The PolicyViz Podcast

On this week’s episode of the show, I talk with Nate Braun, author of several Python books, all having to do with sports. Nate shares his journey from having a background in economics to writing books on sports data analysis and visualization using Python. Despite not initially being skilled in coding, Braun was inspired by his work in environmental issues and modeling, leading him to develop fantasy football models and later educational books on coding and data analysis with a focus on various sports. We cover Nate’s data scraping and writing process, as well as the ins and outs of why he likes to work with Python and the various libraries he uses in his work.

• Background and Transition: Nate shares his unconventional journey from working on environmental issues to developing a niche in sports data analytics. His inspiration took root during his work on modeling the impact of the BP oil spill.
• Fantasy Football and Education: The pivot to sports began with fantasy football models. The success of these models led Nate to author books designed to educate enthusiasts on coding and data analysis, specifically tailored for those outside the computer science field.
• Challenges and Opportunities: Nate talks about the difficulties he faced entering the competitive fantasy football advice market. With the rise in betting and fantasy sports advertising, he recognizes the potential for educating people on data analysis.
• Sport-by-Sport Learning Curve: Despite not being an expert in all sports, Braun has written instructional books on a range of sports by dedicating time to write and develop new models, leveraging the success and experience gained from his initial football book.
• Data Gathering and Visualization: Our conversation delves into the varying difficulty levels of acquiring and visualizing data across sports and we highlight Nate’s use of the Python Seaborn library.
• Python Over R: Nate expresses his preference for Python due to its versatility in machine learning, data visualization, web scraping, and content creation, favoring it over R.
• Technical Deep-Dive into Web Scraping: We talk about using Python for web scraping, including dealing with JavaScript-heavy websites, and the other tools Nate uses like Beautiful Soup and Selenium.
• Future Plans: A teaser for a potential Python book on Formula One as Braun’s love for sports continues to drive his writing endeavors.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Pixasquare offers a variety of high-quality, low-cost design goods, from mockups to websites, logos, presentations, stock photos, and more. Head over to their website to learn more and grab great images for your next project!

Happy New Year and welcome back to the PolicyViz Podcast! In this first episode of 2024, I welcome welcome Sheila Pontis and Michael Babwahsingh, authors of the new book Information Design Unbound. They delve into the heart of information design, sharing their experiences in creating a pivotal resource for both students and professionals. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the ever-evolving world of design thinking and information conveyance.

Topics Discussed

• Origins of “Information Design Unbound”: Sheila and Michael discuss their drive to pen a comprehensive guide in the field of information design, recognizing the gap in educational resources for this burgeoning discipline.
• Collaborative Challenges: The duo sheds light on the difficulties they faced while integrating varied viewpoints and adhering to publishing constraints and deadlines.
• Educational Resource: With over 400 images and contributions from more than 65 experts, the book is a treasure trove of knowledge, featuring exercises and activities aimed at both new learners and seasoned practitioners.
• Design Education for Non-Designers: The authors emphasize the importance of teaching design and information design to students without a formal background in design, tailoring approaches based      on the students’ areas of study.
• Professional Team Dynamics: An exploration into the various team structures within the field of information design and how they collaborate to address complex issues.
• Evolution of Design Thinking: A shift from creating traditional design artifacts to solving complex systems and wicked problems is discussed, marking the advancement in design methodologies.
• Cultural Sensitivity in Design: The conversation highlights the crucial role of context, audience, and cultural differences when employing icons and other design elements, acknowledging that design solutions are not universally applicable.

➡️ Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Sponsor: Whisper Transcribe

Whisper Transcribeis a transcription game-changer! It turns a three-hour video into accurate, well-punctuated text in just 8 minutes, saving hours of work. Not only does it transcribe audio and video, but the underlying AI model will generate sample summaries, social media content, bullet points, and more. Check it out!

It's the final episode of 2023! I hope you have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Gulrez is a father of three beautiful kids and works as a Data Science Leader in his day job. He has almost two decades of experience under his belt and has a knack for turning boring numbers into captivating stories. When he's not busy working, you can find him passing on his skills to the next generation in the hopes of creating a world of data literate children. A strong believer in the power of data literacy, Gulrez is on a mission to improve the way people make sense of data. He's known for delivering corporate workshops that are equal parts informative and entertaining.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Sponsor: BlendJet

Use my special link (https://zen.ai/policyviz12) to save 12% at blendjet.com. The discount will be applied at checkout!

William Gray is the guy behind Floor Charts, the website and Twitter feed that documents all things graphic in the US Congress. During the day, Bill oversees the strategic communications efforts at R Street and manages its growing Communications team, including overseeing the public relations, digital and events units. He joined the organization in 2020. Previously, William was communications director at Issue One, the leading cross partisan political reform group in Washington, where he helped launch and executive produce the first conservative political reform podcast, Swamp Stories. Prior to Issue One, he managed press and negotiated news partnerships as the media relations specialist for the Center for Public Integrity, one of the oldest nonprofit investigative newsrooms in the country; and was a producer at C-SPAN, delivering daily public affairs programming and coverage of Congress and the White House to viewers around the world.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Sponsor: Nom Nom

Nom Nom delivers fresh food made with whole ingredients, backed by veterinary science. And science tells us that dog health starts in the bowl so improving their diet is one of the best ways to help them live a long, happy life. All you have to do is order, pour and serve.

