She’s Glad Her Mom Died. And I understand why.
Having been one of those strange children that didn’t grow up with iCarly – I was more of a Victorious fan – I was surprised at my attraction to a book written by an actress best known for wielding a sock full of butter. Perhaps it was the title that drew me in. Well, of course it was. But why did I care so much? Even I wasn’t prepared for the raw emotional intensity this book would deliver.
Released in August 2022, I’m Glad My Mom Died is a candid memoir delving into actress Jennette McCurdy’s childhood as a former child actor, her struggles with eating disorders, addiction, and most prominently, a brutal reflection of her co-dependent relationship with her mother, Debra. We follow Jennette from her young days as a (somewhat) aspiring actress up until after her mother’s death from cancer. Through her visceral writing, we experience the innocent naïveté that would permeate the first pages of her life. She reluctantly agrees to an acting career, launched at age 6, in the hopes of winning her mother’s approval. Whilst many would view a career as a child actor as a dream come true, for young Jennette it was anything but. At the expense of her freedom and happiness, she believes that this sacrifice will grant her unconditional love from her mother. Obviously, it doesn’t. But it’s heartbreaking to see how long it takes to realise this herself.
She confesses that she had been emotionally and sexually abused well into her teenage years, being given routine breast exams and not even being allowed to wash her own hair. Her mother does nothing to stop the development of her eating disorder. In fact, she encourages unhealthy dietary restrictions and enables her subsequent abuse from “The Creator” at Nickelodeon, as she so affectionately names him. We all know she’s talking about Dan Schneider, but by maintaining his anonymity, we are reminded of the ongoing reality for victims of child sexual abuse. And is it really Nickelodeon without the threat of hush money? Although, frankly, I’m more surprised she was allowed to write about that at all.
As I read her memoir, I couldn’t help but wonder when McCurdy’s iCarly co-star, Miranda Cosgrove, would make an appearance. While her appearance is brief, McCurdy fondly recounts their relationship, offering a glimpse of hope amidst the painful experiences she shares. She also touches on her jealousy towards Ariana Grande, who co-starred with her on the iCarly spin-off show, Sam and Cat. McCurdy’s sincerity and vulnerability throughout the memoir is welcomed, offering a rare insight into the intrusive thoughts that many of us have but rarely share.
Despite the harsh title, McCurdy questions why we tend to romanticise the dead. McCurdy asks her mother this at her grave but ultimately admits to wanting to glorify her legacy like everybody else. But when the dead are not here to defend themselves, we are left only with the past. ‘Maybe she would have apologised’, she wonders, but she knows this just won’t do. You can love someone deeply and still acknowledge the happiness you’ve felt since they’ve been gone.
In a sea of celebrity memoirs, I’m Glad My Mom Died stands out as one of the most poignant releases of 2022. McCurdy’s refreshing honesty provides readers with a taste of what it’s like to read a book actually written by the author themselves. Though she was discouraged from writing as a girl, this memoir is a testament to what could have been for Jennette McCurdy. She’s glad her mom died. And I understand why.
I’m Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy)
“I just like having the stuff”: In conversation with the ‘Crockery Crook’
In the Hilary term of 2023, Oxford was whipped into a frenzy. The trend of the term is what could you get away with stealing from a college formal hall. Whatever the appeal student thieves have been reported stealing things as little as forks to still-lit candle sticks. The fad got so bad that colleges such as Magdalen and Balliol allegedly sent emails in order to put a stop to the stash stealers. Magdalen offered amnesty to the dish delinquents claiming that they “are giving you the opportunity to return these items before the end of term with no blame attached.” A cheeky Oxfesser captioned the email screenshot “If anyone is after Magdalen stash…JCR dining room on Friday… [smirk emojis]”. Balliol, in a similar manner, branded the silverware swindlers as “incredibly selfish” after 20 cups were stolen from Hall.
Cherwell has obtained an exclusive anonymous interview with a professional college stash thief. Branding herself as the “Crockery Crook”, in this interview she explains her reasoning behind her thievery, her tactics, and what she plans to do with her growing stash of stolen goods.
