What does a CEO really need from data? In this episode, John and Mark sit down with retired CEO Rod Hightower to explore the business side of the data table. Rod talks about the importance of truth and insight, the biases that can get in the way of both, and why data professionals need to understand the business they support.

We also visit the Bit Bucket, a bar that will serve up an Old Bandersnatch bourbon and lend an ear when it seems nobody understands you. Favorite sketches like the 8-Bit Consultants and the Data Poetry Slam return, as well as, by popular request, our original sponsor! Finally, we kick off a new series of Dispatches from Rock Bottom exploring what AI will, and will never, do.

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Chapters:

00:00 – The Bit Bucket; 05:06 – Monologue; 07:45 – Rod Hightower, Part 1; 51:09 – Dispatches from Rock Bottom; 53:15 – The 8-Bit Consultants; 54:14 – Data Poetry Slam; 55:36 – Recap & Close

What happens when you empty the refrigerator of everything that didn’t quite make it into the last series of the Rock Bottom Data Feed? You make stew. This compilation episode serves up the leftovers from Series 4: behind-the-scenes production conversations, outtakes, extended conversations with guests, and a few stories that were simply too good to leave on the cutting-room floor.

We revisit the history of Bradshaw’s Guide and the surprisingly contentious business of railway timetables, explore what data management looks like from perspectives outside the traditional data world, and dig into a bigger question that has been a recurring theme of the podcast: data is about people, society, and the ways technology changes how we live. There’s also a fascinating discussion about turning data into sound, the human consequences of data breaches, and why every row in a database may represent somebody’s life, experience, or secret.

And then there’s the other stuff.

Production sausage-making. Southern farewells. LEGO. A few questionable jokes. And one particularly memorable Victorian-era concern about the effect of high-speed rail travel on the human anatomy.

In other words, everything you might expect from the Rock Bottom Data Feed when nobody is watching the clock.

Series 4 is officially in the refrigerator. Series 5 is ready to cook.

Be sure to visit DATAVERSITY where you can use discount code ROCK15 to get 15% off your first purchase!!

• DATAVERSITY Training Center
• Live Classes
• Applied Data Governance Certification | DATAVERSITY

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction; 02:17 – Extras and Outtakes; 38:01 – Recap & Close

In this final fourth series episode, John and Mark continue their conversation with Sam Spencer, CEO and co-founder of Aristotle Metadata. The focus this time is an experiment Sam's been running with the Australian government. We'll let Sam give the details, but the short version is that the Australian government spent a whole lot of money on a data initiative but didn't have a whole lot of results to show for it. Sam is helping them to make better progress without having to handhold the whole time. You can read about it on his substack. We'll be back later in the summer to see how it turned out.

Sam also plays our famous Game Show, the Audio Data Rorschach Test. We close out the season with all the favorite segments, including the 8-Bit Consultants and a Data Poetry Slam courtesy Busta Hips making a grand entrance on a stairlift. As always, if you have a verse or two to share, or a question in 256-characters, write us.

This is our 36th episode. Over 21 hours of irreverent yet practical data-focused content that isn't a pile of technobabble and repetition of old advice. Go back and check out some of our earlier shows. You could start season one on your flight from London and still be listening to this episode when you arrive in Sydney.

Be sure to visit DATAVERSITY where you can use discount code ROCK15 to get 15% off your first purchase!!

• DATAVERSITY Training Center
• Live Classes
• Applied Data Governance Certification | DATAVERSITY

Chapters:

00:00 – Archedataology from the Future - Part 4 - 2026; 07:55 – Monologue; 10:06 – Sam Spencer Part 2; 37:56 – Dispatches from Rock Bottom; 40:02 - Audio Data Rorschach Test; 41:32 – The 8-Bit Consultants; 42:40 – Data Poetry Slam; 43:58 – Recap & Close