What were the standout moments from Season 10 of Data Malarkey?

In this end-of-season special, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, looks back at some of the best bits, biggest ideas, and sharpest soundbites from across Season 10. This "greatest hits" episode brings together a brilliant and eclectic mix of guests and topics, from gender equality in football and inclusion in advertising, to online safety, AI, insight, the four-day week, startup success, and making sense of data in organisations.

Featuring clips from Karen and Charlie Dobres, former Directors of Lewes FC, Ali Hanan, Harriet Kingaby, Ahti Heinla, Dino Delić, and Charlotte Rae, this episode is both a recap for existing listeners and a perfect jumping-in point for anyone new to Data Malarkey.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How Lewes FC used attention, sponsorship, and crowd-building to drive gender equality in football

• Why equal FA Cup prize money remains a live issue

• What the new ROI - "return on inclusion" - means and how it drives advertising effectiveness

• Why the collapse of truth online should worry all of us

• How Skype and Starship Technologies were built from early-stage uncertainty into category-changing, global scaling businesses

• What the four-day week really means, and why it can improve both wellbeing and productivity

• Why many organisations still struggle to communications turn data into useful action

• How better questions, better framing, and better internal alignment lead to better decisions

Featured guests and themes:

• Karen and Charlie Dobres on Lewes FC and Equality FC

• Ali Hanan on return on inclusion

• Harriet Kingaby on truth, trust, and AI

• Ahti Heinla on Skype, Starship Technologies, and building world-changing tech

• Dino Delić on data, action, and why tools are not the problem

• Charlotte Rae on the four-day week

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

The four-day week gets talked about a lot, but what happens when you stop talking about the theory and start measuring impact properly?

In this episode of Data Malarkey - the podcast about using data, smarter - Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks to Charlotte Rae, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Sussex. Charlotte is one of the UK's leading quantitative researchers on the impact of the four-day working week. She explains how the Sussex 4 Day Week research project studies real employers, real staff, and real outcomes to understand what changes when businesses move to working time reduction.

From productivity and sleep to motivation, meetings, AI, and whether the "honeymoon effect" wears off, this is a brilliant conversation about what the evidence says and where the practical challenges still sit.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The difference between working time reduction, compressed hours, and part-time working

• How the Sussex 4 Day Week programme helps businesses prepare, trial, and measure results

• Why productivity rose by around 8% on average in the trial period

• Why improved sleep appears to be linked to improved productivity

• How motivation and behaviour change drive better output in less time

• Which sectors and business sizes are best suited to shorter working weeks

• Why most four-day week businesses do not simply shut on Fridays

• How AI may help enable shorter working weeks, but only if used in a structured way

Topics we cover:

• Four-day week models explained

• Measuring productivity, wellbeing, burnout, sleep, and motivation

• Why little tweaks often beat big grand changes

• The role of rest, recovery, and hobbies

• Sector differences: knowledge work, manufacturing, care, rota-based businesses

• Which non-working day businesses choose most often

• Long-term stickability of the four-day week

• Whether AI could accelerate working time reduction

About the guest:
Charlotte Rae is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Sussex and leads the Sussex 4 Day Week research project. With a background in psychology and neuroscience, she applies a rigorous, data-driven approach to studying how shorter working weeks affect productivity, wellbeing, and workplace performance.

Links and resources mentioned:

• Sussex Four Day Week: https://sussex4dayweek.co.uk

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

What if the problem is not your tool?

In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks with Dino Delić of Meltwater, the global leader in media intelligence. Sam and Dino cover data, comms, capability-building, AI, and why too many teams are still using powerful tools to produce underwhelming outcomes. Dino is sharp, direct, gloriously opinionated, and obsessed with helping people stop hiding behind "best practices" and start solving the right problem.

They explore why data often fails to drive action inside organisations, how comms teams can become more strategically useful, why AI is creating both huge opportunity and total chaos, and why capability matters far more than buying the latest shiny thing.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Dino hates the phrase "best practices"

• Why most teams are not held back by their tools

• How to start with the real moment of frustration, not generic advice

• Why the CEO's priorities should shape your data communications strategy

• How to turn reporting into decision-making

• Why AI can massively help, but only if you know what good looks like already

• Why most people are still "the cat chasing the laser pointer"

• How Dino thinks about capability, experimentation, and constant improvement

Topics we cover:

• Dino's background from Bosnia to Australia to the US

• Sales, persuasion, and making ideas land

• Why "tool + skills + resources" matters

• The difference between collecting data and using data

• Why AVEs and lazy measurement still hang around

• AI hype, maturity, and common mistakes

• Meltwater's Run Club, newsletter, and open learning approach

• Why communicators need debate, not just agreement

About the guest:
Dino Delić is Strategic Customer Advisor at Meltwater. He works at the intersection of communications, data, measurement, enablement, and customer success, helping teams turn information into action and become more effective, persuasive, and data-driven in the work they do.

Links and resources mentioned:

• Meltwater's Data Driven Communications Run Club and newsletter - https://community.meltwater.com/p/ddc

• Follow Dino Delić on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinodelic/

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com