Podcast
You may think of R as a tool for complex statistical analysis, but it's much more than that. From data visualization to efficient reporting, to improving your workflow, R can do it all. On this podcast, I talk with people about how they use R in unique and creative ways.
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 19: Crystal Lewis
October 10, 2024
In this episode, I chat with Crystal Lewis about data management and her book titled ‘ Data Management in Large-Scale Education Research ’. Crystal, a freelance research data management consultant, shares insights on good planning and systematic implementation of practices that are key to effective data management. She discusses the importance of automated data validation, and outlines a structured approach to data cleaning. Additionally, Crystal reflects on her experience writing an...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 18: Miles McBain
August 29, 2024
In this episode, I speak with Miles McBain, a data scientist and R package developer from Brisbane, Australia, about patterns and anti-patterns in data analysis reuse. Miles shares his journey from a generalist software developer to a data science specialist, his passion for R, and the evolution of his coding practices. We delve into the intricacies of code reuse in data analysis, discussing common pitfalls to avoid, the benefits of creating reusable code packages, the process of breaking...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 17: Meghan Harris
July 25, 2024
In this episode, I speak with Meghan Harris, a data scientist at the Prostate Cancer Trials Consortium at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Meghan is one of the special people who do generative art in R. She talks about why she likes making generative art in R and how it has helped her improve her R skills in other areas. Listen to the Audio Version Watch the Video Version You can also watch the conversation on YouTube. In the video version, Meghan gives a walkthrough of how to make...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 16: Cara Thompson
June 13, 2024
In this episode, I speak with Cara Thompson about color, delving into several aspects of its use in data visualization. Cara is a UK-based data visualization consultant with over 15 years of experience in transforming data insights into clear, compelling visual stories. We explore how she finds inspiration for selecting colors, her reasons for not simply using organizations' brand colors in her visualizations, and the importance of dedicating time to thoughtfully consider color choices in...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 15: Nicola Rennie
May 15, 2024
In this episode, I talk with Nicola Rennie about making data viz for mobile devices. Nicola is a lecturer in health data science based within the Center for Health Informatics, Computing, and Statistics at Lancaster University in the UK. She recounts her initial encounter with R and how she got deeper into data visualization in R as a means of creative expression. Amidst the plethora of programming languages available, Nicola sheds light on why she chose R specifically for data visualization....
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 14: Will Landau
April 17, 2024
In this episode, I’m joined by Will Landau, a statistician and software developer currently working with Eli Lilly and Company. Will specializes in Bayesian methods, high-performance computing, and reproducible workflows. He is the creator of the {targets} R package, a pipeline tool for reproducible computation in statistics and data science. The package became part of ROpenSci in early 2021. Will talks about his journey into R and using it for open source projects. He gives a detailed...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 13: Ahmadou Dicko
March 20, 2024
In this episode, I talk with Ahmadou Dicko, a statistician based in Senegal working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Ahmadou shares insights on utilizing data-driven approaches to address development obstacles, especially within humanitarian settings. He explores the innovative packages and strategies developed by his team using R for data management, analysis, and communication. Among these innovations is robotoolbox , an extensive R package designed for...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 12: Chris Knox
June 6, 2023
In this episode, I speak with Chris Knox, who is currently the Head of Data Journalism at the New Zealand Herald. Prior to that, he worked at the New Zealand ministry of health, where he led an analytics team focused on New Zealand's COVID response. During our conversation, Chris highlights why he considers R as the optimal tool for data analysis and reporting, especially when dealing with frequently changing data sources and parameters. He also emphasizes the benefits of using R in a...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 11: Garrick Aden-Buie and Travis Gerke
May 23, 2023
In this episode, Travis Gerke and Garrick Aden-Buie join me to demystify the process behind developing custom packages in R. Travis is the Director of Data Science at The Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC), and Garrick is a Data Science Educator and R developer at R Studio. During the discussion, Travis and Garrick highlight the numerous benefits of having a custom package, including making it easier to access data, automation & documentation of functions, and enhanced...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 10: Kyle Walker
May 9, 2023
