Prof Maz Hardey
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thatprofmaz.substack.com
Prof Maz Hardey
@thatprofmaz.substack.com
1.2K followers 1.9K following 1.7K posts
Professor @ Durham University. Unravelling the mess of Tech, Education & AI. 🧶

Author of books on Disinformation | Women in Tech | GenAI | Health Tracking; reading everything else.

I see we’re all Stacking now https://open.substack.com/pub/thatprofmaz
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thatprofmaz.substack.com
Prof Maz Hardey @thatprofmaz.substack.com · Dec 9
The Learner.

She is curious.

Diligent.

The one who asked if she could.

"Could I?..."

She would like to experiment.

Play.

But she got shamed.

Over and over again.

Stuck.

Using Gen AI in Education, by me. Image and Text.
A hand-drawn illustration of a student with speech bubbles around her head that are voicing concerns about using Gen AI in education.
thatprofmaz.substack.com
The 147:1 Ratio is the new baseline.

From Sun Tzu’s survival fallacies to the "Digital Drawer" of failure, here is why 6,700 subscribers might just be a stadium full of ghosts. It’s time for a Success Audit. open.substack.com/pub/thatprof...
January 24, 2026 at 7:43 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Willow (the cat) doesn't post daily to the kitchen counter; she waits for the high-quality signal. 🐈⬛

Most growth hacks are just "Short Win" sprints that lead to physiological depletion and machine-made ghosts.

Redefining success in a 147:1 landscape.
The Binary Star Paradox: Why 6,700 Subscribers is a System Error
On machine-made ghosts, the Knowing-Doing Gap, and why Willow the cat is a better strategist than a growth hacker.
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Prof Maz Hardey
goodlawproject.bsky.social
Over 26,000 have emailed their local trust to keep Palantir out of the NHS.

Will you join them?
https://notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/email-to-target/stop-palantir-in-the-nhs/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=PalantirNHS&utm_medium=social_media
Say no to Palantir in the NHS
NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir - fight back
notopalantir.goodlawproject.org
January 24, 2026 at 8:00 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
While I spend my week at Durham deconstructing the ethics of machine-first worlds, Willow is busy monitoring the kitchen counter—which, in her mind, is a tactical launchpad for deep-space surveillance.

#Caturday
A portrait of Willow, the Calico Scout from a binary star system. She sits on a dark grey kitchen counter, her face divided with surgical precision - one side the color of a dying sun, the other the deep black of a vacuum. Behind her, a black-and-white curtain displays a repeating pattern of stylized cat faces, representing the 'Cat Matrix' she is currently hacking. Her green eyes are fixed on a point three inches behind the camera lens, where she is currently calculating the exact trajectory required to overthrow the household and reclaim the tuna-supplies. She is the physical manifestation of a system update that didn't quite finish, and she is perfectly comfortable with the error message.
January 24, 2026 at 7:56 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Algorithms are shameless. Your PhD shouldn't be.

@leverhulmecal.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk is recruiting Funded PhDs. We don't want "Zero-Shot" thinkers. We want the human capacity to pause & use the brake pedal.

If you’re a tank, keep driving. Humans, apply here
Funded PhD opportunities - Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life
leverhulmecal.webspace.durham.ac.uk
January 20, 2026 at 10:21 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Things that are cool, that I did not know.
garethlpowell.bsky.social Gareth L. Powell @garethlpowell.bsky.social · 5d
I received my Public Lending Right statement today. Every time someone borrows one of my books from a UK library, I get a small royalty payment. So, thanks to everyone who has done so, and if you’re an author you should sign up and register your titles.
January 19, 2026 at 5:09 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
We’ve spent a century calling Tess of the d'Urbervilles "passive." She wasn't passive; she was biological. Her silence was an emergency brake.

My latest on why we need the shame-response to survive the algorithmic life-worlds we’re building. www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
The Brake Pedal: Why We Need the Emotion We Hate Most
We are living in the age of the Shame-Free movement. Scroll through your feed, and you will see the mantras:  "Release your shame." "Shame is toxic. "  "Vibrate higher. "  We are told that shame...
www.mariannhardey.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
The mark: a silver sedan. The witness: a tortoiseshell with ice in her veins. She’s been on the sill since the kibble hit the bowl, eyes locked on the asphalt. To you, it’s a nap. To her, it’s a stakeout. In this city, the only thing sharper than her claws is her intuition.

#Caturday #Noir
A cinematic, low-angle shot from the perspective of a gritty detective's office. A tortoiseshell cat sits with her back to the camera, perched on a deep teal windowsill like a private eye surveying a rain-slicked street. She gazes out a large window at a silver car and a massive, rounded green bush that dominates the yard. To her left, a whimsical Lego display features a robotic white cat atop a pile of gold bricks; to her right, a lone Lego Empire State Building stands sentry next to a vibrant green ZZ plant in a textured turquoise pot. The atmosphere is one of quiet, hard-boiled observation—a silent guardian watching over the suburban sprawl.
January 17, 2026 at 7:06 AM
Reposted by Prof Maz Hardey
hetanshah.bsky.social
Please help spread the word on this, especially to those who may be feeling cold winds towards their research.

