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Quantitude

Science Podcasts

A podcast dedicated to all things quantitative, ranging from the relevant to the highly irrelevant. Co-hosts Patrick Curran and Greg Hancock talk about serious statistical topics, but without taking themselves too seriously. Think: CarTalk hi-jacked by the two grumpy old guys from the Muppets, grousing about quantitative methods, statistics, and data analysis, all presented to you with the production value of a 6th grade school project. But in a good way.

Location:

United States

Description:

A podcast dedicated to all things quantitative, ranging from the relevant to the highly irrelevant. Co-hosts Patrick Curran and Greg Hancock talk about serious statistical topics, but without taking themselves too seriously. Think: CarTalk hi-jacked by the two grumpy old guys from the Muppets, grousing about quantitative methods, statistics, and data analysis, all presented to you with the production value of a 6th grade school project. But in a good way.

Language:

English


Episodes
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S7E13 Time-Varying Effect Models

1/20/2026
In this week's episode Patrick and Greg explore the incredibly cool possibilities offered by the time-varying effects model as a non-parametric alternative to the more restrictive time-varying covariate model. Along the way they also mention North Dakota, Cal Ripken Jr., pre-gaming, not trying to be funny, left lane guy, Walker Texas Ranger, smelling toast, Bob Ross, hearing sirens, muu-muus, petulant teenagers, two old men, boing boing boing, greedy bastards, hostage negotiations, going off the rails, and being made whole. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:43:31

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S7E12 The Gift of Regifting

12/16/2025
This week's episode is the seventh annual Quantitude Holiday Special, but because Greg and Patrick both forgot to get each other something, they frantically regift one another some of their favorite sponsors from prior episodes. Along the way they also discuss Quantitude Studio A, two foot tall porcelain penguins, electric bug zappers, personalized cutting boards, balls dropping, Sir Francis Galton, Brad Pitt, the two people who actually listen to a full episode, Christmas Eve, Muffin the kitten, Alan Rickman, Mr. Riclpm, Top Gun, and an Easter egg from Jiffy. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:33:54

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S7E11 Should Essays be Used in College Admissions? Maybe...

12/9/2025
In this In The Wild episode, Patrick and Greg turn their Quantitude loose on college admission essays, in particular whether or not they should be used to make such high-stakes decisions, and they discuss what issues would need to be addressed in order to answer that question. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:44:27

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S7E10 A Report Card on GPAs

12/2/2025
In this week's episode Patrick and Greg have fun exploring the questionably valid but always high stakes role of the grade point average, of GPA. They consider the different ways in which grades can be assigned, what they may or may not actually represent, and how they have become increasingly inflated over time. Along the way, they also discuss not being agnostic, math vs. sociology, avoiding homework, eye patches, participation credit, revenge committee assignments, trust falls, bad dermatologists, meeting expectations, Trojan horse questions, failing law school, picking your battles, GPA as rolling D&D dice, and holding forth. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:43:37

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S7E09 Modeling Categorical Change with Latent Transition Analysis

11/18/2025
In this week's episode Patrick and Greg talk about latent transition analysis, which embeds latent class analysis within a longitudinal context, allowing us to explore, as well as to formally test, patterns of individual change in latent class membership over time. Along the way they also mention: identity crises, the crossword puzzler, the nihilist, here comes the asteroid, deck chairs and floating doors, grizzled 25-year-olds, burying the lede, victory yells, Pepsi vs. Coke, magic wiping cloths, and lining up to slap Greg. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:40:39

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S7E08 Bootstrapping

11/11/2025
In this week's episode Greg and Patrick discuss the amazing world of the empirical bootstrap. They start with inferential testing using business as usual, describe where that quickly runs into problems, and explore where bootstrapping does and, importantly, does not help move us forward. Along the way they also discuss midnight in Bangkok, the awe of a 747, the Wright Brothers, what's your point, sampling a crappy sample, indulging neurons, Guinness beer, just go faster, what does Tukey know, kids these days, sticking to the story, the symmetric horse, Greenday and Coors Light, everything is awesome, petulant teenagers, and maybe a little too quiet. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:44:45

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S7E07 Is the SAT Biased and Should be Banned? Maybe...

