Data Stories

[Data Stories runs thanks to the help of our listeners. Please consider supporting us on Patreon or sending us a one-time donation through Paypal. And thanks so much for your support!] This week we have David Robinson on the show to talk about data science, in particular the role of data visualization in data science. David is Chief Scientist at Data Camp and author of multiple data science books and R packages. He also writes a great blog called “Variance Explained.” On the show we talk about visualization as a data analysis tool, the problem of validation in exploratory data analysis, and David’s opinion on programming versus GUI interfaces. Also, don’t miss his great advice — and very generous offer! — on how to get started in data science! Enjoy the show! Links David Robinson David’s blog Variance Explained Data Camp Analyzing networks of characters in ‘Love Actually’ Using and Abusing Data Visualization: Anscombe’s Quartet and Cheating Bonferroni Advice to aspiring data scientists: start a blog David Robinson on Twitter Introduction to the Tidyverse course http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/1efbc1ef-d92c-45c4-aebf-940d0d6c29e0_45395.mp4 Related episodes Visualization and Statistics with Andrew Gelman and Jessica Hullman

[This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon. And now we also accept one-time donations through Paypal: just use this link. Thanks so much for your support!] In this episode we have Karen Schloss on the show to talk about color. Yes, color! Karen is Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison where she conducts research on the effective uses of color in visualization and everyday tasks. Karen walks us through the intricacies of color: explaining how it works and why it is so hard to get right. We also discuss the infamous rainbow color map, the association between colors and meaning, the tools developed in her lab, and her fascinating research on coloring trash bins! Enjoy the show… Links News from Moritz: 123 data, a new data visualization exhibition in Paris Karen Schloss and her research on color Karen’s color tool Colorgorical Article: “When communicating with color, balance can be a path to accuracy” Enrico’s work with climate scientists Mapping Color to Meaning in Colormap Data Visualizations http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/e54144bf-2104-4a72-8a46-88f8e2c8d6ad_34298.mp4

[This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon. And now we also accept one-time donations through Paypal: just use this link. Thanks so much for your support!]   This week we have Miriah Meyer (University of Utah) and Danyel Fisher (Microsoft Research) on the show to talk about their new book Making Data Visual, which covers areas that other visualization books typically do not address: namely, how to go from formulating questions to building visualizations that solve actual problems that people have. On the show we talk about how the book came to be; some of the concepts introduced by Miriah and Danyel in the book, such as the use of proxy tasks for data;  and how you could use it for your own projects. Enjoy the show! Links: Miriah Meyer Danyel Fisher Book: Making Data Visual GitHub page with code http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/27fa4389-8b54-423e-9d6b-9360a3a0b8fc_27923.mp4

[This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon!] We have Lisa C. Rost and Gregor Aisch on the show to talk about the exciting work they are doing at Datawrapper. Lisa and Gregor have recently joined the company in Berlin, coming from various experiences in data journalism in the US. Lisa is known for her long, thoughtful and beautiful blog posts and visualization guides. Gregor is a former graphics editor at the New York Times and has also developed many useful visualization libraries and tools. On the show we talk about Lisa and Gregor’s transitions from the world of journalism to a software company, the market for data visualization products, and what we can expect from Datawrapper in the future. Enjoy the show!   Links Lisa Charlotte Rost: https://lisacharlotterost.de/ Gregor Aisch: https://driven-by-data.net/ Datawrapper: http://datawrapper.de Datawrapper’s blog River (DW’s place to exchange relevant data, charts and maps) http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/datawrapper-promo.m4v Related episodes Color (feat. Gregor Aisch)Visualizing Your "Google Search History" with Lisa Charlotte RostA New Generation of DataViz ToolsFlourish with Duncan Clark

[This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon!] We have Evanthia Dimara on the show to talk about cognitive bias and the role it plays in visualization. Evanthia has a PhD from INRIA and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR) in Paris. Her work focuses on data visualization and decision-making, and she specializes in understanding how bias affects our decisions when they are supported by visual representations. On the show we talk about cognitive biases in general, introducing some of the most popular and funny examples. We then switch gears and Evanthia describes how the effects of specific biases translate to the world of data visualization and whether visualization can play a role in reducing bias. Enjoy the show! Links Evanthia Dimara Daniel Kahneman’s book: “Thinking Fast and Slow“ Epic list of cognitive biases Evanthia’s paper on: “The Attraction Effect in Information Visualization”. The cognitive bias song! http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/evanthia-promo.m4v   Related episodes Calling Bullshit with Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West

