Make Me Data Literate

"one of the other things that sometimes gets said is that qualitative research is subjective because it's based on people's thoughts and perceptions And to that I guess I'd say well, you know to a degree is but I don't think there's any approach at all in research that doesn't involve subjectivity"

Taking a different tack with this episode, a wonderful chat with the remarkable Mark Stickells, AM, CEO of Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, on AI and the role of Humanities in STEM. “I fundamentally believe knowledge is a human insight. And we work with these tools that are incredibly powerful, but can be incredibly stupid.” “We… Continue reading Mark Stickells on AI & the role of Humanities in STEM

A fantastic conversation with Quantum Computing specialist and all round fascinating thinker, Dr Pascal Elahi. The worst data mistakes I’ve seen, besides let’s say using obviously biased data to prove a result you want is also usually, uh having data, and being like I’m gonna ignore the bits that contradict the answer I want to… Continue reading Pascal Elahi on Quantum Computing, the value of a broad education, and a lot more!

I might ask the same questions every time, but there’s no knowing where the conversations will go! A fabulous episode with the incredible Dr Katherine Ross. Check it out! “So I think my favorite part about data is that it is completely unpredictable. And that may also be my least favorite part about it.” “That’s… Continue reading Dr Kat Ross on Astrophysics, Bias in Science, and Including Diverse Scientists in Education

Amazing conversation with Dr Emily Kahl from Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, on everything from the need for a humanities education in STEM, the application of Marxist and Feminist Lenses to Data Science, and a whole lot more. This was an absolute delight. Check it out! “I wanted to use the tools of maths and science… Continue reading Dr Emily Kahl on pretty much everything!

A super interesting episode with Professor Darren Mansfield on sleep, data, and sleep tracking devices. “imagine if you go and run a one hour documentary on something that’s inconclusive. Here’s all the evidence for you is the evidence against and we can’t really don’t know. That’s not great television.” ” the truth is not always… Continue reading Darren Mansfield on Sleep, Data, and Sleep Tracking Devices

Dr Sarah Beecroft from Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre “it’s fun. Like you, you know, uncovering kind of the deeper insights, I think, which is quite interesting as well. You’re getting closer to the bigger story or the deeper story if you want to look at it that way. ” “you kind of need to like… Continue reading Sarah Beecroft on Bioinformatics and the joy of puzzles

Well it’s been a long time between episodes, but we’re back! And wow, have we got some amazing guests lined up. Starting off with, not so much a bang as a fast radio burst, we have Dr Sarah Pearce, Director of the SKA Low telescope. “Science is a human endeavour. And no matter how kind… Continue reading Sarah Pearce on the SKA Low

​​​​A fantastic conversation with Ray Hilton. “on its own, like data is relatively inert and doesn’t really have much value – like the value comes from what you do with it and how you interpret it. And it can obviously be interpreted in many different ways. “ “It’s not just the fact you’ve identified these people.… Continue reading Ray Hilton on AI & Deep Tech

"Every decision that we make, whether we're thinking about climate change, poverty, you know happiness, agriculture... how do we feed everyone, how do we clothe them, all of that is underpinned by data and mathematics.

"The rise of populism has been substantial across the advanced world, indeed across developing countries as well. So those of us who believe in data need to be strong proponents of the publication of those data even when it produces results that make us uncomfortable.

"We do not teach people that making mistakes is not just right, but it's the only way of learning. It's the only way of becoming better." Honestly, I want to turn this whole episode into pull quotes! Go listen!

"So like while we would never believe that if we saw a stone rolling down a mountain, that if we all just stared at it and willed it back up the hill, it would do that, we do tend to believe that if we all individually do our part for the environment or ask people to just individually act that because people want that to be so and want that to work, that it just will, we believe that if we give people more information than then somehow just spontaneously they will change their behaviour, which really is quite fanciful."

Fiona Tweedie: data governance is not a topic that gets a lot of love. people yeah switch off when they hear it, but it really is the makes a huge amount of difference to what you're able to do with data (and not just avoiding big regulator fines)

Mark Gray on technology. "people have developed a kind of implicit trust in the way that technology works. And I think partly it's because they don't actually understand how it works. And so, they just choose to trust it. I mean, I've got a lot of experience in programming. ...I would not trust a computer-driven car to not hurt me."

"Behind every business problem is a human being with some kind of need. And if we understand that, we can solve it and increasingly now every business is a data driven business, but you can't let data be the only thing you need to, we need to focus in on the human problems we're trying to solve. And that's probably one of the things that is making me really think about this AI revolution that's happening now. And a lot of people seem to be putting forward crazy solutions and not keeping the human being with a real problem and real needs in mind with their solutions."

A truly thought provoking conversation about data and accessibility with an amazing Software Engineer and Accessibility Expert & Advocate, Larene Le Gassick. "The most popular statistic that is shared about disability is that, you know, if you don't consider accessibility in the web or in mobile apps, you are excluding at least 20% of folks who might have some form of disability."

"I've gone from just not reading the media release, to not even caring what their numbers are and actually finding my own numbers. Which is always a fun thing, because you find things that you haven't looked at in the past and think 'oh, this is something new and cool.'"

