Behind the Data
Andrea Jones-Rooy
Behind the Data is a podcast about the hidden stories tucked inside the data that shapes our world. From political polls to global happiness indexes, we go beyond charts and headlines to uncover where data comes from, why it’s collected, and what it can (and can’t) tell us. Each episode explores a fascinating dataset that helps us better understand the systems, policies, and people around us. Whether you're new to data or work with it every day, you'll find approachable conversations, surprising insights, and a reminder that every dataset reflects a choice—and a story worth telling.
Join us as we explore where data comes from—and where it can take us. Because data isn't just numbers; it's how we make sense of the world.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Top 10 Behind the Data Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Behind the Data episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Behind the Data for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Behind the Data episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Political polls
Behind the Data
10/28/24 • 36 min
Political polls are in our faces these days whether we want them or not -- especially if you're in the US during election season. We talk with polling expert and database journalist Dhrumil Mehta of Columbia University (formerly Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight) about how to think about polls. Are they all just noise? Do they tell the future? Something in the middle? Join us to explore where political polls come from, how to evaluate them, and how to make the most of the information they offer.
Materials referenced in the show:
- Example polling tracker from Nate Silver (Dhrumil and Andrea did not work on this version directly, but it is a "descendant" of a model they did work on.)
- Nate Silver article, "The Media Has a Probability Problem", FiveThirtyEight
- Harry Enten article, "Fake Polls are a Real Problem", FiveThirtyEight
- Harry Enten article, "Trump is Just a Normal Polling Error Behind Clinton", FiveThirtyEight
- Dhrumil's polls LLM: http://pollfinder.ai
More about Andrea here and on Instagram. More about Dhrumil here and on X.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
11/25/24 • 46 min
Approximately ten billion different narratives about what happened in the recent US presidential election have emerged since said election. But how many of these narratives can be substantiated by data? How can we tell?
Political scientist Seth Masket joins us to discuss how to make thoughtful inferences from this data, how and why to be skeptical of evidence-free opinions, and the importance (just like in the last episode!!) of being thoughtful about whether our narratives are based on data or we (or others who are trying to persuade us of something) are simply trying to pick data to support our narrative(s). Stick around until the end to hear how polls did and Seth's thoughts on why everything feels so politically bad these days.
Follow and read more by Seth:
- His substack: smotus.substack.com
- His podcast: powerflour.substack.com
- His personal website: sethmasket.com
Follow Andrea at jonesrooy.com and on Instagram at @jonesrooy.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The art and science of measuring democracy
Behind the Data
12/02/24 • 43 min
Is democracy in decline around the world? This is a major question on many of our minds, and luckily for us there are very smart, thoughtful people working on tracking (as well as explaining, understanding, and predicting!) exactly this. We are joined by professor Brigitte Seim, who is a project manager for the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset, which is one of the biggest and most elaborate efforts to track democracy around the world to date. We discuss how to think about turning something as abstract and unwieldy as "democracy" into a number, how to make sense of and learn from those numbers, and about her own research on the growing importance of measuring toxic political speech online to understanding the health of democracy.
This is a great episode for anyone who cares about democracy or regime type broadly, but also for anyone interested in the beautiful art and science of measurement (one of my favorite topics ever!), as well as for anyone interested in learning about a dataset that is a great place to start if you're looking for some data to practice and work with in your own curiosity-based data science journey. Enjoy!
Learn more on Brigitte here and check out her prolific research here. Read about and explore the Varieties of Democracy dataset at v-dem.net.
Learn more about Andrea here and on Instagram at @jonesrooy.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The (often) false promise of personal fitness data
Behind the Data
11/11/24 • 39 min
Science journalist and athlete Christie Aschwanden takes us inside the not-so-scientific world of the fitness and health data that's tracked by various apps we probably own and/or are tempted to buy, and she helps us more carefully discern what's actually useful to follow and what we're better off ignoring. Plus -- an existentially (and scientifically!) important discussion about the power of uncertainty (and why it doesn't have to feel bad).
