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
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
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
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
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
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
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
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Forget the New York Times and The Financial Times. The final boss of book reviews has entered the chat: my daughter. What will she make of my latest book, Navigating the Web of Disinformation?
A scene of high domestic drama in a well-appointed library. A young lady of decided opinions—and the author's most formidable critic—is thoroughly obscured behind a copy of her parent's recent publication, "Navigating the Web of Disinformation." Whether she is engrossed by the prose or merely composing a scathing review behind the safety of the hardcover remains a mystery to the anxious observer. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a daughter in possession of her parent's book must be in want of a red pen.
December 22, 2025 at 1:37 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
It was a dark and stormy night. She walked in with a yawn that could stop traffic, a real Femme Fur-tale looking for trouble.

I told her to put a lid on it, but she was already heading for The Big Sleep. 💤 #caturday
A dramatic, low-angle profile shot of a tortoiseshell cat unleashing a massive yawn that resembles a silent scream. The lighting is moody and high-contrast, with deep shadows swallowing her features and a stark blue backlight outlining her ears, evoking the gritty atmosphere of a 1940s crime thriller.
December 20, 2025 at 7:21 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
You pierce my soul. There may be other cats in England, but none with such a countenance—divided by nature into shadow and gold, yet united in perfect beauty. I am yours, utterly. #caturday
An intimate study of a most striking countenance, divided by nature into hues of ebony and ginger. While the cat boasts a gaze of such wide-eyed innocence and deep sensibility that one might suspect a silent plea for cream—or perhaps the concealment of a scandalous secret regarding the pantry.
December 13, 2025 at 7:17 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Influencers want you to believe that if you arrange your words into R-I-S-E, exponential leverage will flow. We contort ourselves like a Mechanical Turk so the machine can take the credit.

My latest on the "Top 10%": www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...

(with a nod to someone who gets the joke)
A circle and two triangles demonstrating their complete lack of understanding of gravity. It's not going to end well
December 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Flooff #caturday
Calico cat stop a bookshelf with Lego, surrounded by picture frames and other personal items. A Christmas tree frames the image. A frames picture of another cat is also in the foreground.
December 6, 2025 at 7:16 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Wings of fire 🔥 #caturday
Tricolour cat asleep on a bed with wings of fire book series (about dragons)
November 29, 2025 at 7:45 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Accidental Renaissance #caturday
Tricolour cat on a chaise surrounded by Lego washing herself with her leg in the air lounging on a huge teddy. Tricolour cat on a chaise surrounded by Lego washing herself with her leg in the air lounging on a huge teddy.
November 22, 2025 at 8:34 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Ever get a review that felt less like feedback & more like a personal attack?

I received a desk reject. Our work was "a big mistake."
I contrast this with a "good" rejection. Yes, they exist.

I reflect on academic elitism, esp in the age of AI slop.

www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
November 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
She is her own #caturday
Rather gorgeous calico cat face looking directly to camera. Intently. Either love or revolution in her eyes.
November 15, 2025 at 7:43 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Let's be blunt: 'Neuro-inclusion' is being used as a Trojan Horse to sell AI in education.

[shouts] AI companies, our minds are not a market for your solutions; they are a reason to change your systems.

I wrote about this here. www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
November 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
A prospect of a library-room

Preparing my keynote about AI and Deepfakes for tonight. Somehow, with a flu-laden voice, I am speaking faster(?) and need to add further exciting thoughts, or I will be short for my audience!

I have help from my co-workers. (spot the real pup, read my alt text).
A prospect of a library-room, presently in a state of most delightful and whimsical confusion. A distinguished canine personage, possessed of a fine curly coat, has taken the high station upon a cushioned chair, turning its noble head away, as if to entirely disregard the rabble below. And what a rabble it is! A veritable society of plush creatures has assembled upon the rugs and seized the finest beds by the window. A formidable blue unicorn, clearly of some station, stands guard in the foreground, whilst a large Eevee of considerable prominence holds court, attended by a small orange dragon, a pug, and other soft-bodied sycophants, all gathered in a bed that is clearly not their own. The scene, one must confess, speaks to a most charming breakdown of domestic propriety.
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
#caturday is the best day for sitting in top of books.
Calico cat sat atop a book, four white paws satisfyingly close together. She has an earnest glint in her eye that could be “I love you” or “I will F your stuff up”. Her white whiskers say fierce.
November 8, 2025 at 7:06 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
She is #caturday
Calico cat in the foreground in loaf mode. A Paddington bear with a pumpkin light up Halloween mark is askew behind her (prob a good night out). Willow (cat) looks calm and serene. And a bit smug.
November 1, 2025 at 8:19 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
I am a vampire who is teaching today for our online MBA programme. @durham.ac.uk
Screenshot from my teaching space in GatherTown. This depicts a lone vampire avatar (me) sitting on a purple cushion. Virtual breakout rooms surround Vampire. Millennials will appreciate the 32-bit graphic style ambience of the space.
October 30, 2025 at 11:39 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
Meow #Caturday, folks
Calico cat sitting atop a desk, drinking out of a mug that is placed on top a pile of books.
October 25, 2025 at 6:53 AM
thatprofmaz.substack.com
C c c #Caturday
Calico cat on a garden stool surrounded by plants and looking intently at the camera.
October 18, 2025 at 7:24 AM