Going straight into it I asked her the question that has likely been on all of our minds: “Why do you steal from colleges?”. Her reply was slow, as she thought long and hard about her reasons for doing something that had almost become a habit. Finally answering she claims that “I just like having the stuff. I think it’s kind of cool. It’s a nice little souvenir”, she then goes on to justify her actions “I don’t see it as being that big of a problem. I’m not taking that much.” She explains that “It’s just a thing. We’re all a part of like taking something from each college, it’s like a sort of game. And I just felt like doing it.” It’s a different image of the “selfish” image Balliol paints of these thieves. Is it more accurate to view the trend as a sign of teen spirit? A mischievous game played together by the students? Perhaps. The Crockery Crook reflects on the first time she interacted with a fellow thief “My college mum had a collection of placemats. And I was like, ‘Ooh, let me do that as well.’ She had about five and I was just thought that’s kind of cool.”
Her answer gives a different perspective on how stealing from colleges brings together students, and in the face of all the wealth that these colleges have amassed over hundreds of years, is a couple of placemats and cups really a serious crime? However, what happens after university, I ask, what will you do with this stash once university is over? “I want to keep them,” she answers, “I’m quite a sentimental person, on my wall I’ve got random little bits and bobs that I got when I was at this or that event. It’s a memory thing.” She explains that they’re currently on her shelf at the moment. Along with a collection of other random bits and bobs that she’s got at various events. Though eventually a lot of her stolen hoard will be thrown away, it’s a nice way to remember her time at university.
While this is all nice and mushy, I want to know about the thief persona of the Crockery Crook. “How many colleges have you visited with the intent of stealing?” I ask. This time her answer is quick “Every time I go into a college there is the intent of stealing.” Intrigued, I ask her if she’s ever been caught or close to being caught. Another quick reply “No, I’m too good at my job” she jokes, “I have five placemats, one from Exeter, Balliol, two from Wadham, even one from the Wadham High Table, and a Sommerville one. A wine bottle with the Teddy Hall name on it. Some napkins and some menus, but I’m probably going to get rid of them. I have a Magdalen plate and a Wadham plate.” I ask her if there are any colleges she aspires to add to her collections, stating that “I don’t think I care particularly about the college, but I just want to get little things from the colleges I go to,” though she claims that there aren’t any she aspires to steal from, she aspires to up her game and aim to take home one of the coveted candlesticks from formal hall as she recalls a rumour of someone stealing a still lit candlestick from hall, and another brave soul supposedly stealing a whole chair.
The Crockery Crook is a woman as well as an ethnic minority, I ask her whether her acts are an act of rebellion, taking down the patriarchy and white supremacy that Oxford represents. But she rejects this “I don’t think of it as like, oh I’m rebelling. But I do justify it in that these people have money. It’s not like these colleges are going broke because people are stealing plates.” Though it’s not for some grandiose reason like rebellion, for she’s no Robin Hood she claims, the Crockery Crook emphasises that the trend is more like a tradition and criticises the colleges for suddenly taking issue with it “It feels like how trashing was a whole Oxford tradition. And then all of a sudden, they change their mind and are now like, that’s bad. I feel like this has been a thing for ages, people have been doing it for years.”
The cutlery criminal tradition may be an attested custom imbedded in the forever bizarre Oxford student culture, but what is the Crockery Crook’s final message to those who aspire to be like her? “Just do it. It’s actually not that hard. No one really notices. Bring a tote bag, and slip it in. There’s genuinely no real skill to it. That’s it. That’s my whole advice.”
The Crockery Crook’s words are resounding. Whether you steal from colleges because you want a little souvenir, or because you’re a rebel, you’re part of a collective, a tradition created by Oxford students, for Oxford students. Will silverware stealing suffer the same fate as trashing? It’s likely. But that’s the beauty of Oxford’s weird traditions. Some last hundreds of years, and some are short-lived, only to be revived by future generations looking for some excitement to brighten up the dreary daily life of academia. Maybe what’s important is to live in the moment, no matter what.
