21st Century Work Life

21st Century Work Life

The 21st Century Work Life podcast looks at how the world of work and our attitudes to work are working. The current season focuses on book recommendations. Most of the pre-2025 episodes focus on leading and managing remote teams, online collaboration and working in distributed organisations, where Pilar Orti, guests & co-hosts shine the spotlight on the most relevant themes and news relevant to the modern knowledge worker.

Episodes

August 20, 2026 20 mins

A little August episode to celebrate the fact that I (Pilar) have finished the manuscript for All the World's a Workplace! 

I realise half-way through the recording that while the work is location agnostic, the people are not. (It took me over a decade to articulate this!)

[0:00] Welcome, and bringing back the show's origin...

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In today's episode, Pilar shares her highlights from the book:

How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be 
by Katy Milkman


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Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

Black Box Thinking: Growth Mindset and the Secrets of High Performance

by Matthew Syed

Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:
<...

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A different kind of episode today!
We're back with two voices, and this time, instead of Pilar sharing notes from a book, she speaks to her co-author Bree Caggiati, about their latest book, "Connection and Disconnection in Remote Teams". They cover some of the book's topics, how the research has moved on, and for Part 2, they've got some connection-related personal updates.

In today's...

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Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

Code Dependent: How AI Is Changing Our Lives

by Madhumita Murgia

"The problem that we have is not the a...

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Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

Make Time: How to focus on what happens every day

by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

Four Thousand Weeks: E...

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Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary

by Catherine Gray

Favourite highlight:

"Happiness is not...

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November 24, 2025 30 mins

Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life

by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

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Another episode from the season Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation
by Kevin Roose

Favourite highlight:

"It's on us—t...

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October 16, 2025 28 mins

Another episode from the season: Booknotes, where Pilar shares the notes she made while reading a book, allowing new insights to emerge spontaneously behind the microphone.

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from: 

Because Internet: Understanding how language is changing
by Gretchen McCulloch

Listener Roberta recommends:
It...

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The 21st Century Work Life podcast is back - with a different kind of content and format. 

The Booknotes season starts and will last... for a while. 

In today's episode:

Part 1
Pilar shares her booknotes from 

How To Have A Good Day: The Essential Toolkit for a Productive Day at Work and Beyond
by Caroline Webb

Chris Coladonato's (the connection c...

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January 2, 2025 5 mins

A very short episode where I (Pilar Orti) share the reasons why the 21st Century Work Life podcast is going on pause. Stay subscribed though, as you never know when new episodes might drop!
Thank you very much for listening and all the best for 2025. 

Get in touch: https://www.virtualnotdistant.com/contact-us 

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It's the end of the year, but we're not making any predictions - things are moving way too fast! Instead, Pilar and Maya review some of the issues that have been blamed on "remote".


For an extensive summary of the episode, check out www.virtualnotdistant.com/podcasts/dont-blame-remote-work

You can message Pilar through th...

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Listener Richard de Villiers reached out to host Pilar Orti after hearing the episode on the 3 A's of Connection. He has plenty to say on the subject of connection in remote teams, and many different frameworks to share to help other listeners think through change programmes and their own leadership.

Connect with Richard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddevilliers/

For det...

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In this episode, host Pilar Orti interviews Andreea Gătin an event and community manager who is organising a unique experience for digital nomad and remote workers in Romania. Andreea discusses her goals for the experience, which include showcasing Romania as a destination for digital nomads and fostering a sense of community among participants. It's happening in March 2025, so check it out!
<...

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November 14, 2024 49 mins

In this episode, host Pilar Orti talks to Sagar Chandni, who describes himself as a distributed work practitioner and a strategy leader with a heart. We talk about the nuances of these terms and the evolving nature of work, particularly in India where Sagar is based.

Sagar discusses his work with startups and the challenges and opportunities they face, and shares his approach to informed leadershipethical business ...

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October 17, 2024 33 mins

Host Pilar Orti is joined by Doug Haines, the founder of Kalium and Marketing Pros. Doug's entrepreneurial journey began with Kalium, where he successfully recruited talent from South Africa. This positive experience inspired him to launch Marketing Pros, an agency connecting South African marketing professionals with global opportunities. In this episode, Doug discusses the development of bo...

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In this episode, host Pilar Orti shares her new framework showing how we connect at work, and talks about some of her other projects. 

If you'd like to be alerted when the Remotely Shakespeare wall calendar comes out, head over to remotelyshakespeare.com 

For more information check out www.virtualnotdistant.com

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September 19, 2024 31 mins

A special episode to celebrate the launch of the revised edition of The Long-Distance Leader, written by Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, who returns to the show with another conversation that made host Pilar Orti laugh plenty of times. 

The conversation takes a critical look at the "hybrid" workplace - is it a compromise, a hostage negotiation? Or is the problem that we're all tra...

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In today's episode, host Pilar Orti catches up with Frédérique Lloyd Bougreau, about how she transformed her career and lifestyle by setting up a Pilates studio in rural France. They talk about cultural adaptation, building a business in a new environment and the Importance of movement and exercise as we progress through life. 

Frédérique's contact details are over at her website: ht...

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