R Weekly Highlights

How the new logrittr package gives you a peek behind the tidy pipelines of dplyr, and a fascinating glimpse into the universe of seeds going far beyond a favorite 80's song. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Jonathan Kitt - @jonathankitt.bsky.social (Bluesky)logrittr: A Verbose Pipe Operator for Logging dplyr PipelinesGenerating universes within universes with a single seedWorking Smarter in R: Tips, Tricks & Real-World LessonsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W18Supplement Resources
tidylog https://github.com/elbersb/tidylog/logrittr documentation https://guillaumepressiat.github.io/logrittr/Fine-grained control of RNG seeds in R https://bl...

After an unexpected break we are back with a new episode of R Weekly Highlights! If you thought the easiest way to create pivot tables was in Excel, the a new package just might change your perspective. Plus how you can pull the strings for a multi-agent LLM workflow with the new puppeteeR package.

Episode Links 
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)perspectiveR: Interactive Pivot Tables and Charts from RpuppeteeR - orchestrate multiple LLM agents into coordinated workflowsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W16
Supplement Resources
 
Perspective up...

Choice is good, but sometimes you may want a little help! Our first two highlights showcase approaches you can take to inform your next LLM for analyses and open-source license. Plus how to make your mark(s) within your version control history. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)How to choose the best LLM using R and vitalsPick a License, Not Any LicenseGit commits: please mark your stitches!Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W09
Supplement Resources
rollama - R wrapper to Ollama https://jbgruber.gi...

A glimpse into the R Consortium Submissions Working Group's recent successes and future work, and a new way to view those nested lists from a familiar face making his return to blogging! 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)Submissions Working Group: 2026 Plans and 2025 SuccessViewing Nested Lists with xfun::tabset()Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W08Supplement Resources
R Consortium Submissions Pilot 4 https://rpodcast.quarto.pub/submissions-wg-pilot-4/R-Podcast Episode 18 (Yihui Xie Returns) https://r-podcast.org/024-rstudioconf-yihui-xie/litedown: R Markdown Reimagined https://yihui.org/litedown
Supporting th...

A prominent leader at the intersection of data science and data engineering across multiple languages shares her insights, how a recent Git workshop tailored for data science de-mystifies common pitfalls, and for the second straight episode a new transpiler bringing dplyr syntax to databases (quite literally). 
Episode Links 
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)The Test Set Pod - Column selectors, data quality, and learning in public (Episode link)Git & GitHub: Practical Version Control for Data Workdplyr comes to duckdbEntire issue available at rw...

The way LLMs can be a little stubborn when interpreting data visualizations, bringing new meaning to digging for your data and learning along the way, and the latest addition to the futureverse that seems too good to be true, but it is real! Plus an amazing Shiny app tailored made for this very podcast. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Jonathan Kitt - @jonathankitt.bsky.social (Bluesky)LLMs interpret plots well, until expectations interfereStudents, software, and soil fluxfuturize: Parallelize Common Functions via a "Magic" TouchEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W05
Supplement Resources
 
{bluffbench} htt...

The inside story of how Claude Code with the proper scope provided a massive boost to drafting hundreds of pull requests, and debunking the myth on settling for compromises when prioritizing accessibility principles as demonstrated by a prominent leader in the visualization space. Plus we address candid feedback on last week's discussion on the tinyshinyserver package. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)Semi-automating 200 Pull Requests with Claude CodeHow to create a more accessible line chartEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2026-W04
Supplement Resources
 
Risk Con...

It's a new year of R Weekly Highlights! In this episode we learn of the positive intellectual diversity impacting R and Python communities, a great starting point to create your first RAG-powered knowledge store, and a new package enters the Shiny ecosystem that is certainly not tiny in its ambitions.

Episode Links 
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)R + Python: From polyglot to pluralism: A very targeted recap on posit::conf(2025) and a broader reflection on how the best design and devtools ideas from R and python h...

