Sam Knowles에서 제공하는 콘텐츠입니다. 에피소드, 그래픽, 팟캐스트 설명을 포함한 모든 팟캐스트 콘텐츠는 Sam Knowles 또는 해당 팟캐스트 플랫폼 파트너가 직접 업로드하고 제공합니다. 누군가가 귀하의 허락 없이 귀하의 저작물을 사용하고 있다고 생각되는 경우 여기에 설명된 절차를 따르실 수 있습니다 https://ko.player.fm/legal.
DaQuane Cherry was once the kid who wore a hoodie to hide skin flare-ups in school. Now he’s an artist and advocate helping others feel seen. He reflects on his psoriasis journey, the power of small joys, and why loving yourself first isn’t a cliché—it’s essential. Plus, a deep dive into the history of La Roche-Posay’s legendary spring. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…
Sam Knowles에서 제공하는 콘텐츠입니다. 에피소드, 그래픽, 팟캐스트 설명을 포함한 모든 팟캐스트 콘텐츠는 Sam Knowles 또는 해당 팟캐스트 플랫폼 파트너가 직접 업로드하고 제공합니다. 누군가가 귀하의 허락 없이 귀하의 저작물을 사용하고 있다고 생각되는 경우 여기에 설명된 절차를 따르실 수 있습니다 https://ko.player.fm/legal.
The Data Malarkey podcast – and it’s audio-visual twin, the Data Malarkey Show on YouTube – a must-listen, must-watch resource of brilliant data storytelling. If only there were more people in the world with the pragmatic approach taken by my guests, well, there’d be rather less data malarkey about.
Sam Knowles에서 제공하는 콘텐츠입니다. 에피소드, 그래픽, 팟캐스트 설명을 포함한 모든 팟캐스트 콘텐츠는 Sam Knowles 또는 해당 팟캐스트 플랫폼 파트너가 직접 업로드하고 제공합니다. 누군가가 귀하의 허락 없이 귀하의 저작물을 사용하고 있다고 생각되는 경우 여기에 설명된 절차를 따르실 수 있습니다 https://ko.player.fm/legal.
The Data Malarkey podcast – and it’s audio-visual twin, the Data Malarkey Show on YouTube – a must-listen, must-watch resource of brilliant data storytelling. If only there were more people in the world with the pragmatic approach taken by my guests, well, there’d be rather less data malarkey about.
In this episode of Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data, smarter – Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, talks to Chris Summerfield, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. Chris shares insights into what makes human intelligence so remarkable, how AI models are both fundamentally different from AND similar to human brains, and why understanding cognitive science is critical for building better AI. They explore the future of AI-human collaboration, discuss Chris’ long experience at DeepMind, and consider why prediction sits at the core of both artificial and human intelligence. Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com What you'll learn: Why AI models both AND aren't like human brains How DeepMind trained AlphaGo to beat the Go world champion, Lee Sedol What cognitive science can teach AI research Why prediction is central to intelligence The benefits and limitations of current large language models Resources mentioned: Chris Summerfield’s University of Oxford ‘Human Information Processing’ lab These Strange New Minds – Chris’s compelling 2025 book Chris’ personal webpage DeepMind and the AlphaGo documentary Want to learn more? Check out the links in the show notes and subscribe for more episodes.…
In this compelling episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, welcomes Caitlyn Looby - scientist, journalist, and Great Lakes reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. From conducting soil microbe research in tropical cloud forests to demystifying scientific communication for the public, Caitlyn’s career bridges hard science and human stories. This episode explores her journey, the importance of accessible science, and how local storytelling builds trust. What you'll learn: How Caitlyn transitioned from academia to journalism The hidden world of tropical montane cloud forests and their vulnerability to climate change Why scientists must learn to ditch the jargon The role of storytelling in building public trust in science Caitlyn's three golden rules for science communication Resources mentioned: Caitlyn Looby’s article in the Royal Society of Arts Journal: Trust in Science Caitlyn’s TEDx talk : Building Public Trust in Science at TEDxOshkosh Stay tuned for more enlightening episodes of Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data, smarter.…
In this lively episode of Data Malarkey, Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, is joined by Mark Bonner, Director of Football at Cambridge United. From academy coach to leading the club to shock cup victories, Bonner's football journey is anything but typical. Together, they explore the evolving role of data in football, the emotional highs and lows of managing a club, and what it really means to find balance between intuition and insight. Pep Guardiola's wild celebrations and Carlo Ancelotti's stoic eyebrow also make cameo appearances. What you'll learn: How Mark Bonner's career evolved from grassroots to head coach and back to Director of Football at Cambridge United The role of data and analytics in modern football decision-making Why balance between emotional intelligence and cold, hard stats is crucial Behind-the-scenes realities of coaching, scouting, and club leadership Resources mentioned: Cambridge United FC Mark Bonner on X Mark Bonner on Instagram Mark Bonner on LinkedIn Want to learn more about Mark Bonner or Cambridge United? Check out the links in the show notes. And remember to subscribe for more episodes of Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data, smarter; where numbers meet nuance.…
Recorded live at the DataComms 2025 conference in London, this very special episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast features Nick Ratcliffe, Customer Experience Director at Volkswagen Group UK. Host and master data storyteller, Sam Knowles, delves into how Nick and his team wield data to enhance customer experience, transform brand desirability, and prepare for the automotive industry’s electric future. With a career spanning leadership roles at BT, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, Nick shares his evidence-based approach to marketing, the importance (and scarcity) of genuine insight, and a few personal stories from his eclectic selection of hobbies. What You'll Learn: • How VW Group UK uses data to be ever-more customer-centric • Why insight is more than just data - it's about action • The impact of behavioural economics and marketing science • Nick’s view on the future of automotive CX in the EV era • How storytelling and science intersect in successful marketing Resources Mentioned: Volkswagen Group UK Nick Ratcliffe on LinkedIn Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard Make sure to like and subscribe for more episodes.…
We’ve reached 51 episodes and wrapped Season 7 of Data Malarkey! In this greatest hits episode, host Sam Knowles shares the most powerful moments from a season packed with insights—from AI ethics to data puppets, from psychology and kindness to practical business transformation. Revisit brilliant guests like Sylvie Delacroix, Julie Holmes, Cecilia Dones, Robin Banerjee, Adam Davidson, and Scott Taylor, all of whom shared their real-world, often surprising, insights on how to use data smarter. What You’ll Learn: How to rethink AI through the lens of humility and uncertainty The ethics of online trust and virtual relationships Why businesses need to upgrade soft skills, not just systems The power of kindness in society and psychology How satire and puppets explain data better than PowerPoint ever could Special Mentions: Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard Guest Application Form Subscribe on YouTube: Data Malarkey Minimal Thumbnail Text Suggestions: 🧠 "Best of AI & Empathy" or 📊 "Greatest Hits: Data Gets Human"…
In this energising episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, Master Data Storyteller Sam Knowles speaks with Julie Holmes, entrepreneur, inventor, and AI advisor. Julie shares her insights into how businesses can make AI work with their people – not instead of them. She dives into creative automation, ethical AI, and the dangers of dabbling without direction. From her practical UPGRADE Framework to her “intern not genius” approach to creating effective prompts for LLMs, Julie delivers a candid, actionable masterclass on the human side of AI. What You'll Learn: Why AI should be seen as an intern – not a threat. How to scale creativity and automation. What most businesses get wrong about AI readiness. The ethical responsibilities we must now embrace. How to build smarter prompts that actually deliver results. Resources Mentioned: Julie Holmes’ website: https://www.julieholmes.com Julie’s AI readiness assessment for businesses: https://julieholmes.com/ai-readiness-assessment-2025/ The AI prompt library and archive https://julieholmes.com/prompt/ Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com The Insight Agents’ website – Sam Knowles’ business, including the archive of Data Malarkey podcast episodes: https://insightagents.co.uk Rate, Review, and Follow! If you found this episode valuable, please rate and review on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, and don’t forget to follow and subscribe for a new episode every fortnight!…
In this episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, host Sam Knowles welcomes Scott Taylor, The Data Whisperer, to break down why data storytelling is the missing business skill in the world of AI, analytics, and business intelligence. Scott shares why he believes in Truth Before Meaning, the idea that businesses need clean, structured data before they can extract meaningful insights. He also explains why tech jargon is holding the data industry back, why business leaders don’t care how data works, and how he’s making the world of data more relatable through Data Puppets. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The biggest mistakes data leaders make when presenting to executives Why data management is the foundation for AI success How to tell data stories that business leaders actually understand The origins of Data Puppets and why humour matters in data Resources Mentioned: Scott Taylor’s book: Telling Your Data Story ( Amazon ) Scott’s YouTube Channel: The Data Whisperer Data Puppets: www.datapuppets.com Scott’s 2024 Big Data London keynote – “Data is the new bullsh*t” www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LRVF-1nGPQ “The Little Red Data Hen” www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBFwiGN3XK0 The DataVengers: www.datacated.com/datavengers Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Join the Conversation: Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Follow the podcast for more insights on data, storytelling, and business communication. Connect with Us: Scott Taylor: LinkedIn | MetaMeta Consulting Sam Knowles: https://insightagents.co.uk Rate, Review, and Follow! If you enjoyed this episode, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. It helps us reach more people who care about data and storytelling!…
Is kindness just a “soft” concept, or is there real science behind it? In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, Master Data Storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Professor Robin Banerjee, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global and Civic Engagement at the University of Sussex. Robin’s research explores the psychology of kindness, empathy, and human connection, revealing how data can unlock powerful insights about our social world. From leading the BBC Kindness Test – a groundbreaking study with over 60,000 participants – to his work on how fiction and television shape empathy, Robin shares fascinating insights about the science of human connection. He also explains why he finds joy in data – a phrase that might just change how you see statistics forever. What you'll learn in this episode: The psychology behind kindness—what drives it, and how we measure it Surprising insights from the BBC Kindness Test How fiction and TV shape our ability to empathise The joy in data and why it’s more than just numbers Why understanding human behaviour through research is so important Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:27 - Robin Banerjee’s career and research focus 07:43 - What makes someone kind? 13:53 - The BBC Kindness Test: Key findings 20:02 - The psychology of human connection 30:36 - Finding joy in data 39:07 - Empathy and storytelling: fiction vs reality 45:00 - What TV tells us about our emotions 50:30 - Where to find out more about Robin’s research About our guest: Professor Robin Banerjee is a leading researcher in developmental psychology and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Global and Civic Engagement at the University of Sussex. His work focuses on kindness, empathy, and social development, and he is the founder of the Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness. Robin’s research has been featured widely, including his collaboration with BBC Radio 4 on the Kindness Test, the largest study of its kind, exploring how people experience and perceive kindness across different cultures and communities. Resources mentioned: Sussex Centre for Research on Kindness on the University of Sussex website BBC Kindness Test: BBC Radio 4 Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Sam Knowles’ website: https://www.insightagents.co.uk Join the conversation: Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Follow the podcast for more insights on psychology, data, and human behaviour. Connect with us: Robin Banerjee: University of Sussex profile Sam Knowles: LinkedIn profile Rate, Review, and Follow! Enjoyed the episode? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us bring more thought-provoking discussions to you!…
In this engaging episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, Master Data Storyteller and host Sam Knowles welcomes Cecilia Dones, a thought leader in data, AI, and human connection. Ceci explores how technology shapes the way we interact, trust, and build relationships—both online and offline. She shares insights into AI ethics, uncertainty in machine learning, and why trust is the cornerstone of all our digital futures. From her work in AI ethics to her philosophy on leadership and adaptability, Ceci provides fresh perspectives on the best ways to navigate the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on data, trust, and what it means to be human in the age of AI. What you'll learn in this episode: Why trust in digital interactions is becoming harder to establish The role of AI in shaping human relationships and decision-making How uncertainty in AI responses from LLMs may be an advantage not a weakness The power of adaptability and why labels limit creativity Why leaders need to embrace ambiguity in the AI era Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:27 - Cecilia Dones on connections and human-centred technology 07:43 - Why trust in digital spaces is complicated 13:53 - How AI influences our relationships and decision-making 20:02 - The challenge of uncertainty in AI models 30:36 - Leadership, adaptability, and embracing ambiguity 39:07 - No Labels: Why Ceci avoids definitions and fixed roles 45:00 - The ethical dilemmas of AI, privacy, and consent 50:30 - Where Cecilia Dones is sharing her work and insights About our guest: Cecilia Dones is a data and analytics practitioner-academic, founder of 3 Standard Deviations, with expertise spanning Fortune 500 companies and academia. She specialises in AI applications, technology's impact on human interactions, and bridging data insights across sectors. Currently, she is completing her doctoral studies on interpersonal trust in digital environments. She holds degrees from NYU Stern and Columbia University. She has taught at top business schools and authors the "Authentic Interactions" newsletter on Substack exploring technology, data, authenticity, and trust. Resources mentioned: Cecilia Dones’ Substack: Authentic Interactions Ceci’s LinkedIn newsletter “What is a CMO to do with AI?” Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Join the conversation: Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Follow the podcast for more insights on AI, data, and leadership Connect with us: Cecilia Dones: LinkedIn | Substack blog – https://authenticinteractions.substack.com Sam Knowles: LinkedIn Rate, review, and follow! Enjoyed the episode? Please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us bring more thought-provoking discussions to you.…
