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Headlines

New rail service to link Oxford and Cowley

News Hassan Akram -
A new campaign group has been established aiming to restore a passenger rail service from central Oxford to Cowley. The Cowley Branch Line has been closed for passengers since 1963 and has since  been reserved for freight trains.   The newly established Campaign for Cowley Branch Line has supported the planned creation of two new stations, which would allow for a nine-minute journey time between Oxford central and Cowley. According to the group, the restoration of a passenger rail service in east...

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Features

Helping the homeless: volunteering or voyeurism?

Silvia Andreoletti -
In the depths of the spring vacation, with Finals and the looming emptiness of What Comes After staring at me from the near future, I decided to do some volunteering. The brilliant Turl Street...

Sextigation 2025: Top one percent of shaggers do 15% of all shagging

Cherwell Features Section Editors -
You may have seen the headlines about income inequality – the top one percent in Britain earn somewhere around 15% of all income. Cherwell’s fourth annual Sextigation has found an inequality just as yawning in Oxford’s sex...

“All faiths and none?”: What college chapels can offer their students

Archie Johnston -
The rustle of a scholar’s gown. Dappled evening light glowing behind a stained-glass saint. The crackling of a candle being lit. The college chapel can easily feel removed from the 21st century university that...

High pressure, few spots: What Careers Service data says about Oxford’s internship culture

Morien Robertson -
"Planning ahead is sensible, important – even exciting. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of everything else."

Do ‘you-need’ Youni? 

Rose Evans -
More than a year on from their official launch in Oxford University, it is time to consider the success of the alumni-founded startup app ‘Youni’, and whether there really is a gap that needs filling within the student community.  We’ve all seen Youni in Oxford. You may have been interviewed...

My music doesn’t break tradition. It is traditional

Selina Chen -
"It is precisely because I love Oxford’s traditions that I’m inviting my culture to be part of it."

Profiles

Samantha Shannon: ‘My mantra with the series is ‘Don’t be afraid to take big risks’ and so far, I’ve stuck to it’

Charlie Stevens -
Samantha Shannon is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author, and an alumnus of St Anne’s College, Oxford. She is the author of two ongoing fantasy series: The Roots of Chaos, and The Bone Season, in which her latest novel, The Dark Mirror, is the fifth novel....

Ever wondered about the man singing on Cornmarket Street? Meet Richard

Sydney Walter -
CW: Drug or alcohol abuse You may not know him by name, but you’ve definitely heard him. If you picture the Wasabi on Cornmarket street, what may also come to mind is a man in front with a microphone and a speaker. On most days, you can find him with a...

Adam Leslie: ‘It felt like an ongoing adventure with characters I knew. That’s when writing became a language of its own’

Dylan Brennan -
Adam Leslie has always wandered among stories – daydreaming them, curating them, and now crafting his own. The Lincolnshire-born author, screenwriter, and Blackwell’s employee has stepped into the spotlight with Lost in the Garden, his debut novel that has won the 2024 Nero Book Award for Fiction. The novel...

Student Spotlight: swap shops, self-defence classes and mutual aid with Cowley Community Closet

Sara Rourke -
Cowley Community Closet is a self-described, “sustainable, anti-capitalist, queer-run collective”, founded by students Delphi, Abby and Connie in the spirit of creating a diverse and inclusive community within Oxford. They began with swap shops, creating a space for people to come together and exchange clothing and have since incorporated...

Culture

The lost art of the intermission, and why the film industry needs to bring it back 

Ruby Tipple -
Last month, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist was one of the most-discussed films at the Oscars, with its award-winning cinematography, score, and direction rightfully generating great critical acclaim. Equally, though, another feature of the movie has also sparked much discussion: the decision to split the film into two halves, separated...

A review of The Crux: Djo turns music into a profession

Tom Cockburn -
In his new album, The Crux, Djo, aka Joe Keery, perfectly inhabits and evokes peak 70s McCartney. At the same time, he seamlessly drifts between the sonics of ELO and Harry Nilsson. There’s even a hint of The Beach Boys wrapped in there too for good measure. The Stranger Things...

40 years after the miners’ strike, James Graham’s ‘This House’ still has a lot to offer

Thomas Armstrong -
‘Humphrey: ‘If the right people don’t have power, do you know what happens? The wrong people get it. Politicians. Councillors. Ordinary voters.’Bernard: ‘But aren’t they supposed to, in a democracy?’Humphrey: ‘This is a British democracy, Bernard!’ ― Yes, Prime Minister (1988) A Labour government that doesn’t know where it stands; a...

Persuading the public: The play as propaganda

Nancy Gittus -
The play as propaganda has a long history. From the regime-affirming productions of Hieron, tyrant King of Syracuse, to Lucy Prebble’s play The Effect, we can understand that theatre has consistently been used throughout history to promote ideologies and propound beliefs. In the case of Hieron, he was attempting to...

Life

Trickster, terror, schemer, sly: Six years of April Fools

Selina Chen -
Exclusive secrets finally revealed by an April Fools mastermind

Disability and deferral: My unconventional journey to Oxford

Beth Barker -
Just over three years ago, I received my Oxford offer.  Like most sixth formers, my Oxford acceptance email came in the middle of my mock exam season. On the 11th January 2022, I had two A level mock exams to sit: a two-hour history paper in the morning, followed by...

Reflections on the perils of overthinking

Meg Howard -
here is a lot to be said for blind positivity. On a good day, I’m a manifester, a big believer in my ability to speak things into existence. During my English A-Level, I had complete confidence that the crystals hidden in my bra would provide enough luck to snag me an A*. Today, I put great faith in words, relying on the same ‘I can do it’ that gets Olympic athletes across the finish line, to help me through difficult situations.

The fourth year: Oxford after your year abroad

Josie Thornton -
I’m now in my fourth year, and as such, must grapple with the reality of my Oxford days drawing to a close. Granted, this is something that every student must contend with, and I watched on as most of my friends bade a fond farewell to this city where our friendships began when they graduated last summer. Yet there is something about the fourth year that I’m certain makes the final year even more strange: a sense of something already lost, of living in a moment that has already passed.

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