storytelling with data podcast

Chris Dalla Riva is a musician, data analyst, and the author of Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves. In this episode, he joins data storyteller Mike Cisneros to talk about musical myths, hidden industry incentives, chart data, and underappreciated hits, as well as the thorny questions about authenticity, categorization, and what it really means to tell an honest story with numbers.RELATED LINKSUncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves | Chris Dalla Riva’s book Can’t Get Much Higher | Chris’s newsletterAudiomack | Music streaming service where Chris works on analytics and personalizationMax Martin Knows How to Create a #1 Hit | Chris’s The Economist article on song introsSuno AI | Generative AI tool for music creation discussed in the authenticity segmentFollow Chris at @cdallarivamSONGS AND ARTISTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE“Want Ads” by Honey Cone“House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals“Hey Jude” by The Beatles“Blinded by the Light” (written by Bruce Springsteen, recorded by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band)“Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen“When Doves Cry” by Prince“Believe” by Cher“Golden” by HUNTR/X

In this special episode of the *storytelling with data* podcast, Cole celebrates the 10-year anniversary of her best-selling book, *storytelling with data: a data visualization guide for business professionals*. She shares exciting updates about the newly released 10th Anniversary Edition—including refreshed visuals, updated examples, and new bonus content—along with an invitation to a live virtual event on December 2, 2025.To mark the occasion, Cole reads aloud Chapter 7: *Lessons in Storytelling*—a fan-favorite chapter that explores how story structure can be used to create more compelling data communications. From Red Riding Hood to Aristotle to Robert McKee, this episode blends timeless storytelling wisdom with practical techniques for structuring business presentations, building narrative flow, and engaging your audience through conflict, clarity, and repetition.Whether you're crafting a dashboard, pitching a recommendation, or designing a presentation, this episode is packed with strategies to help you move beyond showing data to telling *a story with data*.🔗 Get the 10th anniversary book: storytellingwithdata.com/SWD10🔗 Join Cole's live virtual mini-workshop (Dec 2): storytellingwithdata.com/swd10register🔗 Listen to the Before & After audiobook: rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9781663755681/

In this episode of the storytelling with data podcast, Simon chats with Allison Horst—developer advocate at Observable, educator, and beloved data illustrator—to explore the difference between dashboards that get used and those that don’t.They dig into why so many data products go to waste, the importance of co-creating with your audience, and the overlooked power of early feedback. Allison reflects on her experiences helping people go from "I built this thing" to "This actually gets used"—and how teams can better collaborate to avoid dashboard graveyards.Along the way, they talk about environmental storytelling, visual metaphors, teaching the “gray areas” of data viz, and why curiosity (not perfection) is the key to lasting impact.Related Links:Check out Allison's work at: https://allisonhorst.com/Connect with and follow her on LNKD: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-horst/Order SWD's latest book, Before & After https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/books

Data visualization veteran Andy Cotgreave joins host Mike Cisneros for a lively, wide-ranging conversation about the evolution of dashboards, the craft of data communication, and the future of generative AI in analytics. Andy reflects on his early career building “dashboards” in Excel for a demanding boss, how that experience shaped two bestselling books (The Big Book of Dashboards and Dashboards That Deliver), and what he’s learned from more than a decade at Tableau as an evangelist and public speaker.They discuss the tension between efficiency and emotion in chart design, why no single chart type is ever “right,” and how semantic drift affects the way we talk about dashboards. Andy shares behind-the-scenes stories from Chart Chat, the Iron Viz competition, and his own evolution as a presenter and magician, offering tips for building confidence on stage and connecting with audiences.Along the way, the conversation touches on the launch of Cole, Mike and Alex’ newest book, the fifth in the storytelling with data series, Before and After, upcoming in-person and on-demand learning opportunities, and the importance of community, practice, and curiosity in becoming a better data storyteller.Related Links:Check out Andy's Books: ⁠Dashboards That Deliver⁠ and ⁠The Big Book of Dashboards ⁠Register for upcoming ⁠workshops and courses⁠⁠Order Before and After⁠⁠Follow ⁠@storywithdata⁠ | share via ⁠#SWDpodcast

Asking good questions can help improve our own and others’ work: both when exploring and explaining data. In this rebroadcast of episode 19, Cole covers five smart queries to pose and answer during the analytical process and five more to consider when getting ready to explain that data to others.We’re sharing this popular episode again as we look ahead to what’s next: Before and After, the fifth book from storytelling with data, comes out September 23, 2025 — pre-order now wherever you buy books!If you want to put these strategies into practice, join one of our upcoming 2025 sessions:Virtual half-day workshops: August 21 and November 68-week online course: September 15–November 9In-person workshop in NYC: October 14Links:Register for upcoming ⁠workshops and courses⁠Pre-order Before and AfterQuestions? email ⁠[email protected]⁠Follow ⁠@storywithdata⁠ | share via ⁠#SWDpodcast