A retrospective that showcases favourite data visualisation projects and insights from 2025, a practical guide offering R package maintainers methods to gauge how their package is being used, and an R package release introducing additional helper functions that extend dplyr::mutate() for generating columns with useful rowwise and list-column operations. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)My year in data visualisationHow to Assess Usage of your Package{mutagen} 0.5.0: Extensions to dplyr's mutateEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W51
Supporting the show
 
Use the contact page at...

How the recent frontier LLM model releases compare for successfully generating R code, our take on the new Test Set data science podcast, and a surprising entry in the world of languages equipped for data science. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)2025-12-05 AI NewsletterThe Test Set: Now on YouTube + a look at what’s nextHaskell IS a Great Language for Data ScienceEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W50
Supplement Resources
Add links discussed in the episode (in place of this sentence)How well do L...

Prepare to deploy multiple LLM-powered agents for your next (secret) missions with mini007, a new contender to the high-performance linter tools with blazing performance that doesn't seem possible (but it is), and a usethis-like manager for your projects needing unified branding across deliverables. 


Episode Links 
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)mini007 - A Lightweight Framework for Multi-Agent Orchestration in RJarl: just another R linter{rbranding} 0.1.0: Manage Branding and Accessibility of R ProjectsEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W48
Supplement Resources
 
Add links dis...

Creating your own race to a programming finish line with a hidden gem in mirai, the lowdown on using Generative AI for data visualization with more than a few surprises, and going from start to finish with a Shiny app created under the BDD mindset.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)Aaaaand… they’re off!Generative AI for Data VisualisationBehavior-Driven Development in R Shiny: A Step-By-Step ExampleEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W42Supplement Resources
DataBot https://positron.posit.co/databot.htmlSupporting the show
Use the contact page...

The ducks have made their presence felt in the world of databases, but now you can take a dip in a new Ducklake all within R! If you ever felt someone should write a book on the many ways you can slidecraft Quarto presentations, we have good news for you. Lastly, a spectacular series on harnessing the power of LLMs in your Shiny apps concludes with a powerful and very relevant use case to help review your next presentation slides.


Plus … a popular segment returns


Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@po...

Fresh off an amazing experience at posit::conf(2025), the R Weekly Highlights podcast is back with episode 211! Eric and Mike share their experiences at the conference and then dive into an amazing collection of highlights. We learn about a myriad of packages to programmatically write and parse markdown documents, initial impressions with vibe-coding an R package to learn Japanese, and the immense lengths the R-Exams project is taking to clean up messy scans of exam papers.

Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono...

In episode 210 of the R Weekly Highlights podcast: The Positron IDE has officially been released after two years of intense development, and we share what excites us the most. Plus a new tool in your Shiny testing toolbox to bridge the gap between server-side and dynamic updating the user interface, and an entry point to making that URL of your Shiny app set inputs on the fly, a topic one of your hosts has been investigating for quite some time!
Episode Links
This week's curator: Colin Fay - @colinfay@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @colinfay.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @_ColinFay (X...

In episode 209 of R Weekly Highlights we learn ways you can pinpoint just what is slowing down your R code, a novel framing for testing your next plumber API, and the adventures in recreating a NY Times chart entirely with ggplot2.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)Speed Testing Code: Three LevelsTesting your Plumber APIs from RCopy the Pros: How to Recreate this NYTimes Chart in REntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W31Supplement Resources
Add links discussed in the...

In episode 208 of R Weekly Highlights, the LLM train keeps moving along in the data science community: First impressions of the new Positron Assistant for code completion and basic package development, plus a friendly app for exploring the upcoming posit::conf(2025) agenda created by one of our talented R Weekly curators!
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter) * @jonmcalder@bsky.socialPositron Assistant: GitHub Copilot and Claude-Powered Agentic Coding in RYour LLM-powered guide to the posit::conf(2025) agendaEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W30Supplement Resources
Positron Assistant https://positron...

