The office: for many of us, it’s where we spend more time and expend greater effort than anywhere else. Yet how many of us have stopped to think about why?

From the gleaming glass towers New York to the space age sweatshops of Silicon Valley, Gideon Haigh, in conversation with broadcaster Lorin Clarke will reveal how the inventions and ingenuity of the office have shaped the world far beyond it.

Inventions such as the telephone, the typewriter, the elevator, the email, the cubicle, the personal computer and the digital assistant have transformed our social interactions, from breaking down barriers between the sexes to enabling the infamous photocopied bum.

Haigh has lovingly and comprehensively chronicled the story of the office, and this exploration of the changes brought about everyday objects will at the very least something to talk about around the water cooler.

Readings had a pop-up shop at the School of Life Melbourne.

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