Explore Explain

Andy Kirk

Explore Explain is a long-form podcast and video series hosted by Andy Kirk and launched early 2020. It goes deep behind the scenes of data visualisation projects. Each episode is structured around a conversation with visualisation designers, developers, or data journalists to explore the design story behind a single visualisation or a related major project. Guests explain the thought-process behind and share insights about the myriad little decisions that underpin the finished works they produce. Audiences will gain an appreciation of the what, the why and the how, learning about the hidden problems and challenges, the breakthroughs and the eureka moments. You'll learn about the things that were done and the things that were not done, the pressures and frustrations as well as successes and failures. Each season comprises nine episodes and always seeks to include guests representing a diverse cast of talented practitioners from across the field and around the world, showcasing a wide variety of different types of visualisation work. Every episode is published as both an audio interview as well as an enhanced video conversation, enriched by detailed visuals that illuminate the discussions. Visit the Youtube channel to see all the recordings, including shorter highlight episodes. To read more about each episode, and browse through the full archive of conversations, visit the Podcast page on Andy Kirk's Visualising Data website. Explore Explain is a Bethany Andrew production.

Episodes

S4E9 - Chloe Whiteaker & Marie Patino

Welcome to episode 9 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this season finale, I am delighted to welcome Chloe Whiteaker, Data Visualization Team Leader, and Marie Patino, Graphics Reporter, from Bloomberg News in New York. We explore the story behind their unique data visualisation project analysing the staggering wealth of a pop-music phenomenon: "Taylor Swift Vaults Into Billionaire Ranks with Blockbuster Eras Tour". As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Jan 16

1 hr 9 min

S4E8 - Denise Lu

Welcome to episode 8 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Denise Lu, Graphics reporter at Bloomberg News, based in New York City. We explore the story behind her side project visualising her analysis of the tracks played during the reunion shows of her favourite band, Pavement. The day before this episode was launched, it was announced that this project had won 'The Pudding Cup' 2023 gold prize - congratulations to Denise! As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Dec 12, 2023

1 hr 10 min

S4E7 - Amanda Shendruk

Welcome to episode 7 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Amanda Shendruk, Opinion Graphics Reporter at the Washington Post, based in Edinburgh, UK. We explore the story behind Amanda's visual article for Opinions titled 'Audiences want a different climate change message. Hollywood should deliver.' looking at the portrayal of climate change in movies and TV shows. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Nov 29, 2023

1 hr 7 min

S4E6 - Chimdi Nwosu

Welcome to episode 6 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Chimdi Nwosu, a Data Visualization Manager based in British Columbia, Canada. We explore the story behind not one but two of his wonderful Tableau-based data visualisation projects: 'Incarcerated in America' (published August 2021) and 'Press Freedom Index' (published May 2023). As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Nov 8, 2023

1 hr 7 min

S4E5 - Lora Oehlberg & Samuel Huron

Welcome to episode 5 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Lora Oehlberg, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Calgary in Canada, and Samuel Huron, Associate Professor in Design at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris in France. We explore the story behind their work, with fellow co-authors Wesley Willett and Till Nagel, on the new book 'Making with Data: Physical Design and Craft in a Data-Driven World', published December 2022, to learn more about the field of data physicalisation and the editorial process behind creating this book. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Jul 31, 2023

1 hr 9 min

S4E4 - The Nightingale Editorial Team

Welcome to episode 4 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this special episode I am delighted to welcome the editorial team behind Nightingale Magazine, the journal of the Data Visualization Society: Claire Santoro, Emily Barone, Julie Brunet, and Jason Forrest. We explore the story behind the team's work on the new Nightingale print magazine, learning about the context, the content, the design, and key reflections from creating the first few issues. This episode was live-recorded on stage as part of Outlier Conference, which took place in Porto in early May 2023. Jason was live in-person for the conversation which was enriched with pre-recorded video contributions from Claire, Emily, and Julie. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Jun 13, 2023

59 min

S4E3 - Steph Bradley

Welcome to episode 3 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Steph Bradley, a freelance designer based in Chicago, USA. We explore the story behind her work on the wonderfully charming 'Traveling June Bug', Steph's award-winning capstone project to visualise the objects, the diaries, the destinations, and the timelines across her Grandmother's 30 years of documented travels. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

May 15, 2023

1 hr

S4E2 - Will Chase & Jared Whalen

Welcome to episode 2 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this latest episode, I am delighted to welcome Will Chase, Visual Stories Editor, and Jared Whalen, Data Visual Journalist, both working at Axios and based in the US. We explore the story behind their work on a project to visualise the changing trends in popularity and dimensions of pickup trucks 'Pickup Trucks: From Workhorse to Joyride'. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Apr 4, 2023

1 hr 12 min

S4E1 - Neil Richards

Welcome to episode 1 of season 4 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. For this season opener, I am delighted to welcome Neil Richards, Global Data Fluency Lead at JLL based in Derbyshire, UK. We explore the story behind Neil's new book 'Questions in Dataviz: A Data-Driven Process for Data Visualisation' to learn about the mental, practical, and creative process of writing his first title. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Feb 20, 2023

56 min

S3E9 - Francis Gagnon

Welcome to episode 9 of season 3 of Explore Explain, a long-form video and podcast series all about data visualisation design. In this episode I am delighted to welcome Francis Gagnon, founder of Voilà:, an information design firm based in Montreal, Canada. For this season finale, we embarked on a detailed exploration to learn about the process of setting up a data visualisation company as Francis explained the story behind evolving from being an independent professional, working alone, to a team of nine. As well as listening to this show, you can watch the video of this conversation. Head over to Youtube and visit the Explore Explain channel.

Oct 28, 2022

1 hr 18 min