Taylor Swift, Pesto the Penguin, and… Statistics?! - with Heather Lansdowne

Taylor Swift, Pesto the Penguin, and… Statistics?! - with Heather Lansdowne

From The Random Sample by MACSYS

October 1, 2025 · 34 min · Season 10 · Episode 114

About this episode

Heather Lansdowne discusses how the Australian Bureau of Statistics engages the public through social media.

The art of engagement for the Australian Bureau of Statistics  How do you make statistics and complex data not just understandable - but engaging? For the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the answer is simple: meet people where they are - on social media. From pop culture and sports to quirky factoids, the ABS social media team uses fun, relatable content to build a massive following. How massive? We’re talking hundreds of thousands of followers across multiple platforms. Once they’ve got your attention, they make sure the important ABS material is right there in the mix - explained clearly and accessibly. In this episode, we speak with Heather Lansdowne, the leader of the ABS social media team, about how they’re changing the way people connect with statistics. Our host is Tim Macuga. Episode webpage: https://www.therandomsample.com.au/podcast/abs-social-media/   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Tim Macuga

Guest: Heather Lansdowne

Topics covered

  • social media
  • statistics
  • engagement
  • data communication
  • pop culture
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics

Keywords

  • statistics
  • social media
  • engagement
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics
  • data
  • pop culture
  • communication

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS

Books & works: Taylor Swift, Pesto the Penguin

More episodes of The Random Sample

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Random Sample podcast page.