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Asaf Shapira

Jan 23, 2022
15 min

Why is Dunbar the Loneliest Number?

What's the rumpus (: I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix - the Network Science Podcast. As my friends already know, the engraving on my headstone will say: I hate to be mistaken, but when this rare event does occur, I like to quote the Israeli proverb:" When you point an accusing finger at someone, at least 3 of your fingers are pointed at your direction." And now that it happened, I'm here to undo my errors. It all began when I recently read an interview with Prof. Robin

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Asaf Shapira

Dec 5, 2021
22 min

Episode 11: Anyone can analyze networks

What's the rumpus 😊 I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix - the Network Science Podcast. In a recent post in a data analysis group on Facebook, someone posed the following problem: He wanted to know which product of his company is usually bought with which product. A brief inquiry revealed that he does not program, but far worse than that, he wasn't aware of episode 8 on NETfrix in which this exact issue was discussed. So, I was able to solve at least one of his problems,

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Episode 10: What's the rumpus about Networks 2021?

Asaf Shapira

Jun 13, 2021
6 min

Episode 10: What's the rumpus about Networks 2021?

What's the rumpus 😊 I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix - The Network Science Podcast. New agers have Burning Man, geeks have Comicon and network science enthusiasts have the Networks2021 conference. In this episode we'll talk with Dr. Ann McCranie, the General Organizer of the conference, to learn what's so special about it and how to make the most out of it. We've managed to get her to spill the beans about soon-to-be-announced plenary talks and though she's impartial as

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Asaf Shapira

May 2, 2021
13 min

Episode 9: Six Degrees of Intuition

What's the rumpus 😊 I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix – The Network Science Podcast. When we are first presented with the concept that everybody in the world is just 6 steps of acquaintance from everybody else, we usually go through the same 7 stages: Initially you are skeptical. It sounds weird. Then, you try it on yourself, usually calculating in your head how close you are to the president of the United States. Then comes amazement – Wow, I'm just 3 to 5 steps from the

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Episode 8: The Episode for the Aspiring Network Scientist w/Michele Coscia

Asaf Shapira

Apr 14, 2021
3 min

Episode 8: The Episode for the Aspiring Network Scientist w/Michele Coscia

What's the rumpus 😊 I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix, The Network Science Podcast. Today we're going to have a talk with the one and only Michele Coscia, an associate professor at IT University of Copenhagen by day, and by night, the author of the "Connecting Humanities" Blog for Network Science. In between, he managed to squeeze out a monumental book titled "The Atlas for the Aspiring Network Scientist", which we'll be on our to-talk-about-list. We'll also review some

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The Awesome "Network-Science-in-Podcasts" List!

Asaf Shapira

Apr 13, 2021
2 min

The Awesome "Network-Science-in-Podcasts" List!

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is The Awesome "Network Science in Podcasts" List! The reason I started NETfrix - The Network Science Podcast - is because I didn't find any podcast that is dedicated to Network Science besides Knitting Networks Podcast and mine of course... Unfortunately, one is in Spanish and the other in Hebrew... Good news! Soon Knitting Networks will start an English version of the podcast (2021) and also Prof. Sune Lehmann is planning to l

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Episode 7: Partisanship in politics & Network Science

Asaf Shapira

Apr 11, 2021
22 min

Episode 7: Partisanship in politics & Network Science

What's the rumpus 😊 I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix, the Network Science Podcast. In the last few weeks, months and even years, there's a buzz about the issue of polarization in politics. Partisanship seems to manifest itself everywhere from the House of delegates to social media, Maybe, that's why we prefer to stay in our echo chamber castles because out there, we know it's a killing zone for different opinions. For some, a bit more old-fashioned, I guess, this ain't

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Episode 6B: Groundhog's day, Dynamic Networks and Data's Holy Grail – Part 2

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
18 min

Episode 6B: Groundhog's day, Dynamic Networks and Data's Holy Grail – Part 2

What's the rumpus, :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. In the first part of this episode we've learned about methods to model dynamic networks and covered the basics of chaotic systems. We've shown how chaos limits our ability to predict the future because chaos knows no routine. In a chaotic system, what's happened in the past doesn't reflect on what would happen in the future. We've seen it in the weather's eco-system and now, I think we're ready to apply these princ

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Episode 6A: Groundhog's day, Dynamic Networks and Data's Holy Grail - Part 1

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
19 min

Episode 6A: Groundhog's day, Dynamic Networks and Data's Holy Grail - Part 1

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. In the previous episodes, most of the networks we've covered were static networks. By static, I mean that we viewed only a snapshot of the network, meaning networks in a given time frame. But it is clear to all that networks are for the most part - dynamic. So why deal with static networks, if they are dynamic? That's a great question. Especially if you think about it, the potential applications of cracking network dy

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Episode 5: Communities in Networks - Network Law No. 2

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
28 min

Episode 5: Communities in Networks - Network Law No. 2

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. In the last episode we learned that since the 21st century, network science acknowledged that networks are not random, and they follow universal laws. And if the Power Law is the network's rule No. 1, then rule No. 2 is: Nodes in networks congregate to communities. What does it mean? A closer look at the internal structure of a network shows that a network is made up of dense clusters that are highly inter-connected.

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Episode 4: "Game of Ties" – Centrality measures battling it out

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
22 min

Episode 4: "Game of Ties" – Centrality measures battling it out

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. Who are the bottlenecks in my organization? Who should we target for an advertising campaign? How to tell a story about data? Are rhetorical questions an essential part of network analysis? Let's find out. Like most of our world, the network is also a Power Law distribution, that is, there are a few central nodes and most of the nodes are marginal. So, if there are only a few big hubs in the network, how shall we find

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Episode 3: The Network's No. 1 Law - the Power Law

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
30 min

Episode 3: The Network's No. 1 Law - the Power Law

What's the rumpus. I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. The Power Law distribution is perhaps the most basic but awesome phenomenon in networks. We met the Power Law in the previous episode and, as advertised, this episode will dig deeper on the subject and broaden our understanding of it and most importantly: how can it help us in life? This episode will consist of two parts: Part one will serve as an introduction to explain what is a Power Law and why the Power Law is not

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Episode 2: Is it really a Small World? The truth about the network

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
24 min

Episode 2: Is it really a Small World? The truth about the network

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. I practice network analysis for years and founded the first podcast in Israel that tackles the fascinating world of network science. Networks are the building blocks of our universe and we encounter them everywhere. That's why understanding networks is essential to understand our world and our data. If networks are everywhere, then to miss out on the chance to learn about them seems like border line carelessness.

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Episode 1: Introduction to Network Science or: How to find the submarines

Asaf Shapira

Apr 10, 2021
18 min

Episode 1: Introduction to Network Science or: How to find the submarines

What's the rumpus :) I'm Asaf Shapira and this is NETfrix. In this podcast we will talk about the magical field of network science, graph theory, social network analysis or SNA and everything in between. And that's a lot… I have been practicing network analysis for years and also founded the first podcast in Israel to tackle the fascinating world of network science. Maybe it's my Israeli upbringing, but I find network analysis much like Krav Maga. Krav Maga is a fighting s

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