Check out our Data Storytelling scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com In this episode of the podcast, Master Data Storyteller Sam Knowles sits down with Adam Davidson, Head of Data Science at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Adam shares his fascinating journey from CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, where he contributed to the search for the Higgs boson, to leading data-driven efforts in advertising regulation. 💡 What You'll Learn in This Episode: How Adam transitioned from physics to advertising regulation, with the constant drumbeat of data science The role of AI and machine learning in monitoring online ads Why data storytelling is critical for bridging the gap between data teams and leadership How the ASA is tackling fraudulent ads and influencer marketing transparency The future of real-time ad monitoring and automation Ethical concerns around the misuse of data in advertising If you've ever wondered how AI is shaping the future of digital advertising and how regulators are keeping up, this episode is for you! 🎧 Listen now and discover how AI, data science, and machine learning are transforming the ad industry! Episode Chapters & Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction: Meet Adam Davidson 01:27 - From CERN to Data Science in Advertising 04:32 - Bridging the Gap Between Data Science & Leadership 09:14 - The AI-Powered Ad Monitoring System 14:38 - Regulating the "Wild West" of Online Ads 18:12 - The Challenge of Influencer Marketing & Hidden Ads 25:30 - AI & Automation: Real-Time Ad Monitoring 32:02 - How AI in Advertising is Evolving 39:45 - Misuse of Data: The Dark Side of AI 45:36 - Final Thoughts & Where to Follow Adam Guest Bio: Adam Davidson Adam Davidson is the Head of Data Science at the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), where he leads efforts to monitor and regulate digital advertising using AI and machine learning. His career started in particle physics at CERN, where he was involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson. Adam later transitioned to data science roles at Qubit and The Economist, before joining the ASA in 2021. Now, he’s using data and AI to bring accountability to online advertising, leading a seven-strong team of data scientists at the ASA who are ensuring that brands comply with regulations, legislation, and ethical marketing standards. 🔗 Follow Adam Davidson on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-davison-a5624815/ 🔗 The Advertising Standards Authority https://www.asa.org.uk Key Takeaways & Quotes from This Episode 🧠 On Data Storytelling: "Data science is useless if leaders don’t understand it. Storytelling bridges that gap.” – Adam Davidson 🤖 On AI in Advertising Regulation: "We built an AI system that actively monitors ads in real time – catching fraudulent content before it spreads.” ⚖️ On Ethical Advertising: "Influencer marketing needs more transparency. Consumers deserve to know when they’re being sold to.” 🚀 On the Future of AI & Automation: "Machine learning in advertising isn’t new. What’s new is the scale at which we can use it for good.” Resources & Links 🔗 Adam on BBC2’s Horizon, “The Hunt for the Higgs Boson” – www.dailymotion.com/video/x621wqk 🔗 Profile on Adam in Marketing | Beat – https://www.marketing-beat.co.uk/2024/04/11/asa-harnessing-ai-technology/ 🔗 “Using AI to monitor the promotion of prescription-only medicines” by Adam Davison, ASA blog, 09.11.23 – https://www.asa.org.uk/news/using-ai-to-monitor-the-promotion-of-prescription-only-medicines.html 🔗 “Our Active Ad Monitoring system” by Adam Davison, ASA blog, 14.07.23 – https://www.asa.org.uk/news/our-active-ad-monitoring-system.html 🔗 “How data science is changing ad regulation” by Adam Davison, ASA blog, 17.11.22 – https://www.asa.org.uk/news/how-data-science-is-changing-ad-regulation.html Support & Connect 💬 Enjoyed this episode? Let us know! Leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 📢 Share this episode with colleagues in marketing, advertising, or data science. 🔔 Follow the podcast for more deep dives into AI, ethics, and advertising! 🎙 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts ( https://bit.ly/3YIh7I7 ), Spotify ( https://bit.ly/3JafOfg ), and our YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@datamalarkey…
In this thought-provoking episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles sits down with Sylvie Delacroix, the inaugural Jeff Price Chair in Digital Law in the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London. Sylvie shares her insights into data ethics, the vulnerabilities we face in a data-driven world, and the transformative potential of generative AI. She also introduces the Centre for Data Futures, her initiative to build participatory data infrastructure that empowers individuals and communities. This is a conversation about ethics, identity, and the future of AI that you won’t want to miss. What you'll learn in this episode: The hidden vulnerabilities of our daily data leaks. How AI can both limit and empower personal reinvention. Why participatory infrastructure is essential for ethical AI development. The concept of ‘humility markers’ in AI and their potential to transform conversations. How Sylvie’s work bridges the gap between theory and practice in digital law and data ethics. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:27 - Sylvie Delacroix’s journey and research focus 07:43 - The vulnerability of self in the data-driven age 13:53 - Building participatory data infrastructures 20:02 - Rethinking AI and conversational models 30:36 - The importance of humility markers in AI 39:07 - The future of ethical AI: aspirations and hopes About our guest: Sylvie Delacroix is a leading expert in digital law and ethics. As the Jeff Price Chair in Digital Law at King’s College London, Professor Delacroix directs the Centre for Data Futures, focusing on participatory data infrastructure and ethical governance of AI. Her work on data trusts and habitual ethics has shaped policy initiatives worldwide. To learn more about her work, visit https://delacroix.uk Resources mentioned: Sylvie Delacroix’s home page https://delacroix.uk The Center for Data Futures https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/centre-for-data-futures The Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College, London https://www.kcl.ac.uk/law Sylvie’s book, Habitual Ethics?, available via Bloomsbury (open-access) https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781509920440 Sam Knowles’ book, Asking Smarter Questions: How to be an Agent of Insight https://asksmarterqs.com Find Out What Kind of Data Storyteller you are: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com/ Join the conversation: Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com Follow the podcast for more insightful conversations on data and AI Connect with us: Sylvie Delacroix: King’s College London Profile , LinkedIn profile Sam Knowles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samknowlesdatastory Rate, review, follow, and share! If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Don’t forget to follow the show so you never miss an update!…
In this special wrap-up episode of Data Malarkey, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, takes us through the standout moments from Season 6 of the podcast. From neuroscience-driven storytelling to data privacy law, this compilation showcases some of the smartest and most impactful ways people are using data to improve communication, branding, and societal outcomes. Featuring insights from a diverse lineup of experts, this episode is packed with lessons and strategies for anyone curious about making data work smarter. Key Highlights: The Neuroscience of Marketing (00:02:10): Cristina de Balanzo discusses how to avoid the pitfalls of “neurobollocks” in neuroscience-driven market research. Data-Backed Simplicity in Storytelling (00:07:02): Natalia Talkowska explains how neuroscience and behavioural science enhance storytelling effectiveness in data-heavy communication. Breaking the Curse of Knowledge (00:12:26): Mike Ellicock shares tips for simplifying data communication, especially in utilities and financial services. GDPR: A Force for Good (00:18:09): Alice Wallbank defends the GDPR and unpacks its hidden benefits and costs. Levelling the Playing Field for Women Scientists (00:27:22): Ylann Schemm highlights how Elsevier uses data to advance inclusive research and health. The Science Behind Accurate Exit Polls (00:34:05): Professor Sir John Curtice reveals how academic methods have transformed election night predictions. Barbarians Rugby’s Data-Driven Rebrand (00:42:00): Branding guru Bill Wallsgrove showcases how data informed a fresh, digital-first identity for the iconic club. External Links: Using Data Smarter guest application form: Submit a Guest Follow Sam Knowles on LinkedIn: Sam Knowles Catch full episodes and video content on YouTube: Data Malarkey YouTube Channel Subscribe and Stay Connected: New episodes drop every other Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Music. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review! To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com. It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard.…
