Stats + Stories
Education & Explainer
About
Statistics need Stories to give them meaning. Stories need Statistics to give them credibility. Every Thursday John Bailer & Rosemary Pennington get together with a new, interesting guest to bring you the Statistics behind the Stories and the Stories behind the Statistics.
Episodes
- Building Statistical Capacity in Africa | Stats + Stories Episode 386
In order to promote the economic and social development of countries, you have to be clear about what economic and social development even means and how you'll measure these concepts. This is where official statistics excels. Many nations…
- The Etymology of the Word Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 248 (REPOST)
In the late 1600s, a book was published satirizing politics in Europe. Published two decades after the end of the 30 Years’ War, it focuses on the power of the Holy Roman Empire. That book’s impact on statistics is the focus of this episod…
- Odds of the Derby | Stats + Stories Episode 385
With the arrival of spring, anticipation grows for the start of horse racing in the United States. The pinnacle of success in the sport is achieved by a horse that will win each leg of the Triple Crown, which includes the Kentucky Derby, t…
- A Statistician Clears the Air | Stats + Stories Episode 20 (REPOST)
Barry Nussbaum (@StatisticsBarry ) is former Chief Statistician at the US EPA, and is president-elect of the American Statistical Association. Included among his many accomplishments at the EPA was providing leadership to the agency effort…
- What Are Blue Foods? | Stats + Stories Episode 384
More than 3 billion people rely on seafood to supply a significant portion of the annual protein in their diets. That number will only rise as the global population grows. At the same time, the United Nations reports that 85% of the world'…
- Suffragette Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 318 (REPOST)
The work of suffragettes in both the United Kingdom and the United States has been immortalized in textbooks, as well as in movies and TV. The women activists who helped women gain the right to vote are often portrayed as heroes and radica…
- Countering Vaccine Skepticism | Stats + Stories Episode 383 Pt. 2
In early January 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced changes to the childhood immunization schedules, reducing the number of vaccines recommended for children. This change led to the U.S. being an outlier in…
- Countering Vaccine Skepticism | Stats + Stories Episode 383 Pt. 1
Three hundred and thirty-two days, that was the international statistic of the year in 2020, as identified by the Royal Statistical Society. That was the length of time between scientists publishing the genetic sequence of COVID-19 on the…
- Measuring Poverty | Stats + Stories Episode 382
According to the World Bank, some 3.5 billion people live on less than $7 a day. That's more than 40% of the global population. Almost 700 million of those individuals live in extreme poverty, getting by on less than $2.15 a day. In the US…
- Tracking Health Over Time | Stats + Stories Episode 85 (REPOST)
Dr. Lloyd Edwards is Professor and Chair of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Edwards has an extensive background in collaborating with researchers in a broad range of areas in biomedical research, including car…
- The Classic “Will They, or Won’t They?” and the Kiss Effect | Stats + Stories Episode 381
Television is filled with "will they or won't they" couples. Friends had Ross and Rachel. Parks and Rec had Leslie and Ben. The Gilmore Girls, had Lorelei and Luke. But what happens after the couple's kiss? Do we keep watching? One statist…
- Protecting Seaside Cities from Possible Future Impacts of Climate Change | Stats + Stories Episode 53 (REPOST)
Peter Guttorp (@pgseattle) is a Professor at the Norwegian Computing Center in Oslo, Norway, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is also a vice-president of the International Statistical Institute . His rese…
- Counting Costs of Conflict | Stats + Stories Episode 380
When it comes to studying conflict, there is obvious data to examine: spending on arms, the number of people killed or injured, and the amount of land won or lost. What's harder to track are the indirect effects of conflict, the ways it pr…
- Health Benefits of Riding an Electric Bike | Stats + Short Stories Episode 319 (REPOST)
Hybrid cars are everywhere now but what is your best option if you want to feel the wind in your hair, or at least under your helmet and you want to get a little exercise as well? Well, e-bikes are an answer and that’s the topic on this ep…
- Hit Songs by the Numbers & What They Reveal About Us | Stats + Stories Episode 379
The Billboard Hot 100 has been ranking the week's most popular music since 1958. The first song to top the chart was Ricky Nelson's Poor Little Fool. The most recent song to do so is Taylor Swift's The Fate of Ophelia. A lot has changed in…
- Data for Good | Stats + Stories Episode 378
On the podcast, we talk about the ways we live in and with data, as well as the ways data shape our lives and our politics. Public discourse around data is often wrapped up in the negative ways it can impact our lives. A movement among sta…
