Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
The world of the literary journal, like many other things, is a cyclical one. In some of the worst news of 2018, we heard that Tin House, a bastion of modern literary short fiction, was finally closing its print magazine, after almost 20 years. Other magazines like Glimmer Train, Rookie Mag, all very popular sites […]
Continue Reading
Coming from a French family, I was looked at in befuddlement when I announced my transition to vegetarianism two years ago. In a country where meat is the centre-piece of a meal, the question my grandparents asked me was ‘So what will you eat then?’ Yet within those two years, I have observed some – […]
Continue Reading
At its heart, Doctor Who is a serial, and the standalone episodes this season have been by far the highlight. ‘Rosa’, the first with the Doctor back at full strength, has much of the feel of a 50s period piece as well as a sci-fi, and isn’t afraid to tackle heavy issues of race, through […]
Continue Reading
Image credit: Dominique Fortes Despite my excitement at the mere thought of the challenge, it took many weeks of back and forth to determine whether I should or shouldn’t participate, but in early December, I finally decided. I would do it. I would take on “El Criminal.” Mission Burrito’s website refers to the challenge as […]
Continue Reading
In 2018, there was one album I’d been waiting for: Anderson .Paak’s Oxnard. Dre was producing, “Tints” had the funky verve I’d been praying for. His live performance on SNL exuded polished and restrained swagger. Clearly he was someone who knew they were about to serve a rare and bloody steak to a blindfolded lion. […]
Continue Reading
One of the most extraordinary events in the art world in 2018 was the shredding of renowned street artist Banksy’s work Girl with a Balloon (2006). The surreal event unravelled at a Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Auction in October 2018. Bids for the famous print escalated from £100,000 to £400,000, until the final bid was offered […]
Continue Reading
Image credit: Louis Thomas In 2016, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, was listed by Yahoo as the best international city for food. Levantine cuisine is, factually speaking, healthy, and this is a factor which contributes to the life expectancy of a Lebanese person being approximately 77.22 years, as of 2014, (though demographic statistics concerning Lebanon […]
Continue Reading
It’s not easy to produce a convincing Macbeth; what is simply breath-taking on the printed page may well come across on stage as simply breathless. Beginning with a semi-prologue that barely lasts a page and a half, I can’t help but always feel jolted into the play. The reading eye can pass over the suddenness […]
Continue Reading
Cellar, one of Oxford’s most popular music venues, has taken an important step to securing its future. The venue won permission from Oxford County Council to build a new fire escape further along Cornmarket Street, thereby meeting all the its legal obligations. The club had previously been under threat as safety inspectors found its fire […]
Continue Reading
There is a wide range of podcasts out there, and it should come as no surprise that a sizeable number of podcasts are concerned with books. As a devoted bookworm and podcast enthusiast, I have pored over lists of “the best podcasts” and tried numerous programmes, coming to establish my own favourites. These podcasts are […]
Continue Reading
A selection of books capturing the essence of Christmas in a multitude of ways and exploring the strange, tense and mystical atmospheres brought forth by this time of year. Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928) The book begins with Orlando, a teenage boy, serving as a page in the Elizabethan court and ends in 1928 with […]
Continue Reading
Image: ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog © 1992 Jim Henson Productions Image Credit: Stephen F. Morley Christmas, that yuletide day of excessive eating approaches. With that in mind, I feel it’s essential to look back at some impressive Christmas dinner moments in cinema. Whether decadent or modest, the following examples are […]
Continue Reading
It’s almost Christmas, and you all know what that means. Time to grab a blanket, make some hot chocolate, and pull out the old A Charlie Brown Christmas DVD. That’s right folks- it’s holiday film season! But what really defines a ‘Christmas movie’? Is it simply the time of year, or does the genre go […]
Continue Reading
Image: Dick Whittington, The Oxford Playhouse. Credit: Geraint Lewis. Description: A Pantomime Dame. Acting, singing, dancing, and, perhaps most importantly, joking around; the Pantomime, a staple of the British festive theatre season, seemingly has it all. With that being said, I’ve always found myself wondering how the Pantomime got to become so popular, and why they […]
Continue Reading
For as long as I can remember, I have loved superhero movies. It is a love that has exhausted me and my wallet over recent years, and left me jaded despite films like Black Panther attempting to take the genre in new directions. Just a few days ago I would have been hesitant to say […]
Continue Reading
Hark! A bad take is on my phone, hiding amongst the inane family photos and endless graduation pictures of my Facebook feed – that can only mean I have read the recent OxStu piece on the Spoons Christmas dinner. The entire awfulness of the article is exemplified in the claim that ‘everyone can agree that […]
Continue Reading
A selection of items from museum shops, inspired by works of art and literature, that would make excellent gifts for friends and family. Ai Wei Wei Eco Bag, £6.50 This bag takes inspiration from a series of photographs by Ai Wei Wei, in which he gives the finger to monuments that embody authority, empire and […]
Continue Reading
The importance of free time and calm spaces has been frequently emphasised in recent times, often against the backdrop of anxiety that the world is ‘speeding up’; that is, becoming busier and more digitally controlled. As a result, much research has been done into the effectiveness of art as a form of mindfulness. A 2014 […]
Continue Reading
Lacuna Common, alongside contemporaries Self Help and the Easter Island Statues, find themselves at the vanguard of a flourishing Oxford scene that has been rather busy of late producing punchy, lyrical and upbeat guitar music. Having recently received attention on the back of their new single ‘Lack of Knowledge’ – a gritty 3-minute slice of […]
Continue Reading