We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
International Fellowships 2026 The International Fellowships Programme enables researchers to work for two years at a UK institution with the aim of building a globally connected, mobile research and innovation workforce. Funding status Open for applications Career stage Early-career
January 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Ooooo
hetanshah.bsky.social Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 9d
Please help spread the word on this, especially to those who may be feeling cold winds towards their research.

We’ve opened the call for our International Fellowships, enabling early career researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
International Fellowships 2026 The International Fellowships Programme enables researchers to work for two years at a UK institution with the aim of building a globally connected, mobile research and innovation workforce. Funding status Open for applications Career stage Early-career
January 15, 2026 at 10:15 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Business books are autopsies, not recipes. They dissect a success that has already died. My latest on the $48bn "Stealth Help" economy, the rise of "Quiet Ambition," and why I’m teaching my students to be meteorologists in a world of broken maps. www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
The Weather System of the Soul: Why Business Education Needs a Trojan Horse
Professor Mariann Hardey  Auditing the digital world for the people it was designed to exclude.
www.mariannhardey.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Prof Maz Hardey
andytseng.bsky.social
Definitely worth a read.
thatprofmaz.substack.com Prof Maz Hardey @thatprofmaz.substack.com · 12d
Tech workers are reporting an "AI Hangover", a feeling like "eating plastic" or a "betrayal of language" when the LLM mirrors back a distorted version of their thoughts.

I wrote about why this is just a taste of what it feels like to be marginalised. www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
The Hangover of the Uncanny: Or, Driving Your Prompt Over the Bones of the Dead
There is a specific taste in the mouth these days. Have you felt it? I read a thread over the weekend that described the psychological after-effects of working deeply with AI not as fatigue, but as a....
www.mariannhardey.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:19 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Tech workers are reporting an "AI Hangover", a feeling like "eating plastic" or a "betrayal of language" when the LLM mirrors back a distorted version of their thoughts.

I wrote about why this is just a taste of what it feels like to be marginalised. www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
The Hangover of the Uncanny: Or, Driving Your Prompt Over the Bones of the Dead
There is a specific taste in the mouth these days. Have you felt it? I read a thread over the weekend that described the psychological after-effects of working deeply with AI not as fatigue, but as a....
www.mariannhardey.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:15 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Rob’s swapped the syllabus for the open road. It’s the magic I’m working toward. ❤️

I have the Twilight foundation, but I shan't entrust the walls to a mere clod of wayward marl. 'Nonsense' is a load-bearing material...

Here’s to giving it all up. Hâv Koffe.

www.havkoffe.com/blog/giving-...
Giving it all up — Hãv Koffe
Giving up all you’ve work for… a journey (2-3 minute read)
www.havkoffe.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Prof Maz Hardey
eve.gd
I have a request, please, friends of Bluesky... I have written an app for Android that helps you find crossword answers. I need 9 people, please, to test it on their devices for a couple of weeks (Google's policy). It will cost you nothing and I will be eternally grateful if you can help. Please!
My crossword finder app working on t?unne and giving a set of anagrams
January 10, 2026 at 8:15 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Behold the creature, spun from night and fire, Upon a clouded fleece of milky white; She rests from twilight's hunt and fierce desire, A captive now to slumber's gentle might.

This tranquil scene, my love, I share with thee; For where thou art, is sweetest rest for me. #caturday
A vision of domestic tranquility wherein a calico cat, robed in a motley coat of deep charcoal, burnished amber, and pristine snow, has succumbed to profound sleep. Her face is turned from the viewer, lost to the realm of dreams, yet her alabaster paws are clasped delicately together upon her breast like a silent prayer. She rests upon a soft, pale expanse of fleece, which is patterned with the faint, orange vestiges of wandering tracks.
January 10, 2026 at 8:21 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Come for the title (“I just go headbutt a tree...”), stay for the incredible scholarship.

Serious admiration for this multi-national study on how kids navigate digital play and well-being.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

#ChildhoodStudies #DigitalPlay #NewMedia #AcademicSky #Research
Header of an academic article published in the journal 'New Media & Society'. The title reads: ‘I just go headbutt a tree or something’: Children’s contextualised digital play drivers and subjective well-being in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Cyprus. The authors are listed as Fiona Scott, Liz Chesworth, Stavroula Kontovourki, Karen Murcia, Karin Murris, Kim Balnaves, and Cath Bannister.
January 8, 2026 at 2:20 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Austen identified the "Softboy," centuries before TikTok.

In the corporate world, fluency is often a camouflage. A smooth Mission Statement is no different from a poetic Hinge bio; it is a curated performance of the Self.