- Just In Time For The Holiday Shopping Season - A Story About Online Marketing | Stats + Stories Episode 47 (REPOST)
Glenn Platt (@glennplatt) is the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Network Technology & Management & Director of Interactive Media Studies at Miami University. He is interested in social media marketing, digital media and e-Commerc. He is…
- Football Figures | Stats + Stories Episode 377
American Football is a game played with 11 players on offense competing against 11 players on defense, with a sequence of plays executed as one team attempts to outscore the other, but each discrete play reflects actions on the field by pl…
- The Art of Uncertainty | Stats + Stories Episode 376
News stories are filled with tales of risk and uncertainty. We're told the probable chance of a weather event or how likely it is that we might contract an illness. There's an art to telling stories with uncertainty that provides context a…
- Thankful For A Bountiful Harvest - How Bountiful Was It And Who Produced It? | Stats + Stories Episode 45 (REPOST)
Linda J. Young is Chief Mathematical Statistician and Director of Research and Development of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service . She oversees efforts to continually improve the methodology underpinning the Agency's collectio…
- Enhancing Statistical Literacy | Stats + Stories Episode 375
Statistical literacy was described by Iddo Gal as "the ability to interpret, critically, evaluate and communicate about statistical information and messages". With that in mind, get ready to take a journey on all the ways our guests are pr…
- No One is Poisoning Your Kids' Candy, Trust the Numbers | Stats + Stories Episode 206 (REPOST)
The costumes are ready and the annual opportunity to go out and harass your neighbors to get candy is once again upon us. Yes, it's time for Halloween. And along with Halloween comes the worry, the concern the fear that in fact, someone wi…
- Deciphering Dishonest Charts | Stats + Stories Episode 374
Data visualizations are everywhere, showing up in social media, in the news, and on company websites. With this onslaught, it can be hard to know what visualizations to trust. Learning how to navigate bad graphs and charts is a focus of th…
- The Age of the Supercentenarian | Stats + Stories Episode 229 (REPOST)
When American comedian and actor Betty White died, fans lamented the fact that she had just missed making it to her 100th birthday. They felt she’d been robbed of achieving a significant life moment. Some researchers think that this centur…
- Choosing a College in the Era of Polarization | Stats + Stories Episode 373
Fall is admissions season at universities across the United States. As colleges work to recruit a new class, a new working paper suggests that politics might impact where students decide to go to school. That’s the focus of this episode of…
- Intl Prize Stat Winner Grace Wahba Legendary, Statistician & Mentor | Stats + Stories Episode 372
The international prize in statistics is awarded every two years by a collaboration among five leading international statistics organizations: the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the Internationa…
- Viral Statistical Capacity Building | Stats + Stories Episode 293 (REPOST)
Matthew Shearing is a private sector consultant working globally in partnership with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors on improving official statistics and other data systems, Monitoring and Evaluation, and embedding official…
- Reading Racy Research | Stats + Stories Episode 371
Have you ever wondered if what you eat is aging you, or whether women in red really are sexier? In addition to turning to Reddit for the answers to those questions, you can now tune into a new podcast. Normal Curves focuses on sexy science…
- Comedy, Art, and ... Statistics? | Stats + Stories: Episode 370
A statistician walks into a bar, and a comedy and art show begins. Creative work for scholars can extend beyond novel research and application. In today's episode of stats and stories, we see how the intersection between interest in statis…
- Communicating Statistics Effectively | Stats and Stories at JSM (REPOST)
John Bailer is “the stats guy” and co-creator of Stats+Stories. He is also University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Statistics at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is currently President-elect of the Internation…
- Stat Significant | Stats + Stories Episode 369
Have you ever wondered if people actually hate Coldplay? Do you want statistical proof that Game of Thrones did not stick the landing in its finale? Have you wondered whether you’re actually seeing Nicholas Cage in more movies? Well, you’r…
- Signing Statistics | Stats + Stories Episode 239 (REPOST)
What is a median? How about an interquartile range? Don’t even get me started on how to define a p-value. These statistical concepts are hard to grasp for your average statistics student, but imagining how these types of definitions transl…
- Excellence in Statistical Reporting | Stats + Stories Episode 368
