What's The Point podcast artwork

PODCAST · society

What's The Point

A show about our data age. Each week, Jody Avirgan brings you stories and interviews on how data is changing lives.

  1. 112

    Sparks: Interview with David Baron

    Christie Aschwanden interviews the author of "American Eclipse," by David Baron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  2. 111

    Sparks: The Eclipse Of 1878

    The Sparks gang discusses "American Eclipse" by David Baron, and the solar eclipse coming to the U.S. later this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  3. 110

    WTP Best Of: DNA Evidence

    Jody discusses the rise of forensic DNA with Erin Murphy, professor at New York University and author of the book "Inside the Cell." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  4. 109

    WTP Best Of: Adam Ruins Everything

    Jody interviews Adam Conover of TruTV's Adam Ruins Everything on how his show covers stats heavy topics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  5. 108

    Sparks: Interview with Charles Ornstein

    Christie Aschwanden talks to journalist Charles Ornstein about how he reports on how money can influence doctors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  6. 107

    Sparks: Conflicts of interest

    The Sparks crew discusses how politicians and scientists wrestle with conflicts of interest, and what the science says about how conflict of interest can change our decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  7. 106

    Sparks: Interview with Bob Holmes

    Anna Maria Barry-Jester talks to Bob Holmes, the author of "Flavor: The science of our most neglected sense." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  8. 105

    Sparks: Flavor Science

    FiveThirtyEight's science team discusses "Flavor: The science of our most neglected sense," a book by Bob Holmes. They also go flavor tripping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  9. 104

    WTP Best Of: Bear Mapping

    Rae Wynn-Grant, a conservation researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, discusses her work tracking black bears in the American West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  10. 103

    Sparks: Interview with Thomas Levenson

    FiveThirtyEight's Christie Aschwanden interviews the author of "The Hunt for Vulcan." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  11. 102

    Sparks: "The Hunt for Vulcan"

    What does it take to revise a cold, hard science fact? This montha€™s Sparks podcast explores that question in the context of a€œThe Hunt for Vulcana€ by Thomas Levenson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  12. 101

    WTP Best Of: Baseball

    Jody interviews Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller, authors of "The Only Rule Is It Has To Work," a chronicle of their summer spent as general managers for the Sonoma Stompers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  13. 100

    Sparks: Interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal

    Anna Maria Barry-Jester interviews the author of "An American Sickness: How healthcare became big business and how you can take it back." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  14. 99

    Sparks: "An American Sickness"

    Our science podcast crew discusses the state of American health care, and what consumers can do about it. This month's book: "An American Sickness" by Elisabeth Rosenthal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  15. 98

    WTP Best Of: Internet Tracking

    Jody interviews Arvind Narayanan about the latest in online tracking, and what you can do to shield yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  16. 97

    WTP Best Of: Your Certainty Bubble

    Jody Avirgan and Carl Bialik discuss research into how we get information and what information we trust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  17. 96

    Sparks - Interview with Alondra Nelson

    FiveThirtyEight's Maggie Koerth-Baker discusses The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome with author Alondra Nelson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  18. 95

    Sparks - The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome

    This month, we're discussing Alondra Nelson's The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation After the Genome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  19. 94

    WTP Best Of: Life In Yemen

    What cell phone metadata can reveal about the patterns of daily live -- and the effect of drone strikes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  20. 93

    WTP Best Of: James Hamblin

    From the archives, Jody Avirgan and James Hamblin discuss modern medicine, personal health tracking, and why health journalism is broken. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  21. 92

    Sparks: Interview with the author of "The Unpersuadables"

    FiveThirtyEight's Maggie Koerth-Baker talks with author Will Storr about his book "The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the enemies of science." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  22. 91

    Sparks - The Unpersuadables

    FiveThirtyEight's science team discusses Will Storr's book, "The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the enemies of science." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  23. 90

    The Amazing Postcards You Mailed Us

    Jody Avirgan and Kate Larue discuss the postcards we received for our "Dear Data" project, and then rerun our original conversation. Check it out: fivethirtyeight.com/deardata Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  24. 89

    Sparks (Part 2) Nate Silver and Michael Lewis

    This month we're discussing Michael Lewis's new book "The Undoing Project." Here he talks with Nate Silver about his work. Be sure to check out part 1! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  25. 88

    Sparks - The Undoing Project

    Our science team discusses Michael Lewis's new book, which is about the rise of behavioral economics. Check out part 2, coming soon, in which Nate Silver talks with Lewis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  26. 87

    .72 That Was The Point

    What's The Point is coming to an end with Jody Avirgan as the host. We discuss what we've learned over the last year and a half. Stay tuned for our next big thing! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  27. 86

    .71 How Adam Ruins Everything

    Adam Conover on the challenge of explaining tough topics - while being funny. Catch "Adam Ruins Everything" on TruTV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  28. 85

    .70 Sparks (Pt 2) Kenji Lopez-Alt

    In part two of our Thanksgiving special, Anna Maria Barry-Jester talks about the science of food with Kenji Lopez-Alt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  29. 84

    .69 Sparks: Let's Eat, With Science!

