Headlines
Oxford Israel Society and Jewish Students For Justice release statements addressing pro-Palestine encampment
Oxford Israel Society issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the pro-Palestine encampment organised by Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P), which was set up on Monday 6th May in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum. The Society condemned OA4P’s “failure” to mention Hamas’ role in the war in the Gaza strip and called on the University to reject the protesters’ demands.
Jewish Students for Justice (JSJ) also issued a statement in solidarity with Oxford Action for Palestine saying they "fully support the encampment's struggle" and "call...
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Features
Flights to Rwanda? Navigating political, economic, and moral turbulence
“Batshit crazy”, was how one cabinet minister (James Cleverly) described the Rwanda policy. In his former role as chancellor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was characteristically more reserved, saying “it won’t work”. Human rights organisations...
Sharron Davies, the Oxford Literary Festival, and the place for transgender athletes in professional sport.
The bell chimed for 2 o’clock on Thursday the 21st of March and the doors closed for the Oxford Literary Festival’s most controversial talk: ‘Sharron Davies, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport.’ I...
WaterTok, Stanley cups and the half-empty glass of consumerism
We all need to drink more water. A 1998 New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center survey of 3003 Americans found that 75% of those interviewed were ‘chronically dehydrated’ — a condition apparently characterised by fatigue,...
“Diesmal schweigen wir nicht!” (“We won’t be silent this time”)
Germany’s right-wing factions push forward
In another spectacular repeat of European history, a group of right-wing politicians met with an Austrian neo-Nazi last November in a small German town called Potsdam, known for being the seat of residence of Prussian kings and the German Emperor until 1918 The meeting ignited...
Oliver Twist, a Sceptical 9th Grader, and an Orthodox Monastery: The Making of a New Generation in Northern Kosovo
Eager hands reach toward the ceiling as children at the Ismail Qemali school in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo, desperately try to attract the attention of an author who has come to talk to the pupils about her new book. They want to know more about the central character - a...
Tristram Hunt: the Politics of Repatriation
If you came here for a vicious takedown or a strident defence of Tristram Hunt’s position on “colonialism and collecting”, you might be slightly disappointed. Now, it’s clear that the important conversation over decolonisation has continued to ring out across this university’s faculty and student body – reverberating strongly...
Profiles
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 Palo. Set during Stroessner’s dictatorship, it goes in search of the truth surrounding the director’s uncle, a gay ballet dancer who was found dead in...
“They’re side notes in history”: In conversation with Bluestocking Oxford
Perhaps you’ve heard the term ‘bluestocking’ before. Though it came to be used as a misogynistic pejorative, its origins lie in 18th-century Britain, when groups of women would attend literary societies, which provided a space for literary, artistic and intellectual discussion.
I spoke to Olivia Wrafter, Editor in Chief, and...
Culture
Ten Years to Save the West by Liz Truss review: Revenge of the lettuce
I have met Liz Truss only once. It was in Oxford Town Hall in November of last year and I had tried (without success) to smuggle in an iceberg lettuce under my shirt. The lettuce having been confiscated, I made my way into the hall. Very soon Truss climbed...
Cherwell Introducing: Phoebe Blue
Joining me this week is the radiant Phoebe Blue, a 2nd year classicist at Balliol, singer-songwriter, and bassist. Meeting me on a blustery Saturday afternoon outside the Ashmolean, Phoebe told me all about her neo-soul sound, her first busking experience at age nine, and the importance of songwriting as...
Life
Navigating being a baby adult
After complaining that the Easter hunt had gotten too hard this year, my parents were quick to decide that it had in fact been my last hunt as I was an “adult” and it was “getting a bit ridiculous now”. I took this news super well and felt like...
‘Women in STEM’ – empowerment or disempowerment?
We’ve all heard the phrase ‘woman in STEM’; the term is now so well-known that it has left its textbook definition behind and become a sort of half-ironic, half-genuine, inside joke. I’ll use it to comfort my biologist friend through her multiple hour-long lab sessions, I’ll even use it...
