Map Men

The series is created, written, and presented by Jay Foreman and Mark Cooper-Jones.^[2][3][4] Mark Cooper-Jones is a former geography teacher,^[3][4] and the pair met at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where both were performing in 2009 or 2010.^[4][5] The series started in 2016,^[4] and has aired on the Jay and Mark YouTube channel for five series, alongside a series of specials relating to Geoguessr and Ordnance Survey. The episodes are a mix of comedy and geography,^[4] with each episode answering a short geographical question, often involving maps.^[4] The style has been compared to Horrible Histories^[2][3] and the pair cite their inspiration as Monty Python.^[4] The videos feature deadpan, split-second visual gags, and comic sketches.^[3][6] The title for the series, "Map Men", was coined by Cooper-Jones as a pun name based on the American drama series, "Mad Men".^[7]

The pair have attributed the show's success to the growing redundancy of maps as an everyday item, making them a more "geeky" topic.^[4] They attribute the channel's success to its unique mix of comedy and geography.^[6] In 2021, the series was nominated under the "learning and education" category for the 11th Streamy Awards, losing to Veritasium.^[8] In 2024, an edited version of the video about why some British place-names are hard to pronounce won 'Video of the Year' in the inaugural UK and Ireland TikTok Awards.^[9]

In October 2025, the duo released the book This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters) (ISBN 978-0-3697-7503-0).