    A Thanksgiving cooking special from our science team as they discuss Kenji Lopez-Alt's "The Food Lab." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  30. 83

    .68 Sparks (Pt 2) Risk

    Maggie Koerth-Baker talks with Kayt Sukel about how we define risk, and how to write about it responsibly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  31. 82

    .67 Sparks: Risk

    Our monthly science series looks at why humans make, or don't make, risky choices. Part 2 of this conversation - and interview with author Kayt Sukel - airs next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  32. 81

    .66 When The Algorithm Decides

    Cathy O'Neil discusses her book "Weapons Of Math Destruction," about algorithms that are widespread, harmful, and secretive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  33. 80

    .65 Optimized Or Monetized?

    Julia Angwin of Pro Publica discusses their investigations into "black box" algorithms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  34. 79

    .64 Do You Feel Informed?

    Carl Bialik discusses a new study that shows how Americans get their information, how they make decisions, and how they change their minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  35. 78

    .63 Sparks (Pt 2) Mental Health Stigma

    Maggie Koerth-Baker talks with Dr. Patrick Corrigan about the stigma of mental health and how it relates to public figures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  36. 77

    .62 Sparks: Politicians' Mental Health

    Our monthly science series looks at the ethics and laws of discussing and diagnosing the health of political figures. Part 2 of this show airs next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  37. 76

    .61 Bear Tracks

    How a digital model can help prevent bear-human conflicts. Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant discusses her work in the field, and at the computer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  38. 75

    .60 Blythe Picks A Team

    From Hot Takedown, how our editor Blythe Terrell used an algorithm to help pick a new NFL team to root for. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  39. 74

    .59 Your Browser's Fingerprint

    A new survey of one million websites reveals the latest tricks being used to track your online behavior. Arvind Narayanan of Princeton University discusses his research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  40. 73

    .58 Math Gold

    The coach of the U.S. Math Olympiad team shares his secrets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  41. 72

    .57.2 Sparks (Part Two) -- Alice Dreger

    In the second part of our new science podcast, Christie Aschwanden talks to Alice Dreger about her book "Galileo's Middle Finger." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  42. 71

    .57 Sparks: Galileo's Middle Finger

    The debut of our new science series! The FiveThirtyEight science team discusses "Galileo's Middle Finger," and what happens when activism and science cross paths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  43. 70

    .56 A History Of Political Data (Part 4 - Trump)

    A memo from the Trump campaign reveals their attempts to go after "low P, high T" voters. Clare Malone discusses her reporting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  44. 69

    Dog Show! [Repeat]

    A visit to the Westminster Dog Show with FiveThirtyEight's Oliver Roeder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  45. 68

    .55 Two Aspen Ideas

    Mini-interviews with Charles Duhigg and Marcus Bullock of Flikshop, from the Aspen Ideas festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  46. 67

    .54.7 Accidents, Guns, And Stats

    We conclude our series of mini-conversations about the FiveThirtyEight guns project. FiveThirtyEight.com/gundeaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  47. 66

    .54.6 A Guns Program The NRA Actually Likes

    A mini-interview a day for a week about the 538 guns project. Carl Bialik discusses the criminal justice program that is gaining GOP support. fivethirtyeight.com/gundeaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  48. 65

    .54.5 Mass Shootings

    A mini-interview a day for a week about the 538 guns project. Leah Libresco discusses how other countries have reacted to mass shootings. fivethirtyeight.com/gundeaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  49. 64

    .54.4 - Guns And Domestic Violence

    A mini-interview a day for a week about the 538 guns project. Hayley Mungia discusses how to get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. fivethirtyeight.com/gundeaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  50. 63

    .54.3 - Men, Suicide, And Guns

    We're doing a mini-interview every day for a week about the the 538 guns project. Anna Maria Barry-Jester discusses her reporting from Wyoming. fivethirtyeight.com/gundeaths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

A show about our data age. Each week, Jody Avirgan brings you stories and interviews on how data is changing lives.

HOSTED BY

FiveThirtyEight, 538, ESPN, Jody Avirgan

Produced by FiveThirtyEight.com

CATEGORIES

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does What's The Point have?

What's The Point currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is What's The Point about?

A show about our data age. Each week, Jody Avirgan brings you stories and interviews on how data is changing lives.

How often does What's The Point release new episodes?

What's The Point has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to What's The Point?

You can listen to What's The Point on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts What's The Point?

What's The Point is created and hosted by FiveThirtyEight, 538, ESPN, Jody Avirgan.
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