A workplace-culture host challenges economist Natalia Emanuel’s case for in-person work, probing the evidence on mentorship, productivity and mental health against the freedoms of hybrid life. Their debate turns on whether return-to-office mandates can repair workplaces that workers no longer trust.

Laura Empson examines the power struggles inside professional-services firms, where partners elect leaders but often resist being led. The conversation traces collective leadership, competitive culture and AI’s reshaping of the old bargain between junior workers and the people at the top.

A long-running British workplace survey finds that employees have steadily lost discretion over how they do their jobs, even as autonomy remains tied to productivity and wellbeing. Cardiff University’s Alan Felstead argues that managers may be overlooking the expertise closest to the work.

Economist Daniel Susskind cuts through AI’s feverish hype to consider what workplaces, schools and social bonds might look like when even coding is no longer a safe bet. The conversation argues for critical technological literacy while questioning whether automated efficiency can preserve meaning, contribution and human connection.

Economist Daniel Susskind argues that AI has made career forecasting a fool’s errand, turning yesterday’s advice to learn code into a cautionary tale. He and Bruce Daisley consider how schools and workplaces can cultivate critical thinking, use AI without surrendering judgment, and prepare for a society where work may no longer distribute either income or meaning.

Restaurateur Danny Meyer traces the link between hospitality, workplace culture and profit, arguing that businesses thrive when they reward the behaviors that make people feel valued. The Shake Shack founder reflects on hiring, accountability and the hard work of keeping a growing company aligned.

Bruce Daisley talks with organizational psychologist Rob Briner about the workplace ideas companies cling to despite thin evidence, from engagement surveys and psychological safety to culture change and growth mindset. Their debate circles a simple demand: stop reaching for fashionable tools before defining the problem you are actually trying to solve.

Financial Times writer Sarah O’Connor argues that AI’s effect on work is not an unstoppable natural force but a series of choices shaped by power, policy and the people closest to the job. Drawing on reporting from translators, nurses, software developers and Hollywood writers, she makes the case that the real fight is over human agency and what kinds of work should remain irreducibly human.

Bruce Daisley talks with journalist Kate Murphy about the elusive chemistry of human connection, and what her research into synchrony suggests about teamwork, meetings and the limits of digital communication. Their exchange moves from the contagion of a single workplace "bad apple" to the rare colleague whose presence can steady a room.