Welcome to the Season 10 finale of the PolicyViz Podcast. I can’t believe I’ve been doing this podcast for 10 years! I’m truly grateful to all my guests and all my listeners who have been tuning in and, hopefully, have learned a lot about data, data visualization, presentation skills, and more. As I sign off for the summer, I hope you are able to take a break and get a bit of rest. In this final episode of the season, I welcome Nancy Organ to the show to discuss her new book Data Visualization for People of All Ages. Nancy’s book aims to make dataviz accessible to everyday readers. Our convers ..read more

Giorgia Lupi joins the show to discuss her work in data visualization, her journey from Accurat studios to Pentagram, and how she takes a human-centric perspective to working with and communicating data. Giorgia shares her experience with long COVID, explaining how she collected her own data to better explore and understand her illness. She advocates for engaging storytelling through visual design, exploring approaches beyond traditional bar and pie charts. Our conversation also focuses on her new book, This is Me and Only Me. The book encourages kids to observe and collect data to understand ..read more

Nathan Yau’s Flowing Data website was one of the first data visualization websites I discovered in my own data journey. With his new book, Visualize This, now out, I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk with Nathan about his work, his book, and how his own approach to data has evolved over the last several years. The new edition of Visualize This enriches readers with modern techniques and examples, focusing on effectively learning data visualization by exploring different data types and designing for clear communication, even for those without a formal design background. Nathan emp ..read more

Summary Welcome to a solo episode! In this special episode of the podcast, I talk about the recen Tableau Customer conference in San Diego, which drew over 9,000 participants. I reflect on various aspects of the conference, including its diverse sessions that ranged from showcasing new Tableau features and case studies to hands-on workshops and discussions on data visualization beyond Tableau. I was a presenter at TC and presented my work on the Urban Institute’s Do No Harm Project. My review of the conference focuses just on the positives of the conference—the upcoming features in Tableau, su ..read more

Summary You know Enrico Bertini, right? Writer, teacher, co-host of the Data Stories podcast, Enrico does it all. Now at Northeastern University, I invited Enrico to the show to talk about his research, great Substack newsletter, and for views on the evolving landscape of data visualization on social media. In our discussion, Enrico emphasized the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration at Northeastern University. He has some concerns about the current state of visualization theory and tools and talks about his ideas around “critical data thinking” as a crucial way of thinking about da ..read more

Summary On this week’s episode of the podcast, I speak to author and teacher Nick Desbarats about his new book, Practical Charts: The Essential Guide to Creating Clear, Compelling Charts for Reports and Presentations.  Our conversation covers choosing appropriate chart types, emphasizing simplicity and clarity, and understanding when to use different formats. Nick aims to challenge dogmatic views on charts, such as the use of pie charts, and stresses the importance of catering to the audience’s familiarity with graph types. Our chat also includes insights on transitioning to online teachi ..read more

Summary In this week’s episode of the PolicyViz Podcast, I interview Rahul Bhargava from Northeastern University on the topic of data physicalization. We discuss the role of community engagement and societal impact in communicating data and including different people and communities. Our conversation touches upon teaching combined majors at Northeastern and expanding data engagement through Rahul’s participatory art methods. We explore the limitations of visual learning and advocate for including diverse voices via data sculptures and embodied experiences. Topics Discussed Inclusivity in Data ..read more

Summary Amanda Makulec is the current Executive Director of the Data Visualization Society (DVS), and in this week’s episode of the PolicyViz Podcast, we discuss her journey and the DVS’s evolution as it approaches its fifth anniversary. Amanda shares her experience starting as a volunteer all the way to leading the entire organization. With her second term coming to an end, she emphasizes the importance of term limits and her commitment to ensuring the organization’s sustainability by focusing on operational systems, finances, compliance, and community responsiveness. Topics Discussed Leader ..read more

Summary In this week’s episode of the podcast, I welcome author, speaker, and professor Alberto Cairo to the show. We discuss his most recent book, The Art of Insight, and our conversation extends to acquiring reliable data and challenges people across the world face in creating useful and accessible data visualizations. We also discuss the current state of social media as it relates to the data visualization community and Alberto contemplates the future landscape for both the community and data-related conferences in a post-pandemic world. Topics Discussed The Quest for Reliable Data: Albert ..read more

Summary In this week’s episode, we delve into the pivotal role of visual clarity in scientific research. Join me and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology Maarten Boers as we discuss his new book, Data Visualization for Biomedical Scientists. If you are at all interested in being a better science communicator—and especially if you are interested in publishing your work in academic journals—this episode is for you! We talk about how Maarten’s book extends beyond the world of biomedical science into good table design, small multiples, and how academic publishing needs to get its act in order. Topic ..read more