Culture

One f**king thing after another: ‘The History Boys’, revisited

Grab your motorcycle helmet. Sharpen up on the subjunctive. And cue the synthetic pulses of ‘Blue Monday’. The History Boys is back. Alan Bennett’s 2004 play followed a cast of...

What are you looking at? A reflection on the Ashmolean’s Aphrodite exhibition 

The woman crouches, nude. A gauzy blue curtain hangs where she hides her chest;...

The midterms and the YA novel: Impossibly happy endings

Given its intense media coverage and everything that seems to be on the line, I feel as though I have been anxiously awaiting the results of the 2026 US midterm elections for weeks, months – maybe years.

How books are burned today

It is a worrying thought that what sits on your bookshelf today could be...

Review: Ruby Sparks

Georgina Pollard finds funny truths amidst the mess of this new film

Summer Daze

Anna Leszkiewicz documents the lazy days of summer on faded film

Zoom in on… the digital age

Amy Rollason and Sophie Baggott talk to photographer Nigel Francis about photogenic Oxford and the perks of technology

Casual Vacancy Review

(Hog)warts and all: An underwhelming attempt at a novel for grown-ups

From the heart or not at all

Jeanette Winterson tells Viccy Ibbett about her time at St Catz, feminism, and what's next

Review: Converge – All We Love We Leave Behind

Matt Robinson is in awe of the kings of hardcore

Review: The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth

Jake Hills finds poetry in the darkness of The Mountain Goats

Review: Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Olivia Arigho Stiles finds little to love in this performance

The Quiet Volume

Vickie Morrish experiments with a very unusual piece of theatre within the library

Where are they now: Al Murray

Cherwell Stage continues its look at Oxonian thesps of the past with the famous pub landlord

Press Preview: Isobel

Angus Hawkins is pleasantly surprised by this impressive piece of new writing

Zadie Smith ‘NW’ Review

Viccy Ibbett reviews Zadie Smith's evocative novel about a north-west London council estate.

Pre-Raphaelites Victorian Avant-Garde Review

An amateur art enthusiast reviews this slightly reserved, yet still surprisingly illuminating exhibition

Review: Taken 2

Georgina Pollard doesn't hate this second slice of the Taken franchise

Review: Tame Impala – Lonerism

Natasha Frost enjoys a trippy sophomore effort.

Review: Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg

Olivia Arigho Stiles is impressed by the latest working class hero.

Review: Fresh Meat

Lizzie Greene recommends this hilariously awkward university comedy

On the set of Locked In A Garage Band

Nick Hilton remembers life on the set of independent film Locked In A Garage Band, after its world premiere in London

Review: Gap Year: A New Musical Comedy

Quintin Caldwell has his spirits lifted by this twenty-something comedy

Review: A View from the Bridge

Rachel Hutchings is impressed with this intense realisation of an Arthur Miller classic

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