In this episode, I speak with Kyle Walker, Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the Center for Urban Studies at Texas Christian University. Kyle has developed several packages, but the one we talk about in this chat is called tidycensus. tidycensus allows R users to return Census and ACS data as tidyverse-ready data frames. Kyle had a rough start with R programming and he didn’t want anything to do with it for 3 years. What made him come back to R and become one of its renowned...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 9: Meghan Harris
May 9, 2023
In this episode, I speak with Meghan Harris, a data integration specialist at the Primary Care Research Institute, University of Buffalo. There, she brings together data from multiple sources to create insights that benefit people affected by opioid use disorder. Meghan talks about how she uses R to pull data directly from Google Sheets, and highlights the advantages of this workflow as opposed to working on a manually downloaded Google Sheets file. Fun fact: When Meghan is not creating data...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 8: Matt Herman
April 25, 2023
In this episode, I chat with Matt Herman about building websites in R. Matt shares lessons from his experience building a self-updating Covid-19 tracking site for Westchester County. Matt is a Data Scientist at the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, where he focuses on research and policy analysis. Matt has created automated and reproducible workflows to generate outcome measures and performance indicators for several projects within the justice system. Connect with Matt:...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 7: Silvia Canelón
April 18, 2023
In this episode, I talk with Silvia Canelón, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. Silvia why she loves using xaringan to create captivating, audience-friendly presentations directly from R markdown . Making presentations with R Markdown not only saves her time, but also eases the stress associated with updating and distributing presentations. Learn more about Silvia by visiting her website ....
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 6: Aaron R. Williams, Livia Mucciolo and Safia Sayed
April 5, 2023
In this episode, I talk with Aaron R. Williams, Livia Mucciolo and Safia Sayed about their experience using parameterized reporting to make State Fiscal Briefs. They discuss their approach and share advice for those contemplating parameterized reporting. Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn and Twitter , Livia on LinkedIn , and Safia on LinkedIn . Learn More If you want to receive emails when we publish new podcast episodes, sign up for the R for the Rest of Us newsletter . And if you're ready to...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 5: Alison Hill
February 20, 2023
In this episode, I talk R Markdown with Alison Hill, the Director of Knowledge at Voltron Data. Before taking on this position, she held data science and education positions at IBM and RStudio. Alison has a passion for helping individuals improve the efficiency, accuracy, and reproducibility of their work through the use of R Markdown. During our chat, she shares her personal journey of learning R and the benefits of using R Markdown. You can learn more about Alison's work on her website ....
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 4: Abdoul Madjid
January 5, 2023
In this episode I speak with Abdoul Madjid about his journey to R. To learn more about Abdoul, you can find him on Twitter and on Mastodon . His data visualization, done as part of Tidy Tuesday , is on GitHub . Learn More If you want to receive emails when we publish new podcast episodes, sign up for the R for the Rest of Us newsletter . And if you're ready to learn R, check out our courses . Audio Version Video Version The video version has a walkthrough of how he made his COVID-19 map using...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 3: Tom Mock
December 13, 2022
In this episode, I speak with Tom Mock. Tom works at Posit (formerly RStudio) where he helped customers use that company's suite of products. Tom also loves building tables. I spoke with Tom about how he learned R, how he uses it today, and why he is so into making tables in R. You can connect with Tom on Twitter . Learn More If you want to receive emails when we publish new podcast episodes, sign up for the R for the Rest of Us newsletter . And if you're ready to learn R, check out our...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 2: Nassos Stylianou and Clara Guibourg
November 8, 2022
In 2017, BBC data journalist Nassos Stylianou was working with a backend developer on a particularly large data set. Nassos was primarily an Excel user at the time, but this data was too large for Excel. Seeing the developer work through the data with ease, a light bulb went off for Stylianou: if he and his data journalism team learned to use R, they could do this type of analysis on their own. This realization began a journey into R. This journey, which started with needing to analyze data...
R for the Rest of Us Podcast Episode 1: Cédric Scherer and Georgios Karamanis
August 22, 2022
In this first episode of the R for the Rest of Us podcast, I speak with designers Cédric Scherer and Georgios Karamanis about how they learned data viz, why they use R for their work, and how they get inspired. To learn more about Cédric, find him on Twitter . Georgios is on Twitter as well. Learn More If you want to receive emails when we publish new podcast episodes, sign up for the R for the Rest of Us newsletter . And if you're ready to learn R, check out our courses . Audio Version Video...