Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image description: the monument of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul The place of monuments, especially commemorative statutes, has become a highly charged debate recently. Their uses and place in our understanding of ourselves and history has come under scrutiny and rightly so. Monuments traditionally offer an idea of stability by providing an immortalised snapshot of history. This […]
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Image description: Two figures walking in opposite directions while wearing face masks. With the advent of the novel coronavirus came the advent of the mask. To some of us, this painfully unfashionable garment has become something of a necessary evil. To sport one is to do what is right, denying so would be folly. This […]
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Image description: A traditional Oxford formal It’s 7pm and the tables are set. Candles are lit, wine corks are flying, and the bells call for supper. As you look around you can see a gaggle of sub-fusc wearing students. Some you recognise, others you are interested in meeting. You really do care about their research, […]
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Image Description: A minimalist aesthetic – a succulent and pink candle to the left and money scattered to the right. “Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom,” say ‘The Minimalists’, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. It is […]
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Image Description: figure doing a yoga pose (involving a handstand) against a colourful backdrop I am a Yoga with Adriene fanatic. Most days begin with rolling out my yoga mat and doing 30 minutes of stretching, deep breathing and being vaguely annoyed that my heels don’t touch the mat in downward-facing dog. I have, however, […]
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Image description: A girl standing with different contraceptive methods. In the middle of a pandemic, with many of us stuck inside our homes for most of the day, it might seem a little counterintuitive to consider how much sex our generation is having. All that aside, it will probably not come as a surprise that […]
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Somehow, we’ve made it over halfway through term and yet it feels like basically no time has passed. It’s been over two months since the vast majority of us were in Oxford, but without any real kind of change or milestones, life has started to feel worryingly like Groundhog Day. In the midst of this, […]
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It’s safe to say that we’ve all had a bit of a rough one this year. Apart from being unable to go to college, being driven mad by our families, and having the near-constant worry of pandemic-related matters hanging over our heads, we’ve also had to figure out how to avoid becoming actual recluses in […]
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For the vast majority of us, the experience and impact of Covid-19 is completely unprecedented and unlike anything any of us have lived through. Many of us are stuck at home with our families: counties, countries and even time zones apart from our friends and Oxford. Colleges are far quieter than they normally would be […]
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For those of you who know me, it may seem a little strange to read an Economics and Management subject review, by a student unable to submit essays on-time or even attend classes. Yet, I find myself at home and writing at 4 am. First-year teaching finished at the end of Hilary; both my mind […]
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Image Description: Oxford student jumps joyfully in front of the Rad Cam 5th week is now well underway, and although 5th week blues often set in about now and we begin to miss home, I for one am greatly missing Oxford. Nevertheless, there’s plenty to be happy about and lots of positive news from all […]
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Image Description: trombone and music stand lie on of a pile of scattered sheet music Arts and culture have proven of insurmountable importance during lockdown, and the proliferation of online resources has certainly served us well. But we all know that’s it’s not quite the same as in-person consumption. On top of that, though, is […]
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Before the lockdown, St Cross was a far livelier college than its unassuming exterior suggests. We have one of the smallest front doors of all Oxford colleges, but behind that is a community of over five hundred students. We have bops, speaker events, and an assortment of societies, all within the confines of a very […]
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As a child, I used to think I could control traffic lights with my eyes. The logic was if I squinted hard enough the little red man would turn into a little green one. I would think I was special, but my mother would just think I had hay fever. I stopped believing this in […]
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Image Description: ‘Welcome to the Sunny Side of Oxford’ reads on a restaurant’s exterior From Jesus College’s vote for divestment to the reopening of Najar’s (just outside John’s), there’s plenty of good news in Oxford from second week—read on to find out more optimistic news about Oxford! Getting the Ball Rolling The Oxford University Hockey […]
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It was the end of 8th week Hilary: the last week of term. There is something inexplicable about the way that Oxford life – and the city itself – becomes a strange bubble during the term. Each of us gets sucked into a routine of sorts, moving from college to college, library to library, faculty […]
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Image description: Abi Owen, author, holds a bow and arrow I remember leaving Oxford with elbow-bumps, laughing and joking and shouting “see you in October”. I remember going home on the train, using hand sanitiser while trying to sit as far away from people as possible. I remember watching videos of people in quarantine in […]
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The prospect of online tutorials initially strikes dread into many of our hearts. What if I get trapped alone in a video call with my tutor? How on earth do we break the painful silences? There is a distance that comes with speaking to someone via a camera rather than in person, and it is […]
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When news of the lockdown hit, a week into the vacation, I knew I was in trouble. I thrive on certainty and low-energy social interaction – two things a lockdown was guaranteed to take away. This – an indefinitely long period of isolation in a town that I was very happy to leave – was […]
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