Latest episode

1-25 Knowledge as Infrastructure
17:02|The university works not only due to Eureka moments and Great Thoughts, but also because some systems exist to curate, recall and retrieve research and process. And the decisions around THOSE systems are foundational. See much more on viewing universities through the lens of W40k at brianmlucey.com
More episodes
View all episodes

24. 1-24 Policing Truth
21:06||Season 1, Ep. 24What happens when an institution cannot afford to let every truth become actionable? In this episode of The Emperor Is a Hostage, I turn to the Inquisition, Eisenhorn, and the Ecclesiarchy to examine how universities regulate what becomes fundable, publishable, respectable, and career-safe. This is not a story about crude censorship. It is about admissibility, reputational containment, and the structures that ensure some truths never quite scale.More details are available in my Warhammer Academia books , at Brianmlucey.com
23. 1-23 Central Governance
22:52||Season 1, Ep. 23The administratum is the central governance of the Imperium. Its failings are manifold and hold lessons for universities!
22. 1-22 Men of Iron
23:58||Season 1, Ep. 22The men of Iron, in W40k, were AI's that rebelled. Or did they? Perhaps what really happened was a recognition of dependence and a striving to replace that, which had terrible consequences. Metrics and measures are the modern university equivalent of the Men of Iron. They make the job easier, but at what cost? For more on how to parse universities through the lens of Warhammer40k, please go to brianmlucey.com
21. 1-21 lost Civilisations
20:35||Season 1, Ep. 21In Warhammer, there are civilisations, analogous to research and interpretative paradigms in academia, which were suppressed and in some cases, partially incorporated. We examine how this emerges, how it is pervasive and how it endures. For more on how to parse Academia through Warhammer40k, go to brianmlucey.com
20. 1-20 Meet the High Lords of Tenure
18:26||Season 1, Ep. 20In warhammer 40k, the empire is managed by the High Lords of Terra. In academia, the managing class are the High Lords of Tenure. The High Lords are not selected for necessary excellence but for stability. This results in competent administration of a system which may require external shocks to move back to its original path. But these cannot come from the inside.For more on how to parse Academia through the lens of Warhammer40k, see my website brianmlucey.com
19. 1-19 The Heresy that never ends
25:20||Season 1, Ep. 19In Warhammer40k the Horus Heresy was the defining moment, which set in motion the present state of play. In academia, we have perpetual change, perpetual heresy. This results in a system optimised for perma-crisis and where the incentives are not to settle but to keep the crisis in motion. For more on how to parse academia via the lens of Warhammer 40k see my website, brianmlucey.com
