Elijah Watson
@elijahjwatson.bsky.social
anthropologist-demographer | postdoc-ing @ UChicago | Tar Heel born 🐏
researching (ejwatson.github.io):
• early life origins of aging & stratification🧑🍼👵
• birth cohorts as “natural” experiments🤰
• environment & (epi)genetics 🧬
researching (ejwatson.github.io):
• early life origins of aging & stratification🧑🍼👵
• birth cohorts as “natural” experiments🤰
• environment & (epi)genetics 🧬
Pinned
Elijah Watson
@elijahjwatson.bsky.social
· Sep 22
Toward New Directions in Human Biology: A Roadmap for Anthropological Causal Inference With Observational Data
Human biologists seek to understand how cultural, environmental, and biological forces shape observed patterns of human variation. Yet contemporary insights and approaches to observational causal inf....
doi.org
Excited to share a new article with Delaney Glass & @lucia-petito.bsky.social in the American Journal of Human Biology! 🧬
We introduce a roadmap for causal inference with observational data in human biology & biocultural anthropology.
(1/4)
We introduce a roadmap for causal inference with observational data in human biology & biocultural anthropology.
(1/4)
Henrich treats bioanth as the healthy foil, counting statistics as rigor.
He should have had Claude plot the distribution of p-values in the top bioanth journals over the past 4 decades.
Shrinking faculty numbers contribute, but can't fully explain why huge swaths of bioanth silently resist reform
He should have had Claude plot the distribution of p-values in the top bioanth journals over the past 4 decades.
Shrinking faculty numbers contribute, but can't fully explain why huge swaths of bioanth silently resist reform
Spent yesterday working on a detailed critique of some of the "methods" that Joseph Henrich used in his recently released report attacking sociocultural anthropology. He was the sole anthropologist involved with the Vanderbilt Report. It's long, but the more I looked the more issues I noticed.
Rigor for thee, but not for me! – Notebook
notebook.anthrowill.com
September 30, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Henrich treats bioanth as the healthy foil, counting statistics as rigor.
He should have had Claude plot the distribution of p-values in the top bioanth journals over the past 4 decades.
Shrinking faculty numbers contribute, but can't fully explain why huge swaths of bioanth silently resist reform
He should have had Claude plot the distribution of p-values in the top bioanth journals over the past 4 decades.
Shrinking faculty numbers contribute, but can't fully explain why huge swaths of bioanth silently resist reform
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Reposted by Elijah Watson
BREAKING: Evanston police confirm a U.S. citizen was briefly detained by federal agents Sunday morning near Howard and Dodge before being released
The man was taken to the hospital for injuries to his head, neck and teeth after agents drove off
The man was taken to the hospital for injuries to his head, neck and teeth after agents drove off
Federal agents detained U.S. citizen Sunday morning - Evanston Now
Police chief says officers responded to a man with injuries to head, neck and teeth on Howard and made contact with agents involved.
evanstonnow.com
September 21, 2026 at 12:37 AM
BREAKING: Evanston police confirm a U.S. citizen was briefly detained by federal agents Sunday morning near Howard and Dodge before being released
The man was taken to the hospital for injuries to his head, neck and teeth after agents drove off
The man was taken to the hospital for injuries to his head, neck and teeth after agents drove off
Reposted by Elijah Watson
I spent the morning reading John Levi Martin's absolutely brutal takedown of the Vanderbilt report's assessment of politicization in sociology.
I recommend it and hope it gets as much attention as the initial (crap) Vanderbilt report.
A Reader’s Guide to the Rubin Report osf.io/preprints/so...
I recommend it and hope it gets as much attention as the initial (crap) Vanderbilt report.
A Reader’s Guide to the Rubin Report osf.io/preprints/so...
OSF
osf.io
September 19, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I spent the morning reading John Levi Martin's absolutely brutal takedown of the Vanderbilt report's assessment of politicization in sociology.
I recommend it and hope it gets as much attention as the initial (crap) Vanderbilt report.
A Reader’s Guide to the Rubin Report osf.io/preprints/so...
I recommend it and hope it gets as much attention as the initial (crap) Vanderbilt report.
A Reader’s Guide to the Rubin Report osf.io/preprints/so...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
you can be arrested if you give water to people waiting on line to vote
The lies continue. He is offering money if people vote for him.
September 10, 2026 at 12:48 PM
you can be arrested if you give water to people waiting on line to vote
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Modeling non-response is an example I like to use when arguing that "descriptive" statistics also require causal inference. To describe the population, you have to model what causes the sample. Similar to occupancy modeling in ecology in many ways.
Bit of a wonky post, but here I share a lot about how I’m thinking about polls and polling error these day
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-09-15...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/2026-09-15...
