The Data Journalism Podcast

“40 Acres and a Lie [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/06/40-acres-reconstruction-freedmen-bureau-stolen-land/]” 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 [https://news.bgov.com/author/alexia-fern%C3%A1ndez-campbell-24343177], April Simpson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilsimpson/] and Pratheek Rebala [https://www.propublica.org/people/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 Alberto, Scott and Simon to share their research process in detail. They explain how they used historical data to identify breaking news, and how genealogical tools helped them find living descendants of those impacted by the program. The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents historical US Census data on ethnicity over time. The Data Journalism Podcast is produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode!

Cheryl Phillips [https://journalism.stanford.edu/people/cheryl-phillips] is Hearst Professional in Residence at Stanford University’s journalism program, and founder of Big Local News [https://biglocalnews.org/], 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 public data in the US in 2025, and what her team is doing about it. ⁠⁠⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/file/d/11pTqJdMlfDlRnAksMewWAh-Lt6biCYVG/view?usp=sharing],⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents the Dow Jones Industrial Index in the week before we recorded this podcast. See if you can guess what happens to it at the end.  The Data Journalism Podcast is edited by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Subscribe to make sure you never miss an episode. Key links from this episode: * New York Times: “How Tariffs Work [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/business/economy/what-are-tariffs.html]” * Reuters: “Tariffs don’t all act the same [https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-TRUMP/TARIFFS-GRAPHIC/klvymmdrwvg/]” * Washington Post: “Trump’s reversal actually increased tariff rates [https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/10/trump-tariff-rate-china-imports/]”. This one also used data from the Budget Lab at Yale University [https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/fiscal-and-economic-effects-revised-april-9-tariffs] * Data Rescue Project [https://www.datarescueproject.org/] * Data Liberation Project [https://www.data-liberation-project.org/] * Data.gov Archive [https://lil.law.harvard.edu/blog/2025/02/06/announcing-data-gov-archive/]

Chiqui Esteban [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/chiqui-esteban/] is Design & Art Director at the Washington Post Opinion section. In the first episode with new co-host Scott Klein [https://x.com/kleinmatic], 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. Chiqui talks about how data journalism and graphics help news stay relevant — and popular—with audiences.  ⁠⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1goQwYOWhvK9HyCnCp6pf55IzXLZmg0Zr/view?usp=sharing],⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents attendence at Chiqui's beloved Cadiz CF football club games. See if you can spot something a little extra in it too.

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 [https://x.com/kleinmatic?lang=en] 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 ProPublica and at THE CITY. He’s also on the board of Muckrock. He’s based in Brooklyn. ⁠The⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠music this episode [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QUqt9HmXIWeUdO0OQ7iHonrh7APGEMmm/view?usp=sharing]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], represents snowfall in NYC's Central Park.

David Spiegelhalter [https://royalsociety.org/people/david-spiegelhalter-12329/] is Emeritus Professor of Statistics in the Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge and author of new book The Art of Uncertainty [https://www.amazon.com/Art-Uncertainty-author/dp/0241658624/] 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 [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_9jIzFu2ydxpdaoJHErrFbNqzmPJsA32/view?usp=sharing],⁠ made with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TwoTone⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://datavized.github.io/twotone/], comes from David, and represents the death rates of the patients of murderer Dr Harold Shipman.