Wednesday 15th October 2025

Opinion

Outreach shouldn’t stop at Hadrian’s wall

In a Britain that claims to be a “United” Kingdom, having only two-dozen Scottish state schoolers at its best university does much to foster division.

The ‘S’ in ‘STEM’ stands for superiority complex

It’s high time we stopped arguing over which is more difficult, and instead started asking what STEM and the humanities can learn from each other.

Stop sneering at the staycation

If so much is available within the UK, what justification is there for an Oxford student to travel across the world?

The Encaenia is PR without the public (or anyone else)

Wholesale reform is the last thing Encaenia needs. If only people knew what it is, it would be a well-suited PR exercise for a modern Oxford.

Violence, fear, and womanhood 

"We view women as something akin to public property that must be regulated as convenient."

Academic pressure and the overachiever mentality

When everyone strives to be exceptional, some inevitably end up becoming merely ‘mediocre’. This gives rise to the central problem surrounding academic pressure and the ‘overachiever’ mentality — that while we are fully aware of its harms, everyone still strives to ‘overachieve’, for fear of being left behind, of being ‘mediocre’. 

The Oxford experience: myth or reality?

"...Oxford can quite often be a social bubble which seems to float outside of the real world..."

Examining western attitudes to apartheid

The struggle for national rights in South Africa has a 300-year-old history. It continues today, as economic and social apartheid is dismantled in South Africa and it challenges Western imperialism.

The Oxford college named after a fascist

There have been no protests, no outrage, over the fact that a fascist pedophile, who stood for everything our modern society should abhor, continues to be unambiguously celebrated by the university authorities.

A crash course in British politics: The scandals of recent years (Week 5)

To understand the current election, we ought to understand the things that shape them more than anything – including recent controversies. Be sure, many voters will have them in mind when casting their ballots.

A crash course in British politics: Who will be the next Prime Minister? (Week 3)

Only the big parties are true contenders for the premiership – meaning one of these two will, unless there is a leadership change, become PM.

Sleepy Joe or Demagogue Donald: America’s choice

The world cannot afford a second term of Donald Trump.

Celebrity, rhetoric, and the Oxford Union

I’d be surprised if Dominic Cummings was the star appearance from the Oxford Union you were expecting this term. Because, from where I’m standing,...

The forgotten pandemic?

"The emergence of anti-vaccine extremism demonstrated that the ghost of dogmatic individualism lived on"

Get ready for the most important year of your life, yet

The days we are living through will be the subject of history books, but the story is yet to be written. 2024 will be a crucial year for the struggles of our time – for the climate, for our rights, for our lives, and for the world as we know it.

Why don’t we talk about Oxford’s land?

Property management isn’t the most scintillating topic for Oxford students to concern themselves with. But in many ways it is the basis of our...

The multiple histories of flight BA149

‘The Gulf War did not take place’, declared the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard.

#oxfess29033: Who runs Oxfess?!

Big Oxfess has total control over the platform; they shape the content of our thoughts with their subliminal propaganda. 

A crash course in British politics: How elections work (Week 1)

The winning party’s leader – today, realistically, either Rishi Sunak (Conservative) or Keir Starmer (Labour) – will become the Prime Minister.

Oh, do you know them on a first name basis?

Why we do, but shouldn’t, call politicians by their first names. References to politicians by their first names always occurred in conversations at the pub...

How generous are you (really)?

The amount spent per head in the UK on Christmas gifts was around £600 this year, and fluctuates between £450 and £700 each year, whilst in the...

Wilders’ far-right runs riot: a sign of European divide or a chance to reunite?

European unity – and with it solidarity with Ukraine – is running out of supporters.

A crash course in British politics: An introduction (Week 0)

If you are reading this you most likely live in the United Kingdom. You might also, like me, be new here. As a first-year...

What Trump tells us about modern American evangelicalism

The infamous image of Donald Trump standing, with a Bible, in front of St John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC in June 2020, was...

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