764: The Top 10 Episodes of 2023

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: John Crohn presents the Super Data Science Podcast’s 2023 best-of list, grounded in 30-day post-release performance to fairly compare episodes. He celebrates record growth, thanks listeners for reviews and sharing, and highlights the top 10 episodes, spanning machine learning, data engineering, NLP, statistics, AGI, and career strategy, with Sadie St. Lawrence’s trends episode taking the top spot.

Main Topics: 2023 listener growth and community gratitude: The host thanks listeners for reviews, ratings, comments, and sharing, emphasizing how audience engagement helps the show grow and feel less solitary for the creator. Why the 'best of 2023' episode airs in March: He explains the use of a 30-day KPI snapshot to compare episodes fairly and notes production timing and recent news episodes delayed the recap. Top 10 episodes of 2023: The episode counts down the most popular podcasts of the year, spotlighting guests and themes across machine learning, data engineering, NLP, statistics, and AI futures. Enduring appeal of practical and visionary AI/data content: The ranking shows strong interest in both applied skills (machine learning, data engineering, NLP) and big-picture topics (AGI, AI’s effect on work, statistical paradoxes). Community-driven show promotion: Crohn encourages reviews, tagging on social media, subscriptions, and sharing, framing audience advocacy as essential to the podcast’s continued success.

Key Arguments: Audience feedback directly fuels the podcast’s growth and discoverability, as shown by increased reviews, likes, and comments. Using a 30-day performance window is a fairer way to rank episodes because it removes the advantage of early-year releases having more time to accumulate listens. The show’s audience is especially drawn to content that blends practical learning with authoritative instructors and high-profile experts. Interest in AI and data science remains broad: listeners engage with technical skill-building, theoretical insights, and future-oriented speculation alike. The most successful episode of 2023 was a predictions episode, suggesting that timely trend analysis resonates strongly with the audience.

Data Points: Combined podcast downloads and YouTube views in 2023: 4 million - New record cited by the host for the Super Data Science Podcast Combined podcast downloads and YouTube views in prior year: 3.3 million - Baseline used to show year-over-year growth Top episode 30-day listens: Over 19,000 - Sadie St. Lawrence’s 2023 trends episode achieved this within 30 days Year of top episode: 2023 - The first episode of 2023 became the year’s most popular episode Number of top episodes listed: 10 - The host counts down the 10 most popular episodes of 2023 30-day window: Used as KPI - Internal metric used to assess episode performance fairly Top episode ranking: #1 - Sadie St. Lawrence's predictions of 2023 data science trends Second-place ranking: #2 - Vincent Warmerdam on open source tools for NLP Third-place ranking: #3 - Josh Wills on blending social impact with financial success Fourth-place ranking: #4 - Chip Huyen on designing machine learning systems Fifth-place ranking: #5 - Dr. Ben Goertzel on a roadmap to AGI within seven years

Pivotal Quotes: "In 2023, that led to a new record of 4 million combined podcast downloads and YouTube views of the Super Data Science podcast." — John Crohn: The host explains the show’s growth and thanks listeners for supporting it "using the 30-day snapshot also ensures that episodes released at the beginning of last year don't have an unfair advantage over episodes released at the end of last year" — John Crohn: Explanation of the ranking methodology "the very first episode of 2023, which featured Sadie St. Lawrence's predictions of 2023's data science trends, all of which ended up being spot on" — John Crohn: Announcement of the year’s most popular episode

Implications: Listeners get a curated roadmap to the strongest 2023 episodes across AI and data science. For the industry, the rankings show sustained demand for practical skills, expert instruction, and future-focused AI commentary.