This week on Social Rounds, Tony and Frances Mei are joined by fan-favorite “Cartographer Geoff” — historian, mapmaker, professional forager, jam-maker, and accidental proof that people can actually enjoy their jobs.

What starts as a conversation about whether children should follow their parents into medicine spirals into a surprisingly deep discussion about maps as instruments of power, colonialism, propaganda, redlining, Victorian cholera outbreaks, and why the Mercator projection might have subtly rewired all our brains. Geoff also explains how he turned a PhD on colonial-era beeswax extraction into a dream career making historical maps for places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Along the way:

• Why almost no physicians want their kids to become doctors
• The hidden emotional bargain of “settling” for prestigious careers
• The terrifying influence of Big Map
• The real story behind John Snow’s cholera map
• Stardew Valley as an aspirational lifestyle blueprint
• Why Frances Mei is emotionally destabilized by someone genuinely liking their work

Also featuring: “Frances Frizzante Mei,” anxiety hobbits, sea monster maps, and the phrase “everything in the world is about maps except maps; maps are about power.”

Hosted by:

Tony Chin-Quee: @wheyouat

Frances Mei Hardin: @francesmeimd

Guest: Cartographer Geoff

Produced by: The Hippocratic Collective