It's been far too long since our last episode of R Weekly Highlights, but we are finally back with episode 207! In this episode we learn about novel ways to automate fancy Quarto content, how we can be on our best behavior with behavior-driven-development, and finding that pesky portion of data breaking long data pipelines with a magical debugging technique. Plus one of your hosts could not resist a hot take or two!
Episode Links
This week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @rbyryo.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)Generating quarto syntax...

The summer schedule has been crazy, but we finally have a new episode of R Weekly Highlights! In this episode: How the new shiny2docker package eases your entry to the world of containers, the power of WebAssembly in full ggplot2 glory, and how the latest solution for speeding up R code draws upon a classic computing language you may not expect.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)Containerizing Shiny Apps with {shiny2docker}: A Step-by-Step Guideggplot2 layer explorer{quickr} 0.1.0: Compiler for REntire issue available at...

Have you wanted a chance to rewrite your own history? With Git, you certainly can! We learn that and other amazing tips to supercharge your version control skills. Plus a promising new package to let your Shiny app users make the call on their preferred layouts, and how mocking is not something to dread when you build unit tests interacting with external services.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)Hack your way to a good Git history (SLC-RUG May) (slides)Introducing dockViewR 0.1.0: a layout manager for R and Shiny...

Episode 204 of R Weekly Highlights is jam-packed with four highlights! We discuss the recent improvements to the recipes package in the tidymodels suite, Nicola Rennie's adventures with this year's 30 day chart challenge, going back to math school with Jon Carroll's latest explorations in digit rotation, and our picks out of the excellent collection of the top 40 R packages for March.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)recipes 1.3.030 Day Chart Challenge 2025Rotation with ModuloMarch 2025 Top 40 New CRAN PackagesEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W19Supplement Resources
{recipes} Pipeable steps...

In this episode of R Weekly Highlights we hear from industry experts on how they choose a programming language for their projects, a big boost to the use of copilot for building your next Shiny app, and the learning journey of a new R user.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)Which programming language should I use? A guide for early-career researchersReliable Shiny Code with Copilot and Posit’s VS Code ExtensionMy Journey Learning R as a Humanities UndergradEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W18Supplement Resources
R fo...

It's not every day that we get to dive into a brand new release of R, but we get to do just that in episode 202! We share our takes on the major new features of R 4.5.0. We also preview the re-imagination of the engine powering R-based APIs, and the LLM-powered helper to get some of those R package development chores done.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz: @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)What's new in R 4.5.0?plumber2Introducing choresEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W16Supplement Resources
{basepenguins} Convert files...

In this episode of R Weekly Highlights: We have a six-month follow-up perspective from an early Positron user, how the current landscape of AI tools perform when learning the ropes with the Tidyverse, and how you can create your first Observable plot while using R for data munging.

Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)Positron: current joys and painsLearning the tidyverse with the help of AI toolsObservable for R usersEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W15Supplement Resources
Positron +1...

By some minor miracle (even on April Fools) the R Weekly Highlights podcast has made it to episode 200! We go "virtual" shopping for LLM-powered text analysis and prediction using the mall package, and how recent advancements in the grid and ggplot2 packages empower you to make use of highly-customized gradients. Plus listener feedback!

Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)Text Summarization, Translation, and Classification using LLMs: mall does it allThe guide to gradients in R and ggplot2Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W14Supplement Resources
Mall...

Thriving in a multi-lingual data science lifestyle while authoring your next Quarto project, putting LLMs to the scientific test with parsing manuscripts, and replicating a life-saving spatial visualization originally created over 170 years ago!
Episode Links
This week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @rbyryo.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)Creating multilingual documentation with QuartoThe ellmer package for using LLMs with R is a game changer for scientists{SnowData} 1.0.0: Historical Data from John Snow's 1854 Cholera Outbreak MapEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W12Supplement Resources
Wes McKinney & Hadley Wickham (on cross-language...