In this episode of Data Malarkey , we sit down with Natalia Talkowska, founder of Natalka Design , to explore the fascinating intersection of neuroscience, visual communication, and storytelling. Natalia shares her inspiring journey and how she helps people overcome self-doubt, embrace creativity, and communicate their big ideas with impact. From her revolutionary Visualise Futures tool to the importance of breaking perfectionist habits, this episode is packed with insights for anyone looking to unlock their creative potential. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why visual communication is the future of storytelling. How neuroscience can guide effective communication. Overcoming perfectionism and self-doubt. The role of AI in enhancing creativity and connection. Natalia’s personal tips for building confidence and creating impact. Links & Resources: Natalka Design Website: www.natalkadesign.com Visualise Futures Substack: visuaisefutures.substack.com Creative Brain Club Newsletter: creativebrainclub.substack.com Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling-scorecard.com Follow Natalia Online: LinkedIn: Natalia Talkowska Instagram: @natalkadesign If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review on your favourite podcast platform! 🎧…
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Bill Wallsgrove, Head of Ideas at Brighton-based communications and design agency, Brandad. Bill has more than 30 years’ experience working in business strategy, brand creation, and communications development. He trained at the London College of Printing and cut his teeth at the legendary design agency, Coley Porter Bell. Bill’s worked in 3D design and packaging design. He is also the man responsible for the creation of the McCoy’s brand of crisps. Throughout his career, Bill has been keen to share the tools of his trade with succeeding generations, both through academic and industry bodies. These include the Design Council and the University of Brighton, where today he is an honorary lecturer in the school of Art and Media. Through his wittily-named consultancy, Brandad, Bill today brings his decades of experience to a wide range of businesses and third-sector organisations, with a particular focus on start-ups in his adopted home city of Brighton, the start-up capital of Europe. Indeed, it was one of his start-up clients that named his business for him. But Bill’s expertise is just as relevant to centuries-old institutions, as evidenced by his data-driven development and activation for the rugby football club, the Barbarians. Bill’s approach to data-driven design is well captured by his son’s description of his role as “a fashion designer for businesses”. And though he’s into his fourth decade of advising brands on how to stand for something meaningful in their consumers’ lives – and trading as Brandad – his tools and techniques couldn’t be more contemporary. An early adopter of AI – and particularly Midjourney for “30-second mood boards that might have taken days or weeks before”, provided the prompts are right – Bill advocates the use of artificial intelligence. “It makes the research process more effective,” he says, “it makes our jobs more focused.” EXTERNAL LINKS The Brandad homepage – https://brandad.co.uk Bill’s LinkedIn profile (and Bill is quite prolific on the platform) – https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-wallsgrove1/ To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Alice Wallbank, a professional support lawyer for the law firm Shoosmiths, whose clients include Mercedes-Benz, Octopus Ventures, and Travelodge. The company also specialises in working for businesses in both the property and banking sector. The Financial Times has garlanded Shoosmiths as “one of Europe’s most innovative law firms”, and Alice’s pioneering role at the company – focused on privacy, data, and increasingly AI – is symptomatic of a business in the vanguard of a profession catching up with the broadest implications of technology. At the start of this year, Alice co-hosted an excellent ‘data insights’ conference – naturally hybrid, both in the room and online – which featured a keynote from Austrian activist and lawyer, Max Schrems . Schrems is famous for his successful campaigns against Facebook (and Meta) for their violations of European data privacy laws. Before joining Shoosmiths, Alice spent six years as the principal legal counsel for the cyber and information security division of the leading technology business, QinetiQ. Alice is a passionate advocate of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), describing it “as a good thing for data privacy – without a shadow of a doubt”. Although first introduced in 2016 and in place since 2018, it has its origins in a 1995 directive, designed to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals from Big Tech. Alice believes this showed “remarkable foresight”. One of the very few people in the UK, Europe, and the world to have read all 90,000 words of the EU’s AI Act, artificial intelligence gives Alice that fabled reaction to trench warfare of “a combination of boredom and terror”. There are huge potential upsides – such as radiography diagnostics – and massive downsides from a system that is “at heart a self-limiting black box” dealing in “biases in, biases out”. And in a Data Malarkey exclusive, Alice is our first guest in more than 40 episodes … to sing. She dons her white stilettos, dances round her handbag, and turns the clock back to 1984 for a tuneful rendition of Rockwell’s dancefloor smash, Somebody’s Watching Me – for Alice, an insightful foreshadowing of data privacy issues 40 years into the future. EXTERNAL LINKS Shoosmiths home page – https://www.shoosmiths.com Alice’s profile on the Shoosmiths’ site – https://www.shoosmiths.com/people/cvdetails/alice-wallbank Alice’s article on Ashley Madison – https://www.grip.globalrelay.com/could-the-ashley-madison-data-breach-happen-today/ Another blog from Alice, this time on the environmental credentials of GDPR. The EU AI Act – all 90,000 words of it – here Rockwell’s Somebody’s Watching Me from 1984 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
Join master data storyteller, Sam Knowles, for an enlightening conversation with Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research. As we navigate 2024 which has been dubbed "the ultimate election year," Sir John shares his insights on polling accuracy, political volatility, and data-driven decision-making in the UK and US elections. We explore the intricacies of his more-accurate-than-most exit polling methodology, the challenges of interpreting voter behaviour, and the future of electoral systems. Plus, Sir John reveals his secrets for communicating complex data effectively. Key Takeaways: - Sir John Curtice's approach to accurate exit polling - Analysis of the 2024 UK General Election results - Challenges of predicting the outcome of the 2024 US election - Insights on communicating data clearly and avoiding the Curse of Knowledge Thoughts on the future of first-past-the-post and proportional representation in the UK EXTERNAL LINK: https://bit.ly/4hij0FG - University of Strathclyde To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, we join master data storyteller Sam Knowles, in conversation with Cristina de Balanzo, PhD, Founder and Board Director at Walnut Unlimited, as she delves into the fusion of neuroscience, behavioural science, and strategic insights to unlock human behaviour. In this engaging discussion, Cristina shares practical examples of how neuroscience informs communication strategies and marketing, and the role of creativity in human understanding. Learn how insights, human behaviour, and neuroscience come together to shape the future of marketing and communication. Neuroscience has been a constant drumbeat of Cristina’s career. Before founding Walnut more than a decade ago, she was global head of neuroscience at TNS, following a nine-year stint as a strategic planner with McCann Erickson. EXTERNAL LINKS Cristina’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristina-de-balanzo-ph-d-1693694/ Cristina on X – https://twitter.com/crisbalanzo