Culture

Review: Cyrano de Bergerac – ‘A clever adaptation of a timeless play’

I’m ashamed to admit I almost mistake Cuigy (Kate Burke) and Brissaille (Nancy Gittus) for incredibly dapper audience members before the play begins. The sweet jazz that pipes out...

Why reading for pleasure still matters at Oxford

The idea of students reading for pleasure during term time has sparked much debate....

The Pasts Contained in Preloved Books at the Oxford Premier Book Fair

Although post-collections celebrations usually involve nights out, followed by long, long lie-ins, I spent...

Review of ‘Intermezzo’: Chess, law, and the philosophy of language in yet another Rooney masterpiece

I thought it perplexing that critics felt Intermezzo similar to other works by writer...

Dame Maggie Smith’s Oxford beginnings, from Mansfield to McGonagall

Now nearly a month since the news of the actress’ death, aged 89, we can reflect on Smith’s extraordinary career and her connections to the city that started it all. 

Books you can’t sink your teeth into: A brief look into unsolvable manuscripts

If there’s one thing that most people appreciate, it’s a good mystery with a clever solution. It is no accident that Agatha Christie is...

Review: Will Heaven Fall on Us? A Béla Tarr Retrospective

Will Heaven Fall on Us? A Béla Tarr Retrospective, which aired in cinemas this summer, confirms the status of the Hungarian director as an...

Has the romantic comedy lost its charm?

The romantic comedy genre is often criticised for its overreliance on tropes. The romcom is, after all by, designed to be light and fun....

Palimpsest

This is a secular city, built on holy bones. We’re on the edge of another fissure. Nothing so grand as a revolution. But the grey...

2024 was for the girls: The rapid success of female artists

The last nine months of pop can perhaps be summed up in one word: ‘Femininomenon’. The title of Chappell Roan’s 2023 hit, a portmanteau...

Oxford’s Alternotives take the Fringe

This August, the Oxford Alternotives joined the ranks of Oxford performers heading to the Edinburgh Fringe. For our twelfth Fringe performance, we brought a...

The art of rowing: In conversation with Emily Craig

After a formidable finish in the Lightweight Women’s double sculls at the 2024 Paris Olympics in August, Team GB’s Emily Craig and Imogen Grant...

On Leadership by Tony Blair, Precipice by Robert Harris, and Oxford crime – Books of the Month

On Leadership by Tony Blair; Precipice by Robert Harris; Lessons in Crime: Academic Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards

North Korea and the Global Nuclear Order review – “An excellent account”

Dr Edward Howell, whose columns in the Spectator and the Telegraph are among the few intelligent and readable things left in those outlets, has...

A Revolution Betrayed by Peter Hitchens review – In Defence of Grammar Schools

Review – A Revolution Betrayed: How Egalitarians Wrecked the British Education System by Peter Hitchens. ISBN: 9781399400077  Most people accept that the British education system...

Veranilda by George Gissing review – The best historical novel never written

George Gissing remains the most underrated novelist in the English language. He wrote twenty-three novels, although the average bookshop today only contains four of...

Politics on the Edge by Rory Stewart review – “The prime minister we never had”

This is a marvellous book, a memoir of Rory Stewart’s nine years in Parliament, and its greatest flaw is that it is not long...

The Conservative Effect, 2010-2024 review: “Comprehensive and damning”

If you only read one book on British politics this year, make it this one. 

How Sabrina Carpenter Won the Summer (With Just Two Songs)

The people called for a shot of espresso and Sabrina Carpenter answered. 

Leonardo da Vinci and his devilish… boyfriend?

When we think of Leonardo da Vinci, the first things that come to mind are usually the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, or his...

Soundtrack to my degree

When I first came to Oxford, my Dad sent me the playlists he listened to for each year at university. His second-year playlist in...

Blue Monday: Forever a New Order

Everybody knows Joy Division, everybody knows New Order. If the former’s post-punk gloom is the gateway drug for 80s bands like Bauhaus and The...

Queen’s garden play review: ‘If you are a fan of the film you would have loved this theatrical rendition’

Honestly, I was more than happy to be spending my hungover Saturday relishing in the summer heat whilst watching Queen’s garden play last weekend...

Blindness review: ‘Unique first-person experience’

Blindness is performed entirely via sound, forgoing expectations of a traditional stage set and impressing the audience with its skillful immersion. The play is...