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The video “What is Epiwar” from The Duke Report introduces the concept of epistemological warfare (“Epiwar”) — the idea that modern conflicts are waged not with weapons, but through control of information, perception, and belief. Host Peter Duke defines Epiwar as the manipulation of how people form and validate knowledge, carried out through media, education, entertainment, and digital systems.
He argues that powerful institutions use language, framing, and omission to shape public understanding, turning confusion itself into a strategic tool. The talk blends historical examples — from the Treaty of Versailles and Protestant Reformation — with commentary on present-day figures like Elon Musk and government–corporate partnerships in AI and surveillance. Duke presents this as evidence of a “hidden war” for cognitive control.
The episode also outlines the four leading indicators of Epiwar:
* Narratives that serve power regardless of truth.
* Ideas repeated across multiple media (“transmedia spectacle”).
* Convenient deaths of “lightning rod” public figures.
* Systematic deletion or distortion of historical knowledge (the “ongoing fire of the Library of Alexandria”).
Ultimately, Duke calls for cultivating discernment and intellectual independence — “the battle for freedom begins in the mind.” He promotes his platform The Duke Report and its book library as resources for critical thinkers resisting narrative control.
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The Duke Report - Where to Start
My articles on SubStack are all free to read/listen to. If you load the Substack app on your phone, Substack will read the articles to you. (Convenient if you are driving).
Foundational Articles
* Do You Know the Difference between Liberty and Freedom?
* The Power Structure of the World
* A User’s Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Defense
Podcast (Audio & Video Content)
* Palmerston’s Zoo Episode 01 - Solving the Paradox of Current World History (9 Episodes)
* Oligarchic Control from the Renaissance to the Information Age
* The Grand Design of the 20th Century
* Bots React to Neurolinguistic Defense
SoundCloud Book Podcasts
I’ve taken almost 200 foundational books, for understanding how the world really works, and posted them as audio podcasts on SoundCloud. If you load the app on your phone, you can listen to the AI robots discuss the books on your journeys across America.
* The Duke Report SoundCloud Channel
Duke Report Books
* Over 600 foundational books by journalists and academics that never made the New York Times Bestseller list, but somehow tell a history we never learned in school. LINK
