#AcademicRunPlaylist - 7/6/25

Author

Ben Waber
July 06, 2025

A selfie of me in front of a small forest-like park on a sunny day. Behind me are two trees sprouting from nearly bare dirt ground, followed by a paved path, then bamboo grass with large trees looming above. I'm a bald, middle-aged, white man with a red beard flecked with white. I'm wearing black sunglasses and a dark blue running shirt.

The extreme Tokyo heat has necessitated a change in running strategy, but thanks to my lingering jet lag I was still able to get out for a decent amount of time and listen to a book for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

Today I listened to "The Art of Uncertainty" by David Spiegelhalter. Most of this book is an overly long introduction to probability and statistics, which is good if you're unfamiliar with the topic but otherwise is very skippable. The chapters on communicating uncertainty and making decisions/managing risk, however, are close to unmissable. Spiegelhalter illuminates a variety of issues with different probability framing techniques and visualization methods, as well as how decision makers and statisticians can effectively work together https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/458199/the-art-of-uncertainty-by-spiegelhalter-david/9780241658628