Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Profiles

Character of Mr Hitchens

I  It is a cool smoky morning in January outside Taylors deli on St Giles. Peter Hitchens padlocks his bicycle to a lamppost and accompanies me indoors, where we sit...

Ever wondered about the man singing on Cornmarket Street? Meet Richard

CW: Drug or alcohol abuse You may not know him by name, but you’ve definitely...

Adam Leslie: ‘It felt like an ongoing adventure with characters I knew. That’s when writing became a language of its own’

Adam Leslie has always wandered among stories – daydreaming them, curating them, and now...

Eileen Gu on Olympic skiing, fashion modelling, and studying at Oxford

In China and beyond, Eileen Gu is an icon. You see her defy gravity with impossible spins as the first woman to land a...

Dominic Grieve: “The point is, can one be useful for the university? I think I can.”

Dominic Grieve KC is ready for the job, or as ready as you can be for a job that has no real defined role....

Lord Hague: “Oxford made a huge difference to my own life. I believe in helping other people have the same transformative experience.”

https://youtu.be/emJnKTlaTMo Lord William Hague is certain that we are headed for a “decade of change” and is convinced that he is the person to steer...

Lord Peter Mandelson on New Labour, his time at Oxford, and why he is running to be University Chancellor

"Oxford is a global university, and I believe it needs a global Chancellor"

James O’Brien on Brexit, Boris Johnson, and making radio go viral

"Nigel Farage thought he was coming in to have his tummy tickled. I helped him soil himself."

Max Fosh on viral pranks, comedy tours, and the art of posh self-deprecation

Max Fosh is a YouTuber and stand-up comedian, who first garnered acclaim for his StreetSmart series of street interviews. Fosh then expanded towards more...

A ‘golden age’ for Oxford: In conversation with Chancellor Patten

Lord Christopher Patten has been the Chancellor of Oxford University since 2003. Before that, he acted as the last Governor of Hong Kong and...

In conversation with Moe Sbihi, the British rower ‘Stockholm Syndrome-d’ into Olympic gold 

Three-time Olympic medallist, World Champion rower, MBE, the first British Muslim Olympic flag bearer: the highly decorated Moe Sbihi seems to have done it...

In conversation with Oli Dugmore, the mind behind PoliticsJOE

Oli Dugmore, known best as the mind behind PoliticsJOE, echoes many of the views young, disillusioned voters hold.

Spotlight: Swift Soc President, Lola Milton-Jenkins

Out of all the societies at Oxford, Oxford University Taylor Swift Society is one of the biggest, with around two thousand members. Seraphina Evans...

On poetry, prison, and new notions of time: In conversation with Mohsen Mohamed

Mohsen Mohamed may already be a familiar face for frequenters of Tudor Pret on Cornmarket Street. Stepping into its timbered, softly lit premises, it...

The Former Ambassador

Steven Pifer greets me at the door with a limp. He’d broken his kneecap en route to Kyiv three weeks ago, and scrambling for...

‘There’s a seat at the table for everyone’: In Conversation with Daisy Maskell

CW: Spiking.  Daisy Maskell is, in short, a multimedia superwoman. Her documentaries have aired on BBC and Channel 4, she is the youngest breakfast show...

An activist’s philosophy: Words matter, but actions matter more

The War in the Gaza Strip has been going on for over seven months. In this time, it has cost the lives of over...

‘Act normal, that’s crazy enough’: In conversation with Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind

Why have humans survived as the ones to travel to Mars, create artificial intelligence and make use of the world’s resources unlike any other...

Spotlight: Martian Moves

If you’re at all in tune with Oxford’s nightlife scene, I’m sure you’ve heard of “intergalactic boogie service” Martian Moves – but who are...

Broadway, besties and Brian Cox: A conversation with J. Smith-Cameron

J. Smith-Cameron would like you to know that she is not Succession’s Gerri Kellman. She gently corrects me when I slip up by describing...

‘Women don’t look like that in Algeria’: An interview with Houria Niati

"Yes, I love flowers and I love landscapes, but I am far away from that. When we talk about political art, I didn’t even...

‘Theatre is, at its best, one of the most democratic of the arts’

I had the chance to sit down with Gregory Doran, Oxford University’s Cameron Mackintosh visiting professor and the former artistic director of the Royal...

An interview with Federico Enciso, Paraguay’s First Openly Gay Politician 

I am not going to lie. I myself was pretty much oblivious to Paraguay’s existence before being introduced to the documentary, 108: Cuchillo de...

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