All polls are models now
Traditional polling is dead. A new paradigm of public opinion research has high uncertainty, and pollsters need to do a better job communicating about error.
www.gelliottmorris.com
September 10, 2026 at 11:01 AM
Modeling non-response is an example I like to use when arguing that "descriptive" statistics also require causal inference. To describe the population, you have to model what causes the sample. Similar to occupancy modeling in ecology in many ways.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
🧵 New DP from I4R co-director Lester Lusher, with Sonia Ale, Md Shafiqui Islam, Huda Osman & Jacob Stenstrom (Pitt): "When Samples Shape Significance."
What happens when you re-estimate published results using fresh draws of the same data? Some evidence from Google Trends!
What happens when you re-estimate published results using fresh draws of the same data? Some evidence from Google Trends!
September 4, 2026 at 1:45 AM
🧵 New DP from I4R co-director Lester Lusher, with Sonia Ale, Md Shafiqui Islam, Huda Osman & Jacob Stenstrom (Pitt): "When Samples Shape Significance."
What happens when you re-estimate published results using fresh draws of the same data? Some evidence from Google Trends!
What happens when you re-estimate published results using fresh draws of the same data? Some evidence from Google Trends!
Reposted by Elijah Watson
The individual economic consequences of wildfires are unevenly distributed, extend beyond property damage, and persist for years as individuals and communities recover, from Patrick Baylis, Judson Boomhower, Jonathan M. Colmer, and John L. Voorheis www.nber.org/papers/w35675
September 3, 2026 at 5:02 PM
The individual economic consequences of wildfires are unevenly distributed, extend beyond property damage, and persist for years as individuals and communities recover, from Patrick Baylis, Judson Boomhower, Jonathan M. Colmer, and John L. Voorheis www.nber.org/papers/w35675
Reposted by Elijah Watson
From the LPM story: "Bevin was reportedly arrested while playing an extra on the set of a Christian film production there."
BREAKING: Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin arrested by Bourbon County Sheriff's Office
Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin arrested by Bourbon County Sheriff's Office
The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office arrested former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin Thursday at a film set in Paris, Kentucky.
www.lpm.org
September 3, 2026 at 10:54 PM
From the LPM story: "Bevin was reportedly arrested while playing an extra on the set of a Christian film production there."
Reposted by Elijah Watson
God Concerned By Q3 Circumcision Numbers
God Concerned By Q3 Circumcision Numbers
THE HEAVENS—Noting that a marked downward trend had developed this fiscal year and showed no signs of stopping, The Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, reported He was concerned Monday over what He...
theonion.com
August 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM
God Concerned By Q3 Circumcision Numbers
Reposted by Elijah Watson
"we collect data from ~3500 sharing units (households) in 46 communities across the globe. In almost all communities, a sharing unit's material wealth is positively associated with the number of other sharing units it both helps and is helped by"
arxiv.org/abs/2608.25488
arxiv.org/abs/2608.25488
Social Network Structure, Wealth, and Wealth Inequality Across Cultures
Despite theory tying wealth inequality to social structure, empirical evidence has been limited to a few studies based on online social media data. This study uses a very different type of data, expan...
arxiv.org
August 29, 2026 at 5:04 PM
"we collect data from ~3500 sharing units (households) in 46 communities across the globe. In almost all communities, a sharing unit's material wealth is positively associated with the number of other sharing units it both helps and is helped by"
arxiv.org/abs/2608.25488
arxiv.org/abs/2608.25488
Backyard reads with Butters
August 24, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Backyard reads with Butters
Reposted by Elijah Watson
It’s just not surprising that more than a quarter of American adults are functionally illiterate. There are well funded nationwide institutional networks dedicated to this outcome. sciencepolitics.org/2026/08/21/a...
Adult Literacy Is Mysteriously Declining Across Many High-Income Countries - Science Politics
COVID and smartphones alone cannot explain the decline. One thing we do know: both young and old need to retain the ability to gather and process information.
sciencepolitics.org
August 24, 2026 at 9:21 PM
It’s just not surprising that more than a quarter of American adults are functionally illiterate. There are well funded nationwide institutional networks dedicated to this outcome. sciencepolitics.org/2026/08/21/a...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Zero new NSF grants in sociology, anthropology, political science and economics. The agenda of this US govt is to stop documenting the society in which we live while they are destroying it. We will find other ways to track and explain our times and fight to restore our research funding.
Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards.
August 20, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Zero new NSF grants in sociology, anthropology, political science and economics. The agenda of this US govt is to stop documenting the society in which we live while they are destroying it. We will find other ways to track and explain our times and fight to restore our research funding.
Reposted by Elijah Watson
Racist Zero under investigation by his current employer
www.thenational.scot/news/2648073...
www.thenational.scot/news/2648073...