RD:"Why aren't we collecting the data? Because they don't want to admit failure. They don't want to make it easy for me to tell you what the cost to GDP of this heroic approach to covid has been."

"I remember my first day at university, I was one of those overly friendly people who introduced myself to everyone in a lecture theatre of a thousand and never saw those people again. I remember sitting there in that first term, one of the lecturers did say 'just be aware. we are another species, we're an animal, but the data would suggest that we're not going to be as successful as the dinosaurs.'"

Antony Green is well known as the ABC's Election Data Specialist, and he generously shared his time and expertise in a wide ranging conversation about the statistics of elections, how stats are misused, and what he wishes everyone knew about data. Turns out there's a vast amount of preparation that goes into those fascinating election night broadcasts.

Michael Franklin is a Software Engineer at the Centre for Population Genomics, and a former student of mine. This was a really interesting chat that roamed all over the place! Have a listen.

This is an infuriating interview with Polly Hemming, Senior Researcher at The Australia Institute. Polly is amazing, but the interview is infuriating because of the outright deceit practiced in the field of Climate Data and Carbon Credits. I kept wanting to stop the interview to scream and throw things. An enlightening, fascinating, and enraging conversation!

"Particularly in the Indigenous context, We're really keen to unpack this notion of research objectivity or independence. To make the point that the person who's doing the evaluation/data analysis really brings their own social and cultural baggage to that question. So on that basis we're trying to make the case that it's important for Indigenous people to be leading that work. That argument is difficult to get across in certain settings."

This is a great chat about critical thinking and the importance of scepticism in Data Science, and the importance of data and scientific literacy around the world. Check it out!

An amazing conversation with Neuroscientist Associate Professor Nic Price from Monash University, who has a lot to say about the way we teach science, how we can understand the brain, and how we need to get comfortable with uncertainty. Check it out!

An amazing chat that ranged over the power of data storytelling, the impact of scientific fraud, and how to stay positive in the face of environmental catastrophe, Professor Euan Ritchie is a remarkable science communicator, an Ecologist, and a seriously lovely human being. "Data is power and knowledge, and if we have good data it gives us opportunities to make better decisions, and make choices between different decisions, about which decision might be the best, and the most effective, and the most efficient."

"The first thing I think [about graphs] is: what story am I supposed to believe when I see this? What are they trying to make me think? And then immediately, once you understand 'oh they want me to think that it's really big, or it's going down really quick, this pattern is abnormal…' then I immediately think 'what other stories also fit that data?'"

"So economics calls itself the science of the efficient allocation of resources. It tells itself that we help answer the question of what to produce, when to produce, and for whom to produce… but there's nothing in economics that says we shouldn't collect more tax and have a health system that's as good as the Nordic countries. There's nothing in economics that says that we should cut taxes for high income earners and spend less on aged care. These are choices."

"It's actually interesting to observe the things people are trying to do with data as a way of assessing our civilisational maturity."

"The pandemic has shown us that we can act quickly and dramatically for other people, with a positive outcome. We saw a problem, we thought 'oh no, we have to do something about this problem, let's change the way we behave'… that's what we need for climate change."

It's this really tense balance between the side that treats data as if it's almost reality itself, it's so accurate and precise, and empirical, that it's almost like you're holding the real world in your hand… on the other hand you have the overly sceptical side which is basically someone who has been burnt in the past, like they looked at the background and history of some data and found it was full of caveats. I wish everybody knew about the constantly evolving and shifting tension between those two extremes.

Mel is a data advocate, designer, storyteller, maker and founder of Nook Studios. This episode is a fascinating look at the case for Open Data, Government Transparency, and accessible Data Story Telling. “I think there’s a lot of work to be done and there’s a lot more impetus now, because the public have that awareness… Continue reading Mel Flanagan on Open Data and Data Storytelling

“I love that the thing that I work on is actually so consequential to better decision making, to solving real world problems. To understanding and evaluating forces in our world. I just love that I’m part of a way of making a difference that has applications in so many settings.” “How do we start to… Continue reading Ellen Broad talks Cybernetics, Data Science, and Life.

A fascinating conversation with Government Statistician Dr Owen Churches. How government data collection can shape policy and change our understanding of the world. "It's worth spending time thinking about the problems, and struggling with them a little bit. The closer you get to the data, the less clear things should be."

Alan Duffy talks Data Literacy and Astronomy. "We are so keen to get into problem solving mode and we don't spend enough considered time checking and cleaning the data, because that's not as much fun as training a machine learning algorithm and seeing what it comes out with. "

An amazing conversation with Juliette O'Brien, founder and maintainer of covid19data.com.au - one of the most important sources of Australian Covid19 data and graphs since the very beginning of the pandemic.

Make Me Data Literate kicks off with an interview with Professor Adrian Esterman, Epidemiologist and Biostatistician. One of the big problems with experts, whether economic experts or any other sort of science expert, is that they have a lot of trouble bringing their conversation down to the level of the general public. It's not their fault, it's what they're taught.