Defiance
Ukraine, Poland, Israel, Kenya, South Africa: some national anthems open not with triumph but with survival. This article traces the tradition of defiant anthems, from 19th-century stateless nations to 21st-century viral resistance.
Read full story →The Three Silent Anthems of Europe
Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and San Marino all have national anthems with no official lyrics. Their silence is not accidental. It reflects deep political divisions, ethnic compromises, and the limits of language in divided societies.
Read full story →One Man, Two Anthems, Two Countries
Rabindranath Tagore wrote the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh. Joseph Haydn composed a melody used by both Austria and Germany. These are the stories of individuals whose music defined not one nation, but two or more.
Read full story →Blood, God, and Soil: The Language of National Anthems in Data
An NLP-driven analysis of 195 national anthem lyrics reveals the words nations choose to define themselves. Land, god, blood, and freedom dominate, while democracy, science, and women are virtually absent.
Read full story →Anthems of the Fallen: Songs of Countries That No Longer Exist
The USSR, Yugoslavia, Prussia, and Czechoslovakia are gone, but their national anthems remain. This article traces the strange afterlife of songs that outlived the states they were written for.
Read full story →The Youngest and Oldest Songs in the World
From a 10th-century Japanese poem to South Sudan's anthem composed in 2011, national anthems span over a thousand years of human history. A data-driven timeline of the world's oldest and youngest national songs.
Read full story →When Nations Change Their Song: Anthems After Revolutions
More than 80 countries have changed their national anthem at least once. From the French Revolution to German reunification to the post-Soviet wave, anthem changes track the seismic shifts of political history.
Read full story →