Lauren Working is Lecturer in Early Modern Studies at the University of York. Her academic book, The Making of an Imperial Polity jointly won the Royal Historical Society's Whitfield Prize in 2021. She has given talks and seminars at museums on both sides of the Atlantic, from the Yale Center for British Art to the V&A. Her work on fashion and colonialism was recognised by BBC Radio 3 when she was selected as a New Generation Thinker in 2021. Working was born in Geneva and raised in Santa Barbara and Seattle. She lives in England.