Josh Kertzer

Matching sounds to shapes: Evidence of the bouba-kiki effect in naïve baby chicks Maria Loconsole1*, Silvia Benavides-Varela2,3, Lucia Regolin1 Humans across multiple languages spontaneously associate the nonwords “kiki” and “bouba” with spiky and round shapes, respectively, a phenomenon named the bouba-kiki effect. To explore the origin of this association, and whether it is unique to humans, we tested the bouba-kiki effect in baby domestic chickens (Gallus gallus). as a precocial species, chicks can be tested shortly after hatching, allowing us to control their pretest experiences. Similar to humans, both 3-day-old [experiment 1 (exp. 1)] and 1-day-old (exp. 2) chicks spontaneously choose a spiky shape when hearing the “kiki” sound and a round shape when hearing the “bouba” sound. results from naïve young animals suggest a predisposed mechanism for matching the dimensions of shape and sound, which may be widespread across species.

main fig from the paper showing the association between bouba/round and kiki/spiky in newborn chicks

the new paper on bouba/kiki in chicks is utterly compelling

canonical, elegant method from comparative cogsci & its partner in developmental science, ultra-simple design, ultra-clear effects, no need for fancy analyses, machine learning, or AI

it appeared in an appropriately badass venue (Science)

This new paper offers practical solutions for pluralistic ignorance (when people assume their opinon is unpopular when many others share it):

-in loose cultures, share accurate information
-in tight ones, lowering the costs of speaking up can spark social change.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Lol

Automated nuclear weapons systems are not just a Hollywood plot device.

In this #Firstview article, @joshschwartz.bsky.social and @mchorowitz.bsky.social evaluate how they could impact the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Our new ProjectGEOCAUSAL website is live! We’ll be posting the latest updates on cutting-edge applications of spatiotemporal causal inference to address the world’s most pressing problems. Check it out: geocausal.org

Screenshot of article title, bylines, and abstract.

When leaders frame disputed land as “territory we might lose” rather than “new land to gain,” people in Argentina & Chile become more willing to support risky escalation and less willing to compromise. New study by @andizhou.bsky.social: https://loom.ly/cjdEJkM

Opinion | Trump Was Right to Oust Maduro

As the saying goes, every op-ed is a job talk www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...

A new paper finds ideological bias in research analyses:

Research teams composed of pro-immigration researchers estimated more positive impacts of immigration on public support for social programs, while anti-immigration teams estimated more negative impacts.
science.org/doi/10.1126/...?

New Special Issue in @the-peio.bsky.social: Public Opinion and International Organizations. In the SI intro, we map the field, place the SI papers & identify ways forward: rdcu.be/eXt2R with @jonastallberg.bsky.social, 🙏 @adreher.bsky.social, reviewers & SI authors #Polisky #InternationalRelations

Domestic Distributional Roots of National Interest SOYOUNG LEE Yale University, United States, and Duke University, United States What international issues become national interests worth fighting for, and why? Contrary to conventional wisdom, I argue that issues without clear economic value, such as barren lands, are more likely to be perceived as national interests because they do not benefit any single domestic group. Since who benefits is unclear, politicians have an easier time framing such issues as benefiting the whole nation. I test this argument using survey experiments on the American public. The results show that first, issues providing diffuse benefits to citizens are more likely to be considered national interests than issues providing concentrated benefits to certain domestic groups. Second, issues with clearer economic value are harder to frame as having diffuse benefits because they are more easily associated with specific beneficiaries. This study proposes a new theory of national interest and offers a potential explanation for why people frequently support conflict over issues without obvious benefits.

Apropos current events, I want to tout this paper by @soyounglee.bsky.social showing that discussion of economic benefits can reduce public support for military action. People are skeptical when they think specific groups (e.g., oil companies) will benefit.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

BJPolS abstract from a scholarly article about the perceived foreign policy failures of the US in Afghanistan and its impact on global perceptions of US leadership. The text mentions a survey across 24 countries and findings on changes in favorability after the fall of Kabul on 15 August 2021.

NEW -

Foreign Policy Failures and Global Attitudes Towards Great Powers: Evidence from the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan - https://cup.org/3YSsX4N

- @rachelmyrick.bsky.social & @wpmarble.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

Coauthors Liz Sperber, O’Brien Kaaba and I have published 3 papers about youth civic ed and political participation, based on a WhatsApp experiment and a prior in-person pilot conducted in collaboration w/ Caritas Zambia CCMG Zambia @poverty-action.bsky.social and United Council of Churches Zambia

New paper in @ajpseditor.bsky.social. Is descriptive representation good for substantive representation? Why do voters stay loyal to corrupt and poorly governing ethnic parties? I argue that we ought to focus less on patronage and more on dignity concerns. Defiant pride can come at a price. 1/🧵

2026 Grawemeyer world order award winner explores the connection between climate change and security | UofL News For his work to understand why climate change leads to negative security consequences in some places and not others, Joshua W. Busby, professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, ...

