Numbers And Narrative

Renny talks to the founder/CEO of Allovue, a company that enables school districts to more effectively allocate resources. Jess talks about how she identified a huge problem while in the classroom for Teach for America in Baltimore. A solo founder, she built a tremendous team to tackle a huge challenge in education. Now Allovue has hit its stride and is bringing its important software solution to school districts nationwide.

Summary: Joe Flood sits down with author Richard Beck to talk his book We Believe the Children about a modern day witch hunt for surrounding Satanism, child abuse and day care centers during the 1980s.

Joe Flood and Jesse Andrews have a quick conversation about round two of the playoffs, the injured Steelers, peaking Packers, and Chilean quickies of questionable sound quality....

Summary: Joe Flood talks with George Quraishi, founder of the renowned soccer magazine start-up Howler. They discuss soccer's growing popularity and influence in America, funding a beautiful print magazine in a generic digital world,  finding the right mix of storytelling, statistics, and humor for Howler's audience.

Football Nonsense! Week 18 with Joe and Jesse. Wild Card Playoffs With Joe Flood and Jesse Andrews   Summary: Noted Pittsburgh Steelers fan, emotional-hedge practitioner and screenwriter Jesse Andrews joins Joe Flood to talk about a weird final week of the NFL regular season, the Jets being the Jets, a stunning Steelers playoff berth, and all your playoff gambling lines! NFC games included.   

A mournful Steelers-fan Jesse sucks it up to discuss AFC gambling lines with Joe, dissecting the Irish Vinny Testaverde, non-French Bat Masterson's whisky, and the All-Incontinent Team. 

Summary: Joe visits Jesse in Boston for an in-person podcast on the Steelers, the Raiders of the Lost (Narrative) Arc, and all of this week 16's AFC games.

Joe sits down with Barnard history professor Andrew Lipman to discuss his new book The Saltwater Frontier: Indians and the Contest for the American Coast, about 17th century Native and European coastal settlements from New York to Cape Cod.

After a stunningly successful string of picks last week, Joe and Jesse revert to the mean (probably). Wait for the end for an appearance from special guest Fake Ira Glass!

Adam Price believes that restaurants should not have to focus on running a delivery operation. He has built a team of full-time employees who deliver food for a growing number of New York restaurants. His software optimizes delivery routes. Adam's among a small number of entrepreneurs who've opted to make delivery personnel full-time employees. He discusses the business benefits to restaurants, his company, and his employees in this week's podcast.

Joe and podcast regular Jesse Andrews debut a new NFL pick 'em podcast 3/4 of the way through the season. Enjoy it while you can!

Summary: Joe talks with Alex Pudlin, quant, urban planner, and the man behind the data-tastic site http://www.igotcharts.com/ to talk about quantitative urban planning, the deep importance of data silliness, and how LA doesn't get enough credit for its planning and transportation initiatives

Summary: Jon Ferris and his team bring 50 PhD's through their free eight week data science curriculum several times a year. He talks about what data scientists bring to companies, offers tips to gain admittance to the Data Incubator and talks about what students learn in the curriculum.

Summary: Joe sits down for a Thanksgiving football preview with former business reporter-turned-ESPN the Magazine sports columnist Mina Kimes to talk about how morally difficult watching the NFL is, and how much they each love doing it anyway.

Summary: Phaedra Chrousos is on a mission to bring innovative thinking and leading-edge technology and technologists to the US Government. From her position as head of the office of citizen services for the Government Services Administration, she shares examples of the big positive changes happening in government technology.

Summary: Co-host Joe Flood goes on the www.fivethirtyeight.com podcast What's the Point to talk about his book, The Fires, and what happens when the marriage of stats and public policy goes terribly wrong.

Greg Lindsay -- Reporter and Urban Planning Writer Summary: Joe sits down with Greg to talk about the all-too-common downsides of using statistics to make urban policy and planning decisions.

Alexa Hirschfeld -- Co-founder of Paperless Post Summary: Alexa Hirschfeld is the co-founder of digital invitation company Paperless Post. She describes how she and her brother, who is her co-founder, combine their talents as they continue to reimagine how people send invitations.

Jeff Lacouture -- Joe's sports stats reporting partner Summary: Joe talks baseball playoffs, silly metrics for measuring entertainment, and reverse-fantasy football with sports statistics aficionado Jeff Lacouture.

Jesse Andrews -- Novelist, screenwriter, Pittsburgh sports obsessive Summary: Second-time guest Jesse Andrews comes on to deliver a Rant for the Ages on the existential futility of sports fandom after his Pirates were bounced from the playoffs, and talk about his fantasy sports addiction and falling off the wagon.