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Hear Me Broadcast: Hosting and Guesting on Podcasts​

In 2022, I began to host occasional episodes of the popular storytelling with data podcast; sometimes I would interview a single guest, sometimes I would answer questions on my own, and sometimes I would host roundtable events. Prior to this, I had also been asked to guest on several audio and video podcasts over the years. Here, you can find descriptions of, and links to, some of those episodes.

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STORYTELLING WITH DATA PODCAST, AS HOST OR GUEST​

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  • #72: Alberto Cairo and the art of insight

[HOST] Alberto Cairo drops by to talk about his new book The Art of Insight, which offers a unique take on data visualization. In conversation with data storyteller Mike, Cairo shares his Camus-inspired belief that life's meaning comes from community and work, and how that conviction shapes his own interests and endeavors. They discuss the impact of artificial intelligence on journalism, how seemingly frivolous pursuits can actually be essential, and where to find personal and professional connection amidst ever-changing online communities. Eschewing the mantle of “thought leader,” Cairo reveals why he is reluctant to wield the "soft power" he holds in the data visualization community. Tune in for a fascinating exploration of responsibility, the political nature of work, and the human aspects behind visualization.

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[HOST] Mike and Alex discuss the advantages and drawbacks of designing visualizations with light and dark backgrounds, using examples from SWD community members to highlight where each approach can be preferable. Then, they dive into history and discuss the staying power of some famous graphs. What makes them memorable—and how we might be able to elevate them, using modern tools and perspectives?

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  • #63: bad news and good feedback

[HOST] SWD storytellers Elizabeth and Mike join forces to tackle some thorny questions about connecting with your audience: how do you know if you’ve done a good job, and what if you have to deliver bad news? Later, in light of a recent “partner up!” challenge on the SWD website, they explore the benefits of working together with colleagues, friends, strangers, and even family members, while sharing some lessons learned from their own collaborative experiences. â€‹

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[HOST] SWD storytellers Simon and Mike offer their thoughts on how the recent advancements in AI tools may transform the way we analyze and communicate with data. They also discuss some of their favorite entries and interesting themes from the most recent SWD challenge on the quantified self.  

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  • #59: questions in dataviz with Neil Richards​

[HOST] Why don’t we use triangles in charts more often? Can design considerations come before we have the data? Do we take data visualization too seriously? Author, speaker, and data literacy advocate Neil Richards raises (and occasionally answers) these and other questions in his new book, Questions in Dataviz: a Data-Driven Process for Data Visualization. In this episode, Neil stops by the podcast to talk about the value of creativity, personal passion projects, experimentation in data visualization, and whether dataviz can change the world.

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[HOST] As anyone who has ever participated in a fantasy league can tell you, the most fun part of the whole experience is drafting your team. We took that idea to heart, and imagined, “What if, instead of drafting professional athletes, we did a fantasy draft of chart and graph types?” The data storytellers at SWD and premium members of our online community recently did just that, taking part in a (mostly!) friendly competition to build themselves the strongest possible roster of methods for visualizing information. What chart type was chosen first overall? Did anybody pick pie charts? And, who do YOU think wound up with the best team? Listen to find out!

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  • #55: functional aesthetics with Dr. Vidya Setlur & Bridget Cogley​

[HOST] How can we use beauty to convey meaning, and form to guide function, in our communications? In this episode of the SWD podcast, Dr. Vidya Setlur and Bridget Cogley explore these questions with data storyteller Mike Cisneros. In their upcoming book Functional Aesthetics for Data Visualization, Vidya (the “academic”) and Bridget (the “practitioner”) explore the relationships among what we see, how we encode information, and what we mean. You’ll hear about the “bento box” model of organizing our information; how text, tone, register, and language affects our visualizations; how our relationship to food can inform what makes a communication effective; and how to go beyond “it depends” when considering the answers to challenging questions. 

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  • #54: storytelling, folklore, and data with Joshua Smith​ 

[HOST] Data storyteller Mike Cisneros sat down with Iron Viz champion, Tableau Visionary, and self-described “data jackalope” Joshua Smith to talk about how folklore—the study of how information is communicated, primarily through informal means—provides us a fascinating lens through which to examine how data visualization has evolved and continues to develop, both as a discipline and as a community of practitioners. You’ll learn how “best practices” emerge, transform and persist (or are discarded) over time, how informal communication and culture can have unexpected effects on how our work is received, the inextricable links between belief and “objective” data, and how a storyteller can position themselves to be most effective.

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[HOST] Through our workshops, we get the rare opportunity to meet thousands of people every year, across a huge variety of industries, companies, and roles. We never know what kinds of questions we’re going to be asked. In this episode, SWD storyteller Mike Cisneros highlights a few recent notable questions, ranging from chart choices, to design, to presentation. The range of topics may be broad, but the commonality among everything discussed here is that they’re answers to questions you asked.

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[GUEST] The storytelling with data team has been a work-from-home team since the beginning and in this episode, Randy and data storytellers Elizabeth, Mike, and Alex discuss how to be productive, stay engaged and maintain sanity when working remotely from others. Tune in to hear learnings ranging from the importance of a comfortable chair to pro-tips for video conferencing and staying connected with colleagues. With a thoughtful approach, working from home means you can fit work into the rhythm of life and measure success based on accomplishments, rather than hours in the office.

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OTHER PODCAST APPEARANCES AS A GUEST

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Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)

Dia Gainor, executive director of the National Association of State EMS Officials, worries about challenges facing local jurisdictions working to provide EMS services; ASTHO invites listeners to join a national online symposium this Thursday to learn about the latest with avian influenza; Mike Cisneros, a data storyteller from the organization storytelling with data, says stories often get left behind because we focus too much on data analysis and not enough on how to present the data to audiences; Brianna Scott, MPH, a healthcare associated infections epidemiologist with the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, writes in a new ASTHO blog article that superbugs can be defeated with a health equity approach.

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DSR Podcast: Episode 6

David Murphy, better known as Datasaurus Rex, interviewed me about my baseball salaries dataviz, "Play (But Don't Pay) the Kids," for his video podcast. I don't like to play favorites, but I love the production values David brings to his podcast, and I enjoy his style of hosting quite a bit. There's an audio version of this podcast at http://bit.ly/2Gwob5z, but I think the video version is worth your time.

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Podcast Your Data: Episode 68

David Pires interviewed me, along with several other members of the Tableau community, on this Interworks-sponsored show to talk about our upcoming presentations at the 2018 Tableau Conference in New Orleans. 

 

Hashtag Analytics: Season 1, Episode 5

A video podcast about Tableau and dataviz with hosts Luke Stanke and Ann Jackson.

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Teknion Webinar

In this webinar co-hosted by Bridget Cogley and Joshua Milligan, the presenters deconstruct several notable data visualizations to reveal the techniques behind the designs. In this episode, Joshua chose to deconstruct Oil and Gold, one of my designs from 2017.

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Tableau Wannabe Podcast 

The long-running Tableau podcast hosted by Matt Francis and Emily Kund.

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