Shows
Corporate BodiesEpisode 11: BrainwavesJoin Mark and Kate as they look back over the last ten episodes of Corporate Bodies and talk about what they’ve learned. They particularly talk about how their thinking about legal personhood and the other “original sins” of incorporation has changed. They talk about how organisations might change if we conceptualise them as ecosystems that need tending rather than people that need animating, and other day-to-day practices we might use to change how we approach work.They also consider what the next step for the Corporate Bodies project might be – and are looking for funders, supporters, and fell...2025-07-1035 min
Corporate BodiesEpisode 10: CompostingWhat might lie beyond the corporation?In the previous episode (Death, with Louise Armstrong) we explored how the end of an organisation could liberate the people and resources within it to do new things. In this episode, Kate and Mark consider whether we might move beyond the idea of the corporate body entirely, and explore what other ways we might organise collectively.They are joined by Esther Foreman from Social Change Nest to talk about the potential for thinking about organising collectively as more like an ecosystem than a human body. They discuss how such...2025-07-0350 min
Corporate BodiesEpisode 9: DeathWhat does it mean for an organisation to die? It’s relatively straightforward to close a company down and take it off the Companies House register – but emotionally, it’s much more complex. In this episode, Kate and Mark explore their own experiences of being part of organisations that are closing down.They are joined by Louise Armstrong, co-founder of the Decelerator, to explore organisational endings. This conversation covers the signs (beyond money!) that an ending might be on the horizon for an organisation, grappling with trying to do long-term work, the parallels between organisational endings and relati...2025-06-261h 03
Corporate BodiesEpisode 8: The SoulThere is something ineffable in the life of an organisation that is essential to its definition or character, but is different from its culture, vision, purpose or activities. But what is it, who holds it, and how is it passed on?In this episode, Kate and Mark wrestle with the idea that corporate bodies might have a soul, and explore the idea developed by Peter Koenig and Tom Nixon that they do have a ‘source’: a single person who takes the first risk to realise an idea, and who often has a visceral sense of what’s right...2025-06-191h 08
Corporate BodiesEpisode 7: The Immune SystemHumans have always co-operated with each other. And formal co-operatives have been around almost since the emergence of the modern corporation, creating structures where people can work together for mutual benefit and the benefit of their communities. In this episode, Kate and Mark start by thinking about the history of the co-operative movement and its influence on co-ops today.They are joined by Mark Simmonds from Co-op Culture, and together they explore some of the nuances of co-operation in the UK today, from worker co-ops to community and consumer co-ops. We talk about the different structures and...2025-06-121h 03
Corporate BodiesEpisode 6: Injuries to the BodyWhat happens when things go wrong at work? Inevitably in any organisation we have to deal with issues such as redundancy, grievance and poor performance. How do we make sure we have the policies and procedures that are both legally compliant and aligned with our values?In this sixth episode, Kate and Mark get intensely practical with Abbie Kempson from People Support Co-op. Abbie has a wealth of experience helping organisations that want to work collectively in ways that are non-hierarchical, collaborative, anti-oppressive, accountable and caring, to develop robust and legal policies and processes.We...2025-06-051h 01
Corporate BodiesEpisode 5: The HeartIf the organisation is a body made up of real people, then where or who is its heart? What really is the work that needs to be done? How do we bring our whole selves to it? What is the leadership we need to address the challenges we face?Kate and Mark went into this conversation with Farzana Khan from Healing Justice London thinking that we would be talking about the challenges of bringing your whole self to work as a leader.What happened, though, was a really deep and expansive conversation about the real...2025-05-291h 07
Corporate BodiesEpisode 4: The SpiritHow do we create the culture within an organisation? What does it mean to be able to bring your whole self to work… and who gets to do it?In this fourth episode of Corporate Bodies, Kate and Mark explore organisational culture, the psychological conditions that enable us to show up fully at work, how professionalism is coded in terms of race, sex and gender, and who gets to feel safe in the workspace.They also interview Immy Kaur, Co-Founder and Director at CIVIC SQUARE, who talks about the challenges of creating a socially just or...2025-05-2258 min
Corporate BodiesEpisode 3: Creating the BodyWhat happens when you accept an employment contract? What are the unspoken and unexamined things that happen when a new person is recruited into an organisation? In this third episode of Corporate Bodies, Mark and Kate explore the feudal history of employment contracting, and how that plays out in working cultures today.They are joined by Liam Barrington-Bush, a co-founder of RadHR.org, to explore the challenges and dangers of not looking closely enough at how we welcome new people into companies. In a wide ranging conversation, they cover the problems with traditional recruitment processes, the optimum...2025-05-151h 05
Corporate BodiesEpisode 2: The Head and BrainHow do decisions get made in an organisation? Who has power and control – and are they the same people who bear the consequences of their decisions? In this second episode of Corporate Bodies, we explore governance and limited liability – a form of legal protection for shareholders and owners of companies that prevents individuals from being held personally responsible for their company's debts or financial losses.Limited liability is something Kate and Mark previously identified as one of the “original sins” that impacts the way we run companies today. Here, they talk about their own experience of how power sh...2025-05-0847 min
Corporate BodiesEpisode 1: BirthWhat does it mean to set up an organisation? In this first episode of Corporate Bodies, we explore incorporation – the creation of the corporate body – and we hear from Mark Walton and Kate Swade about who they are, and why they are embarking on this inquiry together.Kate and Mark both started this investigation with the assumption that the company – as a legal vehicle for collective action – is a useful tool for getting things done, and that there are some unexamined things, deep in its DNA, which contribute to some of the weirdnesses that play out in working...2025-05-0142 min
Corporate BodiesCorporate Bodies podcast: coming soon!Most of us have worked in companies at some point in our lives, and know one thing for sure: working life is odd. The dynamics are messy, the hierarchies are often unjust and, when things go wrong, people start acting very strangely indeed.Corporate Bodies is a podcast series asking: why are organisations so weird? And what can we do to make them better?Across 11 episodes, organisational development practitioners Kate Swade and Mark Walton set out to explore how one core concept – that companies are legal people – impacts on the whole lifecycle of an organisation, and...2025-04-2203 min