S03E08 - The market view of data education - with Richie Cotton

S03E08 - The market view of data education - with Richie Cotton

Author: Half Stack Data Science March 11, 2024 Duration: 46:30

A reminder that David's book, Solve Any Data Analysis Problem, is out later this year and you can already buy it and read it in its draft form as part of Manning's Early Access Program. If you want to practise your data skills on real world problems and learn a reusable framework to use on any project in the future, this book is for you.

Find out more here: https://www.manning.com/books/solve-any-data-analysis-problem

Now onto today's episode. We're continuing our series of conversations about data education and in this episode we spoke to Richie Cotton.

Richie is a data evangelist at DataCamp. He started his career as a data scientist, working in industries from chemical health and safety to debt collection to proteomics. After joining DataCamp in 2016, he switched to teaching data and AI skills. He has created ten courses on data science that have been taken by over 700k learners, and worked with instructors to create over 50 courses that have been taken by millions of learners. Richie has also written two books and R programming, Learning R and Testing R Code.

In his current role, Richie hosts the DataFramed podcast and runs the DataCamp webinar program, as well as creating tutorials and cheat sheets for data and AI skills.

We spoke to Richie about how DataCamp's offering and focus has changed over time to meet market demands, with some inevitable comments about Python vs R, what the impact of generative AI has been on data education, and what the future holds.

You can find Richie and his work on various parts of the internet:


Hosted by David Asboth and Shaun McGirr, Half Stack Data Science pulls back the curtain on what it really means to build and deploy data science within large organizations. This isn't a theoretical discussion of algorithms, but a grounded conversation about the messy, human, and often political challenges that define the field in an enterprise setting. Each episode delves into the practical hurdles-from managing stakeholder expectations and navigating legacy systems to communicating value and dealing with imperfect data. You'll hear candid reflections on projects that succeeded and those that didn't, offering a rare, unvarnished look at the day-to-day work beyond the hype. The Half Stack Data Science podcast is for practitioners who want to move beyond textbook examples and for leaders seeking to understand how to foster effective data teams. It’s a dialogue focused on the tools, processes, and soft skills necessary to deliver impact, making it an essential listen for anyone navigating the complex intersection of data, technology, and business reality. Tune in for honest talk about building things that actually work.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 33

Half Stack Data Science
Podcast Episodes
S03E09 - Statistical rethinking - with Richard McElreath [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:22
A reminder that David's book, Solve Any Data Analysis Problem, is out later this year and you can already buy it and read it in its draft form as part of Manning's Early Access Program. If you want to practise your data…
S03E07 - The power of data storytelling - with Kat Greenbrook [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:40
A reminder that David's book Solve Any Data Analysis Problem is available in Manning's Early Access Program! You can read more about it here: ⁠https://www.manning.com/books/solve-any-data-analysis-problem⁠ (if it's not o…
S03E06 - Reimagining data analytics training - with James Cotton [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:47
First of all, David's book Solve Any Data Analysis Problem is available in Manning's Early Access Program! You can read more about it here: https://www.manning.com/books/solve-any-data-analysis-problem (if it's not on of…
S03E05 - Code quality for data science - with Laszlo Sragner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:11
In this episode, we continued our season of talking to data educators and spoke to Laszlo Sragner. Laszlo runs Hypergolic, a boutique consultancy in London specialising in Machine Learning Product Management. Formerly, h…
S03E04 - The language of data literacy - with Valerie Logan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:04
Continuing our series of conversations with data educators, in this episode we spoke to Valerie Logan. Founding The Data Lodge in 2019, Valerie is as committed to data literacy as it gets. She believes that in today's di…
S03E03 - Effective Python teaching - with Matt Harrison [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:30
In this episode of Half Stack Data Science we continue our season 3 all about data science education, with a conversation with Matt Harrison. Matt stands as a prominent figure in the Python and data science community. A…
S03E02 - The joy of teaching Python - with Reuven Lerner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:47
In this episode of Half Stack Data Science we continue our season 3, all about data science education, with a conversation with Reuven Lerner. Reuven is a full-time Python trainer with a bachelor's degree in computer sci…
S03E01 - Preparing analysts for the real world - with Lisa Carpenter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:24
In this episode, David & Shaun talk to Lisa Carpenter. Lisa is the lead data science instructor at Digital Futures, with responsibility for the design and delivery of the Data Science programme. Prior to transitioning to…
Season 3 Teaser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:20
The Half Stack Data Science podcast is back (again)! Season 3 is coming very soon. In the meantime, listen to our teaser episode where we briefly recap our first 2 seasons and introduce the concept behind season 3; a ser…