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SU launches new community fund for society events

News Conor Walsh -
The Oxford University Student Union (SU) is launching a new community fund to support student societies “to create exciting, inclusive events”. Societies can apply for up to £200 in events funding from this Friday – with applications for Michaelmas term closing on 5th September. Alongside financial support, societies which receive funding will also feature in the SU’s MT25 term card, a new initiative which advertises student events across Oxford. The fund is spearheaded by the SU’s President for Communities and Common...

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Features

The Oxford offer holders trapped in Gaza

Stanley Smith -
Samah and Loay have scholarships to study at Oxford. After succeeding against the odds, they are unable to travel to begin their courses.

‘A constant negative spiral’: Students on Britain’s economic future

Subhan Aslam -
Four Oxford students sat down to share how they feel about the state of the UK. From pensions to the NHS and Brexit, their answers were frank, frustrated, and sometimes surprisingly hopeful about how Britain could change direction.

Drinking the political compass

Stanley Smith -
Oxford’s political societies cultivated generations of MPs and PMs. In an era of rising populism, a tour of their drinking events finds a drifting elite with few ideas.

‘We need a different approach’: Students and tutors on AI in academia

Subhan Aslam -
From everyday tasks to academic work, AI is already embedded in university life. We asked students and academics at Oxford what they are using it for, what worries them most, and whether the current system can keep up.

Some of the most talented people here are solving problems that don’t matter

Satchel Walton -
As AI rewires the job market, what’s the point of being smart if you’re not doing anything meaningful?

Too young for bops, old enough for a first

Martin Conmy -
There are 237 Oxford students aged 17 and below. In the past, some have dramatically crashed out in the public eye, but many others thrive.

Profiles

Billie Marten on growing, teenage regression, and her upcoming album Dog Eared

Sydney Walter -
“When people listen to your upcoming album Dog Eared, where should they imagine you writing the songs?” Musician Billie Marten, on the other end of the Zoom call, looks around the room in which she is sitting. “The Glass was written right here…Most of them were written here actually, yellow...

Max Morgan, director of Oxford’s first feature film since the 1980s

Billy Jeffs -
Morgan speaks to Cherwell about his forthcoming films Breakwater and May Day!, and how he built a career in the film industry while at Oxford.

Bridget Kendall on interviewing Putin, the Russia-Ukraine war, and her path into journalism

Martha Gathercole -
Bridget Kendall was the BBC's correspondent for Moscow in the pivotal period covering the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Song Is Over: The Who on their farewell tour

Dylan Brennan -
The Who were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 - now, they prepare to take their final bow on American soil.

Culture

‘Timestamp’ at the Fringe: Existing in the ‘now’

Nicole Palka -
★★★★☆ Timestamp is a part-theremin, part-dance exploration of womanhood, expectation, and time. Brought to the Edinburgh Fringe after a successful run in New York City by Emilee Lord and Karen Cecilia, it unpacks, in an hour, the ways in which the performers have dealt with being held to certain standards...

Architectural and religious fusions in Andalusia and Oxford

Sofia O'Casey -
Oxford is a city deeply entwined with religion. With the first of its colleges founded as Christian institutions, a college without a chapel is rare. The city’s architecture survives as a testament to this past. This is not to say that Christianity is the only religion to influence the...

‘HOLE IN THE WALL L’HOPITAL’ at Fringe

Rebecca Harper -
★★★☆☆ Everything I write ends up being about grief – I suppose this review only proves that point. HOLE IN THE WALL L’HOPITAL, created by Chicago-based comedian Brendan Tran, pays tribute to his late father. This is his Fringe debut and though somewhat scrappy, it is full of vulnerability that...

Beyond the binary: Leigh Bowery’s radical individuality

Ava Doherty -
Tate Modern's "Leigh Bowery!" refuses easy categorisation—much like its subject A fashion student from Sunshine, Melbourne, rocks up to London in 1980, writes 'wear makeup everyday' on his New Year's resolutions, and proceeds to revolutionise performance art. Leigh Bowery (1961-1994) packed more artistic innovation into his 33 years than most...

Life

My journey with British identity

Rupert Hill -
I was gently raised with the idea that Britain was fair and decent, a country that meant something good. This was likely shaped by growing up in Devon, somewhere green and small, where things felt familiar and a bit tucked away from the rest of the world.  At the time...

Performative perfection and the reality behind the Instagram post

Natalie Conboy -
It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, and I’m scrolling through Instagram. One of my resolutions for this summer was to reduce my screen time, but I still allow myself a few moments in the mornings to see what everyone is up to and communicate with friends via the time-honoured tradition...

The girl who lived

Ava Doherty -
Like Harry Potter under the stairs, I was ‘the one who lived’. A rainbow baby (a baby born after loss), wrapped in nappies and layers of meaning and expectation. Unlike Harry, I didn’t get a letter from Hogwarts. I got a Netflix password made from my dead brother’s birthday. There...

The art of snacking in an ingredient household

Hannah Cowley -
There’s something quite liminal about being a student. One minute you’re running around a city feeling like a Grown Up, and then suddenly it’s June, and you’re catapulted right back into your childhood bedroom, banging on the wall because your brother’s PlayStation is too loud. It really isn’t all...

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