Cristina’s article on WARC – “The science of laughter: Why humour is serious business” – https://bit.ly/3zoTtK9 ResearchGate profile for Cristina – https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cristina-De-Balanzo To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Mike Ellicock, Founder and Chief Executive of The Plain Numbers Project. Plain Numbers says of its purpose: “We enable clear communication of numbers everywhere so that people can better understand the choices they face in life.” This matters, because about half the adults in the UK have the numeracy skills expected of a primary school child. And one in five suffers from “maths anxiety”. Plain Numbers works with all sorts of organisations to help them communicate the numbers that matter in ways that are clear, fair, and never misleading. Organisations like banks and building societies, insurers and utility companies, national and local government. Plain Numbers trains, assesses, and accredits individuals, teams, and whole organisations to communicate their data more effectively and transparently. The company’s approach is both deeply practical – developing the skills that businesses need for clear and simple communication of numbers – and deeply strategic, going and gaining access to the most senior decision-makers (often Government ministers) to effect meaningful, systemic change. The progress Plain Numbers has made in just a few years has been accelerated by the introduction of the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules and guidance on Consumer Duty which “sets high standards of consumer protection across financial services and requires firms to put their customers' needs first”. Before founding Plain Numbers, Mike was the Founder and Chief Executive of the charity National Numeracy, which he ran throughout the twenty-teens. Prior to that he ran Numicon, an innovative, multi-sensory approach to teaching maths at primary school level, up to the time when Numicon was acquired by Oxford University Press. For seven years either side of the millennium, Mike was a Captain in the Parachute Regiment. Outside of the day job, he still takes fitness and the realisation of what’s possible physically to new heights – and always through a data-driven, evidence-based lens. In 2015, Mike broke the world record for running a marathon wearing a 20lb back-pack, shaving ten minutes off the previous best by clocking a time of just 2h 56m 39s, a record that stands to this day. Next year he’s aiming to row around the British Isles in under 40 days. EXTERNAL LINKS Plain Numbers home page – https://plainnumbers.org.uk The Plain Numbers in Practice report from June 2024 – https://bit.ly/4c2e0Bv Mike’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-ellicock/ FCA Consumer Duty – https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/consumer-duty To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, master data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Ylann Schemm, Vice President for Corporate Responsibility at the leading academic publisher, Elsevier, home to almost 3,000 academic journals, specialising in scientific, technical, and medical content. Elsevier describes itself as “an information analytics” business – so right up our alley here at Data Malarkey. In a career with the publisher spanning almost two decades, Ylann has been on a remarkable journey of both personal and corporate development, moving from communications to corporate relations and from there into corporate responsibility. And for more than a decade, she has been a leading figure in the Elsevier Foundation, first as Program Director – running the Foundation’s New Scholars program designed to expand the participation of women in STEM – and since 2017 as its Director. Under Ylann’s leadership, the Foundation is taking pioneering steps and making a tangible difference. This is manifested most clearly in the organisation’s regular, data-driven reporting into gender and diversity in research. The latest, 2024 report showed that, although as many as 41% of all academic researchers today are women, this is much lower in STEM subjects. At the current rate of change, parity is not expected to be reached until 2052. Ylann was allowed to lay the – shall we say? – foundations for the Foundation’s work in “a climate of benign neglect” as she found her feet and built networks and partnerships inside and outside of Elsevier. But it was with the 2019 arrival of the company’s first female CEO, Kumsal Bayazit, that Ylann’s work moved front and centre of the publisher’s strategic vision. EXTERNAL LINKS Ylann’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ylann-schemm-a5a3632/ Elsevier home page – https://www.elsevier.com/en-gb The Elsevier Foundation – https://elsevierfoundation.org 2024 Elsevier Foundation gender and diversity in research report – https://www.elsevier.com/en-au/insights/gender-and-diversity-in-research To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
Using data smarter is an attitude of mind. It’s characterised by those who choose to communicate simply, clearly, and effectively, by making sense of the signals and cutting out the noise. Above all, it’s about empathy, humanity, and appreciating the likely data tolerance of your audience. After our fifth collection of six great guests, it’s a wrap for Season Five of Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data smarter. Your host, master data storyteller Dr Sam Knowles , picks out common themes and chooses his highlights from a lively series of conversations – recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, between February and May 2024. Thanks as ever to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . In Season Five, our guests included: Sir David Spiegelhalter , Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge. Olivia Jensen , Deputy Director and Lead Scientist at the Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk based out of the University of Singapore. Sorin Patilinet , Senior Director for Marketing Effectiveness at Mars (who’s also the Marketing Engineer ). Ian Whittaker , founder of Liberty Sky Advisors , the award-winning city analyst specialising in media and marketing. John Hibbs , Co-Founder of CoEfficient , a software as a service company that helps organisations grow by measuring performance from the human perspective. And Sir Simon Baron-Cohen , Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cambridge University, and director of the Autism Research Centre . Data Malarkey is taking an extended summer vacation and is having all of August off – and then some. We’ll be back with Season Six on 11 September 2024 with another eclectic group of guests from an ever-more diverse set of professions. We’ll be hearing from women and men at the top of their game from the worlds of publishing, consumer goods, political punditry in the wake of the U.K. General Election, journalism, neuroscience, and numeracy. As usual, their common approaches to using data smarter have lessons for us all. And we start with Ylann Schemm who is both the Vice President of Corporate Responsibility for Elsevier, the world’s leading scientific publisher and data analytics company, and Director of the Elsevier Foundation . To find out how you rank as a data storyteller, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes to answer 12 questions, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at the University of Cambridge, where he also runs the Autism Research Centre. Simon has been working in the field of autism for approaching 40 years and is one of the world’s leading authorities on the subject. Since the mid-1980s, the research he’s led and undertaken has led him to advance several different, complementary theories of the condition including: the mind-blindness theory, the prenatal sex steroid theory, and the empathising-systemising theory of autism and typical sex differences. Some corners of autism research have a somewhat shady and disreputable reputation for their misuse of data; for drawing conclusions about the general population from tiny sample sizes that the data could not warrant. Indeed, it was in the wake of the MMR scandal that the charity Sense About Science was founded in the early 2000s – to encourage researchers to present their findings responsibly and the media to report them responsibly – and Sense About Science’s director, Tracey Brown, was a recent guest on Data Malarkey. By contrast with the shady stuff, Simon’s research has been a shining light of empiricism and evidence-based, data-driven truth, with sample sizes sometimes in the tens or hundreds of thousands. His 2018, empathising-systemising study famously collected data from 36,000 autistic people and 600,000 non-autistic people. Described by the medical journal The Lancet as “a man with extraordinary knowledge … his passionate advocacy for a more tolerant, diverse society, where difference is respected and cultivated, reveals a very human side to his science” it is our honour to welcome Simon to Data Malarkey. A very fitting, very high-profile end to Season Five, a season bookended by two great Cambridge minds, as we started with Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter. To secure Simon as a guest on Data Malarkey, I’m delighted to say I had to drop my son Max’s name. At the time of recording, Max had recently hosted Simon at an excellent event run by the recently-reborn Cambridge Psychology Society, of which Max is now President. At the university, he is studying Psychological & Behavioural Sciences. #proudfather EXTERNAL LINKS Profile of Simon on The Lancet – Psychiatry site https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(15)00461-7/fulltext The Autism Research Centre https://www.autismresearchcentre.com The extraordinary output of 750+ articles from the Autism Research Centre on PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=simon+baron-cohen&sort=date Auticon, the social enterprise on a mission to improve the employment prospects of neurodivergent people, whose board Simon advises https://auticon.com/uk/ To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by John Hibbs, the Co-Founder of CoEfficient, a company that helps organisations grow from the human perspective. It does this by gathering genuinely useful feedback from those who work for an organisation and then deploying this intelligence in the most productive way possible, to drive both individual and organisational growth. Founded on the principle that businesses are simply groups of people, CoEfficient gives hearts and minds that make up a business a voice, ensuring that they feel heard and are valued. This – John believes – is what enables businesses to serve as creators of positive change within society. CoEfficient serves all sorts of different clients right around the world, and today John is based on his native island of Guernsey. But his journey to becoming a pioneer in using data smarter to help companies grow is neither traditional nor expected. 25 years ago, he was running a personal training business that he was struggling to scale. A chance meeting with a business mentor first opened his eyes to the power of data, measurement, and evaluation. This set him on course to develop both his Monergy Flow model of growth and a thriving, scalable business that few – least of all John himself – would ever have predicted. EXTERNAL LINKS Make friends with John on LinkedIn, his preferred social media platform https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hibbs-coefficient/ There’s more about CoEfficient at https://www.coefficient-solutions.com John explains his Monergy Flow model – including the hand-drawn, periodic table version – at https://www.maddyness.com/uk/2023/08/09/the-monergy-flow-by-john-hibbs/ To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Ian Whittaker, one of the leading financial and commercial analysts covering the media and advertising sector. Ian is the managing director and owner of Liberty Sky Advisors, has twice been the City AM Analyst of the Year – first in 2014 and again in 2019 – and he writes regularly for both the media and the financial press. He helps marketers speak the language of the CFO – the Chief Financial Officer – and is the go-to guy for understanding how the media, digital, and marketing world is performing. Ian takes a no-nonsense approach to explaining how the media category makes its money, and in a sector that’s often very much at home to spin and storytelling, takes an evidence-based, data-driven approach to cutting through the hype and telling it how it is. This means he’s particularly good at understanding which innovation is just a shiny new toy and which has the potential to revolutionise the world of media and marketing. Understanding whether you should invest in a media company – be it one of the mega advertising agency holding companies, one of the big tech platforms, or a streaming service – demands a knowledge of more than just the media sector. Ian tells us why understanding macroeconomic trends and geopolitics matters just as much as being able to read a balance sheet. An Oxford historian by training with an MBA from London Business School, Ian is currently studying for an MA in the History of War at King’s College, London. His analytics and evidence-assessing skills from all three degrees enable him to sort the signal from the noise. “Data is the bedrock, but data is neutral,” Ian says, “though there does come a time when the data talks to you and reveals the hidden truth.” A hypothesis-tester and very definitely not a hypothesis-prover, he’s very much against trying to force fit data into a pre-ordained world view. Ian is also a fan of the “data is the new oil” analogy – provided we realise that oil is useless in and of itself and that the value comes from what we do with it once we’ve zoned in the right area, mined it, and refined it. We learn the surprising truth about why Meta (Facebook’s parent company) is doing so well. There’s been no great recovery in its previously dominant US and European markets, which grew just 2-3% in the last quarter of 2023. The stellar performance in that reporting period was down to massive investment from just a couple of Chinese gaming companies, meaning Meta’s sudden surge in value is almost certainly built on sand. EXTERNAL LINKS Ian’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianwhittakermedia/ Liberty Sky Advisors: https://ianwhittakermedia.com Learn the Language of the CFO for Success in the Boardroom – JC Decaux podcast on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnYV7JuId1g To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, your host Sam Knowles is joined by Sorin Patilinet, Senior Director of Marketing Effectiveness at Mars. Sorin is also known as the Marketing Engineer. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on 4 April 2024. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . Sorin took an unusual route into marketing and has an unusually scientific approach to making every last marketing dollar count. Trained as a telecommunications engineer at university in his native Romania, Sorin applies the rigour of engineering to the not always substantial world of marketing science. In the dozen-plus years he’s worked at Mars, he’s routinely and rigorously put into practice the theories of the How Brands Grow marketing professor, Byron Sharp. Liverpool and Anderlecht fan, Sorin, is based in Belgium, Brussels. He’s currently writing a book from the perspective of the marketing practitioner, showing how structured, systems thinking can make the “colouring-in department” label sometimes levelled at marketing a thing of the past. Marketing has changed out of all recognition compared to where it was when Sorin started his career, from 80% of ad spend on linear TV to 27 creatives on 35 platforms with no reliable or consistent, cross-platform means to control reach or frequency. Amid all this complexity, his evidence-based approach to marketing measurement is a breath of fresh air. So, too, is the ad testing methodology ( Agile Creative Expertise or ACE) that Mars has developed under Sorin’s stewardship, based not on claimed intention but instead rooted in actual consumer behaviour. Eye-tracking, attention, and emotion have been found time and again to trump declarative survey findings. This really works at scale, too, with insights derived from more than 800 creative executions a year. Sorin’s an enthusiastic sceptic when it comes to AI, but he’s keen to point out that the November 2022 appearance of ChatGPT is just the tip of the iceberg. Mars has been using AI – in the form of machine learning and deep analytics – for years. An enthusiastic modern-day Stoic and fan on Everyday Stoic, Ryan Holiday , in ten years from now Sorin hopes to be applying the rigour he’s developed for marketing effectiveness to communicating the importance of grand projects such as the European Union or the United Nations to disaffected citizens. Sorin is a board member of the Attention Council and a guest lecturer at Wharton Business School. EXTERNAL LINKS Sorin’s blog: “Engineering Marketing” – https://www.sorinp.com Sorin’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/patilinet/ To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, your host Sam Knowles is joined by Olivia Jensen, Director of the Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR) based at the National University of Singapore. