Profiles

Peter Beinart knows the importance of admitting when you’re wrong. A professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York, a New York Times columnist, and Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents, he has spent the last three decades as a leading liberal voice in the United States. But, unlike other pundits who pin their flags to the mast in order to pay the bills, Beinart’s writing is characterised by subtlety, self-reflection, and a remarkable political transformation.

The jubilance in George Abaraonye’s demeanour matched my memory of our first encounter, coincidentally placed at the location where his university career may be defined: the Oxford Union. I first met the student – who has subsequently become a polarising figure among the politically conservative and a victim of online racial persecution approximately a year prior – at the Oxford African and Caribbean Society (ACS) meeting, Say It With Your Chest.

At a time when Britain feels more polarised than ever, Duyrat’s creed offers a guiding hand to a kinder, more empathetic way of engaging with material culture, art, and the world more broadly.

Fifty or a hundred years ago, it was in book reviewing and literary journalism that the great journalists were to be discovered.

The ocean crossings were extraordinary, but they were never really the destination.

Jessica James, Managing Director at Commerzbank, discusses how a Physics PhD set her up to succeed in her career in finance.

Rhodes scholar Kumi Naidoo reflects on Apartheid in South Africa, his Oxford years, and the fight for environmental justice.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party from 2016-2021, discusses Extinction Rebellion, local elections, and rising populism.

Professor Nick Maynard, a consultant at Oxford University Hospitals, has been to Gaza three times since 7th October 2023.

Meghan Campbell discusses the Oxford Human Rights Hub, the manosphere, and using international law to fight women's poverty.

In 'Every Monument Will Fall', Professor Dan Hicks argues for a democratic process in reckoning with the monuments and museums that celebrate Britain's colonial past.

Dr Lakasing explains what its like to work in maternity care during a time of crisis for the NHS.

As a writer and Fellow at the Institute for Government, Freedman has the opinions of a journalist and the knowledge of a policy maker.

The Times columnist James Marriott sees the decline in reading in Britain as part of a wider trend of rising populism and the death of liberalism.

Catherine Royle explains how a career in the Foreign Office and NATO is shaping her approach as Somerville College's principal.

Organisations like the BBC have "a completely hollow view of impartiality", says Lewis Goodall, host of The News Agents.

Professor Lee White – a conservationist, scientist, and politician – does not like talking about himself. White came to Oxford to deliver a lecture, at which I learned almost nothing about Lee and a great deal about the trees found in the Gabonese rainforest.

Dr Merritt Moore is a Harvard alumna and Oxford DPhil graduate who has successfully navigated a career as a quantum physicist and robotics specialist, whilst also performing as a professional ballerina with Zurich, Boston, and English National Ballet.

Paul Kingsnorth is an English writer and perhaps the most astute critic of technology’s impact on society writing today.

Multiple times throughout the interview Sir Ed Davey accidentally turned his Zoom camera off. He’d hastily apologise and search to turn it back on.