My review of the studies that used digital trace data in Russia has been published in Communist and Post-Communist Studies: doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...
Researching Russia with Digital Trace Data
The Russo-Ukrainian war and the deterioration of the relationship between Russia and the West made the application of traditional social science research methods, such as surveys and fieldwork, diffic...
doi.org
January 12, 2026 at 2:38 PM
My review of the studies that used digital trace data in Russia has been published in Communist and Post-Communist Studies: doi.org/10.1525/cpcs...
The paper on Russian miltitary fatalities has now been published in Demography. Our estimate for 2022-23 is about 60,000 killed. This is the lower bound based on official Russian mortality statistics, but it's probably closer to the true number than much higher estimates from 'intelligence sources'
“War Fatalities in Russia in 2022-2023”: D. Kobak (@hippopedoid.bsky.social), @alexeyb.bsky.social et al. used official statistics & the excess male mortality method to estimate 58,500 Russian deaths in the Russo-Ukrainian war. @hertie-ai.bsky.social @exeter.ac.uk read.dukeupress.edu/demography/a...
March 27, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The paper on Russian miltitary fatalities has now been published in Demography. Our estimate for 2022-23 is about 60,000 killed. This is the lower bound based on official Russian mortality statistics, but it's probably closer to the true number than much higher estimates from 'intelligence sources'
That was the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61, with an estimated death toll of between 15 and 55 million people. It was the first time I'd heard about it, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who didn't know. Just shows how little we really know about China and Chinese history (2/2)
October 3, 2023 at 9:14 PM
That was the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61, with an estimated death toll of between 15 and 55 million people. It was the first time I'd heard about it, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who didn't know. Just shows how little we really know about China and Chinese history (2/2)
Today I was preparing for a class and noticed a sharp notch on the curve for global life expectancy in the late 1950s - early 1960s, about twice the size of the Covid decrease. I couldn't immediate think of a reason for it so had to google (1/2)
October 3, 2023 at 9:13 PM
Today I was preparing for a class and noticed a sharp notch on the curve for global life expectancy in the late 1950s - early 1960s, about twice the size of the Covid decrease. I couldn't immediate think of a reason for it so had to google (1/2)
Just migrated from Twitter!
September 27, 2023 at 1:04 PM
Just migrated from Twitter!