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on 13 March 2024. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . IPUR is a research institute that seeks to narrow the gap between people’s perceptions and real-world risks, focused on the data and technology, environment and climate, and health and lifestyle. The Institute brings together basic science, engineering, social sciences, and the humanities. Olivia Jensen is a passionate advocate and deeply pragmatic practitioner in the art and science of closing the gaps that exist between expert knowledge about risk and public perception of risk. IPUR and the global risk community of which it forms an integral part aims to empower citizens and societies to make better decisions about risk. Olivia believes that risk-evidence communication is as much about getting experts to understand how and why citizens make decisions as it is about experts explaining the evidence to those citizens. In considering risk evidence communication under uncertainty, we inevitably talk about Government communication under COVID. Olivia believes that the Government in Singapore got things “just about right”, clearly communicating regularly-updated data and basing its policy decisions on evidence. Sam is rather less complementary about the British Government’s over-politicised use of data in its pandemic communication. One of the real challenges of risk evidence communication is looking back on events, with narratives constructed that fall victim to hindsight bias. Just because something was possible and it happened doesn’t mean it was inevitable. Outside of the world of risk, Olivia is a passionate dancer, and in 2024 is learning to tango. EXTERNAL LINKS IPUR home page https://ipur.nus.edu.sg Olivia’s IPUR profile https://ipur.nus.edu.sg/team/olivia-jensen/ IPUR’s EdX course “Understanding and Communicating Risk” https://bit.ly/4dcqQip Understanding Risk https://understandrisk.org Risk Know How – a joint venture with Sense About Science https://riskknowhow.org To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, your host Sam Knowles is joined by one of the world’s finest data storytellers, David Spiegelhalter, the statistician and public communicator of his generation. Although he claims to have been retired for five years, the Emeritus Professor of Statistics from Cambridge University is working harder than ever. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on 6 March 2024. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . If anyone can be said to have had “a good pandemic”, it was David. “At least I had something to do!” he quips, sharing how he quickly set up a studio at home and gave countless interviews about what the data meant and what we should do as a result. While he believes that the Chief Scientific and Medical Officers of the U.K. National Health Service usually presented complex information simply and straightforwardly to a willing and receptive public – hungry for evidence of what they might choose to do and why – Government ministers (to the very top) and their Special Advisors (SPADs) had little clue. Nothing gets David more irritated than wilful misuse of data, and several times during our lively discussion he vents considerable fury at peddlers of misinformation, under COVID and otherwise. We talk a lot about communicating risk (relative and absolute), particularly under uncertainty, with uncertainty the theme of David’s imminent new book, The Art of Uncertainty (to be published by Penguin in September 2024). Away from the stats lab, we learn how David applied his data-driven smarts to winning the inaugural (and to-date only) Loop World Championship; Loop is pool played on an elliptical table with only one pocket at one of the foci of the ellipse. He also took an evidence-based approach to qualifying for the second round of Winter Wipeout, recorded a dozen years and more ago in Argentina, where David adopted the persona of Professor Risk. In addition to uncertainty, we also focus on trustworthiness. For David, those using data and statistics to communicate need to earn and constantly re-earn a reputation for being trustworthy. And just as no-one laughs at a comedian who says “I’m funny” at the start of his set, no-one trusts a person using data to communicate complex topics who says “Just trust me!”. Being seen as trustworthy is a consequence of being honest, competent, and reliable. David introduces Sam and the audience to the skill of “pre-bunking”, and several times warns against building data-driven narratives that push emotional levers or buttons. Data storytellers should present the evidence simply and fairly and then allow the audience to draw their own conclusions. “Treat them as if they’re intelligent, but also as if they don’t know anything.” EXTERNAL LINKS Cambridge University personal profile page https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~david/ David on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Spiegelhalter To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
After our fourth collection of six great guests, it’s a wrap for Season Four of Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data smarter. Your host, master data storyteller Dr Sam Knowles , picks out common themes and chooses his highlights from a lively series of conversations – recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, between July and December 2023. Thanks as ever to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . In Season Four, our guests included: Tracey Brown , director of the charity, Sense About Science . Mark Montgomery , Vice President and International Head of Integrated Insights at Novartis . John McFall , military and civvy street logistics expert, and the founder of Supply Chain Wise . Kieran Maguire , leading football finance academic from the University of Liverpool’s Management School, and co-host of The Price of Football podcast . Ian Makgill , founder of Spend Network , a database keeping tabs on the worlds’ Governments’ $13tn spend. And Mike Bell , data visualiser extraordinaire, who uses the iconography of the London Underground to tell the stories of bands, albums, films, and political careers at his eponymous business, Mike Bell Maps . Data Malarkey will have its usual, between-season break for a couple of weeks. We’ll be back with Season Five on 8 May 2024, and there’s another glittering array of guests from an increasingly diverse set of professions. We’ll be hearing from women and men at the top of their game from the worlds of statistics, risk management, consumer goods, academic publishing, financial analysis, and autism research. Their common approaches to using data smarter have lessons for us all. And we start with the blockbuster guest, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter , a man who had perhaps the best pandemic of any data storyteller in the public domain. To find out how you rank as a data storyteller, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes to answer 12 questions, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Mike Bell, the first data visualiser to feature in almost 30 episodes of the podcast. Mike is the Founder and Owner of a thriving new business called Mike Bell Maps which describes itself as “Tube maps of bands and other stuff”. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on 13 December 2023. