Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn

703: How Data Happened: A History, with Columbia Prof. Chris Wiggins

Aug 8, 2023

Columbia Prof. Chris Wiggins discusses data's power dynamics, biology's transformation with data, and the New York Times data science team's innovative tech stack. Topics include humanities in data science, rearranging power through data, Bayes theorem controversy, data ethics, biology adapting to data science, and the NYT tech stack.

01:09:20

Episode guests

Chris Wiggins

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Humanities integration crucial in data science education.

Data science impacts power dynamics and ethics in society.

Biology adopts data science for transformative genetic insights.

Deep dives

Importance of Understanding Data History

Chris Wiggins details the history of data and statistics, highlighting its importance from centuries ago until the present. He emphasizes a lack of exposure to humanities among data scientists and discusses the controversial nature of Bayesian statistics, urging for a broader understanding to tackle current data science issues and advancements at institutions like Columbia University and The New York Times.

Intro

2min

Exploring the History of Data and the Need for Interdisciplinary Approach

14min

The Political Dynamics of Power in Data Science

4min

The Evolution of Statistics and Social Physics

8min

Deploying ML Models with ModelBit and the Historical Controversy of Bayes' Theorem

5min

Evolution of Statistics, Data Ethics, Data Science Applications, and Data Journalism Challenges

31min

Recommendations on Following the Speaker and Conclusion of the Interview

1min

Exploring the Evolution and Impact of Data Science

3min

Statistics history, interdisciplinarity, and data and society. Chris Wiggins talks with Jon Krohn about the power dynamics of data, the transformation of the field of biology through data-driven approaches to genetic sequencing, and the New York Times’ data science team’s cutting-edge approach to accommodating its tech stack.

This episode is brought to you by the AWS Insiders Podcast and by Modelbit, for deploying models in seconds. Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Visit JonKrohn.com/podcast for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:
• The importance of the humanities in data science [09:18]
• How data science “rearranges” power [17:19]
• An overview of How Data Happened [20:36]
• The controversial nature of Bayes theorem [29:16]
• Why we need to consider data ethics [34:00]
• How biology came to adopt data science into its field [45:44]
• The data science tech stack at the New York Times [49:18]

Additional materials: www.superdatascience.com/703

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