Magdalen College sparks controversy with Eid dinner on St George’s Day
Magdalen College’s announcement of an Eid dinner on April 23 has sparked controversy, with multiple news outlets, including The Telegraph, claiming that the college “cancelled” an annual St George’s Day dinner.
Records obtained by The Telegraph indicate that Magdalen held a dinner in celebration of the patron saint of England “in each of the four years prior to the pandemic, from 2016 to 2019”. However, a Magdalen College spokesperson told Cherwell that in the past hundred years the college had “only had five such dinners to mark the occasion”, the most recent of which it claims was in 2018.
The Magdalen College spokesperson insisted that they “have not cancelled a St George’s Day dinner”, as the college “had no plans” to hold one this year. The college also re-iterates that they have no longstanding tradition of holding a St George’s Day dinner. The college adds that it celebrates all major Christian festivals and saints’ days in its chapel. On Sunday, the college will fly the flag of St. George from St. Swithun’s Tower “as we always do” and will also host the University Sermon for St Mark’s Day.
According to The Telegraph the issue of the St George’s Day dinner provoked an “unholy row” within various senior members of the college body. The Catholic Herald later described the Eid formal dinner as an event which “scrapped and replaced” Magdalen College’s previous Christian tradition, despite official statements issued to the contrary.
The college, however, insists instead that it was happy to “support” a request made by college members to host the dinner. A Magdalen College spokesperson underscores the communal element of the dinner, describing it as “the first day that the whole community can come together for the start of Trinity”.
Eid-al-Fitr celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan that takes place on the 9th month of the Islamic calendar where Muslims observe 30 days of fasting abstaining from food and drink from dawn until dusk. This celebration takes place over three days where Muslims take part in an obligatory prayer and donate money to charity whilst spending time with family and friends. Out of respect for the different dietary needs over the period, the college catering team has also provided iftar meals at a subsidised cost for every evening of the month and aimed to prepare halal meat options too.
One Magdalen student recently spoke to Cherwell about the up-coming celebration, sharing that he “deeply values the different cultures that are celebrated at Magdalen and strongly believe that it is one of the best things about the college. Learning about different religions and traditions is front and centre to increased understanding and harmony”.
Magdalen reiterated that they celebrate all major Christian festivals and also celebrate Diwali, Lunar New Year and Chanukah. According to the college spokesperson, the chapel also remains open to the public who are free to join in the Sunday services and Choral Evensong six days a week.
Oxford’s diversity deficit
Recent strike action by university staff across the UK has once again highlighted concerns over the wages and working conditions in academia. Whilst this makes academia less viable as a career in general, it makes it especially difficult for those who come from less privileged backgrounds. This has led to what the Economist has coined Oxford’s ‘Other diversity crisis’: a lack of diversity within the staff.
In comparison to other national universities, Oxford trails behind in various measures of diversity, including the level of women in professorship roles or the percentage of BME (black and minority ethnic) academics. Yet, when looking at the number of fixed-term contracts, 66% of Oxford’s academic staff are on such work agreements. The UK university average is 33%. The diversity problem may thus partly be rooted in the prevailing insecure contracts: job insecurity, low wages, and frequent (re)applications make it difficult for staff to persevere in academia, especially those who come from less privileged backgrounds.
What types of contracts exist?
As the biggest employer in Oxfordshire, the central university alone accounts for almost 15,000 jobs. However, the colleges, which act independently, employ even more. This not only means that the number of fixed-term contracts may in fact be higher (as the 66% only includes data from the university itself) but also that there are various different positions, which come with different contracts. Oftentimes the contracts offered by colleges take these forms:
- No salaried jobs (often graduate students)
These often pay between £230 and £350 for taking a normal-sized tutorial group for eight weeks, one academic told Cherwell. They come with no guarantee of future work.
