Monday 11th August 2025

Culture

Just like the movies: An American’s notes on her Oxford year

Oxford occupies a mystical, almost fantastical place within the American psyche – so much so that when I told my peers I’d be studying abroad, they had me promise...

Reading Oxford books in Oxford

For those who have not even set foot in Oxford, the city still lives...

Netflix’s city of dreaming Americans: My Oxford Year, reviewed

If not taken too seriously, Netflix’s new movie My Oxford Year is a surprisingly...

Lacking Latin: Ceremonial mistakes in My Oxford Year

My Oxford Year, a new Netflix rom-com, has received considerable attention. Yet as a...

Interview: Cindy Gallop

Don’t Block Porn: Disrupt It

Is sadness ‘all Greek’ to you? – Greek tragedy in the modern day

Can Greek tragedies be staged for a modern audience?

Review: Heart of Darkness at York Theatre Royal

Can we retell Conrad’s disturbing critique of exploitation in colonial times without falling prey to racism which even the author couldn’t avoid?

Review: Good Dog – ‘reflects an experience that many can relate to’

Arinzé Kene’s Good Dog portrays the harsh reality of growing up in inner-city London as a young black man

Unstoppable and unassailable: Sean Scully is an artistic force of nature

Self-mythologising, commercially driven, and unabashedly 21st-century, Sean Scully drives his own narrative of artistic success with brazen solipsism.

‘If We Were Villains’: Caught in long shadow of ‘The Secret History’

Does M.L Rio's debut novel prioritise style over substance?

Lady Gaga is not a receptacle for your pain

It's been almost two years since the release of Chris Moukarbel's documentary about the pop icon super-star Lady Gaga, a.k.a. Stefani Germanotta. Gaga: Five...

Reflective Awakenings

  The Victorian period was one defined by immense social change - especially in regards to women’s position in society. Throughout the century, increasing debate...

The Magic of Madeline Miller’s ‘Circe’

An exploration of the way Madeline Miller finds beauty in sadness.

Review: Edward II – ‘fantastic at handling themes of homosexuality and power’

The tender exploration of sexuality in Bagnall's production makes Marlowe's sixteenth century play still relevant for a modern audience

Van Gogh and Britain

Exploring Van Gogh's fascination with British culture and Dickens

Tracey Emin’s A Fortnight of Tears: an unflinching study of the haunting power of trauma

The body is placed centre stage in an exhibition that flits between the violence of both birth and death.

BBC Three’s Fleabag

“I’d just like my tits to be that much bigger — does that make me a terrible feminist?” Such forthright, fourth wall busting, hilarious, and...

Jordan Peele’s new horror film ‘Us’

The idiom, “To be afraid of one’s own shadow,” normally forms part of an insult, a derogatory phrase denoting child-like cowardice. The characters of...

Hartnell’s ‘Bodies’: Hugely readable

A review of Medieval Bodies by Jack Hartnell (Wellcome Collection, 2019, 352 pages)

Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution: The Sound of Protest Art

Tracy Chapman’s appearance at the 1988 Nelson Mandela tribute concert transformed her career. The political turmoil surrounding Apartheid was transposed onto Chapman’s performance; songs...

Mackintosh at the Liverpool Walker

A working-class liberator of the arts

Review: Betrayal – ‘all the poise, restraint and subtlety that Pinter’s masterpiece requires’

Ingenious set design, the actors’ spectacular chemistry, and director Lloyd’s brilliant attention to detail make Betrayal a triumphant culmination of the ‘Pinter at the Pinter’ venture

Review: The Duchess of Malfi – a brave and ambitious move

York Settlement Community Players present an ambitious take on the Webster classic

The crises of contemporary art

An exploration of beauty and meaning in the world of contemporary art.

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