Giving your package documentation site a little personality and much more with {pkgdown} customization, plus a novel new package to bring the power of LaTeX to all of your plots!

Episode Links
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batoolmm.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @batool664 (X/Twitter)Customize your expedition: Create a unique documentation for your R PackageLaTeX Typesetting in R: The 'xdvir' PackageEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W11Supplement Resources
{xdvir} package vignette https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/xdvir/vignettes/xdvir-intro.htmltinytex- A lightweight, cross-platform, portable, and easy-to-maintain LaTeX distribution based on TeX Live https...

A major milestone for leveraging LLMs in R just landed with the new ellmer package, along with a terrific showcase of retrieval-augmented generation combining ellmer and DuckDB. Plus an inspiring roundup of the recent Closeread contest winners.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Sam Parmar - @parmsam@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @parmsam_ (X/Twitter)Announcing ellmer: A package for interacting with Large Language Models in RRapid RAG Prototyping: Building a Retrieval Augmented Generation Prototype with ellmer and DuckDBWinners of the Closeread Prize – Data-Driven Scrollytelling with QuartoEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W10Supplement Resources
Coder Radio episode 608 - R wi...

Our candid takes on the state of CRAN's role in light of recent package archival events, how creative use of LLMs could greatly streamline your next literature review, and a few great illustrations of lazy being a good thing in your R session.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz - @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon) & @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky) & @theRcast (X/Twitter)Is CRAN Holding R Back?How to use large language models to assist in systematic literature reviewsLazy introduction to laziness in REntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W08Supplement Resources
A guide to contributing to...

An illuminating set of tips for making the best out of the phrase "fifty shades of grey" in your next monochrome visualisation, how the unique formatting features of the Scotland census data were tamed with the power of R, and how the first-ever native mobile application powered by R has opened the doors wide open for innovation across many parts of data science.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonocarroll.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy (Bluesky) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)Designing monochrome data visualisationsThe life changing magic of tidying text filesRlinguo — Why Di...

Context is king in a trifecta of R packages harnessing LLMs to be your virtual assistant in package development and data science, plus the world (of data) is at your fingertips for data exploration and sharing your insights using the innovative closeread Quarto extension.


Episode Links
This week's curator: Jonathan Kitt - @jonathankitt.bsky.social (Bluesky)Three experiments in LLM code assist with RStudio and PositronGapminder: how has the world changed?Downloading datasets from Our World in Data in REntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W06Supplement Resources
From hours to minutes: accelerating your tidymodels...

Ready to bring your next presentation slides to the world of Quarto? Our first highlight has a batch of power tips you can use for your next slide deck. Plus terrific insights from first-time contributors to open-source software.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)Seven tips for creating Quarto revealjs presentationsFrom Novice to Contributor: Making and Supporting First-Time Contributions to FOSSEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W05Supplement Resources
Emil Hvitfeldt's blog https://emilhvitfeldt.comGitHub Desktop https://github.com/apps/desktopGitKraken https://www.gitkraken.com/lazygit https://github...

Bringing a little tidy magic to creating flowcharts in R, how data.table is addressing recent shifts in R's C APIs, and another showcase of R's visualization prowess in the realm of brain imaging. 
Episode Links
This week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @rbyryo.bsky.social (Bluesky) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)Flowcharts made easy with the package {flowchart}Use of non-API entry points in data.tableIntro to working with volume and surface brain data Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2025-W04Supplement Resources
flowchart - R package for drawing participant flow di...

The R Weekly Highlights podcast returns for Our first episode of 2025! We learn how hosted and self-hostem LLM's perform in the summarization of Bluesky R posts, as well as how models hosted on Azure infrastructure summarize cycling destinations. Lastly, we visit the visualization corner once again to bring a little (or a lot) of color in your next graphics created with R.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Batool Almarzouq - @batool664 (X/Twitter)Bluesky conversation analysis with local and frontier LLMs with R/Tidyverse.Harnessing Azure OpenAI and R for Web Content Summarisation: A Practical Guide with rvest...

