Lifestyle

The psyche behind a museum gift shop

Like most soon-to-be finalists, I spent the majority of my summer vacation after second year researching and preparing for my dissertation.

Acts of time, physical giving, and words of touch

Ask someone their love language, and they’ll probably have an answer. They might even pull out online test results.

Cooking for friends: An apology, served hot

“It’s probably a bit bland,” my friend said tentatively in the first week of living out of college, just after they had put down a delicious plate of fish and rice.

Beyond the Rad Cam: My quest to visit all 22 Bodleian Libraries

Between March 2025 and October 2026, I visited all 22 Bodleian libraries, from the reading rooms of central Oxford to the obscure medical libraries.

Gastronomy and Gratitude

Returning to work after a three-month break would be difficult in any industry, but for the all-consuming nature of the hospitality industry, restaurants reopening and the prospect of returning to work must be additionally alarming.

Instagram and BLM: Is it better to say the wrong thing or nothing at all?

The oppression of human lives is not a trend, and should not be treated as such

Trinity: A Term out of Touch

The components of Trinity 2020 were approximately 15 zoom calls and a pervasive sense of disappointment.

My Thoughts

CW: racism, police brutality In all honesty, I don’t think I speak about race all that often with my friends...which is actually pretty surprising given...

Trinity in the time of pandemic

Scraping dredges of hummus with my last-but-one piece of flatbread, my first year at Oxford ended with an anti-climatic sigh as I clicked ‘send’...

The legacy of banana bread: how coronavirus transformed my relationship with food

It speaks volumes that in the midst of a pandemic, we are still so scared of getting fat.

Review: Florence Given’s debut book Women Don’t Owe You Pretty

Florence Given sells feminism as what it is: freeing and utterly delicious. She affirms and articulates precisely the points it feels so hard to put your finger on sometimes.

In Conversation with Ken Loach

CW: Racism, antisemitism Kes (1968) – Miner’s Working Men’s Club. Rhythmic close shots of faces, the pub is filled with big smiles and small chat. The...

“It could have been worse”: the danger zone of sexual harassment

Implicit in every catcall is a recognition that my existence in your world is limited to how much voyeuristic pleasure you can derive from my body. You are reminding me that by leaving my home I am apparently consenting to being sexualised by total strangers. It is symptomatic of a wider culture whereby female existence can be seen as a medium for male gratification.

In Conversation with Kris Hallenga

In 2019 Kris Hallenga posted a letter addressed to her past self on the CoppaFeel website, recognising a decade since she had been diagnosed...

Let’s not be complacent: sexual violence is everyone’s responsibility

The truth is that someone can be a nice guy, a soup kitchen volunteer, a stranger or a trusted female friend, and still inflict violence on another person.

Black trauma porn, slacktivism, and chicken soup for the activist soul

TW: racism, police brutality, racial violence The torrential online aftermath of the murder of a black man: posts mourning fallen black victims, names added to...

‘Please to buy my apology’

If you follow as many foodie accounts on social media as I do, then seek help you’ll no doubt have heard the furore generated...

Tales of the pole: building strength and self-love

Sharing a video with my grandparents of me pole dancing over Sunday Lunch was not an experience I think either party envisaged. There was...

Cherpse! Eve and Thomas

Eve, German and Spanish, LMH, 2nd Year First impressions? He had a very impressive bookshelf! Did it meet up to your expectations? I am no good...

NEVER fail to call out racism: the devastation of silence

TW: Racism, sexual assault  British society and campuses continue to live in denial of racial inequality entrenched in our communities. Removing the burden of racism...

Belonging and Burdens at Oxford: Confessions of a BAME Oxonian

‘I’m never going to feel like I belong here!’ It was almost a year ago when those words flew out of my mouth. I...

“Your English is so Good!” and Other Racist Microaggressions

TW: Racism Upon descending at Oxford railway station with my dad at the start of Freshers’ Week and waiting almost fifteen minutes in the queue...

Feeling (Un)attractive in Brown Skin – a personal account

TW: Racism The protests in the US spurred on by repeated institutional injustices against black bodies have opened up numerous conversations about race across the globe....

How to have the perfect relationship (and other lies)

Often, Men seem Martian. They just baffle me. And I’ve got it on good authority that despite our best efforts, they’re regularly just as...

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