Jan Lucassen is one of the world’s top experts on the history of work. His recent book The Story of Work is the first truly global history of work, from the age of the hunter-gatherer to the present day. Jan Lucassen is Emeritus Professor at the free University of Amsterdam and an honorary fellow at

Arifa Akbar is chief theatre critic of The Guardian and author of a memoir, Consumed, which has just been shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award. Arifa has been arts correspondent and literary editor of The Independent. She has written for newspapers and magazines ranging from The Observer to the FT and is a trustee of

Chris Barez-Brown is an entrepreneur, author and founder of Upping Your Elvis, a business that aims to help people find more energy and fun at work. He has worked with companies ranging from Coca-Cola to Citibank and Nike. His books include How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas, Shine: How to Survive and Thrive at Work, and

Gillian Tett is a bestselling writer, journalist and chairman of the US editorial board at the Financial Times. She has a PhD in social anthropology and it’s this anthropological perspective that has played such a key part in her award-winning journalism and inspired her brilliant new book, Anthro Vision. She’s best known for predicting the

How do we find fulfilment as we pay the bills? In my podcast Work Interrupted, I talked to people from a range of working backgrounds – business, journalism, the arts, healthcare, music, books, broadcasting, academia – to find out how their work was changing in the light of the pandemic. As we start to come

Julia Hobsbawm is an entrepreneur, writer and expert on connectedness in the machine age. She founded the network and media business Editorial Intelligence and the Social Capital Network for BAME professionals and was awarded an OBE for services to business in 2015. Her books include Fully Connected and The Simplicity Principle, which won two awards

Douglas Board is a leadership and career coach and a senior research fellow at the former Cass Business School. He was a senior civil servant and a headhunter before embarking on a portfolio career as a writer, coach and board member. He has been Chair of the Refugee Council, treasurer of the Diana, Princess of

Sarah Churchwell is Chair in Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of London. She’s an expert in 20th-century American literature, culture and history and has written four highly acclaimed books: The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, What Americans Like, Careless People and Behold America. She writes for newspapers and magazines on both sides

Harriet Minter is a journalist, speaker, broadcaster and coach. The founder of the Guardian’s Women in Leadership initiative, she has written about leadership, diversity and the future of work for publications ranging from The Times to Marie Claire and Psychologies. She presents Badasswomen’s Hour for Talk Radio, has given two Ted X talks and currently

Ayesha Hazarika is a broadcaster, journalist, political commentator and award-winning stand up comedian. She was a Labour Party special adviser to Gordon Brown, Harriet Harman and Ed Miliband from 2007 to 2015. She now presents her own show on Times Radio, is a columnist for the Evening Standard, the Scotsman and the i paper and