In this series of posts, we’ll be featuring mathematical podcasts from all over the internet, by speaking to the creators of the podcast and asking them about what they do.
We spoke to John Bailer and Rosemary Pennington, the hosts of the podcast Stats + Stories.
Podcast title: Stats + Stories
Website: statsandstories.net
Links: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player.fm
Average episode length: 28 minutes
Recommended episode: All of them! Episodes are categorised by topic in the ‘+Topic’ section of the website
What is your podcast about, and when did it start?
The Stats+Stories podcast tries to “tell the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics”. The first episode of the podcast was released in 2013. It was an extension of a collaboration between a statistician (John Bailer) and a journalist (Richard Campbell) who were involved in efforts to promote quantitative literacy at Miami University, a public university located in Oxford, Ohio, USA. Bailer and Campbell taught a News & Numbers class in 2009 to undergraduates who were majoring in the humanities, and thought a podcast would provide a reach well beyond a single class at a particular university.
Who publishes your podcast? Tell us about yourself.
Our podcast was established as a collaboration between the Department of Statistics and the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After 4 years, the American Statistical Association (ASA) became a sponsor, and in 2025, we formally became an ASA podcast. We also collaborate closely with Significance magazine, a joint publication of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), ASA and the Statistical Society of Australia and with Chance magazine, a publication of ASA.
Currently, our podcast includes two panelists: John Bailer (statistician) and Rosemary Pennington (journalist). John is emeritus professor and founding chair of the Department of Statistics at Miami University. He currently chairs the ASA Excellence in Statistical Reporting Committee and serves on the Accreditation Committee, and previously served on the ASA Board of Directors and as International Statistical Institute (ISI) president. Rosemary is the chair of the Department of Media, Journalism & Film at Miami University. She’s an expert on issues of media representation. Rosemary also worked as a medical/science reporter during her last journalism job.
Who is the intended audience for the podcast?
Our audience includes anyone with an interest in data and how the results of analysing data impacts much of modern life. Our listeners span the range from secondary students who have teachers incorporating the podcast in their classes to professional statisticians and journalists to John’s dad (who is not a secondary student nor statistician nor journalist).
What is a typical episode like?
A typical episode focuses on an interesting article, a general statistics/science/journalism news story, the communication of quantitative concepts or some other topic that we think would be of general interest. An episode is a conversation between the panelists and a guest (or two, rarely three). Recently, we recorded episodes related to outcomes in golf tournaments, excellence in statistical reporting, statistical songs, and the winner of the international prize in statistics.
We’re always looking for ways to help make sometimes complicated subjects more understandable for a wide audience. Our guests range from graduate students to knighted individuals to data journalists. We want the show to feel like a conversation among friends, rather than an academic discussion among experts.
A typical episode is approximately 28-30 minutes in length that is broken into segments: intro of topic and guest (~2 min), conversation block 1 (~14 min), program break (~1 min), conversation block 2 (~14 min), closing (~1 min). We originally selected a 28 min target with the thought that this would allow a commuter to listen to a complete episode on the way to or from work or school.
In recent years we released about 48 new episodes each year. In 2025, we are releasing 2 new episodes each month along with an episode from the archives (with 360+ episodes we have a lot of options!).
Why should people listen to your podcast?
We have a format with panelists reflecting two disciplines, statistics and journalism, who have conversations with a range of interesting people. We’ve been doing this for a long time now and there’s a familiarity between John and Rosemary that helps make the podcast more conversational. We’re also always thinking of our audience as we are interviewing guests – when John says wants his dad to be able to understand what we’re talking about, he means it.
For Rosemary, an inspiration has been The Infinite Monkey Cage podcast on the BBC. While Stats + Stories might not feature a comedian every episode, it does help take the work of researchers out in the public in a similar way. And, similarly to The Infinite Monkey Cage, while we take our work seriously, we don’t take themselves too seriously. For John, an inspiration has been Freakonomics, Science Friday and the National Public Radio Car Guys .
What are some highlights of the podcast so far?
One highlight of the podcast was that it inspired us to write a book about what an educated reader needs to know to be an informed consumer of the news. After writing Statistics Behind the Headlines, we decided to record an audiobook version that is now freely available as a Spotify audiobook.
Another highlight has been the response to it. Lots of podcasts are born only to die premature deaths. Stats + Stories has been able to continue for so long because people are interested in issues of data and communication; they’re also unafraid to connect to John and Rosemary. Episode and contest ideas often come from our listeners. It makes it feel like we’re building a community; or, maybe, just creating a new place for the communities who care about the issues we highlight to come together.
What exciting plans do you have for the future?
That puts a lot of pressure on the future :-) Our 375th episode is on the horizon. We have enjoyed celebrating such milestones with contests for our listeners. It wouldn’t surprise us if we did this again. We are also planning on annotating our episode database and providing it as a data set that students, teachers and other analysts could explore, possibly as an R package.
Ultimately, we’re going to continue doing this podcast for as long as people listen and for as long as it’s fun for us.