Christie's Scientific American podcast is Uncertain. Her book is Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn About the Strange Science of Recovery. You can read more about her and by here on her website.
Follow AJR, your host, at @jonesrooy on Instagram and find out more here.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The power of turning political attitudes into numbers
Behind the Data
03/25/25 • 30 min
We take it as a given that Americans are politically polarized, but how do we actually know if empirically this is the case? We talk with Prof. Patrick Egan (NYU) about how we can quantify something as abstract as a political attitude, why doing so helps us understand polarization, and how all of this helps reveal opportunities where we can make progress on areas where we're most divided -- such as climate change.
Explore Pat's research and writing: https://wp.nyu.edu/egan/.
Papers and resources mentioned in the episode:
- An example of Pat's work on issue ownership is here.
- The data Pat mentioned on Americans' political attitudes since 1948 is from the American National Election Studies (ANES), which you can explore for free here.
- An example of measuring leaders' ideologies based on their roll call votes is here.
- An example of measuring ideology based on campaign contributions is here.
- Learn more about Hanna Pitkin's concept of representation in her 1972 book The Concept of Representation (helpful summary here).
- Pat's 2024 climate change paper (with Megan Mullin) is US partisan polarization on climate change: Can stalemate give way to opportunity? (appeared in PS: Political Science and Politics 57(1): pp. 30-35).
- BTW: the adage that states that headlines that pose a question tend to have the answer "no" is Betteridge's law of headlines and it's very fun.
Follow Andrea at @jonesrooy on Instagram and/or learn more at jonesrooy.com. Be sure to check out our partner show The Daily Tech News Show!
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fear and optimism in the age of AI
Behind the Data
04/08/25 • 47 min
Vasant Dhar has been working on AI since way before it was cool (and before most people thought it was possible). I've admired his work for a long time and since I started this show have wanted to have him on as a guest to talk about the strengths and limitations of LLMs. A few days ago, he published an article in The Hill about how DOGE is using AI wrong, and I knew I had to talk to him immediately.
We discuss, indeed, what DOGE is doing wrong, as well as the broader lessons we all can learn from this example about what makes a good vs. not-so-good use case for LLMs. We also talk about his recent and completely earth-shattering Severance-esque research where he and a colleague create a bot with the goal of simulating the valuation reasoning of investing legend Aswath Damodaran. Naturally, throughout the conversation, I pepper him with questions about how scared or optimistic we should be about all of this, as well as how AI can somehow be both incredible and limited at the same time.
Follow Vasant!
- Vasant's (excellent!) Brave New World podcast: http://bravenewpodcast.com/
- Vasant's substack: https://vasantdhar.substack.com/
- Vasant's article: "DOGE is using AI the wrong way."
- Vasant's recent paper: "DBOT: Artificial intelligence for systematic long-term investing"
I'm @jonesrooy on Instagram and at jonesrooy.com.
And, because I'm trying to make friends with AI, below is a chapter summary! Woo hoo.
Chapters
00:00 The Evolution of AI: A Personal Journey
01:49 Understanding LLMs: Are They Thinking?
04:35 The Fear of AI: Balancing Optimism and Caution
06:57 Explaining LLMs to Newcomers
09:37 Learning and The Integration of the Senses
12:24 DOGE's Approach to AI in Government
15:22 The Need for Better AI Implementation in Government
17:47 Could This Actually Work?
20:16 A Problem with Using AI on Data from Humans
21:47 Contextualizing Project Failures
22:33 Applying AI to Investing
23:45 Building an AI Investor
27:36 The Science of Long-Term Investing
28:40 Simulating Expertise: The Damodaran Bot
32:33 The Art of Questioning in AI
36:07 Expectations and Realities of AI Development
40:10 Be the AI Change You Wish to See in the World
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The science of self-medication in animals
Behind the Data
05/23/25 • 46 min
When we think about advances in medicine, most of us probably first picture lab coats and fancy equipment -- but as our guest, biologist Jaap de Roode, author of the extraordinary new book Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves shares, sometimes big discoveries (in medicine and beyond!) can come from looking for data in surprising new places.
