Behind the Data
Behind the Data
Podcast Description
Data is all around us, but we spend very little time talking about where it comes from. Each week data scientist Andrea Jones-Rooy, Ph.D. brings you a story about one of the many types of datasets powering our lives. From political polls to measures of democracy, from tracking happiness to powering generative AI, join us on a journey to understand where these datasets that shape our lives actually come from, how to interpret them, and how we can use them to better understand our world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast emphasizes themes such as the importance of data in personal and societal contexts, political polling, crime statistics, democracy measurement, and personal wellness insights from data science. Episodes explore topics like how to utilize personal data for career fulfillment with guest Megan Hellerer, and the measurements of democracy with Brigitte Seim, providing listeners with practical examples of data's relevance in everyday decision-making.
Behind the Data is a podcast about the hidden stories tucked inside the data that shapes our world. From political polls to global happiness indexes, we go beyond charts and headlines to uncover where data comes from, why it’s collected, and what we can (and cannot!) learn from it. Each episode explores a fascinating dataset that helps us better understand the systems, policies, and people around us. Whether you’re new to data or work with it every day, you’ll find approachable conversations, surprising lessons for making sense of data *and life* (!!), and a reminder that every dataset reflects a choice—and a story worth telling.
Join us as we explore where data comes from—and where it can take us. Because data is about so much more than numbers — it’s how we make sense of the world.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Data about the US labor market has been all over the headlines of late — but what’s actually in these numbers? Beyond the recent political upheaval surrounding the August 1, 2025, jobs report, the process of translating complex and nuanced things like labor market activity into numbers, and then making sense of those numbers while also being mindful of long-term deeper trends that might affect those interpretations — is super fascinating and important.
In this episode we talk with Ben Casselman, Chief Economics Correspondent at the New York Times, about how to think about these numbers, how they fit into our broader understanding of the health of the economy, and some of the longer-term challenges facing our ability to collect this data going forward. It’s a fascinating conversation and Ben is incredibly thoughtful and engaging, and I’m thrilled to share it with you.
Note: This interview was recorded in January 2025, well before the August jobs report release and subsequent firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That said, this discussion of how to think about the numbers, what’s actually in them, and why economic activity can be really hard to measure — is still super relevant, if not more relevant, today. In our next episode we will address the events since August. 1 in an interview with Erica Groshen, who was the head of the BLS from 2013-17.
As ever, thanks for listening! I hope you find this conversation as helpful as I did in making sense of the news.
Follow Ben and read his work! Here he is on X and LinkedIn. And here are some of my favorite articles by him of late:
- Ben’s recent writing on jobs data reliability (referenced at the opening of this episode)
- Ben’s writeup about the precedent of firing head of BLS (fantastic article for putting current events in context)
- Ben’s article about trust in economic data (referenced towards the end of this episode)
I’m at jonesrooy.com and @jonesrooy on all the things.
Behind the Datais a podcast that uncovers the hidden stories within the data shaping our world. From political polls to global happiness trackers, we dive into the datasets that influence the decisions we make—while showing you why data isn’t just numbers, but a way to understand the world. Whether you’re a data newbie or a seasoned pro, each episode makes complex data approachable, revealing surprising insights and the human side of every dataset. Come for the discoveries, stay for the stories.
We are proud to be part of the Daily Tech News Show network of podcasts.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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