Try Nom Nom today, go to Nom Nom and get 50% off your first order plus free shipping with the code policyviz

Andrea Pacini is the author of the best-selling book Confident Presenter, a presentation coach and Head of Ideas on Stage UK. He specializes in working with business owners, leaders and their teams who want to become more confident presenters. Since 2010 Ideas on Stage has worked with thousands of clients around the world, including organizations like Microsoft, Spotify, eBay, The World Bank and over 500 TEDx speakers. Andrea is on a mission to stop great ideas from failing just because of the way they are presented. His vision is to help hundreds of thousands of business leaders inspire their audiences, increase their influence, and make a positive impact in the world.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Sponsor: Nom Nom

Nom Nom delivers fresh food made with whole ingredients, backed by veterinary science. And science tells us that dog health starts in the bowl so improving their diet is one of the best ways to help them live a long, happy life. All you have to do is order, pour and serve.

Try Nom Nom today, go to Nom Nom and get 50% off your first order plus free shipping with the code policyviz.

Tomas Pueyo is the author of Uncharted Territories, a newsletter where he tries to deeply understand how the world works to understand where it's going and nudge it in the right direction. He became world viral with his COVID articles, notably The Hammer and the Dance. He has 75,000 readers, and 300,000 on Twitter. Before Uncharted Territories, he has worked in tech companies in Silicon Valley for 15 years.

Sponsor: Maryland Institute College of Art

MICA’s Master of Professional Studies degrees offer intensive, online education designed to develop both creative and professional skills. Now accepting applications for the spring, summer, and fall semesters.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Running your own data literacy and data consulting shop is no easy task. And helping customers not only build better visualizations and dashboards, but helping them create a better (or new) data culture is even harder. But Serena Roberts and her team at Moxy Analytics has been fighting that good fight for a few years now. Serena and I talk about what Moxy is up to, how to build better data teams, getting over imposter syndrome, and much, much more.

MICA’s Master of Professional Studies degrees offer intensive, online education designed to develop both creative and professional skills. Now accepting applications for the spring, summer, and fall semesters.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Creating data visualizations in the physical world is not a new phenomenon. Humans have been drawing on walls, tallying money and crops, and carving on stone tablets for thousands of years. Today, though the practice of data visualization is largely done in the digital world, there is an exciting area of working in the physical space--the real world, as it were--to create, share, and communicate data and information. That brings us to the exciting new book, Making with Data, that provides a snapshot of the diverse practices contemporary creators are using to produce objects, spaces, and experiences imbued with data. In this week's episode of the podcast, I chat with the editors of the book to get their take on this exciting field.

Nom Nom delivers fresh food made with whole ingredients, backed by veterinary science. And science tells us that dog health starts in the bowl so improving their diet is one of the best ways to help them live a long, happy life. All you have to do is order, pour and serve.

Try Nom Nom today, go to Nom Nom and get 50% off your first order plus free shipping with the code policyviz.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Welcome back to a whole new season of the PolicyViz Podcast! I'm excited to bring you a whole new exciting slate of guests this year covering a huge array of data visualization and data communication strategies, technologies, and techniques.

Maureen Stone (Tableau Research) has been involved with Tableau since 2004, when she was asked to design the initial data colors for Tableau 1.5. She joined the company in late 2011 and became a founding member of the Research Team in 2012. As a member of Tableau Research, she continued her work on optimizing the use of color in visualization.  She served as research director (2017-2021), and has recently retired (June, 2022). While best known for her expertise in digital color, she has a broad experience in information visualization, interactive graphics and user interface design. She is a member of the IEEE VGTC Visualization Academy and the author of A Field Guide to Digital Color.

Nom Nom delivers fresh food made with whole ingredients, backed by veterinary science. And science tells us that dog health starts in the bowl so improving their diet is one of the best ways to help them live a long, happy life. All you have to do is order, pour and serve.

Try Nom Nom today, go to Nom Nom and get 50% off your first order plus free shipping with the code policyviz.

Check out more links, notes, transcript, and more at the PolicyViz website.

Nigel Holmes is a British/American graphic designer, author, and theorist, who focuses on information graphics and information design. Graduating from Royal College of Art in London in 1966, Holmes ran his own successful graphic design practice in England. From 1966 to 1977, he worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer for clients such as British Broadcasting Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and Island Records. His work appeared in New Scientist, Radio Times, The Observer, Daily Telegraph, and The Times. In 1977, art director Walter Bernard hired him to work in the map and chart department of Time magazine, where Holmes later became graphics director. After a sabbatical he started his own company, which has explained things to and for a wide variety of clients, including Apple, Fortune, Nike, The Smithsonian Institution, Sony, United Healthcare, US Airways, and Visa.

See links, notes, transcript and more at the PolicyViz website.