[This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon!] How should we interact with machine learning? Is there a way to better understand what machine learning systems do and how? What role can visualization play in machine learning? These are some of the questions we discuss with Saleema Amershi on the podcast this week. Saleema is a Researcher at Microsoft Research AI (MSR AI) where she works on technologies for helping people build and use machine learning systems. On the show we explore the need for interaction in machine learning and discuss some of the fascinating work Saleema has done in this space, as well as what visualization can do to make machine learning more transparent for its users. Enjoy the show! Links Saleema Amershi’s home page Saleema’s paper ‘Revolt: Collaborative Crowdsourcing for Labeling Machine Learning Datasets’ Saleema’s paper on ModelTracker ‘ModelTracker: Redesigning Performance Analysis Tools for Machine Learning’ http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/saleema.m4v

        [This podcast is fully supported by our listeners. If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon!] If you haven’t heard talk about machine learning (ML) lately, you must be living under a rock! For our part, we have finally managed to record a whole episode on the use of ML for art and visualization. Artist and programmer Gene Kogan joins us on the show to talk about new developments in this space, as well as new challenges and opportunities. Gene has developed numerous art and design pieces using ML technologies, which we also discuss on the show. (You should definitely check out his home page: http://genekogan.com/). Last, we talk about the role of ML in visualization and how you can integrate ML in your own projects. Enjoy! Links Gene Kogan Mario Klingemann Wikipedia page on ‘Adversarial Machine Learning’ David Ha’s sketch-rnn Teachable Machine from Google Creative Lab Machine Learning for Artists (ml4a) GitHub page Deep Dream Generator Forma Fluens Justin Timberlake’s ‘Filthy’ video Book: Nick Bostrom’s “Superintelligence” Gene Kogan’s schedule Gene Kogan on Twitter http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/gene-kogan-promo.m4v

It’s a whole new year! Consider supporting Data Stories on Patreon! Michelle Borkin is Assistant Professor at Northeastern University where she studies the use of visualization in science research, in particular how it impacts human perception and cognition. On the show we talk about how the data viz community can better support the work of scientists, her popular research on data visualization memorability and, of course, the infamous data viz dinosaur. LINKS Michelle Borkin Michelle’s paper: “Evaluation of artery visualizations for heart disease diagnosis” Michelle’s research on data visualization memorability Michelle’s TED Talk NUVis Consortium MassVis Data Set of Charts http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/borkin-promo.m4v

There are infinite ways to represent data. Here’s one of the more creative ones: Alice Thudt makes pottery — such as cups, plates, or teapots — that show data! Her project Life in Clay started off as a twist on a hobby, and has since become part of her PhD research on personal data visualization. In our conversation with Alice, we learn all about what it takes to put data on the table. PS: At the end, you’ll also hear a quick update on the Information is Beautiful awards, where Alice scored an honorable mention! Congratulations! http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/data-pottery-promo.m4v If you enjoy Data Stories, consider supporting us on Patreon. Every contribution helps!  

If you enjoy listening to Data Stories, consider becoming a supporter on Patreon. Thanks! We are at the end of yet another full year, folks! And once again we have decided to go around the world to see what has happened in vis in a whole range of countries. It’s been a long journey. This year we have, Spe Chen from Beijing, China; Pia Faustino from Manila, Philippines; Pinar Dag in Istanbul, Turkey; Justin Yarga from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Harry Stevens in New Delhi, India; and Qristina Parjiani from Tbilisi, Georgia. Let us know how your year was and what you expect from 2018! Happy Holidays everyone and thanks for listening!   Links Spe Data Works G2 data viz library The Hu Line, Chinese newspaper Dataworks’ Pay to Learn: A graphical analysis of the link between housing and quality education in Beijing Pia Thinking Machines Pinar Pinar Dag on Medium Pınar Dağ’s academia.edu page Open Database of Deceased Workers in Turkey (Update all the time) Analysing Turkish Imam Hatip High Schools Over the Past Decade The first massive open online course in Turkey about Data Literacy and Open Data training ( Also data visualization training module) Data Journalism Platform -Turkey Turkish Data Journalism News Site Open Data and Data Journalism Association -Turkey The Data Visualisation Catalogue translated into Turkish Open Data Day 2017 -Turkey Justin Justin Yarga on Burkina24 Harry Harry Stevens on Hindustan Times Hindustan TImes’ “Find out the GST rate for over 1,800 goods and services” Hindustan TImes’ “What’s it like to get trolled all day long?” Hindustan Times’ “Delhi needs to hire more than 12,000 teachers, but that would be illegal” ProPublica’s “Dollars for Docs” ProPublica’s “Surgeon Scorecard” “The Death of Interactive Infographics?” “In Defense of Interactive Graphics” Qristina ForSet   http://datastori.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/around-the-world-promo.m4v Related episodes Data Vis Around the World in 2016