Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Proposition by Isabella Lill When mass commercialism and art mix, we get worse art. I concede that artists need to eat, and for that they need enough money to live on. But, no matter how ‘groundbreaking’ Jeff Koons considers himself to be, I don’t think art should be about trying to make as much money […]
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Imagine the scene. The Oxford Union, 17th January, around 9pm. The motion to be debated: “This House believes that the Arab world has failed the Palestinian people”. A speaker for the opposition rises, argues we should reject it because it wrongly presupposes a moral obligation. The “problem” of the Palestinians was forced upon the Arab […]
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Image Credit: Twitter Last week, a news story caused shockwaves on Twitter, titled ‘Cambridge students reject Remembrance Day’. That’s just one article, but if you Google it, you’ll see about seven with near-identical wording, all from moderate to far-right-wing papers. Here’s the thing, though. This phrasing is extremely misleading. So what actually happened? A group of […]
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Image Credit: OUCA/OULC/OULD Facebook The Oxford University Labour Club has refused involvement in the Three Parties Debate, a termly debate between the Oxford University Conservative Association, the Oxford University Liberal Democrats and the Oxford University Labour Club, the three main political societies in Oxford University. The event took place this Monday, and promised to attract […]
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Image Credit: John Jabez Edwin Mayal (Public Domain)-Description-Karl Marx For-Katie Heslop When I tell people I’m a communist, they usually respond as if I’ve declared that Theresa May is a reptilian humanoid hell-bent on taking over the world. Well-meaning strangers take it upon themselves to recount the bloody horrors of the Soviet Union, or simply […]
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It is that time of year again. November brings a cluster of days marked out for remembrance, with All Souls Day and Bonfire night, but none have become so charged as Remembrance Sunday and in particular the parade of poppies it brings forth. The red poppy has drawn substantial criticism in recent times, with concerns […]
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Protesters were thrown out of a discussion panel hosted by an anti-abortion student society that included prominent Irish pro-lifers on Wednesday night. WomCam, Oxford SU’s women’s campaign, organised the demonstration. According to reports, around fifteen protesters entered the event and then started heckling the speakers when the talk began. Eye-witness reports, and statements from both […]
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Maria Sharapova. Lance Armstrong. Ben Johnson. Justin Gatlin. Asafa Powell. Five world-class athletes who have been banned from their sports for using illegal strategies to enhance their performance. We do not hesitate to condemn them for cheating, and rightly so – they have broken the rules. But are these rules valid? Should certain performance-enhancing strategies […]
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Needless to say, the US presidential election dominated most headlines in November of last year – but the media furore swept another significant decision almost entirely under the rug. At the same time as voting for their next president, the citizens of California, Nevada and Massachusetts also voted to legalise recreational marijuana in their states. […]
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CBBC’s Raven By Shannon Guild Let the challenge…. BEGIN! For many, “Hey, do you remember ‘Raven’?” stimulates memories of a perky American teen and her psychic so called adventures. Credit, where credits due, this cheesy sitcom has its place… way, way down in the Kid’s show archives! No, I’m not talking about That’s So Raven. Unfortunate […]
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Hydraulic Press Channel By Dan Mahoney Listen, we’re all pretty much in agreement that the world’s fairly awful by this point, yeah? 2016’s been a standout year for depressing news with the potential to cap it all off with a man with subpar hair game leading the free world, so what we all need is […]
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A full house at the first Oxford Union debate of the year voted in favour of the proposition, “This House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s government” this Thursday evening. The results were counted as 185 for and 135 against. Speakers included MP Mhairi Black and MP John Mann for the proposition, and MP Andrew […]
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The Great British Bake Off by Miranda Reilly The heartbroken reaction which rippled through social media last month when it was announced that The Great British Bake Off would be moving to Channel 4 next year – and our beloved Sue, Mel and Mary would not be moving with it – is enough to show […]
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Theresa May’s flagship education policy has incited a firestorm of criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, even within her own party. Whilst I believe that education is facing more pressing issues such as swelling class sizes; high teacher drop-out rates and a shortfall of primary school places; Grammar schools have an important role […]
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Theresa May’s controversial decision to lift the ban on the opening of new grammar schools has been buoyed up by claims that selective school systems aid social mobility. In a country where privately educated young people consistently obtain a disproportionately high number of places at top universities compared to the state-educated majority, it is clear […]
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Legally Blonde by Daunish Negargar Reader, allow me to begin this new term by regaling you with a tale of a simple boy from Birmingham. A boy who didn’t think he was ‘Oxford Material’ because he liked listening to Nicki Minaj and watching America’s Next Top Model. A boy who wasn’t always taken seriously academically because […]
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The Case for Daenerys Stormborn – Jack Cooper Daenerys Stormborn. House Targaryen, first of her name. Rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, she-who-frequently-emerges-from-burning-structures-before-overturning-prior-social-structures. Westeros, say hello to your future Queen. Daenerys is a divisive figure amongst the GoT fandom. Her ability to conquer, and […]
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Against CGI – Felix Grainger When I first saw the Thing (1982) it blew my mind. I was only 13 and was never a fan of ‘older’ horror movies due to them often being cheesy and not scary enough for my adrenaline seeking younger self. This was different. The effects were incredible, gory, slimy, plastic […]
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If you’ve heard anything about Zootropolis (Zootopia in the U.S.), you’ve probably heard how ‘timely’ it is. In the wake of #BlackLivesMatter, Disney has released a kid-friendly film addressing racial profiling, pseudo-scientific racism and other issues of racial – or ‘species-ist’ – bias. Although I’m not sure what these critics would call an ‘untimely’ time […]
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