@Canageek Wikipedia does a good job explaining the technical reasons it's a good choice, too.

* The curved sides of the projection suggest the spherical form of Earth.
* Straight parallels make it easy to compare how far north or south places are from the equator.
* Meridians are evenly spaced along any line of latitude.
* Software for implementing the projection is easy to write and executes efficiently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Earth_projection