Stats + Stories

The Stats + Stories Team
Stats + Stories

Statistics need Stories to give them meaning. Stories need Statistics to give them credibility. Every Thursday John Bailer & Rosemary Pennington get together with a new, interesting guest to bring you the Statistics behind the Stories and the Stories behind the Statistics.

  1. Music Streaming Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 354

    3 DAYS AGO

    Music Streaming Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 354

    Artists of today are still making albums, however with so much emphasis being put on streaming charts how many of today's album streams are being made up by a few hit tracks? That distinction is the focus of today's episode of Stats and Stories with guest Chris Dalla Riva. Chris Dalla Riva is an analyst for the music streaming service Audiomack by day while spending his nights writing and recording music and writing about music for his newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher.

    25 min
  2. Name, Image, and Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 353

    DEC 10

    Name, Image, and Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 353

    For decades, college athletes could not make any money from their sports identities. In 2021 the NCAA passed an interim name image and likeness policy which now grants athletes control over those indentities. They can now be paid for autographs, personal appearances, and endorsements. The economic impact of the NCAA name image and likeness changes are the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with gues Emily Giambalvo. Emily Giambalvo is a sports reporter focusing on data-driven projects with the enterprise and investigations team. She covered University of Maryland football and men’s basketball from 2018 to 2023, and she has contributed to The Post’s coverage of the Olympics, gymnastics and national college sports. Emily grew up in South Carolina and graduated from the University of Georgia.

    25 min
  3. Out of this World Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 352

    DEC 5

    Out of this World Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 352

    The blue ice giants in our outer solar system have unusual magnetic fields, missing what we understand as traditional north-south poles. For decades, scientists have been trying to understand why while also puzzling out what the planets are made of under their atmospheres. Some have suggested the planets may experience diamond rain others that their mantles consist of a mix of slushy water and ammonia. A new study has suggested the planets’ have layered interiors that generate their magnetic fields. The secret lives of ice giants are the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories. Burkhard Militzer is a Professor in the Astronomy department at University of California Berkeley. His research interests include mineral physics, Interiors of giant planets, planet formation, materials at high pressure, equation of state calculations, Quantum Monte Carlo, path integral Monte Carlo, density functional methods.

    27 min
  4. Thankful For A Bountiful Harvest - How Bountiful Was It And Who Produced It? | Stats + Stories Episode 45 (REPOST)

    NOV 29

    Thankful For A Bountiful Harvest - How Bountiful Was It And Who Produced It? | Stats + Stories Episode 45 (REPOST)

    Linda J. Young is Chief Mathematical Statistician and Director of Research and Development of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service . She oversees efforts to continually improve the methodology underpinning the Agency's collection and dissemination of data on every facet of U.S. agriculture. She works on the surveys designed to characterize agricultural activity in the US.

    30 min
  5. Burgeoning Baby Names | Stats + Stories Episode 351

    NOV 19

    Burgeoning Baby Names | Stats + Stories Episode 351

    After Hurricane Helene left a path of destruction from Florida through North Carolina in 2024 you may not expect to see a lot of little Helene's in kindergarten rosters 6 years from now. But what names are emerging, and why? Will popular songs or singers be influencing name choices? If so, will lots of little Taylors be on our hypothetical kindergarten roster 6 years in the future. What influences baby names and what has changed over the decades is the focus of today's episode of Stats and Stories with guest Chris Dalla Riva talking about his story in Significance magazine. Chris Dalla Riva is an analyst for the music streaming service Audiomack by day while spending his nights writing and recording music and writing about music for his newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher.

    25 min
  6. Eat, Pod, Die | Stats + Stories Episode 350

    NOV 11

    Eat, Pod, Die | Stats + Stories Episode 350

    Trees have long been imagined as the earth’s lungs inhaling carbon dioxide and exhaling the oxygen needed to support life. That life, too, is important for sustaining the earth. One scholar suggests that the animals that fill the planet’s landscapes serve as earth’s heart and arteries without them, the earth would be little more than a barren rock. The way that animals make our world is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories, Joe Roman is a conservation biologist, marine ecologist, and editor ’n’ chief of Eat The Invaders. Winner of the 2012 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award for Listed: Dispatches from America’s Endangered Species Act, Roman has written for the New York Times, Science, Audubon, New Scientist, Slate, and other publications. Like many of the animals he studies, Roman is a free-range biologist. He has worked at Harvard University, Duke University Marine Lab, University of Iceland, University of Havana, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the University of Vermont, where he is a fellow and writer in residence at the Gund Institute for Environment.

    31 min
  7. Household Cost Intricacies | Stats + Stories Episode 349

    NOV 7

    Household Cost Intricacies | Stats + Stories Episode 349

    Jill Leyland represents the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) on the UK National Statistician’s “Advisory Panel on Consumer Prices – Stakeholder”. Together with John Astin she wrote the 2015 paper “Towards a Household Inflation Index” (since updated) which the ONS used as a starting point for the development of the Household Costs Indices. From 2009 to 2012 she was a Vice President of the RSS. She chaired its committee which developed RSS policy towards official statistics from 2008 to 2012 and its organising committee for the Excellence in Official Statistics Award from 2010 to 2016. Jill was awarded the Society’s West Medal for services to Official Statistics in 2018. She has been an Expert Witness on inflation measurement and is a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists. In the past she worked, among other organisations, for the World Gold Council, the OECD, the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Government Statistical Service.

    30 min
  8. No One is Poisoning Your Kids' Candy, Trust the Numbers | Stats + Stories Episode 206 (REPOST)

    OCT 31

    No One is Poisoning Your Kids' Candy, Trust the Numbers | Stats + Stories Episode 206 (REPOST)

    The costumes are ready and the annual opportunity to go out and harass your neighbors to get candy is once again upon us. Yes, it's time for Halloween. And along with Halloween comes the worry, the concern the fear that in fact, someone will be poisoning my kid’s candy. This is something that has lived with us for decades and we have someone today that will help us investigate this mystery on this episode of Stats and Short Stories with guest Joel Best. Joel Best is a Professor Of Sociology And Criminal Justice At The University Of Delaware. His writing focuses on understanding how and why we become concerned with particular issues at particular moments in time–why we find ourselves worried about road rage one year, and identity theft a year or so later. He’s written about the ways bad statistics creep into public debates, and about dubious fears, such as the mistaken belief that poisoned Halloween candy poses a serious threat to our kids. Check out his books Damned Lies and Statistics, More Damned Lies and Statistics, Stat-Spotting.

    9 min
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4.6
out of 5
34 Ratings

About

Statistics need Stories to give them meaning. Stories need Statistics to give them credibility. Every Thursday John Bailer & Rosemary Pennington get together with a new, interesting guest to bring you the Statistics behind the Stories and the Stories behind the Statistics.

Information

  • Creator
    The Stats + Stories Team
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2024
  • Episodes
    379
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Stats + Stories

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