Monday 15th September 2025

Culture

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 interested in knowing that even...

Hertford Archaeology Open Day: Medieval Oxford laid bare

You may have spent the last year wondering what has been going on amongst...

The Blue Trail: Reviewed

★★★★☆ The Blue Trail (O Último Azul), this year’s winner of the Berlin International Film...

Review: Sketches from a Curious Mind

In 1962, Edward Anthony wrote: “Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a...

Billie Eilish and the exhaustion of being a young woman in the public eye

Since Billie Eilish burst onto the pop music scene in 2016 with Ocean Eyes, her voice has reverberated around many a bedroom, club, and...

Self-growth, Sin Miedo: The Rise of Kali Uchis

"The potentially risky decision to produce a Spanish album to a predominantly English-speaking fanbase reflects Uchis’ consistent commitment to be authentic to herself." Ellie-Jai Williams explores Uchis’s brave Spanish new album, "Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)."

“We’ve come a long long way together” Liverpool’s ‘First Dance’

""I want to go again. It was just so so fun. It was such a nice atmosphere there.” The feeling of happy excitement of people heading out for their first night out post-lockdown definitely gave a boost of energy." Iona Neill discusses the recent trial rave at Bramley-Moore dock in Merseyside.

‘Blink’ and You’ll Miss It

"'A kind of circus act between two people, of juggling all these emotions and arguments and sentiments’....The play is defined by that same sense of quirkiness, instability and fascination. I’d watch Blink over a tightrope act any day." Katie Kirkpatrick previews Frangipane Productions' latest play, 'Blink'

The #OwnVoices Movement: Whose Voices Are Being Heard?

From abandoning the acronym BAME to placing diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their values, representation has never been so important in the...

Review: “Orestes”//Oxford Greek Play @ the Oxford Playhouse

"The intense and nuanced performances, the queasy mix of fear and fury palpable with a small glimmer of hope, made Oxford’s Orestes a very capturing play." Marietta Kosma reviews The Oxford Greek Play's production of Euripides' tragedy "Orestes".

Bookshops are Back: The Joys of In-Person Book Buying

'There’s something magical about running your fingers across a shelf, gazing over each stack and meandering through a cavern full of works of literature.'

Judging books by their covers?

When browsing the shelves of a bookshop, what I am most drawn to is art. I hunt for the brightest colour, the most striking typography, a good-looking image with which to decorate my bedside table. Book covers can use their beauty to their advantage, or even as a form of rebellion.

Review: Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over The Country Club

"She walks this peculiar line of being both stronger and more self-assured but within that, being more unapologetically delicate and sentimental." J Daniels explores Lana’s 7th album, in all its assuredness, delicacy and sentiment.

Review: Ben Howard’s Collections From The Whiteout

"Howard has somehow transformed the usually significant divide between the ominous and the amusing into a fine line." J Daniels takes a look into folk singer Ben Howard’s latest album.

Review: Catullus: Shibari Carmina by Isobel Williams

The poetry of the late Roman Republic does not immediately move the mind to think of shibari – a Japanese rope bondage art –...

Review: Lil Nas X’s ‘MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)’

"In his adolescence, the Church told Montero that being gay would send him straight to Hell – so the singer reckoned, why not get into his thigh-high stilettos and slide down there on his own terms?" Beth Ranasinghe dives deep into Lil Nas X's recent single "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)".

WATCH3WORDS: Black Bear – Funny.Stifling.Psychodrama.

'Claustrophobic, erratic, and prickly all at once, Black Bear is an experiment in film which entangles its audience deep in its intellectual web.'

Lost City

The undulating sands stretch out,  a vast expanse, sweltering under the gaze of the sun as it burns its way across the sky, dunes flowing like currents,  tides on...

Dunkirk: the unknown soldier on screen

'The emptiness should be engulfing. Instead, when Nolan’s films work, they are spectacular.'

Fantasy: medieval European influences and alternatives

Faeries, elves, centaurs, wizards, dragons. In its purest form, fantasy is one of the most ancient literary genres, and fantastical elements can be found...

Interview: Alexandra Andrews, author of Who is Maud Dixon?

Alexandra Andrews’s psychological thriller, Who is Maud Dixon?, tests the limits of fiction. Literally. The novel begins in media res: Florence Darrow wakes up...

Preview: “These Quicker Elements” by George Rushton

"These Quicker Elements is a remarkably polished piece of student drama. The acting is captivating throughout, managing to make a very simple set-up consistently captivating, and the script strategically reveals little gems of narrative information throughout its twists and turns while also speaking to bigger questions of memory, self-perception, and relationship dynamics." Ahead of its performance on Friday, 7th May, Katie Kirkpatrick previews "These Quicker Elements" by George Rushton.

Pop-Classical Fusion: Alexander Joseph’s Für Elise Reimagined

"It is prefaced: “What if Beethoven’s Für Elise… Had been written by Ludovico Einaudi?”... ‘Reimagining’ Beethoven in the style of Einaudi would entail a translation of Beethoven’s ‘classical’ harmonies into the more accessible language of modern film/popular music, potentially downsizing the role of melody and musical form in favour of communicating a more homogeneous ‘background’ sound." Yundi Li discusses the role TikTok and other new media play in changing dialogues of genre fusion.

Books I’m Reading this Ramadan

'Ramadan is a highlight of the Islamic calendar and involves a month of self-reflection and improvement as well as abstinence from food and water. Gaining knowledge is hugely celebrated within Islam, and with more time on my hands not eating or drinking, this spiritual month is the perfect opportunity to learn something new.'

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