Saturday 21st March 2026

Culture

‘Comedy is very deceptive’: Seán Carey on ‘Operation Mincemeat’

As a history student, you occasionally come across stories so strange they feel almost fictional. Operation Mincemeat is one of them.

How 2025’s biggest films made their mark through music

The recent Oscar nominations have allowed us to reflect on how fundamental musical scores are to film, and the highlights of last year’s film soundtracks.

Translating Oxford into Urdu

It’s a different emotion whenever I read the Urdu language. I’m not a native speaker, nor have I actively pursued learning the language, but as someone who finds solace in reading shayari (Urdu poetry), I wanted to follow it even in Oxford.

Stitching the world together: GFC’s London Fashion Week show

A few weeks ago we, the Cherwell fashion editors, were lucky enough to be extended an invite by the Global Fashion Collective to their London Fashion Week show.

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

Creating theatre in a pandemic: Spoon River Anthology

Working with other people on Spoon River is definitely a welcome distraction from the monotony of being stuck in lockdown at home. It is truly inspiring to get to witness so many creatives coming together for this production.

“We’re going into a new territory”: interviewing theatre director Sally Cookson

Sally Cookson is a theatre director who has worked on productions for theatres including the Old Vic London, the Bristol Old Vic, the National...

Dick Whittington: not quite the win the National was hoping for

This version attempts to be the Hamilton of pantomimes, incorporating street dance, rap, pop ballads and frequent references to TikTok trends into an otherwise familiar tale.

Bodleian Bangers: Dame Helen Ghosh

"If you asked me “what am I proud of?”. I did Couch to 5k. Okay, so going with that for a running song I would say Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (1985). Definitely one of my pandemic songs."

Read, Listen, Learn: The Everchanging World of Books

Flash forward 100 years. Surprise! People still read — just not in the same way as we do now, and we can be pretty...

It is the light

"It is the light/That engulfs me/Its fingers of dust waltzing ever so softly"

It’s a Sin: a sublime and sorrowful social history

Davies understands that tragedy is awfulness plus its antithetical counterpoint

Follow us