Culture

How books are burned today

It is a worrying thought that what sits on your bookshelf today could be out of reach tomorrow. You might believe book banning to be a thing of the...

The burden of the face: Why are so many singers wearing masks?

We can all name at least one musician who has performed behind a balaclava, helmet, or hood. Whether to preserve anonymity, cultivate mystery, or construct an entirely new artistic identity, masking the face is common among those under the limelight.

New Oxford Windrush generation exhibit opens for Black History Month 

Amidst recent political tension provoked by the government’s refusal of slavery reparations to the...

“There’s a play in that”: interview with ‘The Gang of Three’ playwright Robert Khan

It’s Budget Day as I sit in the foyer of the Oxford Playhouse. Down...

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

Review: High Rise – both style and substance

Jem Bartholomew reviews Ben Wheatley's stylish and meaty adaptation of the J.G. Ballard's novel High Rise

Is This Art? The conclusion

Charlie Willis wonders if this column is an art form in itself

House of Cards Season Four Review

Netflix's flagship drama is a fantasy of surveillance on the political nightmares we are living through right now

"I’m as fucked off as you are"

In the wake of the Roundhouse ticket controversy, Daniel Curtis argues that Radiohead have only themselves to blame

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