Culture

NAZA: The most important film of the year

The filmmakers of NAZA clearly know that beyond physical distance, emotional distance is what allows the violence in Gaza to continue, and shows us just how easy it is to ignore what is going on right under our noses.

In conversation with John Kennedy, “one of the most trusted voices in music”

In a media landscape often dominated by gossip, rumours, and sometimes pure hate, it’s undeniably refreshing to listen to John, a man who never lost sight of what really matters.

The legacy of the caricature

That the ‘In Memoriam’ section of the 2026 Academy Awards is going to be a serious tear-jerker was solidified by the passing of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry over two consecutive days.

The problem with Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’

Nolan had all the tools for greatness. Instead, to my eternal frustration, his 'Odyssey' will always only be just alright.

Fashion around Oxford: India Matthews

India Matthews, president of the Oxford Fashion Society, shares her style secrets and where she’s shopping right now. Cherwell’s style inspiration of the week is...

Where Oxford University Drama Society can take you

I loved theatre at school, and, aged 14, told my parents they had to let me go to drama school. In reply, they suggested...

A guide to contemporary China, through cinema

“An artwork whose medium is history”, is how sinologist Haun Saussy defines China. As passionately debated as it is little understood, China today remains a...

Fresh-water

I am no longer a mother—I have surrendered my body to the surgeon’ssea shells and fish bones; and my sonto the teal press of...

‘This Is What You Get’: Thirty years of mad ravings from two great artistic minds

★★★★★ This Is What You Get, the new exhibit at the Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, showcases 30 years of artwork, music and early lyrics:...

How can we write animal history? – ‘Animal History’: Reviewed

If an older adult has ever raised their eyebrow at your vegetarianism, then I might just have the book for you. They might be...

Hertford Archaeology Open Day: Medieval Oxford laid bare

You may have spent the last year wondering what has been going on amongst all the scaffolding and construction noise at Hertford College. The...

Old age reframed – ‘The Blue Trail’: Reviewed

★★★★☆ The Blue Trail (O Último Azul), this year’s winner of the Berlin International Film Festival Grand Jury Prize, is probably unlike most things you’ve...

Review: Sketches from a Curious Mind

In 1962, Edward Anthony wrote: “Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the...

Night School: Oxford’s after-hours curriculum

The first time I saw Nahom and Ethan, it wasn’t on a night out – it was an early morning. I was shuffling through...

‘Delusions and Grandeur’ at the Fringe

★★★⯪☆ If there is one word to describe Karen Hall’s Delusions and Grandeur, it is anxious. The one-hour solo cello comedy show is filled with...

The Oxford Revue at the Fringe

★★★⯪☆ Returning for their 62nd annual pilgrimage to the Edinburgh Fringe, the Oxford Revue rolled into town with their new sketch comedy hour For Revue...

Academia is hell, literally: R.F. Kuang’s ‘Katabasis’

R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis touches on a range of near-universal academic experiences: impostor syndrome; frantic, caffeine-fuelled study sessions; watching someone effortlessly ace every single test...

Oxford Commas at the Fringe – Interview

The Oxford Commas are a contemporary gender-inclusive a capella group who had their Fringe debut this year. They kindly agreed to talk to Cherwell...

‘Aca-demic Weapons’ at the Fringe: Oxford Commas Review

★★★★☆ A capella groups from Oxford have long been favourites at the Edinburgh Fringe, with Out of the Blue, Oxford Gargoyles and Oxford Belles often...

‘Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep?’ at the Fringe

★★★⯪☆ Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep? is a one-man, one-puppet musical journey through the apocalypse. After a 'catastrophic' magnitude 1-ish earthquake, the dead are...

‘Timestamp’ at the Fringe: Existing in the ‘now’

★★★★☆ Timestamp is a part-theremin, part-dance exploration of womanhood, expectation, and time. Brought to the Edinburgh Fringe after a successful run in New York City...

Architectural and religious fusions in Andalusia and Oxford

Oxford is a city deeply entwined with religion. With the first of its colleges founded as Christian institutions, a college without a chapel is...

‘HOLE IN THE WALL L’HOPITAL’ at Fringe

★★★☆☆ Everything I write ends up being about grief – I suppose this review only proves that point. HOLE IN THE WALL L’HOPITAL, created by...

Beyond the binary: Leigh Bowery’s radical individuality

Tate Modern's "Leigh Bowery!" refuses easy categorisation—much like its subject A fashion student from Sunshine, Melbourne, rocks up to London in 1980, writes 'wear makeup...

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