Join us for a fascinating conversation about how animals in the wild use medicine, such as plants in their environments, why this is so important to understand, and how we can all make more discoveries by starting from a place of wonder, curiosity, and open-mindedness. Plus: extremely fun animal facts!!
Follow Jaap at @jaapderoode on Instagram, and be sure to buy his book, Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves !
Host Andrea Jones-Rooy is @jonesrooy on Instagram and at www.jonesrooy.com.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Building a data warehouse to help find a cure for ALS
Behind the Data
03/18/25 • 46 min
ALS is a fatal motor neuron disease that has no cure and is estimated to affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Why is a cure, or even a meaningful treatment, so elusive? We talk with data engineer, scientist, and rare disease advocate Danielle Boyce at ALS TDI about her work helping us all better understand this terrible illness. While the topic is grim, Danielle provides a lot of hope -- as well as inspiration to all of us to get involved in solving problems through data.
Follow Danielle and her amazing data & statistics tips on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/data-danielle/.
Find out more about ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI): https://www.als.net/ (and donate if you like!).
Two other resources Danielle mentioned to get involved: https://ohdsi.org/ and https://www.geoals.org/.
Follow Brooke Eby on the various social medias: @limpbroozkit.
Check out my father Robert Rooy's film about our friend John Godinet: https://www.lovingjohnmovie.com/ and watch the trailer here!
Follow me at @jonesrooy and https://www.jonesrooy.com/. Behind the Data is proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show ecosystem. Special thanks to Tom Merritt and our producer Roger Chang!
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Super cool data about movies (that are not reviews!)
Behind the Data
11/04/24 • 39 min
When we think of data and movies the first (and maybe only) thing that comes to mind for many of us is movie reviews. But there is so much more we can learn about movies and ourselves if we just think outside the box a little bit and apply data and scientific thinking in creative ways. We talk with Walt Hickey, author of the book You Are What You Watch: How TV and Movies Affect Everything, about all kinds of exciting applications of data to track how movies affect us physically and emotionally, the value of exporting (and importing) culture internationally, whether superpowers predict evilness, how the plots of many movies have changed over time, why we like what we like, and how movies can change our entire life trajectory. Plus, prepare to learn why we should all watch Titanic again, as well as maybe consider (gasp) ignoring reviews of movies altogether.
Relevant materials and links mentioned:
- Buy Walt's book
- Subscribe to Numlock
- Check out Sherwood News
- More about Walt
- Follow Walt on X
More on Andrea here and on Instagram.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why can't we agree on crime statistics?
Behind the Data
10/28/24 • 37 min
Crime data is all over the news these days and, at least in the United States, it seems like you can tell any story you want to about whether crime is going up or down and whose fault it is. How should we be thinking about this data to figure out of what's really going on? We speak with Jeff Asher, crime data analyst and co-founder of JH Datalytics, which recently launched the Real-Time Crime Index, about where crime data comes from, why everyone seems to be disagreeing about it, and how to think and talk about it more clearly.
Materials referenced in the show:
- Jeff's company: https://www.ahdatalytics.com/
- Jeff's substack: https://jasher.substack.com/
- Real-Time Crime Index: https://realtimecrimeindex.com/
- One of Jeff's articles about the crime data mess of a few years ago.
Andrea is here and on Instagram.
Behind the Data is a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you're a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
Subscribe and leave a review!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Behind the Data have?
Behind the Data currently has 17 episodes available.
What topics does Behind the Data cover?
The podcast is about Analytics, Ai, Data, Podcasts, Technology, Education, Science, Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Critical Thinking and Machine Learning.
What is the most popular episode on Behind the Data?
The episode title 'How to inspect data about your own life to find fulfillment' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Behind the Data?
The average episode length on Behind the Data is 40 minutes.
How often are episodes of Behind the Data released?
Episodes of Behind the Data are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Behind the Data?
The first episode of Behind the Data was released on Oct 21, 2024.
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