Listening to a podcast keeps me focussed like nothing else, hence perfect for reflection and learning. Usually, I do some unsophisticated knitting next to it or I plug in my earphones while walking to work.
Here is a list of my preferred podcasts.
R & stats & data science
Podcasts that touch on R, statistics or data science:
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Not So Standard Deviations: Entertaining chit chat - uplifting and enlightening. See below why this is my favorite.
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Credibly Curious by Saskia Freytag and Nicholas Tierney is all about R: They manage to get these technical bits into a podcast!
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The Corresponding Author by Stephanie Hicks and John Muschelli: About academic data science. The podcast I’d wish I’d had during my PhD.
My absolute favorite is Not So Standard Deviations by Hilary Parker and Roger Peng. Both born to talk. They can turn something seemingly banal into an exciting topic. Every time you think “now they will run out of topics” they come up with an existential question. Mostly, their hour-long by-weekly episodes feel like you are listening in to a conversation between them. Their coffee discussions are in a way pointless but make 100% sense to me. Through their podcast, I got to know one of my other favorite podcasts (Sticky Notes). The best thing - they giggle so much that if you feel a little down, you will be cheered up in no time!
There are a bunch of other podcasts I have not started listening to but should:
- Casual inference by Ellie Murray and Lucy D’Agostino McGowan.
- R podcast by Eric Nantz.
- Tidy Tuesday Podcast by Jon Harmon.
See also this list for a comprehensive overview. There are tons of analytics podcasts out there. Best is to listen in and see if you like them.
Science podcasts
Most of us data scientists or statisticians have some domain we work in. Mines are health and academia. So here are the podcasts that touch on that:
- Mosaic Science Podcast from the Wellcome Trust (basically articles about their research read by someone).
- Everything Hertz by Dan Quintana and James Heathers (I particularly like their interviews, loved this one with Kristin Sainani).
I used to listen to Science Disrupt too.
Work-related podcast
The Broad Experience by Ashley Milne-Tyte. Aiming at working women, but many topics apply to anyone. My favorite: Episodes 128 and 129 on Negotiation.
Podcast wishlist
I am still waiting that someone starts a podcast about statistical genetics or genetic epidemiology. Nothing hard-core, just diving into methods.
Thanks to the podcasters for the entertainment and Maëlle Salmon for the gentle push to write up this blog post.
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