11/4/2025
In this In The Wild episode, Greg and Patrick turn their Quantitude loose on the ever-present SAT, in particular the premise that it is biased and should be banned. They also talk about what issues would need to be addressed in order to evaluate whether or not that's a reasonable claim. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:39:45

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S7E06 Non-Academic Jobs: A Conversation with Jeremy Miles

10/21/2025
In this week's episode, Patrick and Greg have a lovely conversation with Jeremy Miles, a quantitative methodologist who has worked in both academic and industry settings. Jeremy draws on his own extensive experiences to describe what an industry job is like and how one can prepare to move into this type of position. Along the way they also discuss sub-conning expertise, mystery companies, Americans’ mispronunciations, Quantitude International, avoiding math, statistics vs. biostatistics, fighter pilots with Ph.D.s, Eau Rouge, game rooms, 99% missing data, being correct-ish, harumphs, pay cuts, Kai Ryssdal, and Lewis Hamilton vs. George Russell. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:46:44

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S7E05 The Academic Job Talk

10/14/2025
In this week's episode, as we head into the academic job season, Patrick and Greg offer some well-meaning advice about one of the most important aspects of an on-site interview, the academic job talk. Along the way they also mention the changing of the cactus needles, Colon Blow, big pumpkin, cutting out job ads, the job talk bagel bar, waiting for Wisconsin, y-hat forever, hold my beer, hello Cleveland, toilet inspirations, Olympic ice skating hook, cat with a stopwatch, showing your stomach, golf swings, make good choices, and the wisdom of RuPaul. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:38:36

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S7E03 Does Birth Order Matter? Maybe...

10/7/2025
In this week's In The Wild episode, Patrick and Greg turn their Quantitude loose on the premise that birth order has a causal impact on the very person who you are. They discuss what questions they would raise and what issues they would need to have addressed in order fully evaluate whether or not this is a reasonable claim. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:34:20

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S7E03 Nonparametric Procedures

9/23/2025
In this week's episode, Greg and Patrick explore the very cool yet often overlooked suite of non-parametric statistical tests. They talk about their strengths and weaknesses and how these might be profitably used in practice. Along the way they also discuss science fairs, spaghetti bridges, don't take this the wrong way, jazz hamster, the Bernoulli Principle, everyone wins, glitter is not science, Speed Racer, George Russell being a baby, ppphhhhbbbbt, Miles Davis, and the conch shell. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:39:26

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S7E02 Is NPR Liberally Biased? Maybe...

9/16/2025
In this week's special In The Wild episode, Patrick and Greg turn their Quantitude loose on the premise that National Public Radio is liberally biased, talking about what issues we would need to have addressed in order for us to be able to evaluate whether or not that's a reasonable claim. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:34:39

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S7E01 The Seven Year Itch

9/9/2025
In this week's episode, the first of Season 7, Greg and Patrick argue about whether the number seven is a propitious or an inauspicious omen for the new season. They then explore ways we can spice up our relationship in hopes of avoiding the Seven Year Itch. Along the way they also discuss t-shirt wearing dogs, Mickey Mantle, the seven deadly sins, Akira Kurosawa, the Boeing triple-seven, menage-a-pods, unwritten books, El Duderino, mmmmmmaybe, I see dead people, ROYGBIV, Ozzy Man, dodgy cats, short cons and long cons, and Tate's study group. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:37:01

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S6E21 Quantitude: How the Sausage is Made

