FEATURED
Lost for Words: Storytelling As The Solution To Oracy?
When was the last time someone told you a story? I mean, truly told you a story – not using a book as a crutch, but following a flight of fancy existing solely in thought, taking your hand and guiding you through an imaginary wonderland, private between you and the teller, shielded from uninvited ears. …
WHAT’S NEW
Rooted and Restless: Eco-Anxiety and the Inheritance of a Collapsing Earth
As climate systems collapse, biodiversity vanishes, and the seasons turn strange, the rising anxiety among young people isn’t a disorder. It is a diagnosis.
Keep reading
Rare Aesthetic: getting your first essay back and realising you kind of suck
“I threw in as much secondary criticism as I could find, hoping desperately that Derrida and Calvino could drown out my voice, or lack thereof.” Téa Sands writes about the…
Keep reading
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.…
Keep reading
The Dutch Elections: a Lesson for Liberals?
On October 29, Dutch voters returned to the polls a lot sooner than they may have hoped. On June 3, after only 11 months in government, the former cabinet led…
Keep reading
Outside OX1 Week 5: Gaza, Kazakhstan and Colombia
The Editor’s Note Welcome to this edition of Outside OX1, I hope that you are all well. This has been a crazy week at home and abroad with movement in…
Keep reading
My five least favourite books from my English degree
‘Pullman says that our favourite books are like a “key that unlocks a part of ourselves we never knew was there”. I would say our least favourite books are the…
Keep reading
Oxford
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.
ChatGPT vs. Your Tutor – Freshers Take the Floor at the Oxford Union
Vincent Chang reports on the Freshers’ Debate at the Oxford Union, reflecting on his own experience as a participant and the arguments made by others. Image by Roger Askew via the Oxford Union Facebook page, used with permission.
opinion
Record-Breaking Interfaith Dinner Serves a Feast of Unity
In a world often engaged in shouting monologues, the actual act of courage is to sit down and listen. And on 7 November, in the warm, buzzing hall of the Oxford Synagogue, over a hundred students did precisely that. They didn’t just share a meal; they feasted on a powerful and palpable sense of community,…
Keep reading
The Relevancy of A Languages Degree in The Age of AI Translation.
Within recent years, humanities subjects have felt increasingly threatened by the looming presence of AI. Translators and interpreters are currently experiencing the imminent impact of this technological advancement. Gone are the days of badly translated word-by-word robotic sentences with complete disregard for grammatical nuance. New algorithms are becoming so advanced that they have recently forced…
Keep reading
The Reality of Studying Languages at Oxford
“But, like, what do you actually do?” This seems to be a universal question faced by modern languages students. Contrary to popular belief, we do not merely spend our days perusing Quizlet and revising obscure grammar rules. While I do my fair share of both, the view that studying a language revolves entirely around, well,…
Keep readingGlobal Affairs
Kyrgyzstan’s Forced Unveiling: Echoes of Other Nations’ Restrictive Laws
It seems that wherever Muslim women are, control is enforced over their bodies, so much so that it is ingrained in several nation’s laws and policies. Across a number of countries, including some Muslim majority states, veiled women, which are disproportionately Muslim, are restricted from entering educational institutions, work places and many other…
Keep reading
Outside OX1 Week 4: USA, Sudan and Iraq
The Editor’s Note Welcome back to this week’s edition of Outside OX1! With term half-way over already, the deadlines are coming through thick and fast for many. In the midst of term, it can oftyen be difficult to know what’s going on outside the Oxford bubble. Why not take a break and catch…
Keep reading
Massacre in Rio de Janeiro: 132 Killed in Bloody Police Raid
“Assassinating young people in favelas isn’t public policy, it’s a massacre.” – Mônica Benício Lola Dunton-Milenkovic explores the deadliest police raid in Brazilian history, which left 132 people dead in Rio de Janeiro on 28 October. Image Credit by Alvarez C.Jtha.
Keep reading
COLUMNS
Risk Appetite: On Bubble Tea and Home
“In the absence of another activity, the simple invitation to get bubble tea can be an opportunity to connect over culture, over identity, and over stories.” Valerie Wu discusses the importance of bubble tea in Oxford and at home in the Bay Area as an Asian American studying abroad. Image by Guian Bolisay, CC BY-SA…
Ugly Feelings: Send me to the Seaside
“While I am endlessly thankful for antibiotics, vaccinations, and the establishment of the NHS, something deep within me longs to be sent to the seaside. It would actually fix me.” Briony Arnott talks about being sick at uni reflecting on the treatments of the present and the past.
The Intermediary: On Parisian Heists and Cinematic Self-Parody
“If all else fails, Quentin Tarantino will have a crack at it, ensuring that, of course, the plotters are barefoot throughout…” Amelie Roscoe discusses the Louvre robbery and imagines how it might be envisioned by various directors. “Roman bridge over the Rubicon river, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy” by Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0
CULTURES
The Devaluation of Reading: College Bookstores, Performative Men and the Development of Post-Literate Society
‘The fruits of education are prickly, in the sense that they are difficult to obtain. Thus, through tote bags and sweatshirts, the subject can now associate even if they do…
The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui at the Michael Pilch Studio: Reviewed
‘The play’s moments of real power come when it bucks the trend of assigning Ui/Hitler’s rise to individuals, and begins to speak to us as not just an audience, but…
Seeing with your Ears: Oxford Celebrates Arvo Pärt at 90
“In a world […] where the lives we lead are becoming increasingly cluttered, the austere music of Pärt is the perfect antidote, allowing its listener to be transported to a…
LIfestyle
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…
South Park Fireworks: A Night To Remember
“The only word to describe them was spectacular. Rockets arced in all the colours of the rainbow, and gold sparkles exploded across the sky. It felt like the stars were…
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants: a modern-day drama of stolen clothes
“Sisterhood, according to Delia Ephron, is “essentially uncivilised”. I think that sums it up — two wild animals thrown together into a random family, similar enough to annoy each other,…
Identity
What’s Really in a Name?
“Just laughing off the mispronunciations seemed to work at shrugging off uneasy feelings about it.” – Liv Ekdawi explores her surname’s origins, and the difficulties associated with having a foreign…
Diaries of a Thought Son: The museum of all my memories
“No matter where I go or where I live, London is the museum of my memories and I am so grateful to call her mine.” – Jaami Al-Chowdhury, returning to…
Are you a student at Oxford University interested in journalism? Join the Oxford Blue.
Apply here to be a junior editor this HT25.
We are the Oxford Blue, an Oxford University award-winning online newspaper. | A new voice for a new decade. | Est. 2020. We want journalism to be an inclusive space, open to all, no experience needed. If you are interested in writing, editing, illustrating, or want to learn more, please get in touch.