The Local Maximum

Max checks in with Kristen Sosulski, NYU Professor and Author of Data Visualization Made Simple. They discuss some of the basic principles of data visualization, and some common approaches and pitfalls.

This companion to episode 125 on the Electoral College starts with an interview of Ernie Dronenberg in California who was a member of the Electoral College in 1980! Afterwards, Max talks about different models of voting systems in social choice theory: Rankings, Condorcet Methods, Condorcet Paradoxes, Monotone Boolean Functions, and Shapley values. This ends with a discussion of the ways in which mathematical models of voting do not match the social dynamics of a real election, the positive properties of the electoral college, and what reforms to look for. localmaxradio.com/126

Today begins a 2 part series on the Electoral College, and the way in which the President of the United States is elected. Tara Ross is a nationally recognized author and expert on the electoral college, and her recent book, “Why We Need the Electoral College” provides a justification and defense of the electoral college system. Today’s interview covers: - Some of the mechanics of a presidential election - Responses to some common criticisms of the electoral college - Comparisons between the electoral college and other electoral systems, both internationally and within the United States

Today’s discussion centers around the trend of the big social networks (Twitter and Facebook) to fact-check certain accounts. Can fact checking be fair, and is it consistent with open discussion? This episode also covers the activist culture and pressures faces by companies and workplaces today. Also, a new image processing ML algorithm which generates an image from a pixelated version has promise and pitfalls. localmaxradio.com/124

Today’s episode features Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of the book Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who we Really Are. Discussion topics include research on NBA demographics, horse racing, Google search data and Coronavirus, and validating Google analytics. localmaxradio.com/123

This episode focuses on life in 2020 with pandemics, lockdowns, protests, curfews, looting, and more. Max gives an update on New York city. At the end of the show, hospital administrator Ben Geboe calls in with his pandemic experiences. localmaxradio.com/122

Max and Aaron return for a June news update. In addition to providing a first hand account of the protests and disturbances in Fort Greene, they update us on: - The private space race, SpaceX’s Launch, and Future Moon Landings - The heist of 20 million in Bitcoin by a Westchester teen, and what you can do to protect yourself - The breakdown of social media and the war between Twitter and Donald Trump localmaxradio.com/121

Max makes his case on the ineffectiveness of lockdowns. Concepts of the week include confounders and colliders, which are subjects in causality theory, and Simpon’s Paradox where correlations flip based on how the data is bucketed. localmaxradio.com/120

Today’s guest is Brian Blais, a professor of Science at Bryant University. His approach to teaching statistical inference includes taking the Bayesian approach instead of delegating it to an advanced or elective topic. We talk about the Bayesian vs Frequentist debate, how to navigate the disconnect between them, and the role of imagination when discovering truth.

The Local Maximum cover a wide range of topics in this Local Maximum May news update with Max Sklar and cohost Aaron. Max said “this is one of the most fun episodes to do, but all the best stuff is at the end so you better listen through”. Concept of the week is the separation of test and training set in machine learning. We discuss why it is important, how it separates learning and memorization, and where the grey areas are. Other Topics include: - The Bitcoin halving - a once-in-4-years watershed moment for the fledgling currency - Revealing information from coronavirus antibody tests - A 5 year old driver in Utah - The predictive power of Demolition Man and other movies (at the end)

Today’s Local Maximum features Chistian Hubbs, host of the Artificially Intelligent podcast. We talk about the most recent examples of AI Hype, more on the Coronavirus models, and the nuanced problems of listening to the experts.

Cytometrist and author of the new Machine Learning text (ML with R the tidyverse, and mlr) joins the Local Maximum to tell us about some of the biological applications of machine learning and making it more accessible to all. We cover model evaluation, unsupervised learning, and the curse of dimensionality. Podlocalmax19 is the promo code to get 40% off all books at manning.com localmaxradio.com/116

Today Max dives into the Coronavirus pandemic models. He talk generally about statistical models of this sort, and how epidemiological models are usually performed. Then, he finds that the models followed by the state and federal governments do nothing of the sort! Also: - What actions should individuals and governments take? - Do lockdowns affect viral spread? - What's the story with asymptomatic people? localmaxradio.com/115

The Local Maximum takes a break from continuing Coronavirus coverage to talk about larger social trends. Stanford University researchers proposal for a smart toilet goes too far as it scans your from the bottom up for login credentials. Established media throws shade at podcasting as a dangerous medium, even as they are guilty of the same crimes. Max explains the necessity of the long form podcast in our fractured information news economy. Joe Biden starts a podcast - meaning that this could be the start of a new era of communications tools in presidential elections. The New York Magazine review says it’s too much Biden. Welcome to 2020! localmaxradio.com/114

The annualish Local Maximum predictions panel continues virtually even though under quarantine. They make future predictions, but also review past predictions for today’s time. Max gives a Coronavirus update from New York. Here are some questions that we tackle: - Will Urban or Rural spaces grow in the future? - Why did some virtual reality predictions fail, and what can turn that platform around? - Will doctors finally treat patients remotely on a regular basis? - How long will we be stuck in our homes? localmaxradio.com/113