5/20/2025
In this week's episode, the last of Season 6, Patrick and Greg pull back the curtain and reveal how the Quantitude sausage is actually made. Their motivation is to share their own joys and challenges in making a podcast in the hope that others might consider doing this themselves, whether it be for simple self-satisfaction or for using it as a free speech platform in a time when other avenues of communication are feeling increasingly compromised. Along the way they also discuss baring your soul, being 20 minutes away, losing money, Guglielmo Marconi, palak paneer, Taylor Swift, Machiavelli's bad rap, Quincy Jones, hostage negotiations, two blind squirrels, our Innies, for love of the game, Jiffy (in moderation), Blood Meridian, and Edmund Burke. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:57:21

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S6E20 Dominance Analysis

4/29/2025
In this week's episode Greg and Patrick explore the extremely clever yet inexplicably underused method of dominance analysis which offers a set of techniques for determining the relative importance of predictors in a regression model. Along the way they also discuss giving compliments, looking tired, Indy vs. F1, chicken paprikas, Gustav Holst, Fozzie Bear, not paying attention while recording, Lewis Hamilton pin-ups, Lando Calrissian, equation forts, being appallingly cool, making no sense at all, and magnums of champagne. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:42:17

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S6E19 Misheard (Statistical) Lyrics: A Mixtape

4/15/2025
In this week's episode Patrick and Greg have some serious fun with song lyrics they misunderstood at some point in their personal lives. They then use this as a thinly veiled excuse to explore some very basic statistical things that they have also misunderstood at some point in their professional lives. Along the way they discuss over-engineered front ends, mumbling, Scaramouche, mondegreens, Tony Danza, Bingo Jed, word salad, containers, sitting next to Kurt Cobain, kicking cats, tiddles, ears ringing, the Dunder Chief, wrinkles in the space time continuum, naked or not, missing data bouncer, colite gas, and dying on the dance floor. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:45:32

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S6E18 Count Variables

4/1/2025
In today’s episode Patrick and Greg talk about outcomes that are count variables: when you need to worry about them and what you can do about them within your analytical models. Along the way they also mention: Bela Lugosi, Vlad the Impaler, Patrick the Poker, Count Chocula, Count von Count, drunken bar brawls, secret distributions, K!, bio breaks, second favorite child, Animal Farm, Cliff’s notes, A’s in band, and more equal zeros. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:42:24

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S6E17 Age-Period-Cohort Analysis

3/18/2025
In this week's episode Greg and Patrick explore both the challenges and the opportunities of age-period-cohort analysis when trying to understand the complexities of human behavior over time. Along the way they also discuss bachelor night, Dave Brubeck, pay phones, street lights, global nuclear war, lazy thinking, I'm not a crook, biking to grandmas, HMS Pinafore, the Beatles, aggressive mice, trash snakes, and getting high at A-Basin. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:41:34

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S6E16 Correspondence Analysis

3/4/2025
In this week's episode Greg and Patrick shine a flashlight on correspondence analysis and find that this is an extraordinarily cool yet often neglected method similar to factor analysis but applied to nominal contingency tables. Along the way they also discuss online personality tests, marital therapy, modern antibiotics, the Newlywed Game, grand slams, the advantages of being flexible, disrespecting nominal variables, formally apologizing to linguists, Winnie the Pooh, VH1's Pop-Up Video, the witches of Macbeth, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and the downsides of Novocaine. Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:46:41

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S6E15 Loglinear Models: Someone Should Have Told You

2/18/2025
In this week’s episode Greg and Patrick talk about loglinear models as a clever method to deconstruct the potential dependencies among two or more categorical variables. Along the way, they also discuss Children of the Corn, Mr. Magoo glasses, tighty whities, Fogo de Chão, blinded by hand soap, logarithms as drug mules, Euler Euler Euler, conspiracy boards and red yarn, M&M colors, depth perception problems, and apologies to Mrs. Johnson Stay in contact with Quantitude! quantitudepod.org@quantitudepod@quantitudepodredbubble.com

Duration:00:40:08