Academic who sparked Jason Arday pile on under investigation by university
The academic who sparked the pile on which preceded a black British professor’s suicide has said he is under investigation by his university
www.thenational.scot
August 20, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Racist Zero under investigation by his current employer
www.thenational.scot/news/2648073...
www.thenational.scot/news/2648073...
Reposted by Elijah Watson
NEW: The NIH is quietly restricting funding for research that evaluates how public policy impacts human health.
According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder.
My latest for @nature.com:
According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder.
My latest for @nature.com:
NIH limits funding for research on the health effects of public policy
US biomedical agency no longer considers policymakers as ‘mission relevant’, leaving dozens of grants in limbo.
www.nature.com
August 11, 2026 at 4:16 PM
NEW: The NIH is quietly restricting funding for research that evaluates how public policy impacts human health.
According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder.
My latest for @nature.com:
According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder.
My latest for @nature.com:
After taking the rest of the month to relax and settle into my new apartment, I’m excited to share that I’ll be starting a postdoc this September at UChicago in the NIH/NIA T32 Demography and Economics of Aging training program. Looking forward to this next chapter!
Just submitted my phd dissertation and mph research paper :)
Elijah Wood: It's Done - Lord of the Rings
ALT: Elijah Wood: It's Done - Lord of the Rings
static.klipy.com
August 7, 2026 at 1:05 AM
After taking the rest of the month to relax and settle into my new apartment, I’m excited to share that I’ll be starting a postdoc this September at UChicago in the NIH/NIA T32 Demography and Economics of Aging training program. Looking forward to this next chapter!
Just submitted my phd dissertation and mph research paper :)
Elijah Wood: It's Done - Lord of the Rings
ALT: Elijah Wood: It's Done - Lord of the Rings
static.klipy.com
August 7, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Just submitted my phd dissertation and mph research paper :)
I defended my dissertation on Monday (🎉), have packed and cleaned from Tuesday through today, am moving to a new apartment tomorrow, presenting my MPH poster next Wednesday, finalizing my dissertation for submission by next Friday, and then my partner has a major surgery the following Wednesday 😵💫
July 30, 2026 at 9:27 PM
I defended my dissertation on Monday (🎉), have packed and cleaned from Tuesday through today, am moving to a new apartment tomorrow, presenting my MPH poster next Wednesday, finalizing my dissertation for submission by next Friday, and then my partner has a major surgery the following Wednesday 😵💫
Reposted by Elijah Watson
What To Know About Cyclosporiasis https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-cyclosporiasis/
July 16, 2026 at 10:00 PM
What To Know About Cyclosporiasis https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-cyclosporiasis/
Finally reading this fully
The part about forensic anthros being “coroners”, implying that they are workers not thinkers so they cannot contribute to debates in the field 🤯
(the field sure is happy to put them to work teaching 1st year seminars on CSI & Bones bc those classes get butts in seats)
The part about forensic anthros being “coroners”, implying that they are workers not thinkers so they cannot contribute to debates in the field 🤯
(the field sure is happy to put them to work teaching 1st year seminars on CSI & Bones bc those classes get butts in seats)
New Q&A: Is anthropology hopelessly politicized, more than any other humanistic field? That's the charge that's been flying around this summer, so I wanted to hear from Carolyn Rouse, the president of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say. www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?
We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.
www.chronicle.com
July 16, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Finally reading this fully
The part about forensic anthros being “coroners”, implying that they are workers not thinkers so they cannot contribute to debates in the field 🤯
(the field sure is happy to put them to work teaching 1st year seminars on CSI & Bones bc those classes get butts in seats)
The part about forensic anthros being “coroners”, implying that they are workers not thinkers so they cannot contribute to debates in the field 🤯
(the field sure is happy to put them to work teaching 1st year seminars on CSI & Bones bc those classes get butts in seats)
Something, something, the ontological turn & anthropology™ creating a world where (1) we endlessly qualify our claims as partial, situated, & positional, AND (2) dropping the cultural subfield prefix & treating humanism as the field’s all-encompassing mode of inquiry is the natural order of things
New Q&A: Is anthropology hopelessly politicized, more than any other humanistic field? That's the charge that's been flying around this summer, so I wanted to hear from Carolyn Rouse, the president of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say. www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?
We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.
www.chronicle.com
July 15, 2026 at 11:31 PM
Something, something, the ontological turn & anthropology™ creating a world where (1) we endlessly qualify our claims as partial, situated, & positional, AND (2) dropping the cultural subfield prefix & treating humanism as the field’s all-encompassing mode of inquiry is the natural order of things
Submitted the last of my three dissertation papers to my committee yesterday! And woke up with a cold today. My body really held out until the end 😵💫😂
July 14, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Submitted the last of my three dissertation papers to my committee yesterday! And woke up with a cold today. My body really held out until the end 😵💫😂