Some news. My book on climate and security for Cambridge University Press is the winner of the 2026 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Advancing World Order. Thrilled to be among the august company of previous winners. www.uoflnews.com/post/uofltod...

YouTube video by Steadfast "ladies and gentlemen, the weeknd" (HD Original)

A friendly reminder that some of you should really spend less time online

BJPolS abstract discussing the nostalgia for empire in post-imperial European contexts, examining public opinion and attitudes towards imperial history.

NEWS -

The Politics of Imperial Nostalgia - https://cup.org/4p1QbRA

"right-wing opposition to criticism of the imperial past is stronger than left-wing support"

- Christopher Claassen & @danjdevine.bsky.social

#OpenAccess

Our online special issue, The Future of Global Governance and World Order, is out!

It features 15 short essays plus the editors' introduction, all #OpenAccess.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

#IOFoGG

For the first Encode/Decode post, go back to @jkertzer.bsky.social, @ryanbrutger.bsky.social & Kai Quek's @worldpolitics.bsky.social article using cross-national #survey #experiments in #China and the #US to test for a #security dilemma. Read their original #empirical work: doi.org/10.1353/wp.2...

Congratulations to @yusakuhoriuchi.bsky.social and @kmatush.bsky.social for the launch of the Global Public Opinion Lab (GPOL) at Florida State! Lots of exciting plans in the works!

(I couldn't take any pictures of public opinion, so here's one of Spanish moss)

Sidney Smith! 🫡

Does public opinion matter for nuclear policy? We say yes, in @ejisbisa.bsky.social.

Whether the public backs nuclear use can sway leaders’ preferences and affects external perceptions of the credibility of deterrence.

doi.org/10.1017/eis....

You could not pay me enough to voluntarily use a yeet() or no_cap() command in R

We propose a spatiotemporal causal inference framework that fully leverages microlevel, granular data. ATE, heterogeneity, and mediation — all in one framework. Now with updated results and visualizations!

🚨 New in @bjpols.bsky.social :
“Estimating the Impact of Drone Strikes on Civilians Using Call Detail Records.”
By Bertolotti, Milliff, Christia & Jadbabaie.

We use 12 billion call records from Yemen to measure the civilian consequences of drone warfare.

1/6

How to Put IR Theory Into Practice American strategists should think more like social scientists.

“The divide between international relations theory and practice is problematic in normal times, and downright dangerous in turbulent ones,” write Stacie Goddard and @jkertzer.bsky.social.

1/In honor of no kings! Imagine an international order organized not around nation-states but hyper elites pledged to absolute rulers. Welcome to neo-royalism. New w/Stacie Goddard in International Organization. We use the approach to rethink US policy in Trump era.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...

Polarization and International Politics: How Extreme Partisanship Threatens Global Stability by Rachel Myrick

In Polarization and International Politics, @rachelmyrick.bsky.social explains how extreme polarization undermines the advantages that democracies have when formulating foreign policy.

Available worldwide. Explore a free sample of this timely book: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...

Applications for the Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance's postdoctoral fellowship program for 2026-2027 are due Monday, October 13.

Details here: www.princeton.edu/acad-positio...

Bar chart showing terrorist attacks in the United States by perpetrator, 1970–2020. The top panel highlights the ten most active groups, with Anti-Abortion extremists leading at over 200 attacks, followed by Left-Wing Militants, White supremacists/nationalists, FALN, NWLF, Black Nationalists, ALF, JDL, Student Radicals, and ELF. The middle panel shows abortion-related groups, where Anti-Abortion extremists dominate compared to smaller groups like Army of God, Phineas Priesthood, Pro-choice extremists, and Christian Liberation Army. The bottom panel shows Islamist/Jihadi groups, led by Jihadi-inspired extremists (about 40 attacks), with smaller contributions from Muslim extremists, Jamaat-al-Fuqra, Al-Qaida, Hanafi Muslims, AQAP, TTP, and Islamist extremists. Bars are color-coded: blue for abortion-related groups, red for Islamist/Jihadi groups, and gray for others. X-axis is number of attacks, Y-axis lists groups.

According to the “Global Terrorism Database (GTD)—arguably the most widely-used dataset in the study of political violence—anti-abortion activists constitute the single most common perpetrators of terrorist attacks in the United States.”

Source: jkertzer.sites.fas.harvard.edu/Research_fil...

And the American Politics ad is here:

academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15151