- Non-stipendiary lectureships
Non-stipendiary lectureships guarantee a certain amount of hours of teaching for the college. They come with an hourly wage and a small retainer, yet similarly, no guarantee of future work.
- Stipendiary lectureships
These are usually one-year contracts with a yearly salary that require a certain amount of tutorial teaching, organising, and often interviewing for a college. Many of these positions are not full-time and lack job security.
A Christ Church job posting for a two-year stipendiary lectureship in history, for example, offers a salary between £21,572 and £24,261, which falls below the UK’s 2022 median salary of £33,000. It requires “nine hours per week of high-quality tutorial teaching” and applicants should “have a doctorate, or one that will be substantially complete before the start date in History”, along with a research record that corresponds to their career stage. The appointment in turn entails “no expectation of permanent employment at Christ Church”.
- Career Development Fellowships (and similar)
These positions are typically offered on a three-year basis and have a salary; academics are expected to do both teaching and research. This role is intended to be a stepping stone to more secure jobs for early-career academics.
Effects of fixed-term contracts
Fixed-term contracts lead to what is sometimes called the “casualisation” of work or the rise of a “gig economy” in academia. Hereby, employment shifts away from permanent, secure contracts to a more casual type of labour, which operates on fixed terms. This leads to frequent turnover in jobs, where those on fixed-term contracts need to regularly search for and adjust to new jobs, and it requires other staff to take on higher workloads to train them. Consequently, many academics may opt to leave academia; and many won’t even join in the first place.
Orlando Lazar, a Career Development Fellow at St Edmund Hall, told Cherwell that “[l]ots and lots of teaching at Oxford is performed by people on these sorts of contracts, where there’s no security that they’ll have a job at the start of the next academic year, and low enough pay that you can’t realistically save for periods of underemployment or unemployment.”
Usually, workers employed on fixed-term contracts by the same employer for four years automatically become permanently employed. However, since many Oxford academics get jobs at a different college after their contract expires, and each college counts as a different employer, this prevents them from becoming permanent.
“[P]eople aren’t just spending some time on insecure contracts as a step on the way to a secure job: they’re staying on those contracts for years and years, or dropping out of academia entirely. They’re propping up the entire system.”
The quality of teaching is also affected: “I know from experience that it’s much easier to do that work well when you don’t have to split your attention between the present, the impending end of your contract, and the level of your bank account.” Lazar’s current fellowship will be the first where he teaches the same students from matriculation to graduation.
A UCU survey conducted across the UK found that too many mandated teaching hours can have further negative effects on research. To start, 71% of casualised teachers said they did not have enough paid time to give their students the feedback they deserved. As well, 81% of respondents said that their own research was negatively affected by short-term contracts and 96% of respondents agreed that genuinely innovative research would be advanced by more secure contracts.
The study also found that 71% of respondents believed that their mental health had been damaged by being employed on fixed-term contracts; 43% claimed it even affected their physical health.
Alongside this, Oxford is also an expensive city to live in – high housing prices and a lack of housing support from the university add to the strain academics face. A study by the job website Adzuna found that Oxford was the third most expensive city to live in, with 32% of income spent on rent.
How this affects diversity
The ability to deal with financial and job security is often unequally distributed, making it harder for less privileged groups to enter and remain in academia. Many may not have the ability to accept low-paying jobs or accept the risks that come with this. Oxford University currently employs 4415 staff who are not from the United Kingdom, nearly a third of their whole academic workforce. Having to renew visas without the guarantee of a stable job or salary is an additional problem these non-UK nationals may face.
Statistically, the level of academic BME staff in Oxford is also lower than across the UK: whilst it is 9% at Oxford, it has averaged at 20% nationwide. 12% of professors in the UK are also ethnic minorities – at Oxford, 6% of statutory professors and 8% of associate professors are BME. The university is targeting 9% and 11%, respectively, by 2029.
According to Oxford Staffing Data, “BME applicants were furthermore less likely to be appointed than white applicants, with 16% of UK applicants of University-led academic posts being BME and only 9% being appointed over the past three years. This was similarly observed among research posts: 25% of applicants were BME, yet only 16% were appointed. Non-UK applicants also experienced disproportionately low rates of success.” Overall, only 11 out of the 1952 permanent academic staff at Oxford are black.
