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Thousands line High Street to celebrate Oxford United’s promotion to the Championship

Thousands of supporters gathered on the High Street on Monday evening to celebrate Oxford United’s promotion to the Championship, confirmed after their Saturday win against Bolton Wanderers. An open-top bus parade, carrying the Oxford team and support staff, arrived at the Town Hall just before 7pm and was greeted by thousands of supporters blowing horns and waving flags in support of the team. Supporters of all ages lined the high street from as early as 5.30pm, waving yellow and blue flags in support of the...

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Features

The Art of Being Bored

Today, every corner of our lives seems to be filled with never-ending streams of information and vibrant entertainment. The concept of being bored has become almost extinct. Thanks to constant access to the internet...

The 2024 BNOC List

"Here it is! After three weeks of voting, the results are in. With slight adjustments made according to which BNOCs gave consent to be on the list and the addition of some whose fame strictly speaking surpasses that of BNOC-hood, the list is true to those initial nominations."

Making Art in the Age of Generative AI

When they told us that AI is coming for people’s jobs, most of us didn’t think that they were talking about artists. Our popular imaginings of artificially intelligent futures often seem to bracket the...

WaterTok, Stanley cups and the half-empty glass of consumerism

We all need to drink more water. A 1998 New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center survey of 3003 Americans found that 75% of those interviewed were ‘chronically dehydrated’ — a condition apparently characterised by fatigue, memory loss, irritability, and anxiety. It is no wonder that, according to a Cherwell poll,...

Philosophy and Technology: Science’s moral afflictions

On March 28th in a dingy Manhattan courtroom, unrepentant crypto-mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. This landmark sentence came after an appeal by his lawyers against Bankman-Fried’s conviction in November 2023 on seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.  MIT-educated Bankman-Fried was co-founder...

2024: The year of elections

In his classic 19th-century work Democracy in America, the politician-cum-philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville looked to the democratic system in America with deep envy. In this system, he perceived a largely egalitarian society in which the virtues of industry and social cooperation contributed to America’s functional democracy; a state which...

Profiles

‘Women don’t look like that in Algeria’: An interview with Houria Niati

"Yes, I love flowers and I love landscapes, but I am far away from that. When we talk about political art, I didn’t even know I was doing political art until somebody pointed it out to me." Houria Niati grew up during the Algerian War of Independence. Amidst this backdrop...

‘Theatre is, at its best, one of the most democratic of the arts’

I had the chance to sit down with Gregory Doran, Oxford University’s Cameron Mackintosh visiting professor and the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, to talk all things Shakespeare, contemporary theatre and the importance of accessibility in the Arts. Greg Doran is Oxford University’s Cameron Mackintosh visiting professor...

Culture

The Two Gentlemen of Verona review: ‘A hilarious modern take’

It was, then, a testament to this commitment that the performance was as good as it was. The production was a hilarious modern take on Shakespeare’s comedy, with several scenes updated, modified, or introduced entirely for this play.

A Future in the Light of Darkness review: Imagined engines of desire

Modern Art Oxford’s exhibit Frieda Toranzo Jaeger: A future in the light of darkness counters the potential for automated vehicles and social media algorithms to consume our future reality. With her work Toranzer Jaeger creates a space where one can explore and affirm an alternative future in which Audis, Teslas,...

Life

Siblings: there’s a fine line between love and hate

After watching a Tiktok that said we have already spent the majority of the time we get to ever have with our siblings by the time we leave home, I ran into my brother’s room, misty-eyed, ready to spend some quality time together. I was immediately reminded why this...

The great outdoors: Oxford’s best green spaces

As the sun emerges from its miserable winter enclave, so do students from their rooms, shedding the weighted blankets and hot water bottles of the colder months to enjoy the sun. As we flock to revel in these warmer months, here are some of the best natural spaces around...