Tuesday 16th December 2025

Lifestyle

The ghosts of the King’s Arms’ past, present, and future

Ever felt a supernatural presence hovering over you in what claims to be Oxford’s oldest pub, the King’s Arms? And no – not the ghost of an ill-fated first...

The Gee’s knees: Brunch in North Oxford

Good things often come in threes. Having reviewed both Parsonage Grill and Quod, it...

The luxury of political ignorance

PPE at Oxford is often seen as a one-way track to ending up in...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Oxmas

I begin listening to Christmas soundtracks in September. I theorise decorations in October and,...

Centre stage: Jiao Zi

Chinese New Year celebrations reunite the whole family, and as is often the case when Chinese families get together, food takes centre stage. Most...

Cumin in from the Cold – Three Winter Warmers to Alleviate January Blues

It’s unsurprising that when the temperature drops, we crave piping hot dinners, whether it be Vietnamese pho, Swiss fondue, or throat-tingling curries laden with fragrant spices.

2021’s Newest Food Trends

Any keen follower of the gastronomic world knows that the start of the New Year beckons micro-analysed predictions for eating trends. As we are...

Confessions of a productivity addict

I no longer feel like I’m wasting my time not learning French or baking more banana bread and I’ve accepted the beauty of organised fun.

We hae meat and we can eat: Burns Night Banquet

Haggis is hardly something to get excited about - when you hear dinner’s going to be offal stuffed into a sheep’s stomach, your mouth doesn’t exactly start watering. But as soon as you dare take your first bite, the divisive delicacy wins you over.

Clamorous Noise: The Music of Everyday Life

"It’s worth trying because it’s worth trying to find beauty in everything."

Michael(mas): Everyone’s Toxic Ex

Are my 10 lectures, 6 hours of labs and 24 hours of imposter syndrome worth it for a fancy gown that’s only going to make those friends think ‘god they’re a prick’?

Anyone Can Cook

If you walked into any Waterstones in the month of December you would have seen Yotam Ottelenghi’s most recent book, Flavour, piled high on...

Don’t knock Wagamama’s anglicised katsu curry

I am the human equivalent of a Greggs Katsu Curry bake

In Conversation with Judy Kuhn

“Here’s the thing about being an older woman…the roles are more interesting. People get more complex as they get older. And you have more life experience to bring to the role.”

Hair today, gone tomorrow

It surprises me that the length of a woman’s hair can affect how she is treated by others, whether she is treated as a girl or a woman.

Dear diary: new year, new me?

If you want to take up stamp collecting, or pet more dogs, or stop listening to the same six songs you’ve had in your playlist since you were 14, why wait until January 1st to do it?

Not driving home for Christmas

I realised ... I was forging my own traditions in this city day-by-day

A novel experience: managing the pressures of productivity in a pandemic

My pandemic summer was spent staring at a computer, but these were a startlingly productive and educational few months and, as with most exciting things in my unexciting life, it starts with a blank page.

The Power of Food

Food is more than nourishment; it is a joy which can bring people together, and its connective power is needed now more than ever....

Wine and Weather Forecasts

Back in my childhood bedroom, I am stuck in an unpleasant time-warp, sixteen again and agonizing over awful boys, listening to utterly miserable Smiths songs. It’s the deja-vu experience no one wants.

A Coronavirus Christmas: Missing Family and Traditions

I’ll miss the little things, most of all: the warm chaotic hubbub of too many people in one bungalow, fighting over who gets the sofa seat with the footrest, and maybe most of all, the smell of cooking wafting from the kitchen.

Not particularly fusced: reflections on a first term

Surely having that moment to celebrate and realise that “yes, I made it to f*cking Oxford during a worldwide crisis” seems quite affirming and in line with the Government’s message of being able to have a ‘proper University experience™’, whatever that means.

In Conversation with Bruce LaBruce

"'Horror movies and porn movies are structured in exactly the same way,' he begins, 'the narrative is structured as a pretext for a number of these explosive climaxes. One victim at a time, one sex scene at a time.'"

All I Want for Christmas is Food!

Dessert has the opportunity to hold such creativity and glee, and yet the dry, misshapen lumps turned out year after year hold nothing but an unbelievable amount of fruit. They also hold a considerable serving of history.

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