The Data Journalism Podcast

Doug Smith is a reporter at the Los Angeles Times who’s been with the paper for over 50 years. He was also the database editor there from 2004 to 2015. We sat down with him at NICAR to talk about what’s changed in journalism over his time in the industry, and what he’s working on today. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Ben Welsh is the news applications editor at Reuters . He joins the hosts to discuss his and Scott’s recent article, “ Journalism lost its culture of sharing: Here’s how we rebuild it .” They share the ways they’ve seen open source culture change over time, and advice for increased collaboration across newsrooms. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this epi...

Greg Morton is the data editor for The Baltimore Banner . His story, “ Transit nightmare: Thousands of Baltimore kids can’t get to school on time ” won first place at the 2025 Philip Meyer Awards. We sat down with him at NICAR to go behind the scenes on the project. Special thanks to the NICAR team for all of their support! The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠...

Our very own Simon Rogers is coming out with a book on May 5th! It’s called “What We Ask Google: A Surprisingly Hopeful History of Humankind.” Scott and Alberto got a chance to ask him all about the research and writing process, as well as what Simon hopes people take away from the book. You can preorder it now on the Penguin Random House website , or wherever you get your books. Work mentioned in...

The Data Journalism Podcast went live at the NICAR conference ! On March 7, Simon, Scott and Alberto spoke with the team behind ProPublica’s Meyer Award-winning series, “ Life of the Mother .” Reporter Andrea Suozzo and Deputy Data Editor Hannah Fresques go behind-the-scenes on their investigation into preventable deaths after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Plus, a montage of mini-inter...

The Open Visualization Academy is a new open-access education project, spearheaded by our very own Alberto Cairo! It launched last month, and two of the other instructors, Hannah Dormido and Frank Elavsky , join us to talk about their courses. Check out the project at openvisualizationacademy.org . The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , represents...

MaryJo Webster is data editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune. She joins Alberto, Scott and Simon to talk about her team’s ongoing coverage of federal immigration troops deployed in Minnesota. They discuss analyzing data in a breaking news environment, and what reporters in other places can learn from the Star Tribune’s approach. Subscribe to the Minnesota Star Tribune to read more of their coverage...

As a new year begins, Alberto, Scott and Simon reflect on the broader state of the industry. They discuss dataviz favorites from 2025, what they're working on in 2026, and thoughts on the upcoming year in data journalism. Work mentioned in the episode: Computation + Journalism conference "Organ Transplant System 'in Chaos' as Waiting Lists Are Ignored" "The Legislative N...

The Trans News Initiative is a new project that tracks and analyzes news coverage of trans communities in the U.S. Our very own Alberto Cairo helped create it, and this week we're joined by three other guests who made it happen: Kae Petrin, Caitlyn Ralph, and Jan Diehm. Check it out at ⁠TransNewsInitiative.org⁠ . Caitlyn Ralph is the studio director and partner at Polygraph , The Pudding '...

The Straits Times is Singapore’s most widely read print newspaper, and its online presence is full of innovative data visualization projects. Our guests this week — Charlene Chua, Hannah Ong, and Stephanie Adeline — are three of the young journalists making it happen. They join us to discuss their work and how the Straits Times became such a powerhouse of data journalism. Charlene Chua , Hannah On...

Not since Ross Perot’s famous TV presentations using cardboard charts have we had a national figure who uses data visualization props quite like Donald Trump. This week, Philip Bump joins Scott and Simon to talk about Trump’s use of data, and how politicians more generally approach information visuals. Plus, they discuss Philip’s background, how he measures success as a solo blogger, and the futur...

Data analysis is at an inflection point, with new technologies entering the field, and increasingly more practitioners working outside of journalism. This week, Alberto, Simon and Scott reflect on how they got into data journalism, and what’s changed over the years. They discuss how each of their career paths took them into newsrooms — and then out of them again — and identify key takeaways for th...

Outlier is a one-of-a-kind conference, held annually by the Data Visualization Society. This year it was hosted at the University of Miami, where our very own Alberto gave the closing keynote. In this special episode, Scott and Simon chat with Alberto about the conference, his keynote, and the state of the data visualization industry today. Check out Alberto's presentation here to learn more a...