My forensic analysis of the "Bio vs. Reality" gap

tinyurl.com/ycka2u83
The Burned Haystack of the Soul: Why Jane Austen Was the Original Forensic Analyst
I fell down a rabbit hole this morning. It started with a piece on the " Burned Haystack Dating Method " by Jennie Young, a strategy designed to help women cut through the noise of dating apps by...
www.mariannhardey.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:09 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Much to admire in Resistance! "The pseudonymous hacker... Martha Root — dressed as Pink Ranger from the Power Rangers — deleted the servers of WhiteDate, WhiteChild, and WhiteDeal in real time at the end of [her] talk..." techcrunch.com/2026/01/05/h... #TechCrunch
Hacktivist deletes white supremacist websites live onstage during hacker conference | TechCrunch
A hacker known as Martha Root broke in and deleted three white supremacist websites at the end of a talk during the annual hacker conference Chaos Communication Congress in Germany.
techcrunch.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:47 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
I’m arguing that we can HATE the environmental cost and the bias of AI, while admitting that for some, it’s the only ramp into the building. Here's my essay inspired by Stephen King's The Stand and the Privilege of the Analogue Soul.

www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
The Stand: Or, The Privilege of the Analogue Soul
The world hasn’t ended with a bang, nor with a superflu that wipes out 99% of the population. But the lines are being drawn all the same. Can you feel it? Here in York, the wind is catching over...
www.mariannhardey.com
January 5, 2026 at 2:54 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
The prophecy spoke of a Doppelgänger. A silent watcher made of brick and stud, perched upon the Grey Highlands, waiting to usurp the throne.

But I have claimed the Purple Fortress. Let the construct come. The age of Flesh and Fur is not yet over. #Caturday

#FantasyCats #CatsOfBluesky #LegoCat
A tableau of domestic tension. In the foreground, a calico cat—the Chosen One—sits ensconced within the Walls of the Violet Keep (a purple felt storage cube). Her eyes are wide, gazing at the viewer with an expression of startled prophecy. Behind her, perched upon the Grey Monolith (an ottoman), sits the False Idol: a Lego tuxedo cat. The plastic construct stares with unblinking yellow eyes, mimicking the form of the true beast. The background reveals the Green Archives (a bookshelf filled with Nigella Lawson cookbooks) and the Red Boots of Haste, setting the scene for a tale of magic and identity theft. A tableau of domestic tension. In the foreground, a calico cat—the Chosen One—sits ensconced within the Walls of the Violet Keep (a purple felt storage cube). Her eyes are wide, gazing at the viewer with an expression of startled prophecy. Behind her, perched upon the Grey Monolith (an ottoman), sits the False Idol: a Lego tuxedo cat. The plastic construct stares with unblinking yellow eyes, mimicking the form of the true beast. The background reveals the Green Archives (a bookshelf filled with Nigella Lawson cookbooks) and the Red Boots of Haste, setting the scene for a tale of magic and identity theft. A tableau of domestic tension. In the foreground, a calico cat—the Chosen One—sits ensconced within the Walls of the Violet Keep (a purple felt storage cube). Her eyes are wide, gazing at the viewer with an expression of startled prophecy. Behind her, perched upon the Grey Monolith (an ottoman), sits the False Idol: a Lego tuxedo cat. The plastic construct stares with unblinking yellow eyes, mimicking the form of the true beast. The background reveals the Green Archives (a bookshelf filled with Nigella Lawson cookbooks) and the Red Boots of Haste, setting the scene for a tale of magic and identity theft.
January 3, 2026 at 8:07 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Ok, I got this.
Screen shot of Merriam-Webster word of the years as “Joyous”.
January 2, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by Prof Maz Hardey
bakerdphd.bsky.social
This is everything good in the world
johnxuandou.bsky.social Magnanimous @johnxuandou.bsky.social · Aug 13
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
December 30, 2025 at 3:11 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
I nearly forgot, it’s #caturday

The Overseer has assumed the high station upon the wooden skeleton.

From this vantage point, utterly indifferent to the technology hanging beneath her claws. We are merely the ground crew in her orbit.
A low-angle observation of a biological sentinel—a calico feline with a carapace of orange, black, and white fur—perched atop the weathered, skeletal beams of a wooden gantry. The creature gazes upward into a vast, featureless azure void, the planet’s atmospheric dome unblemished by clouds. Below the sentinel’s station, dormant, bulbous photon emitters hang on insulated wiring like synthetic fruit, while the chaotic, thorny lattice of organic flora encroaches from the periphery.
December 27, 2025 at 7:01 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Whatever spirits may visit this house today, this particular cat-apparition demands its tribute of turkey before she shows a solitary spark of benevolence. God bless us, every one (especially Willow). 🎄🎩🐈‍⬛
A solemn feline of tortoiseshell and white coat sits upright upon a wooden stool, possessing a countenance as grim as Ebenezer Scrooge before the spirits' visitation. She fixes the viewer with a direct, unblinking stare, seemingly unimpressed by the festive trappings behind it, where two stockings—one bearing the likeness of Saint Nicholas, the other a snowman—hang upon a grey wall, awaiting the abundance of the season.
December 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM