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.

You are not alone – What getting run over by a bus taught me about myself and Oxford

It’s been an odd year for everyone. Few could have predicted that Hilary would end in such a dramatic fashion, and certainly not myself,...

Now do I belong?: The effects of early-onset impostor syndrome

As Hilary Term drew to a close and we sat in my friend’s room, anticipating a final night out, we reflected on how we’d...

Human nature: why we should all be getting outdoors

At the moment, I feel more grateful than ever to live where I do. My house backs on to fields meaning whichever direction I...

Isolation Hustles – How lockdown has affected student mini-businesses

The coronavirus crisis has stopped the global economy in its tracks. Each week, yet more gloomy headlines appear: this week, a BBC headline proclaimed...

Cherpse! Cai and Charlie

Cai, 2nd year, Chemistry, St. Hugh’s  First impressions? He seemed kind, friendly and relaxed, and had a nice voice. Did it meet up to your expectations? Yeah, we...

Oxford’s community: life beyond the spires

Students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are twice as likely to be low performers. Think about that for a moment. Sometimes at Oxford it’s easy...

Face to Face // Screen to Screen

If there’s one thing a national lockdown has given me, it’s time. Weekly screen-time reports never fail to astound me – minding my business,...

‘L’appetito viene mangiando’: why Southern Italian food is the best in the world

To make Italian food is a labour of love, and requires a love of labour

Nostalgia: it isn’t what it used to be

I remember a time when I took for granted that I could eat at restaurants, lay around in the park, and visit my family. Weeks...

Productivity fanatics: A society that’s forgotten to press pause

There’s a wonderful irony to the fact that the mediums we turn to so frequently for procrastination are the mediums that shame us the...

Food waste apps: small difference or meaningful change?

64% of all food waste actually occurs during harvest

Diversity, waste, and travel: what globalisation means for food

For many people, being at home during lockdown means that there is an abundance of time to spend preparing, eating, and thinking about food. Combined with...

A Note on Self-Forgiveness

TW: disordered eating, suicide In quarantine, where rooms are small and walls are thin, it’s very easy to become aware of the expanse of...

“Superstition ain’t the way” – did Stevie Wonder get it right?

On my left wrist sits a tiny silver star on a chain. On my right hand, a ring my mother was given by her...

The Real Cost of Eating Out

It’s a familiar feeling. You enter a restaurant, sit down, and by the time you open the menu and see the outrageous pricing, it’s...

Food for Comfort

Age 11, my secret banking password was RoastBeef, so, yes, I would call myself a foodie. Age 21, I eat three square meals under lockdown, so...

Home Workouts: A Guide

With term looming and a reading list down to our feet, we’re all getting our fair share of mental exercise. But with thinking comes frustration, and...

The Kitchen as a Political Space

Men tend to ‘enter into’ the kitchen whereas women are understood to be already there.

Genetically Modified Foods: Friend or Foe?

The EU has not approved any genetically modified (GM) fruit or vegetables as safe for human consumption and in the UK they are mainly used to...

Domestic, Religious, Uncanny: the Symbolism of Food in Art

The quotidian, comforting presence of food renders the trope ripe for subversion

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