Our guest today holds a PhD in organizational psychology and has been working on data products in the health and wellness space for over a decade. We cover a lot of ground in this interview: how to create data products that work, how to avoid the unexpected consequences of poorly designed data interventions, and the importance of ethnographic t ...…

How do you whittle the murky business of creating a data-driven culture down to a proven process? Today we talk to a guest who has done this time and time again, helping companies transform their operations. He points out the small nuances and details about the process, like questions to ask to start on the right foot, critical feedback loops t ...…

Beginning: Statistics are misused and abused, sometimes even unintentionally, in both scientific and business settings. Alex Reinhart, author of the book “Statistics Done Wrong: The Woefully Complete Guide” talks about the most common errors people make when trying to figure things out using statistics, and what happens as a result. He shares p ...…

What does it take to become a data scientist? We speak with three people who have become data scientists in the last three years and find out what it takes, in their opinions, to land a data science job and to be prepared for a career in the field. Curtis: We’ve talked a lot in our recent episodes about all the interesting things you can do wit ...…

Would you rather take a year to develop a proprietary algorithm for your company that has an accuracy of 95% or use an open source platform that takes a day to develop an algorithm that has nearly the same accuracy? In most business cases, you’d choose the latter. In this episode, we talk to Till Bergmann who works on a team that developed Tran ...…

What does it take to become a data scientist? Nic Ryan has been in the field for over a decade and answered thousands of questions from people looking to get into the field. In this episode, he talks about his journey into data science and his experiencing mentoring aspiring data scientists, giving advice to both beginners and seasoned professi ...…

Machine learning is becoming a bigger part of chemistry as of the last two or three years. Industries need to have people trained in both fields, and it’s taken time for them to make their way into this sector. Olexandr Isayev is at the forefront of that wave, and he talks to us about what he’s done while melding deep learning and chemistry tog ...…

Python versus R. It’s a heated debate. We won’t solve this raging controversy today, but we will peek into the history of Python, particularly in the open source community surrounding it, and see how it came to be what it is today—a well used and flexible programming language. Travis Oliphant: Wes McKinney did a great job in creating Pandas . . ...…

How can artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning benefit your family? These technologies are moving into every field, industry, and hobby, including what some say is the United State’s second most popular hobby, family history. Today, it’s so much easier to trace your roots back to find out more about your progenitors. Tyler ...…

When Bryan Mazlish’s son was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, there were unexpected challenges. Managing diabetes on a day-to-day basis was tough, so he hacked into his son’s insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor to create the world’s first ambulatory real-world artificial pancreas. Now his mission is to make it available to everyone. Brya ...…

In a world where so many things are Internet connected, how is machine learning playing a role? Bruce Sinclair speaks with us about the intersection of IoT, AI/ML, and the digital twin.Bruce: Where AI, and in particular machine learning, and then in particular neural networks, and then in particular deep learning neural networks, where they app ...…

The most important thing is to have an AI-enable infrastructure. It sounds very boring, but that was the learning that I got from the bank as well. It’s actually very easy for us to build the model, but what took a long time was to have the AI infrastructure that enables us to do so.Per: The most important thing is to have an AI-enable infrastr ...…

If you’re building a data product, these questions are likely occupying your mind: how do you get your customers to trust your data? How do you know your product’s something your customers will want? How do you produce those products more quickly without compromising accuracy? Today we talk with someone who has a lot of experience answering the ...…

We are joined by the host of podcast Commercial Drones FM, Ian Smith, who gives us a fascinating understanding of how drones are being used today and in the future. From petri-dish wielding drones that follow whales, to miniature drones working in warehouses, to thermal sensing drones in the mining industry—drones are starting to be used extens ...…

Travel’s an interesting industry because it’s inherently global which makes it inherently complex, and it’s so behind other industries when it comes to innovative and advanced technology being applied. A great example of that is when you buy a ticket on an Expedia or Priceline, etc., it’s likely that 75% of the time that a fax is sent to the ho ...…

Before the airplane was invented, some people were concerned that everything that could be invented had been invented. Obviously, that was not the case then, and it's certainly not the case now. So as you create novel inventions, how do you protect them? What's the process? And what tools can help you and your team navigate the world of patents ...…

Transparency International started when a rebellious World Bank employee quit to dedicated himself to exposing corruption. Now the organization claims the media's attention for about one week a year when it publishes its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, an index that ranks countries in order of perceived corruption. Find out how the organiz ...…

Few things are as controversial in these perilous times as Donald Trump's Twitter account, often laced with derogatory language, hateful invective, and fifth-grade name-calling. But not all of Trump's tweets sound like they came straight out of a dystopian dictator's mouth. Some of them are actually nice.Probably because he didn't write them.Jo ...…

The ubiquity of and demand for data has increased the need for better data tools, and as the tools get better and better, they ease the entry into data work. In turn, as more people enjoy the ease of use, data literacy becomes the norm.Ginette: “I’m Ginette.”Curtis: “And I’m Curtis.”Ginette: “And you are listening to Data Crunch.”Curtis: “A pod ...…

The growth of the Internet of Things, or IoT, is often compared with the industrial revolution. A completely new phase of existence. But what does it take to be part of this revolution by building an IoT product? It's complex, and Daniel Elizalde gives us a peek into what the successful process looks like.For the full episode, listen by selecti ...…

