Friday 15th August 2025

Culture

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 everyday' on his New Year's...

St Anne’s goes All-Steinway: A purposeful and bold commitment to music

In a move that lives up to its motto of ‘Consulto et Audacter’ (purposefully...

Just like the movies: An American’s notes on her Oxford year

Oxford occupies a mystical, almost fantastical place within the American psyche – so much...

Reading Oxford books in Oxford

For those who have not even set foot in Oxford, the city still lives...

Review: Eddie the Eagle – ‘he’s a laughing stock’

Eddie the Eagle is the same bland, fabricated underdog cliché we’ve seen time and again, writes Tom Barringer

Interview: Jessy Parker Humphreys

Alex Barasch talks to Jessy Parker Humphreys, one half of Not Your Nice Girl, about gender, drama and performance art in Plush

Nobody’s Fault But Zeppelin’s: When Influence becomes Plagiarism

Lorenzo Edwards-Jones gives no quarter to 'Stairway To Heaven' apologists following band's latest lawsuit

Review: Disorder – dull and boring

ONE STAR “Un, deux! … trois, quatre! Un, deux! … trois, quatre!” You'd be forgiven for thinking you're back in your first ever French lesson, mais non,...

Ringroad

'Aren't these things supposed to be killing us?' – contemplative new verse from Thomas Hornigold

Review: Parquet Courts – Human Performance

Lorenzo Edwards-Jones is pleasantly surprised by Parquet Courts' latest release

Review: Victoria – the one-take film exhibits electric momentum

For Louise Howland, Victoria was less a film and more a transcendental journey through time, space, youth and love

Should music be used for political ends?

Richard Birch contextualises the Rolling Stones' recent visit to Cuba

Review: Zayn Malik – Mind of Mine

Harry Smith found more to like in the former One Directioner's debut than he bargained for

Delving into Dickens: A literary love affair

Markus Beeken considers his begrudging bromance with one of the most famous writers in history

Review: Grimsby – crude and vulgar

Sacha Baron Cohen's reliance on tired 'chav' stereotypes was so bad, Ellie Gomes was forced to cover her eyes

Words – Cherwell fiction

Fiction: 'She tosses the burning end over the edge of the cliff. We watch it fall, hit rocks softly, anti-climatic.'

Common People festival playlist

Ellen Peirson-Hagger compiles the tunes she hopes to hear at Oxford's Common People Festival

Heaney’s Aeneid: When is a Translation not a Translation?

Benn Sheridan discusses Heaney's Final work, a translation of Aeneid Book VI, and finds Virgil a little bit upstaged

Review: Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression

Daniel Curtis was more impressed than depressed by Iggy Pop's latest

Review: The Witch – stands apart from jump-scare drivel

Louise Howland regards newcomer Robert Eggers as an arthouse horror hero after an impressive directional debut

Review: 10 Cloverfield Lane – choice itself is the crisis

Sarah Lynch finds parallels between Michelle's tough decision between two monsters, and the dilemma US voters currently face

Should we share our cultural pleasures?

Ellen Peirson-Hagger reflects on the perils of associating art with friends and significant others

Why the blues won’t die

Richard Birch reviews Matt and Phred's Jazz Club, Manchester

Old is Always Better

Markus Beeken gets nostalgic about Second-Hand books

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