Author: Rheanna-Marie Hall

Nestled in the countryside of Southwest Scotland, there is a small place marked on the map as Wigtown. It has a town hall, many cafés, a good pub (or two), and a co-op for all your basic needs. It’s essentially another quiet rural retreat in Scotland, with enough to live on and some interesting history […]

Excited murmurs fill the Worcester JCR. It’s charity bake sale, but people aren’t really here for the cake. Well, maybe they are, but many are also anticipating the arrival of Martha Collison, the 18-year-old who recently became the youngest ever contestant on the Great British Bake Off. Love it or hate it, it’s a show […]

Famed for their extravagance, overflowing with drink, and remembered for years: it could only be an Oxford ball. Every year thousands of students flock to various colleges for a night of debauched entertainment and riotous fun in what is one of Oxford’s most famous traditions. As someone enjoying the ball, it can, however, be easy […]

“You should never call yourself a philosopher.” Coming from the co-founder of The Philosopher’s Magazine, such an opening is surprising, to say the least. Instead, Julian Baggini, who has gone on to author numerous books aimed at a wide audience on topics as varied as personal-identity, ethics, and atheism, prefers to describe himself as simply […]

It seems like an ethical thought experiment, an exercise for a philosophy class – someone who has committed an atrocity of unimaginable cruelty, a despicable murderer, stands in the dock, and has requested you to defend him in court. But, in the early hours of the morning, a matter of hours after Anders Breivik had […]

If you’ve ever been to Japan, you might have noticed that the country places a strong emphasis on its four seasons, and with good reason: each one has distinct characteristics that set it apart from others. This means people wanting to visit will inevitably face the question of when is the best time to go.  […]

For those who have never been exposed to winter sports, I expect it is sometimes difficult to see the appeal. Why, I hear the mountain-virgins cry, would anyone voluntarily wake up before 9am on holiday just so they can subject themselves to sub-zero temperatures and precipitation of every variety (how can it rain when it […]

The 2018 Winter Olympics will be held in South Korea but you should head 10,000km to the Asian economic powerhouse for more than just the winter sports. You can find deeper snow in France, better facilities in Switzerland, and more fun in Italy, but South Korea has something different to offer: food, weather, and festive […]

As I sip away at my morning Brazilian brew, contemplating on the various deadlines I have this coming week, suddenly the delicate scent of coffee hits my palate. The sensation is overwhelming, and I can no longer see the piles of essays and reading lists on my desk. The Oxonian reality fades away and my […]

I have to admit a little apprehension coming into this interview. Coming from a military family, I was well aware of General Lamb’s reputation for brusqueness, straight talking, and his intense dislike of the media. My trepidation was not quelled by a quite literally bone crunching handshake (I spent the first five minutes of our […]

Can successful businesses be profitable while simultaneously making the world a better place? Just what responsibilities do corporations have towards society as a whole and how can they best impact and transform communities and nations? These are some of the many pressing questions that business schools, startups, investors, and concerned citizens are grappling with as […]

Oxford has some of the best and most interesting pubs in the country. This is what one must always remind oneself when in the city centre, surrounded by former independent pubs that have had to join a bigger family to survive or to diversify away from their humble origins. The overbearing prevalence of Greene King, […]

Hanli Prinsloo is standing on stage talking about her passion for water. And the funny thing is, I am feel touched. That I would never have thought about setting up an NGO to promote ocean-awareness doesn’t matter. This isn’t my project but it truly is hers. Hanli has found her dream and is trying to […]

“Is there anyone from Germany in the audience?” Comedian Henning Wehn asked as he opened his set. After several minutes of incomprehensible German conversation whilst the rest of us sat dumbfounded and confused he abruptly stopped. “Oh, sorry, I’m just doing what you Brits do on holiday.” The theatre was filled with awkward laughter as […]

This week saw the inaugural session of the wine tasting introductory course hosted by The Oxford Chelt Wine School at St Peter’s College. Voted as the UK’s Top 3 companies for wine education by Harpers Wine & Spirit Magazine, this independent company hosts wine and cheese evenings as well as blind-tasting classes and seasonal events, […]

John is having a bad day. Inside the Covered Market not much is happening. A few tourists reluctantly follow a laborious guided tour. Workers rush through with coffee cups and rucksacks. Students are slumped in cafes tapping out last minute essays. John fruitlessly attempts to interest them in RSPB. Most of them breeze by. “It’s […]

I am not a man of extravagant tastes. I like my Hassan’s with ketchup and my wine with a screw-top lid. However, every now and then it’s nice to put a little extra effort into your cooking, and sometimes that consists of more than putting butter on your toast before you pour the beans on. […]

I discovered Alpha Bar in Trinity term of my first year, and quickly became addicted, eating there at least once a week, and dragging friend after friend to my new favourite place.  The bar serves both hot and cold foods, although the majority of people in seemingly endless line are standing patiently for their famous […]

Stepping off the plane at Johannesburg Airport following an eleven hour overnight flight, I was exhausted and clinging onto the last vestiges of sanity. And so, after well over twenty four hours of travel, the last thing I wanted was to be tested for Ebola; unfortunately, a malfunctioning facial scanner thought otherwise, and I found […]