Coronavirus, COVID-19 and the great mis-infodemic are centre stage in this episode 33 of the Small Data Forum podcast. The global pandemic provides Thomas Stoeckle, Sam Knowles and I with an array of topics to dissect and discuss as we take solace from the wisdom of the superforecasting capabilities of Asterix and his indomitable Gauls. “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequence,” writes Thomas in the show notes. This little known sociological formula from the … [Read more...] about SDF 33: Convolvulus, Coronavirus & the Thomas theorem
Small Data Forum
SDF 32: When Henry VIII met Dr Strangelove
If historical analogies provide the measure of a man, then Downing Street henchman-in-chief, lead iconoclast and perpetual ideas recyclist “Classic Dom” Cummings is doing a spectacularly good job, writes Thomas Stoeckele introducing the show notes for episode 32 of our Small Data Forum podcast. In this episode that Thomas, Sam Knowles and I recorded just a week after Boris got Brexit done, we disagree with such a wild claim mostly in a reasonable way (although Thomas has a different view on … [Read more...] about SDF 32: When Henry VIII met Dr Strangelove
SDF 31: Opportunity and chaos from #GE2019
On December 17, five days after voting ended in the UK General Election, Thomas Stoeckle, Sam Knowles, and I got together for lunch in London followed by a good old chat over a few beers in a live conversation we recorded for episode 31 of the Small Data Forum podcast. We continued our conversation about the state of the UK we started earlier in the year, informed somewhat by the outcome of #GE2019 where we have moved onward from the hung Parliament territory of the 2017 General Election to … [Read more...] about SDF 31: Opportunity and chaos from #GE2019
SDF 30: Of Giants and Donkeys
On the first day after Brexit Day, Thomas, Sam and I joined in conversation on the Big Day that didn't happen. #NoBrexitDay, in a hashtag. In this latest installment of our Small Data Forum podcast, episode 30, we again discuss the political shenanigins in the ongoing Brexit saga as we now head towards a General Election in the UK on December 12. We set the scene with a just-published book from the four men behind 'Led By Donkeys,' a political activism campaign that unfolded on … [Read more...] about SDF 30: Of Giants and Donkeys
SDF 29: Back to the Future
By Sam Knowles, co-presenter, SDF Podcast. When Rome teetered on the brink of democratic collapse in the first century BCE, as it prepared – unknowingly – to move from a form of notional democracy to imperial rule, three men came together to save the ever-expanding city state and advance their political careers. Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus – the swashbuckler, the strategist, and the finance guy – effectively took power under emergency measures. Known collectively as the First Triumvirate, … [Read more...] about SDF 29: Back to the Future