Data + Love = Edward Tufte, The Document, and Catastrophic Expenses

Author and raconteur Blake J Harris returns to the show.We discuss his new book "Emperor of Nothing: The Making of Larry David" about the comedy legend behind Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.The conversation is wide-ranging with debates on optimism for the future, which M&Ms Barak Obama puts in his vodka, and more.It's a fun time, we laugh a lot, and there's a lot to learn about the art of telling a clear, compelling story out of messy reality.

Tableau General Manager Mark Recher joins the show for a wide ranging conversation about the evolving workplace and impact of AI on the data space and beyond.We talk AI Integration, Evolving Roles and Responsibilities, Baseball Stats, and more.It's a good time, you don't want to miss it.

In this episode, guest Anna Foard dive into a wide-ranging conversation that starts with work-related stress and the tricky trade-off between caring and not caring about professional challenges. They explore the importance of building grit and initiative in children, contrasting that with the spoon-feeding they see in today’s education system. Anna shares a story about the NFL’s historical blackout of Falcons games to highlight the long-term downsides of filtering information, which opens into a broader discussion of the biases and risks that come with training AI models on filtered or AI-generated data.Zach voices skepticism about the incentives driving large AI companies, suggesting that their public warnings about AI risks may sometimes function as marketing tactics or as efforts to lock in regulation that protects their position. The pair also examine the economic sustainability of the AI industry, drawing comparisons to past financial bubbles and questioning how useful and cost-effective the most powerful models actually are. They touch on practical tools like Claude and Slackbot for everyday productivity, while stressing the need for people to do their own research and stay critical of the sources they rely on.

This week on the Data + Love podcast we talk about the Godfather of Dataviz Edward Tufte, his magnum opus 'the document', and what that has in common with Amazon's recent 'Catastrophically Expensive' AI blunders.

Zach and Blake had an informal conversation about data visualization, community engagement, and AI's impact on creative work. Blake shared his journey into the Tableau community through Makeover Monday, where he was inspired by Matt Huff and Andy Kriebel, and eventually became a co-leader of the community project. They discussed the importance of finding authentic ways to engage with the community, with Blake launching live streams of his Makeover Monday work on Fridays to be more transparent about his process. The conversation also covered the limitations of AI-generated content, with both agreeing that authentic human creativity becomes more valuable when content is easily replicable by machines.

A landmark Pew Research survey this week shows that 16% of Americans believe AI will have a positive Impact on SocietyIn this episode we explore the fear, where it's coming from, who's creating it, and why

Iron Viz Judge Mark Bradbourne returns to discuss TC26. We talk about Keynotes, Devs on Stage, Iron Viz, and get dramatically off topic quite frequently.

In this solo episode we catch up with recent trends in workplace AI

Simon Rogers drops in to discuss his latest book 'What We Ask Google', available May 5, 2026Simon is Google’s Data Editor, leading a team of data journalists, analysts, and visualizers to tell stories with Google’s data. Previously, he was Twitter’s first ever Data Editor, and he is also the author of Facts Are Sacred, based on the Guardian’s Datablog which he helped launch. A lecturer in Data Journalism at Medill-Northwestern University in San Francisco, he has received the Royal Statistical Society’s award for statistical excellence in journalism. He lives with this family in San Francisco.

This week Iron Viz 2026 Finalist and Tableau Visionary Brian Moore drops inZach and Brian discussed Brian's preparation for the upcoming IronViz competition at Tableau Conference, where Brian will present his "Confection Connection" visualization about candy company conglomerations. They explored Brian's approach to creating data visualizations, including his methodical process of researching and manually building datasets, his technical design choices like using Tableau polygons for backgrounds, and his philosophy of balancing information density with storytelling clarity. Brian shared insights about his extensive Tableau Public project portfolio, revealing he spends 3-4 hours per night for months at a time on each major project, and discussed his experience networking with other community members and preparing for the live presentation format. The conversation also covered Brian's previous work, including his cryptid classifications project and Wes Anderson movie visualizations, highlighting how he approaches similar topics from different angles using varied chart types and design elements.