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . Mike’s had a long career in creating and running tours for bands, a blend of logistical and strategic planning to the power of Excel. “I see tours in Excel!” he told me when we first met. He moved from arena and stadium tours for bands to production of live events for corporates, staging major conferences and exhibitions right around the world. A combination of the first COVID lockdown – not a good couple of years for anyone in the live entertainment and production business – and a diagnosis of Parkinson’s some years ago convinced Mike he had to “use it or lose it” when it came to his highly creative, data-driven brain. He started out by trying to represent the career of one of his favourite bands, The Fall, using the iconography, lines, and stations on the London Underground. Once he’d got The Fall right – to the satisfaction of the brand’s vocal and perhaps a little pedantic fanbase online – Mike’s applied his unique and beautiful way of visualising the world of band line-ups and album contributors to many different spheres. These include films and film genres and even – in perhaps my favourite example – disgraced former Prime Minister Johnson’s political career, with a special line for all those lockdown-breaking parties. Mike’s encouragement to keep mentally active from his neurologist has paid dividends. Though diagnosed several years ago, his “using it” strategy means he’s not yet been medicated for Parkinson’s. A tale almost as extraordinary as the beautiful manifestations of how he thinks that he now sells, both online and from a new shop in my hometown of Lewes, East Sussex. Towards the end of our discussion, Mike gives one of the most lyrical and elegiac descriptions of his stock-in-trade, the humble spreadsheet. Once asked to describe them to his grandmother, he said: “They’re like boxes floating in the air that you can connect, tied together with data strings, that allow you to magically make things make sense.” Beautiful! EXTERNAL LINKS Mike Bell Maps – https://mikebellmaps.com Mike’s experiential design business – https://www.freelancevisuals.co.uk 10,000 poems – Mike’s project to take him to 85, writing a poem a day – https://mikebellpoems.com To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles is joined by Ian Makgill, the Founder of Spend Network. Ian and his company are on a mission to improve the global public sector procurement market. Spend Network’s website boldly claims that it can help users to “Unlock the $13 trillion global procurement market through the world’s leading tender, contract, spend and grant data”. That’s about 13% of the total global economy. Throughout his career – building databases for 20 years and working with AI for six – Ian has been a passionate believer that data can shape our world for the better. While it often feels as if data is used to point at bad stuff that has happened or show where everyone is failing, Ian is committed to telling stories of how his organisation is using data to shape the future. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on 29 November 2023. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . As the driving force behind Spend Network, Ian’s ambition is to level the playing field of Government procurement – from “haircuts in Mexican prisons to airports in China”. As a consequence, every moment of his every working day is steeped in data. Unruly, different, misaligned, fundamentally different data that very definitely is not “apples with apples”. At least when the Spend Network team get their hands on it, bringing together more than 700 diverse sources each day. “All data is bad; all data is dirty!” observes Ian, “though most of it can be made to be useful”. His sentiment echoing the maxim from the British statistician, George Box, that “All models are wrong; some are useful.” Ian also has elements of the forensic scientist about him, with his observation that “the absence of data is a data point in himself”, bringing to mind our 25 October guest, Professor Angela Gallop, and her encouragement to go looking “when the dogs DON’T bark”. Spend Network has so far analysed, cleaned, augmented, validated, and verified 220m lines of spend data from hundreds of Government departments around the world. And he and his data wranglers don’t just apply data science smarts to their heavyweight data. They’ve been using AI since 2017. For Ian, The Financial Times’ John Burn-Murdoch – the paper’s Chief Data Reporter – is a hero of data storytelling and data visualisation, skills that he honed during the pandemic. Burn-Murdoch was the first to conceptualise and visualise excess mortality as the key indicator of Government success (and otherwise) in measures to tackle COVID. Jacob Rees-Mogg is his data devil, thanks to the politician’s imperial measures consultation that provided no option to object (reported here in The Guardian). EXTERNAL LINKS Ian’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmakgill/ Spend Network – https://spendnetwork.com OpenOpps – https://openopps.com Spend Network on Twitter / X – https://twitter.com/SpendNetwork To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just two minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data smarter
In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, data storyteller Sam Knowles welcomes Kieran Maguire, an acclaimed expert in football finance. Kieran’s a chartered accountant, academic, author, and podcaster. For the past decade, he’s been a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool’s Management School. He often appears in print and particularly broadcast media, making sense of the often bewildering and often chaotic world of football finance. He has a reputation for his “clear-headed and rigorous analysis of the financial imperatives and challenges facing football”. Kieran’s the author of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning book The Price of Football, the second edition of which was published in 2021. The Price of Football is also the name of his twice-weekly podcast which – since 2019 – has clocked up more than 400 episodes. Kieran presents the podcast alongside the comedian, Kevin Day. He truly is a multi-media expert in football finance. Our conversation was recorded remotely, via the medium of Riverside.fm, on Transfer Deadline Day at the start of the 2023-24 football season, 1 September 2023. Thanks to Joe Hickey for production support. Podcast artwork by Shatter Media . Voice over by Samantha Boffin . A Brighton & Hove Albion fan, chartered account Kieran argues that he doesn’t have the communications and networking skills required to pursue a career in finance. He spends his days obsessively updating spreadsheets of football clubs’ finances, ably assisted by more than 250 alerts from the Companies House website. As well as teaching. The most egregious act of data malarkey Kieran’s observed in the many years he’s been following football finance was the attempted (and still not-dead) breakaway European Super League; “an attempt to steal the heart and soul of football”. For Kieran, the three biggest myths in football finance are: 1. Spending other people’s money – recklessly – is a good thing 2. Footballers’ wages are too high 3. Tickets for the Premiership are too expensive The Premier League’s broadcast deals generate 60% of the 20 top flight clubs’ revenues, and the league is the world’s most popular, with live broadcasts and highlights packages sold in 190 countries. And while women’s football is enjoying its highest profile and a surge in popularity thanks to the Lionesses’ ongoing success, Kieran doesn’t think that there will be wage or playing budget parity at elite men’s and women’s clubs (outside of Lewes FC) any time soon. Manchester City’s men’s team generated £610m in revenue in the 2022-23 season; its women’s team generated £6m. That 100:1 ratio is reflected in the £20m its (injury-prone) midfielder, Kevin de Bruyne, trousers as an annual salary, compared with the highest-paid England women’s player, Leah Williamson, currently on £200,000 a year (or about half of what Harry Kane receives each week from Bayern Munich). EXTERNAL LINKS The Price of Football – podcast, books, merch – https://priceoffootball.com Kieran on Twitter (X) - https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire Kieran’s LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-maguire-a085033/ A Memorable Gov.uk blog on how Kieran uses Companies House data to keep track of football finance To find out what kind of data storyteller you are, complete our data storytelling scorecard at https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com . It takes just a couple of minutes, and we’ll send you your own personalised scorecard which tells you what kind of data storyteller you are.…
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