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Headlines

New College JCR President loses no-confidence motion four weeks before end of term

President of New College JCR Harry Aldridge was removed from office late last night in a motion of no-confidence.

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Features

A plate for everyone: Food restrictions at formals

Recently, I found myself curious about the behind-the-scenes process: how colleges receive dietary information, where and how it travels, and what care is taken to ensure that, by the time a plate lands in front of you, it is the right one.

24/7: College porters and the Oxford night shift

For many, the night lodge exists as a background certainty, noticed chiefly in moments of crisis, vulnerability, or inconvenience.

Raising refugee rights: Oxford STAR and Campsfield House

“The Coalition and STAR are quite unique in the emphasis on trying to bridge the gap between students and the community”.

‘The only woman in Hall’: Gender and college governance

When Baroness Alexandra Freeman became Principal of Hertford College last month, she did not initially realise she was the first woman to hold the role.

The independent cinema battling Oriel College to stay open

With the threat of an unrenewed lease from Oriel College, the Ultimate Picture Palace is appealing to the community at large for support.

War within earshot: A year abroad in Jordan

A large part of my decision to study Arabic is owed to my father’s passing. Having now experienced life in the Middle East, including its wars, I now understand him far more than I ever could have anticipated.

Profiles

‘This isn’t a culture war. It’s a war on culture with a very long history’: Dan Hicks on Rhodes, racism, and the Pitt Rivers 

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.

‘What we need is action’: Dr Lakasing on maternity care, misinformation, and the NHS crisis

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

‘I’m not campaigning for any particular point of view’: Sam Freedman on government, the Conservatives, and writing with his father

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

‘We’re hurtling into a new era’: James Marriott on books, broadsheets, and a changing Britain

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.

Culture

Barker & Co. Booksellers: Oxford’s newest independent bookshop

A new secondhand bookstore opened in Oxford city centre last week. Located in the Golden Cross shopping centre, just off Cornmarket Street, the bookstore stocks hundreds of secondhand books, ranging from accessibly priced paperbacks to rare and expensive antiquarian first-editions.

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ in review

The Harris Manchester Players immersed Oxford’s inhabitants in the delightful world of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest this May.

Inarticulacy in part and in whole: ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ in review

When I heard that Jim Jarmusch had released a new anthology film, I fondly remembered watching Night on Earth (1991) some years ago.

On Geese and the Cult of the Fake Fan

Great statistics could be drawn up about how often men in Oxford will want to talk to me about Geese. 

Life

Measuring out life with coffee spoons: Inside the Oxford death café

“Jaffa cake?” These are the first words I hear upon stepping into Oxford’s Death Café. We’re in the Old Fire Station on George Street, a venue for all kinds of offbeat activities: indie theatre, standup, and its kitchen, which operates as a social enterprise run by women refugees. At...

An archaeological future: Distorted legacies

The ache to remember and be remembered is one of the most important things that makes humankind human, and this hasn’t changed across the sweeping expanse of time.

A mini-guide to the Italian restaurants of Oxford

The Cherwell Lifestyle team decided to combine  our forces and put together a mini-guide to the Italian restaurants to suit all of your needs. 

Actually, Trinifree is a state of mind

Experiencing Trinifree with a proper “Trinittude” (Trinifree-attitude) means the chance to do things I would have considered unfathomable during the past two terms, like take a nap in the afternoon or resolve to never pull an all-nighter in order to finish an essay.