What Is the Not So Standard Deviations Podcast?

Updated

Not So Standard Deviations (NSSD) is a bi-weekly data science podcast co-hosted by Hilary Parker and Roger Peng since 2015. According to Hilary Parker's website, the show had surpassed 2 million downloads as of July 2021 and covers the R ecosystem, developments in data science and statistics, reproducibility, and how data scientists and statisticians actually work.

Who hosts it and how often does it air?

The podcast is a two-person conversation between Hilary Parker and Roger Peng. Parker is a data scientist who has worked at Stitch Fix, Etsy, and the 2020 Biden for President Campaign, and holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The show has run since 2015 on a bi-weekly schedule, meaning a new episode roughly every two weeks.

What topics does it cover?

Per the description on hilaryparker.com, NSSD focuses on:

  • The R ecosystem — tools, packages, and developments in the R language community
  • Recent developments in data science and statistics — what's changing in the field
  • Reproducibility — how to make data work repeatable and verifiable
  • The "how" of the work — the day-to-day practices of data scientists and statisticians

This makes it a practitioner-oriented show: less about headlines and more about how the work is actually done.

How popular is it?

The site reports two download milestones: over half a million downloads at one point, and more than 2 million downloads as of July 2021. These figures come from Parker's own site and are the most current numbers it provides.

Who is it for?

If you work in or around data science — especially with R — and want discussion of tools, statistical practice, and reproducible workflows rather than product announcements, NSSD fits that profile. Listeners who prefer interview-style shows should note this is a co-hosted conversation format between two working data scientists, based on the show's description.

Where to find it

Hilary Parker's site (hilaryparker.com) references the podcast and her co-hosting role; the site itself does not list specific listening platforms or episode links in the available material. To listen, search for "Not So Standard Deviations" in your usual podcast app.