FEATURED
Growing Up: The Beginning of an Oxford Experience
“It is not a loss to forget some of my old routines and habits, but a privilege to learn new ones, and to share my identity with so many new people.” Nancy Pierre reflects on her first term at Oxford, exploring how new connections and experiences can profoundly shape identity. Image provided by Nancy Pierre
WHAT’S NEW
Investigating the Kidlington Waste Pile
On 21 November 2025, between the river Cherwell and the A34, the Environmental Agency declared the presence of a 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high mound of waste a…
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The society trap: when finding yourself becomes losing yourself
At this year’s Freshers’ Fair, I signed up for tennis and touch rugby with the unmistakable arrogance of someone who has never experienced the workload of Oxford University. We’re one…
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Rare aesthetic: being humbled by study influencers
“Whilst I was spending hours in the library on one essay, they were sauntering through assignments in infuriatingly short time-stamped minutes.” Téa Sand talks about the unrealistic standard set by…
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Return Flight: Spying on my old self
“I assumed things would feel different this year – fewer friends, more stress from impending finals – but I didn’t realise I would feel so different.” Esmé Hubbert discusses the…
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“A City on Fire”: Hong Kong in Mourning After Deadly Tai Po Inferno
Hong Kong is in collective mourning. On 26 November, a catastrophic fire tore through the Wang Fuk Court housing estate in the Tai Po district. At least 128 people have…
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‘Moments drawn out fine’: Sitting With Gwen John’s ‘The Convalescent’ and Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage
“To sit and look at Gwen John’s ‘The Convalescent’ is to become acutely aware of one’s own body, “the shape and weight of each limb”.” Image by Esme Gutch, used…
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Oxford
Protesters Gather in Oxford to Protest the Proscription of ‘Palestine Action’
On Tuesday 18 November, a group of around 30 protesters met outside the Clarendon Building in central Oxford to protest the government’s proscription of the group ‘Palestine Action’ in July. Jude Wood reports from the demonstration.
Oxford Stand Up To Racism March Crosses the Length of the City
On Sunday 16 November, a “unity march” across Oxford organised by Oxford Stand Up To Racism took to the streets. Noah Allerton reports on the march from the scene.
The Chancellor’s Intervention: Hague on “Safe Spaces”, Gaza, and Ukraine
A year on from the first round of the election of the new Chancellor, its victor, William Hague, took to the Cheltenham Literature Festival in mid-October to comment on his ideals for the University, the current Starmer Government, and the development of Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan. Noah Allerton explores the Chancellor’s remarks.
opinion
Why I Refuse to Wear The Red Poppy
It is the 11th of November again, the date when the guns fell silent in 1918, when an armistice was signed in France marking the end of more than four years of devastating conflict. This is why we all remember the war on November 11th with an artificial red poppy to commemorate the military personnel…
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Do different languages change the way we think?
According to the legend of Babel, the existence of different languages on Earth began as a punishment. Humanity, daring to build its tower skyward, was scattered by God and condemned to mutual unintelligibility. Later centuries imagined a return to the lost original language. The 17th-century philosopher Francis Bacon, for instance, thought Chinese characters might offer…
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Having a bath: it’s time to come clean
Embedded in British culture is a conspiracy of silence around what must be domestic life’s most overrated activity. Mention baths in polite company and faces immediately soften with dreamy nostalgia. “Oh, I love a nice hot bath,” they’ll sigh, “so relaxing, so therapeutic.” As a vulnerable student subjected to the barrage of academic tasks that…
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The Politics of the Prop: Analysing Hanson’s Parliamentary Pageantry.
On 24 November, Pauline Hanson, a long-serving far-right Australian senator and leader of the far-right anti-immigration One Nation party, wore a burqa in the Australian Senate. This is the second time that Hanson has used the burqa as a political prop, attempting to pass a bill which would ban face coverings in public,…
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Generation Z Protests in Mexico: Anti-Violence or Pro-USA?
Lola Dunton-Milenkovic explores the recent Generation Z Protests throughout Mexico, evaluating their anti-corruption and anti-violence sentiments, as well as their potential political motivations which might be fuelling a right-wing agenda. Image Credit by JellyFish.19.
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Home and Abroad – examining China’s political messaging inside and outside the country
China remained shrouded in mystery to the West from the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 until the 1970s. In 1972, US President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing heralded the revival of the West’s political relationship with China, though it should be noted that Gough Whitlam, Australia’s Leader of the…
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COLUMNS
Risk Appetite: On Relationships with Food and Food Influencers
“I thought spending mealtimes studying instead of eating would give me some sort of leverage over my peers, who weren’t spending that time being ‘productive’ in the traditional sense” Valerie Wu discusses the relationship between eating and studying and how LA and food influencers helped improve it. Image by Guian Bolisay, CC BY-SA 2.0 ,…
Luddite Renaissance: Are adults the real screenagers?
“And yet, I find that the focus on children and teenagers’ usage of smartphones from adults has a whiff of the infamous “when one finger points, three point back at you”.” Noah Petts discusses screen dependency in children, teens, and adults and argues that the real screenagers may not be teens. Image by Noah Petts…
Return Flight: Jumping Back In
“I concluded my year genuinely sad it was coming to an end, but this sadness showed me that I had done what I had wanted to do – I had turned Leipzig into somewhere I had truly gotten to know.” Esmé Hubbert discusses returning from her year abroad in Leipzig and discovering that Oxford no…
CULTURES
Meta-Whorf-asis: on litost and translated fiction
‘The term depicts a feeling “as infinite as an open accordion, a synthesis of grief, sympathy, remorse, and indefinable longing”, which begs the question – does the language in which…
Fleet Foxes: an album worthy of attention
“Fleet Foxes’ eponymous debut album is the gift that keeps on giving for lovers of acoustic, vocally-interesting tunes”. Olivia-Mae Butterfield discusses her favourite underrated album. Image by Olivia-Mae Butterfield, used…
Doctor Faustus at the Keble O’Reilly: Reviewed
‘I was, at times, simply floored by Carrington’s production of this classic play; there was a constant tension, both emotional and sexual, that wound up over the course of the…
LIfestyle
Telltaylor: By a Lancashire Farm Shop, I Sat Down and Wept
“I was always a muse, a magician’s trick, bending my own image to enhance his own. He seemed to compliment me only if the words fit his rhyme scheme.” Alicia Taylor…
Telltaylor: Everything I Learnt From A Mackerel Fillet
“I suddenly became afraid of forgetting the year which may turn out to be the most important of my life.” In the debut article of her column, Alicia Taylor gives…
Proust’s Madeleine: The Hidden Power of Food.
“We have always known that food is a lot more than its taste, texture, and nutritional value. Every meal is an intense social and sensory experience that serves to nourish…
Identity
The Power of a Label – Not Just A Stereotype
“How does it make me feel when I say ‘I’m autistic”? The answer is I rarely ever say it. Saying those two words is really difficult for me and always…
A Camera Roll in Language
“For me, the notes app is a psychological tool. It is a way of mediating thought and reality, condensing messy webs of perception into their own contained and defined widget.”…
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