The National Association of science writers has about 2000 members, even as the field of science journalism has been experiencing a contraction. In her 2025 Nieman lab prediction for journalism, Siri Carpenter suggested that, given the cha…
- The Ocean Health Index | Stats + Stories Episode 203 (REPOST)
The health of the world's oceans is a growing concern but measuring ocean health is a complicated undertaking. Some people studying the issue focus on pollution, while others look at the health of corals or marine mammals. One project atte…
- Amazonian Ancient Earthworks | Stats + Stories Episode 367
The Amazon has been imagined as a pristine wilderness, one in need of protection from development. This framing has often treated the Amazon as a place without history, practically untouched before the arrival of colonizers in South Americ…
- Days of R COVID Lives | Stats + Stories Episode 366
Early in the COVID pandemic, as we figured out how to live our lives solely at home, news stories began to be filled with stories about COVID’s spread and reproduction rates. Soon, social media were filled with amateur epidemiologists tryi…
- Measuring the Impact of Universal Basic Income | Stats + Stories Episode 287 (REPOST)
What is the best way to support people living in extreme poverty? Could unconditional cash transfers and universal basic income be viable options? How can we know if such programs will work? Today's episode of stats and stories focuses on…
- Fair Play on the Fairway | Stats + Stories Episode 365
Rory McIlroy was leading the 2025 U.S. Masters golf tournament by two strokes after three rounds. So was his ultimate victory a sure thing? How predictive is a lead after three rounds of a golf tournament for victory after the 4th round? I…
- Statistical Summer Transportation Safety | Stats + Short Stories Episode 146 (REPOST)
What comes to mind at the start of summer? Backyard barbecues, quality time spent, and long drive. Transportation safety is the topic of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Joel Greenhouse.
- Statistical Literacy | Stats + Stories Episode 364
Every year, statistics classes are filled with math averse students who white knuckle it to the end of the semester in the hopes of getting a passing grade. And the dream of forgetting about math and statistics for a little while. But what…
- What is Nutrition Science | Stats + Stories Episode 214 (REPOST)
An entire industry has grown up around nutrition and health. People pushing everything from shakes, to meal kits, to special diets. While some of the claims surrounding such products can be questionable at best, the field of nutrition scie…
- Explaining Science | Stats + Stories Episode 363
In a commencement speech in 2016, Atul Gawande told the crowd that science is a, "commitment to a systematic way of thinking, an allegiance to a way of building knowledge and explaining the universe through testing and factual observation.…
- Global Weirding | Stats + Stories Episode 362
More than 15 years ago, Thomas Friedman wrote, “I prefer the term “global weirding,” because that is what actually happens as global temperatures rise and the climate changes. The weather gets weird. The hots are expected to get hotter, th…
- Ecological and Environmental Stats for Earth Day | Stats + Stories Episode 228 (REPOST)
Earth day was launched in 1970 in the aftermath of several environmental disasters in the publication of Rachel Carson Silent Spring. It was designed to help raise awareness of environmental issues and has since grown into a global event.…
- The OECD: Characterizing Global Economic Trends | Stats + Stories Episode 361
According to the U.S. State Department, three-fifths of global GDP, three-quarters of world trade, and 90 percent of official development assistance can be accounted for in 38 countries. Those countries are members of the Organisation for…
- Counting on Official Statistics | Stats+Stories Episode 360
When people think of public goods, they most likely think of things like parks or schools. But official statistics are also a kind of public good. They help us understand things like housing prices, the costs of goods and the spread of dis…
- Why Should You Care If A Statistical Agency is Being Reorganized? | Stats + Stories Episode 75 (REPOST)
Lisa LaVange is the 2018 President of the American Statistical Association and she is PhD, is Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Biostatistics { add link to dept } in the Gillings School of Global Public Health { add link t…
- Chart Spark | Stats + Stories Episode 359
Chart Spark | Stats + Stories Episode 359 by The Stats + Stories Team
- Tracking Police Violence | Stats + Stories Episode 358
The use of force by police has been in the news a lot lately, in connection to everything from protests on college campuses to the death of individuals during arrests. There’s no singular, shared definition of what use of force is accordin…
- Love, Sex and the Pandemic | Stats + Stories Episode 175 (REPOST)
The COVID pandemic has complicated everything from school to work to grocery shopping. The need to physically distance from people not in our homes has made it difficult to maintain friendships or causal relationships while being stuck at…