An evolution of asynchronous programming techniques to boost your Shiny apps, how a puzzle from over a century ago could tip the scales for mathematics algorithms solvable in R, and solving the recent 2024 Advent of Code puzzles with data.table.


Episode Links
This week's curator: Colin Fay - @colinfay@fosstodon.org [@_ColinFay]](https://twitter.com/_ColinFay) (X/Twitter) @colinfay.bsky.socialParallel and Asynchronous Programming in Shiny with future, promise, future_promise, and ExtendedTaskWriting Signed Trinary: or, Back To the Four Weights ProblemAdvent of Code with data.table: Week OneEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2024-W51Supplement...

The future of R-Universe looks even brighter for 2025 and beyond, revisiting the key factors for possibly switching to the Positron IDE, and why there is more than meets the eyes when it comes to the potential of LLMs and AI (even in highly-regulated industries).
Episode Links
This week's curator: Eric Nantz - @rpodcast@podcastindex.social (Mastodon), @rpodcast.bsky.social (BlueSky), and @theRcast (X/Twitter)R-Universe Named R Consortium’s Newest Top Level ProjectPositron vs RStudio - is it time to switch?Summer is Coming: AI for Shiny, R, and PharmaEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2024-W50Supplement Resources

As the holiday season enters the picture, learn how a humble R package helps you to give thanks to the contributors of your open-source package. Plus a practical introduction to missing value interpolation with a tried-and-true R package with a rich history, and a comprehensive analysis to predict an NBA superstar's next shot result (who has made a lot of shots already in his career).
Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Carroll - @jonocarroll@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @carroll_jono (X/Twitter)Give Thanks with the allcontributors PackageHow to Interpolate Missing Values in R: A Step-by-Sthttps://github.com/ropensci...

What a way to close out the month of November with this batch of highlights! The ultimate teaser for the first-ever native mobile Shiny application (and yes, it is real), how you can expand your network on Bluesky from the friendly confines of R, and the potential of the S7 object-oriented paradigm to streamline and validate function parameters. Plus late-breaking news on the integrations of Bluesky and Quarto!
Episode Links
This week's curator: Tony Elhabr - @tonyelhabr@skrimmage.com (Mastodon) & @TonyElHabr (X/Twitter)You’ve Been Waiting for Native Mobile Apps with R? The Wait Is Over.Expand yo...

A summary of key contributions to the R language itself from R Dev Day at the Shiny in Production conference, and visualizing ice thickness in Greenland with the power of the tidyverse and leaflet.


Episode Links
This week's curator: Jon Calder - @jonmcalder@fosstodon.org (Mastodon) & @jonmcalder (X/Twitter)R Dev Day @ SIP 2024Greenland ice thicknessEntire issue available at rweekly.org/2024-W47Supplement Resources
R Contribution Working Group https://contributor.r-project.org/working-groupR Translations Status Dashboard https://contributor.r-project.org/translations-dashboard/R Development Guide https://contributor.r-project.org/rdevguide/Connect local Positron IDE to Gitpod...

The innovations of the R community never cease to amaze us! How a programmatic approach to generating markdown was vital to a high-profile Quarto site, a novel infograph of Bob's Burgers sentiment analysis, and updates to the next evolution of object-oriented programming in R.
Episode Links
This week's curator: Ryo Nakagawara - @R_by_Ryo@mstdn.social (Mastodon) & @R_by_Ryo) (X/Twitter)Guide to generating and rendering computational markdown content programmatically with QuartoBob’s Burgers Episode Fingerprints by SeasonS7 0.2.0Entire issue available at rweekly.org/2024-W46Supporting the show
Use the contact page at https://serve.po...