Saturday 5th July 2025

Culture

‘Pour summer in a glass’: retracing Dandelion Wine

“You did not hear them coming. You hardly heard them go. The grass bent down, sprang up again. They passed like cloud shadows downhill ... the boys of summer,...

Reviving the symposium at the Ashmolean Krasis programme

Dara Mohd, herself a Krasis Scholar, converses with Dr Jim Harris about his object-centred symposium program, Krasis, at the Ashmolean Museum.

‘This Room Their Lives’ in Magdalen College’s Waynflete building

Every Magdalen member remembers their first encounter with the Waynflete Building. Sticking out a...

In More, Pulp aren’t just trading on nostalgia – they’re fresh

In a year where many are talking about one Britpop band in particular –...

‘The knack of living’: Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

"Pond is the exemplary proof that ‘the knack of living’ lies in attending to such ‘small matters’ as the number of spoonfuls of sugar added to a cup of coffee."

Will there be a COVID-19 novel?

"After months of quarantining, of Zoom calls and empty supermarket shelves, it feels foolish to suggest we’ll emerge from this crisis as the same people as we were when we entered it. Consequently, our writing must also change."

The Sword-Cross

"A warrior of Palestine Traversed with a Cross for sword, From Babylon to Jerusalem, Until he spoke not word."

Comfort Films Medley – Chocolat, Call Me by Your Name, Ferris Bueller

During the summer vacation, countless people wish they could ‘pull a Donna Sheridan’ and escape to the Greek island from Mamma Mia! For me,...

Glutton for Horror

Mild Spoilers for Spirited Away and Pan’s Labyrinth Of all the sins, gluttony is the only one we truly commit against ourselves, where the implications...

Creativity and Covid-19: How social interaction fuels the creative industries

"Social interaction is fundamental for the financial wellbeing of creative industries, to provide a stimulus for new art, to exhibit art and also to remunerate those who devote their time to create it." George Newton discusses the impact of lockdown on artistic creativity and stimulus.

Thirsting for a heatwave

"In the end, the same heatwave can inspire lewd lyrics or thoughts of doom and global warming."

Review: The Silent Patient

"If you’re looking for a good book, I’d give this one a miss, but I will it give it one thing- The Silent Patient is accidentally hilarious."

Taking the old over the new: The importance of re-watching

It’s like the difference between working on a puzzle with or without knowing what it should look like when complete

Surrealism on film: Fellini and ‘Juliet of the Spirits’

Everyone’s going a bit crazy these days. I, for one, am happy to admit that the last few months have been quite bizarre, and...

‘Measure in Love’ – Preview

In the last few months, many aspects of our lives have had to change and adapt to fit into what we call ‘the new...

Literature festivals of the future

"As idyllic as it sounds to vanish for a few days to the literary haven of Hay-on-Wye, for many, financial and geographic constraints curtail the prospect of reaching the so-called ‘Woodstock of the mind’."

A No Spoiler Review of Mrs America

To be honest, I didn’t originally want to watch Mrs America. I have studied the history of 1970s American feminism so hearing that Phyllis...

‘Dynamite’ and BTS’ explosive fame

K-pop group BTS’ perpetual rise in popularity has been staggering, and the success of their latest release, English-language single ‘Dynamite’, comes as no surprise. Perfectly timed...

The Eurovision Song Contest: more important than ever?

On 18th March 2020, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) took the unprecedented decision to postpone the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest – an annual celebration...

Avonlea Revisited: what children’s classics offer for adult readers

"Revisiting these childhood classics gives us an important reminder for these definitely non-normative times: seek happiness in the unlikeliest places. Love is patient, love is kind, but it is also a little shy and very, very funny."

Music in a foreign language: short-lived novelty or here to stay?

When it comes to most music, you realise quite quickly that the language it’s written in isn’t really that important. Maybe you wouldn’t get...

Hooks and Hardbacks: a summer music reading list

For the music obsessives among us, the pieces of literature that stick longest in our minds are overwhelming those which take music itself as a subject....

Setting the Scene: When location becomes character

I can remember the first time I watched The Revenant in an empty screening at my local cinema. It was during the height of...

Review: The Places I’ve Cried in Public

"The book tackles abusive relationships in a way that allows younger (and older) readers to realise the many forms abuse can take."

Follow us