We’ve seen photos of disasters depicting fearful and fleeing victims, ravaged properties, and despondent survivors. In this episode, we explore two ways data can help survivors heal and how data also tells their stories.For the full episode, listen by selecting the Play button above or by selecting this link, or you can also listen to the podca ...…

Hilary Mason is a huge name in the data science space, and she has an extensive understanding of what's happening in this space. Today, she answers these questions for us: What are the backgrounds of your typical data scientists? What are key differences between software engineering and data science that most companies get wrong? How should you ...…

Tesla isn’t the only car brand in the world producing or aiming to produce self-driving cars. Every single car brand is working on developing self-driving cars. But what does this mean for our future? We talk about this and other interesting deep learning projects and history with Ran Levi, science and technology observer and podcaster, who exp ...…

When Julia Silge's personal interests meet her professional proficiencies, she discovers new meaning in Jane Austen's literature, and she gauges the cultural influence of locations in pop songs. Even more impressive than these finds, though, is that she and her collaborator, Dave Robinson, have developed some new, efficient ways to mine text da ...…

According to the CDC, people have been writing descriptions of malaria—or a disease strikingly similar to it—for over 4,000 years. How is data helping Zambian officials eradicate these parasites? Tableau Foundation's Neal Myrick opens the story to us.Below is a partial transcript. For the full interview, listen to the podcast episode by selecti ...…

What does the creation of new artificial intelligence products look like today, and what do experts in this field foresee realistically happening in the near future? One thing's for sure, the way we work and function in life will change as a result of growth in this field. Listen and find out more.Below is a partial transcript. For the full int ...…

What would the world look like without honeybees? In theory, if there were no honeybees, it could drastically change our lives. Bjorn Lagerman, though, never wants to know the actual answer to that question. but the honeybees current worst foe, Varroa Destructor, is killing off honeybee hives at intense rates. Bjorn's in the middle of a machine ...…

What if you found out your infant had eye cancer? That news would rock anyone’s world. But what if you had a tool that helped you catch it early enough that your baby didn’t have to lose his or her eye and didn’t have to go through chemo? You’d probably do almost anything to get it. Bryan Shaw has dedicated his time to helping parents detect th ...…

If someone came up to you and randomly asked you, "How many slaves work for you?" maybe you'd think, "Slavery ended a long time ago, Bro." Or maybe you would take the question seriously. With 20 million to 46 million people enslaved in the world, it is a serious question, and while we don't see it daily, some of these enslaved people make thing ...…

We now know black swans exist, but Europeans once believed that spying one of their kind would be like stumbling across a unicorn in the woods—impossible. Then, Willem de Vlamingh spotted black swans in Australia, and this black bird, which once represented the impossible to Europeans, shifted to represent the unpredictable. One company now don ...…

How did one boy's stuffed yellow elephant permanently intertwine itself in history? What is a data scientist? Why is right now the golden age for data science? We take a crack at all three of these questions—the second two, with the help of Gregory Piatetsky-Shapiro and Ryan Henning.TranscriptGinette: “Over the past few years, we’ve seen these ...…

From a small building in Pennsylvania to widespread usage across the world, we track the compelling story of one of the greatest technological innovations in history, setting the stage for the age of data science.Ginette: “I’m Ginette.”Curtis: “And I’m Curtis.”Ginette: “And you are listening to Data Crunch.”Curtis: “A podcast about how data and ...…

She isn’t your typical English girl from the early 1800s. She’s a girl who, because of her fortunate and unfortunate family circumstances, ends up perfectly situated to become part of something that will revolutionize the world.Ginette: “For many reasons, she isn’t your typical English girl from the early 1800s. She’s a girl who at one point ex ...…

Pirates in folk stories and popular movies conjure up strong imagery: eye patches, Jolly Rogers, parrots, swashbuckling, scruffy voices that say “Aye, Matey.” But what do the lives of successful pirates look like today? And what's being done to stop them from plundering and smuggling our ocean's precious resources? World Wildlife Fund's project ...…

The history books teach that slavery ended, but it still exists; it’s just morphed its form—different commodity, different location, but same abuses. The commodity is seafood. The location, Southeast Asia. The abuses, forced servitude with all its ugly associations. Some people make a substantial living off illegal, unregulated, and unreported ...…

Who were the people pushing the limits of their time and circumstances to bring us what we know today as data science? We examine what motivated them to do their important work and how they laid the foundations for our modern world where algorithms and analytics affect everything from communications to transportation to health care—to basically ...…

When breakfast food takes on hurricanes, who wins?For another interesting take on the Waffle House Index, see this article the Fivethirtyeight blog, which they posted December 6, 2016.Curtis: “I love waffles. I fill up each of the little squares with the precise amount of syrup so that each bite is a perfect distribution of syrupy goodness.”Nat ...…

Imagine you have to leave your home immediately, and you have little time to grab anything to take with you. You don't know where you are going—you just know you have to flee for your life. Many people face a similar situation—one in every 113 people on the earth, in fact. There are 65 million people living in a state of limbo, and they don't k ...…

What if one day, out of the blue, you find yourself sick—really sick—and no one knows what's wrong. This is a podcast about a sleeper illness and what one team of data scientists led by Elaine Nsoesie is doing to reduce its reach.Sam Williamson: "It felt as if I were on some kind of hallucinogenic drug. I felt really, really hot. Really cold ag ...…