The Nowhere Office

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/theunitedstateofwork The 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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Hobsbawm interviews Syreeta Brown, Group Chief People & Communications Officer at Virgin Money. They explore the huge changes that have taken place in the workforce in recent years, whether those changes can be unravelled and discuss how ripping up the rule book can help to get, grow and retain great talent.  Also featured is a clip from an upcoming interview with Barbara Kellerman, renowned leadership writer and academic. She discusses the upcoming inauguration of President Trump, likening his bombastic style to that of a prizefighter. 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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a tribute to a dear friend of The Nowhere Office, Charles Handy, the management writer, who died this week aged 92. Julia Hobsbawm and Stefan Stern are joined by the FT’s Andrew Hill to discuss Handy's life and legacy, his extremely sharp predictions about work, the humanism at the heart of his thinking, and his unconventional practices like ‘empty chair’ exercises. We have included an interview with Charles Handy from the very first episode of The Nowhere Office. In this episode's My Working Life segment, Indrani Sen, Features Editor at Fortune Magazine, tells us about journalism on 9/11 in New York, the sheer fun of her job, anxiety in legacy media, and a possible career shift. This sponsored feature 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. Books mentioned in the episode: By Charles Handy: The Gods of Management: The Changing Work of Organizations (OUP, 1979) The Age of Unreason: New Thinking for a New World (Random House Business, 1989) The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future (Random House Business, 1995) The Elephant and the Flea: New Thinking for a New World (Random House Business, 2002) The Second Curve: Thoughts on Reinventing Society (Random House Business, 2015).  Also mentioned:  Dan Davies, The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions - and How The World Lost its Mind (Profile Books, 2024).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Hobsbawm speaks with Peter Miscovich, Executive Managing Director and Global Future of Work Leader at JLL, to explore the past, present, and future of offices around the world. They discuss the tech transformations in workplaces, quantum computing on the horizon and the massive changes in the past 50 years of work.  In this episode's My Working Life segment, we hear from Birgitte Stoerger of AuPairCare. With years of experience matching au pairs with families, Birgitte shares the joys of her work and the challenges faced by Au Pairs navigating a new life in the US.  This sponsored feature 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 megaphone.fm/adchoices