PRESS PLAY
A podcast about data science, but also just about work. Hosted by Otis Anderson and Ian Blumenfeld, who have both data scienced for a long time. Hear from some data humans who have had some successes and some failures. We know, this isn't easy
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Data science becomes organizational practice here, with tools, ethics, management and infrastructure examined through the decisions that make analysis trustworthy.
Otis Anderson and Ian Blumenfeld treat data science as work performed inside organizations, where tools, priorities, management and judgment all shape the result.
La Croix's natural essence meets SQL reproducibility, if your idea of a good conversation allows both.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A dry, useful argument about reproducibility, tools, and how analysis earns trust.
It opens with a joke about La Croix, then settles into a dry but practical case for analytics culture: what makes a tool worth trusting, and why reproducibility matters when the same URL can produce different results.
A lively ethics-and-data-science conversation that treats utilitarianism as a live problem.
The conversation begins with coffee and sleep-deprived parenthood before turning into a careful exchange on ethics and data science with John Taylor.
A sportsy opening gives way to a solid case for interface layers and schema resilience.
The episode opens in a relaxed sports-and-dinosaurs register, with Raptors talk, a correction about raptors, and a joke about a Monster logo lawsuit before it moves into the main technical point.
A direct look at how a small data science team sets priorities and handles management tradeoffs.
Mara Church, Patreon's head of data science and Otis Anderson's boss, leads a conversation about the plain work of small-team management: setting priorities, holding people accountable, and deciding what a manager owes the people doing the work.
A candid farewell that opens into an unsettled look at where tech gathers now.
The farewell episode feels open and unforced. The hosts say it has been too long, that they tried, and that the show was among the more fun things they have done over the last four or five years, even as work, kids, and the pandemic made it harder to keep going.
AI research, explained by the people doing it.
Talking shop with the people behind data products
Specialists walking through software's tradeoffs, one system at a time.
Founders and engineers on AI coding agents like Claude Code, and supply chain security.
Ben and Ian open on La Croix, lime, and key lime, and the bit rolls into a quick anti-essentialist detour.
The hosts discuss feedback from a previous episode featuring a manager and debate the transferability of management skills across companies.
Coffee comes first.
The episode starts with sports talk and closes on the end of Season 1.
Otis Anderson and Ian Blumenfeld bring on Mara Church, who also happens to be Otis's boss.
Ian and Otis return after a break, discuss being sick and a Disneyland trip, and thank Patreon supporters for funding a sound engineer.
Two hosts start by saying goodbye.
Two data scientists chat about managing work and life during the extended pandemic, touching on vaccination and regional differences.
Two data science professionals catch up after a break, discussing their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.