“ 40 Acres and a Lie ” tells the true story behind the Civil War–era “40 acres and a mule” program. It was the result of over two years of painstaking research by Alexia Fernández Campbell , April Simpson and Pratheek Rebala . The project won a Sigma Award and a Philip Meyer Data Journalism Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting. Alexia, April and Pratheek join A...

Cheryl Phillips  is Hearst Professional in Residence at Stanford University’s journalism program, and founder of  Big Local News , which empowers journalists with data – and has twice been on Pulitzer prize winning news teams. Now she has devoted herself to empowering journalists with access to the data they need to tell great stories. She joins Alberto, Scott and Simon to discuss the state of pub...

Chiqui Esteban is Design & Art Director at the Washington Post Opinion section. In the first episode with new co-host Scott Klein , he talks to us about the lessons he's learned during his amazing career, from his early days as a student at a famous visual journalism program in Spain all the way to running the Washington Post’s graphics desk, one of the best in the world —and beyond. Chiqu...

It was a year in which a Presidential candidate said a chart saved his life, generative AI changed journalism and we worried about whether the field is getting less innovative. Scott Klein is an entrepreneur in residence at Newspack, helping publishers on WordPress and other platforms do great election coverage by building and adopting innovative tools and by working together. He was previously at...

David Spiegelhalter is Emeritus Professor of Statistics in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge and author of new book The Art of Uncertainty We live in chaotic times and David makes that world a little clearer with humour and clarity in this special interview with Alberto and Simon. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ,⁠ made with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ , comes from David, and...

Kae Petrin is a data and graphics reporting at Chalkbeat , Votebeat, and Healthbeat, where they produce stories on education and voting rights. Kae is also a co-founder and part of the leadership of the Trans Journalists Association . In the episode we discuss Kae's work, their view of beat-centric news organizations, and the challenges of K-12 education data. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠...

Garrett Archer is the data analyst at ABC15 in Phoenix, Arizona, where he is a data storyteller and one of the foremost experts on Arizona's election system. As America votes, Garrett will be responsible for reporting the facts in one of the most tightly-fought US elections for decades. Find out how he approaches election data, what makes it different to polling reporting and what will happen...

Sisi Wei is the Chief Impact Officer at CalMatters & The Markup, based in New York. Sisi founded the  DEI Coalition For Anti-Racist, Equitable, And Just Newsrooms and was the Assistant Managing Editor at ProPublica. She has also won the   Gwen Ifill Award. Alberto chats with Sisi about her work and how she approaches telling stories with data. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠ ⁠,⁠ made with ⁠⁠⁠⁠...

Garance Burke is a global investigative reporter for the Associated Press, with a focus on reporting around Artificial Intelligence. She wrote the chapter of the AP style guide around reporting on AI and leads a team which works with data to tell stories every day. She joins Simon and Alberto to discuss the implications for data journalism. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠music this episode⁠ ⁠,⁠ made with ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone...

How does the Pulitzer Center create such great data journalism? Alberto and Simon are joined by Doménica Montaño , the Center's program coordinator for environmental investigations. Working with terrific data journalists like director Gustavo Faleiros and Kuek Ser Kuang Keng , the team produces groundbreaking data work. Doménica explains what it takes to make that work come to life. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠ m...

Dan Kopf and Nami Sumida join Simon and Alberto to discuss how the SF Chronicle tells data stories, such as Sumida's recent exploration of the city's Japantown (sub required) and the WW2 internment that nearly destroyed it. The team discuss what makes the Bay Area such a rich source of data journalism and how the Chron approaches it each day. The⁠ ⁠⁠ music this episode ,⁠ made with ⁠⁠ ⁠Two...

Anna Brand is the Managing Editor for Data and Graphics at CNN Digital. She chats with Simon and Alberto about building a data journalism team at the news outlet, explains how it works and what inspires her. The⁠ ⁠ music this week⁠⁠, made with ⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠ , is based on the data behind this CNN Digital story about Halloween candy.