The Nowhere Office

This week on The Nowhere Office, hosts Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern speak with journalist, author, and broadcaster Rachel Johnson for another addition of My Working Life in a conversation about her unconventional career journeyRachel shares how she broke into journalism as the Financial Times’ first female trainee, the early mistakes she learned from, and how she built a career on her own terms. She talks about the challenges of balancing working motherhood with her own ambitions, and why her time at the UK Foreign Office left her frustrated. The episode also explores her latest project — the Tortoise investigative podcast Master — which looks into the allegations against author Neil Gaiman. Rachel explains what drove her to pursue this complex story and what the experience taught her about the power of persistence and purpose in working life.The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions.Music by Julian Brezon.Learn more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How is AI transforming the workplace and what does it mean for employment law? In this episode of The Nowhere Office, host Julia Hobsbawm visits the Bankside offices of Lewis Silkin LLP to speak with James Davies, Senior Employment Partner, about the legal implications of artificial intelligence in hiring, AI regulation, and the future of legal work. How is AI being used in recruitment and employment decisions? What AI-specific tools like Harvey are changing legal practice? How are governments and regulators addressing AI in employment law? Will AI replace lawyers? The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions.Music by Julian Brezon.Discover more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode of The Nowhere Office focuses on the United State of Work report, featuring an in-depth conversation with Brian Elliott, a contributor to the report and a leading voice in the future of work.Brian is the CEO of Work Forward, co-founder of Future Forum, and author of How the Future Works. With 25 years of experience at Google and Slack, he offers firsthand insights into corporate America's shifts and sheds light on: What’s really driving return-to-office mandates The persistence of command-and-control management Corporate leadership’s resistance to change The political context behind the DEI backlash stemming from the Trump administration You'll also hear insights from other United State of Work contributors, including: Peter Miscovich, JLL Global Future of Work Lead Floré Pradère, Research Director, Global Work Dynamics Research Virginie Raphael, Founder of FullCircle Vicky Pryce, Economist Melissa Fisher, Cultural Anthropologist Phil Kirschner, Consultant Read the full United State of Work report at Workathon.io.The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon. Discover more at Workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joining Julia and Stefan is David Dewane, Chief Experience Officer of Physical Space at Geniant, a design services firm at the cutting edge of workplace transformation.David shares wide-ranging insights and anecdotes from his work—covering everything from the historical impact of air conditioning and the elevator to the role of human creativity in the age of AI.He also discusses the evolving discipline of architecture, how its definition is expanding, the influence of UX research, and where the field might be headed.This episode features Carl Sandburg’s 1916 poem Skyscraper.🔗 Read The United State of Work report: workathon.io/theunitedstateofworkThe Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon.Subscribe and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms. Find out more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern are joined by John Bond, founder and executive director of Whitefox Publishing, and Toby Mundy, literary agent and former publisher, to explore and evaluate the business of publishing.Toby reflects on his career, from founding Atlantic Books, now as a literary agent and serving as Executive Director of the Baillie Gifford Prize. Against the backdrop of the London Book Fair, they discuss how shifts at book fairs reflect broader industry changes. Toby and John offer an insider’s view of the publishing business, from its ongoing challenges to the role of commissioning editors, where the money is, and what makes a book a success.Julia also sits down with Hannah Bickerton, the new Managing Director of Whitefox, to discuss book marketing in an evolving industry and the potential role of AI in publishing’s future.This episode is brought to you in association with Whitefox, exceptional publishers for exceptional stories. Learn more at wearewhitefox.com.The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon. Discover more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern talk to Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy about his working life. Rory shares anecdotes from a career in advertising and lessons from behavioural science. The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production brought to you in association with Sandstone Global Productions.Music by Julian Brezon.Find out more at thenowhereoffice.com and sandstoneglobal.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The Nowhere Office, we bring together three experts with very different perspectives on work to explore how we measure it, how we experience it, and how workplaces are changing.What is productivity, and why does it matter? Professor Dame Diane Coyle, economist and Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, joins Stefan to discuss why productivity is such a tricky thing to measure what GDP can and can’t tell us. These ideas will be explored more in Diane's forthcoming book, The Measure of Progress. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Measure-Progress-Counting-Really-Matters/dp/0691179026). There is also a cameo from Sophie from Romania, of internet fame. Dr. Melissa Fisher is a cultural anthropologist at NYU and Parsons, who has studied Wall Street’s culture and is now looking at the future of work. She shares insights into how work is shaped not just by numbers but by history, habits, and human behaviour.Phil Kirschner, workplace consultant and strategist, helps companies rethink their workplaces and manage the huge wave of change. The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in association with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon.Learn more at Workathon.io Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this My Working Life edition of the Nowhere Office, Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern are joined by Sam McAlister, the former Newsnight producer best known for securing the game-changing interview with Prince Andrew.She shares details of her background from working-class childhood to criminal barrister and her jump into TV. She talks about the joys of her newfound autonomy and the relentless hustle required to make it all work. Sam takes us behind the scenes of TV news and gives her take on the pernicious role of class in the workplace. The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in association with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon. Learn more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern are joined by John Bond, founder of Whitefox Publishing to discuss the business of publishing. We hear about how the industry has changed since the 1980s and 1990s when huge advances were handed out at the drop of a hat and books were acquired on professional instinct. That’s been replaced by data-driven metrics and a clearer understanding of what consumers want.The episode provides advice for anyone looking to have a book published, explaining the current market, the steps involved and the roles that agents play. The episode features clips for Rebecca Frayn’s novel Lost in Ibiza and Emily Ross and Alastair Crowl’s Just Evil Enough. Both are published by Whitefox.This episode is brought to you in association with Whitefox—exceptional publishers for exceptional stories. Learn more at wearewhitefox.com. The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon. Discover more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of The Nowhere Office, Stefan Stern and Julia Hobsbawm discuss leadership with Barbara Kellerman. Our My Working Life feature is an interview with American union organiser Jaz Brisack, who has been involved with movements at Nissan, Starbucks, and Tesla.This episode covers: Tulip Siddiq's resignation and what it reveals about the challenges facing the workplace that is 10 Downing Street An interview with Barbara Kellerman, founding member of the Harvard Kennedy School, about her latest book Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers Reflections on Donald Trump’s inauguration and his anti-establishment leadership style The abundance of bad leaders, from politics to business, and the important role of followers Declining trust in once-revered institutions Dissatisfaction with capitalism in the United States Luigi Mangione and the killing of Brian Thompson The styles of business leaders like Elizabeth Holmes and Elon Musk. The Nowhere Office is a Fully Connected Production in partnership with Sandstone Global Productions. Music by Julian Brezon. Discover more at workathon.io. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices