Monday 17th November 2025

Culture

GCSE drama nostalgia: ‘The Detention’ Review

The Detention provided its fair share of giggles, but whether that was a result of humour or awkwardness is up for debate. There were undoubtedly many merits to this production:...

The power of the playlist

"These ten precious songs ... will become a time capsule"

Ceilings, wives, and love letters to the city: The Pre Raphaelites in Oxford

It was in 1857, not long after the construction of the Oxford Union, that...

The lying life of authors: John le Carré and authorial double-lives

“I’m not a spy who writes novels, I am a writer who briefly worked...

The comedy bug

No sympathy laughs from your mate when the joke doesn’t quite land; no in-jokes to fall back on; no new haircut to make fun of. Comedy is a savage mistress.

Revisiting ‘All The King’s Men’ in the Post-Trumpian Era

Much like the 1920s and 30s, we live in a period of great change when all previously-held cultural norms and precedents seem to be shifting under our feet. All the King’s Men speaks to this time of turmoil, questioning how the individual responds to that, whether they challenge it or become corrupted by it.'

The Most Anticipated Books of 2021

In light of the disaster that was 2020, many of us are looking towards 2021 with hope. Amongst the reasons to be excited about...

Number 19

'Walking along the Edgware Road It's ten o'clock at night I glance down at my phone amongst it all And it's your name that glows in the light'

Rice-cakes

'a few more days of worrying about weddings, wondering why we seem to copy the lives of those we wish would love us'

Two Poems

"The memory is hazy, the photographic still of the memory I keep in my head, more so."

Love from,

'You're in all the details, taking up the small spaces/You're filling in the gaps between words in this poem.'

Tesco

'something in the bagging area/I looked down, and it was me, crouched there'

hands/face/space

"how we feel now must be the way that stars feel all their lives"

Requiem for a marriage

'I wanted you, all the more because I knew / Someone else was getting you. / What does that mean now?'

The revolutionary empathy of Sound of Metal

The legendary critic Roger Ebert described film as a machine for building empathy. No other medium has the power to allow the viewer to...

Growing Pains: The Development of YA

The YA fiction boom really was its own mini cultural era. Gone are the days of passing a tattered copy of The Fault in Our Stars around your entire friendship group, but how does YA lit hold up today? And how did that cultural era affect the ‘young adults’ at its centre?

“Here Comes Your” Alt-Rock

"Alt-rock is characterised by experimentation with texture, timbre, and structure, especially drawing on the raw, distorted punk rock sounds and new wave’s energetic appeal." Jimmy Brewer takes a look back at five bands who defined the sound of the genre.

Addressing the Unknown

'Let's watch the sun making its paperboy/rounds tapping on the window and shedding/off its flecks of glow'

Growin’ up with Emily

'three girls sat dangling out the doors of a car, sea salt and suncream'

‘Something Wicked’: The Rise of Modern Witchcraft

"At a time when the world seems more uncertain than ever, young people in particular are turning to witchcraft in order to find a sense of stability."

Rituals: A reminder that you’re not alone

I will never forget the feeling of looking up from the yellowish parchment paper of the biblical scroll and seeing everyone I love. It was at this moment that I realised what coming of age rituals are all about: the feeling of being part of something larger than yourself.

Coming of age with Beanie Feldstein

All teenagers hit that age where they are suddenly on the verge of adulthood whilst still clinging onto what is left of their childhood....

O Cypris

'O Cypris! I must rank among those who seek your nectar.'

The Mandalorian, The Boys and the Battle for Second Place in the Streaming World

The pretenders are trying to beat Netflix at their own game, and will hope that The Boys and The Mandalorian respectively will bring in new, loyal subscribers

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