Oxford's biggest student newspaper, produced by and for members of the University of Oxford, since 1991.
Image Description: a large red MOTEL sign against a blue sky Like a lot of Schitt’s Creek fans, I was late to the game and only discovered the sitcom on Netflix during quarantine, five years after its premiere. Now I am not saying that the show wouldn’t have been awarded its well deserved nine Emmys […]
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Image Description: a closed bar front with ‘Roddy’s Bar’ written on it and graffiti reading ‘stay home, thank you NHS, save lives’ PROPOSITION (Ciara Garcha) A 1918 Red Cross advert in the Washington Times recommended the use of “gauze mask(s) to halt the spread of the plague.” At the beginning of what would turn out […]
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Image Description: white pillows on white sheets against a white wall Most of us can agree that this past year has been somewhat stressful: the near-constant uncertainty of how and whether the pandemic would continue to affect our daily lives has definitely taken its toll, both emotionally and physically. For some people, additional factors will […]
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Image description: Two surgical masks on a white background On 21st May, Pfizer and BioNTech announced their pledge to provide COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries: to deliver one billion doses this year and another one billion in 2022. This is a promising step towards bridging the inequality gap between the so-called developing and developed world […]
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Image description: The river in Oxford on a sunny day. Call me a starry-eyed optimist, but this past weekend, it felt like something special was hanging in the air. All throughout Oxford cheerful students were bobbing, bubbling, and bustling around. Shops were open. The High Street heaved. Pub gardens filled with happy customers. The city […]
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Image description: A blurry photo of the inside of a night club If there’s one thing this year has taught us, it’s that there’s truth to the cliché that ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’. Whether that be adventures abroad, celebrating with family, or pub quizzes that actively discourage the use of […]
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Image description: Hand writing a list in a notebook The etymological emergence of the term “bucket list” has a surprisingly short and uneventful history, peeking in a failed blockbuster and ending in an unintended yet enduring idiomatic legacy. Released in the notorious year of 2007, Rob Reiner and Justin Zacham’s The Bucket List follows the […]
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Image description: Radcliffe Camera from Radcliffe Square Oxford is encouraging students to apply to return to college accommodation if they believe they fall into one of the categories which is exempt, even if they have previously had an application rejected. This morning’s email from Martin Williams says: “In light of the changes to guidance, you […]
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Image description: A pen resting on handwritten letters “A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” – Emily Dickinson Last March when we were put into our first lockdown, I sent my friends literary quotes each day online, – often, they would send some back and […]
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Image description: a park on a sunny day filled with people walking and cycling together Since Boris Johnson announced England’s roadmap out of lockdown, it feels like the 21st June is all anyone has been able to talk about. Yes, we know that this date is subject to change, but seeing the finish line has […]
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Image Description: A person in a bucket hat and another in a leopard print jacket sat on stone steps staring earnestly at each other. Alex’s take: Lockdown has thrown up questions of individuality versus consumerist hegemony. Has our fixation with constantly being on top of trends been the instrument of our liberation, or is breaking […]
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Image description: drawing of a person looking at their phone, slightly concerned. Our university has always hosted a broad spectrum of conflicting opinions, however after three online terms the student body has fragmented to an alarming degree. Barely a day goes by without a new bout of in-fighting in some pocket of the University. This […]
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This year, Lent started on Wednesday 17th of February. There’s an obvious question to be asked, and it’s one whose tone has been all too commonplace since the start of the pandemic. How do we find room for the festival in this Covid-riddled world? The arrival of Lent will have left many of us at […]
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Image description: A row of three yummy looking cocktails on a table The White Russian. The Caucasian. Signature drink of ‘the Dude’ from the Big Lebowski. And, in my opinion, an excellent cocktail for these long lockdown months. A slight disclaimer before I begin: I am hardly an expert at cocktails – whether making, drinking, […]
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Image Description: An eagle-eye view of the city centre. In the week preceding 12th February, Oxford University’s Early Alert System detected 5 positive cases from a total of 81 tests. The 7-day morning average as remained steady at around 1 case per day. Since August of last year, the Early Alert System has conducted 6,598 […]
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Image Description: Date Tonight Cafe logo with a cupid floating to its side I don’t know about you, but lockdown has really made me feel like I have had plenty of “quality” time with myself, or at least experiences of self-realisation which have brought varying degrees of pleasure – and pain! During this period, if […]
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Image Description: Macaulay Culkin WRITER’S NOTE: In research for this valuable piece of journalism, the writer read a whole article in Tatler. Fitzwilliam Fitzherbert-Fitzroy, heir to the ancient Earldom of Fitzrovia, known to his friends, foes and scorned lovers simply as “Fitzy”, is a man unused to hardship. Born into money, an Eton education and […]
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Image Description: A bike parked by a sign that reads “Lamb and Flag passage”. The St John’s JCR President has released a statement on behalf of the JCR on the closure of the historic Lamb and Flag pub. It was recently announced that the pub, which is owned by the college, would not be reopening […]
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Image description: A mix of newspaper cuttings with the words ‘agony aunts’ written in block letters. This week, Elsie and Sonia are feeling a little… romantic. That is, in the sexually frustrated sense of the word. We’re talking touching (with a 2 metre wooden pole), feeling (that existential dread), and desire (for several pints). We […]
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