Rafael Irizarry is the author of the Leanpub book Introduction to Data Science: Data Analysis and Prediction Algorithms with R. In this interview, Leanpub co-founder Len Epp talks with Rafael about his background and how he got into statistics, the fascinating story of his participation in preparing a Harvard study on establishing a mortality rate for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria that went viral, the current debate about statistical significance in the scientific community, how statistics are changing sports, his book, and at the end, they talk a little bit about his experience as a self-published author.

This interview was recorded on March 27, 2019.

The full audio for the interview is here. You can subscribe to the Frontmatter podcast in iTunes or add the podcast URL directly.

This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.