The proportion of women in professorship roles was similarly below the UK average: women constituted 28.5% of professorships nationwide, yet only made up 19% of statutory professorships (the most senior academic grade) in Oxford in 2020/21. Within medical sciences, social sciences, maths, physical and life sciences, and humanities, women made up 8.2%, 29.3%, 15.1%, and 31.4% of professorships, respectively. Oxford intends for 27% of professorship roles to be filled by women by 2029.
Notably, more women and BME staff are on fixed-term contracts at Oxford: 74% of women were on fixed-term contracts compared to 61% of men. 83% of BME staff were on fixed-term contracts, which only applied to 61% of white staff.
Tim Soutphommasane, Oxford’s newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer also told Cherwell that “[t]here are areas of representation where Oxford is starting from a lower base than other UK universities. At the same time, there are areas where Oxford’s diversity is perhaps higher than what some might expect: for example, 23 percent of Oxford’s research staff identify as BME.”
What is Oxford doing?
Dr Soutphommasane also told Cherwell: “In my first three months here, we’ve funded our staff networks for BME staff, LGBT+ staff, and staff with disabilities. We’ve announced an EDI studentship to enable undergraduates and graduates interested in EDI research or project to have a placement with our Equality and Diversity Unit. We’re creating new forums to share knowledge and experiences on EDI.”
Future work will include the implementation of the University’s Race Equality Strategy, which was finalised last year.” Amongst other measures, this intends to close the Ethnicity Pay Gap, establish representative and inclusive decision-making and governance structures, tackle bullying and harassment, and increase the proportions of senior BME staff. The university has also published guidelines on inclusive recruitment, which encourages departments to take positive action by supporting under-represented applicants through targeted training, mentoring, and encouragement. However, final decisions are made on the basis of merit.
“This does involve culture change, and making progress does demand sustained efforts. It also requires an understanding that work on this is integral to our success as a global institution.”
Professor Irene Tracey, Oxford’s Vice Chancellor, previously announced an independent inquiry into the pay and working conditions for all University staff, which will also look into fixed-term contracts. The time frame for this is unclear.
McCoys Kebab van returns to Pembroke Square
A popular kebab van, McCoys Express Food, has returned to Pembroke Square.
The van had previously closed whilst waiting for the Drivers and Vehicles Standards Agency to grant its operating licence.
Mccoys advertises itself on Facebook as “Oxford’s favourite kebab van.”
The return may prove controversial however, as Pembroke College, situated on Pembroke square, has made attempts to have McCoys moved since 2003.
The college previously claimed that students “run the gauntlet to get home as revellers flock around the van”, citing those that buy food from the van after a night at the pub or club.
Last year, the college failed again to get the kebab van moved. Instead, McCoys was able to announce on Facebook eight days ago that it is “coming back with a bang. Hope you guys are hungry.”
The van operates seven days a week between 6.30pm and 4am. Upon its return, it will also offer a delivery service between 6.30pm and 2am.
McCoys has also announced that it will be adding mozzarella dippers to its menu.
When asked, a Pembroke student commented that students are generally excited about the return, particularly because of its convenience for the college. The student felt that the noise complaints were not a serious problem.
Strike action cancels oral language exams for finalists
Oxford University Modern Languages oral exams have been cancelled for final year students due to strike action.
Students were informed of this cancellation on the afternoon of 5th April following confirmation from the University and College Union (UCU) that a marking and assessment boycott (MAB) would begin on Thursday 20 April.
The University assures students that “the Faculty’s decision has not been taken lightly and that the cancellation of the FHS Oral will not affect the overall outcome of your degree”.
In two emails to students in early April, the University explained that the mark for the oral exam is “unlikely to make a difference to degree classification”. The oral exam normally only counts for half of a paper when a candidate’s marks are calculated by the ‘normal route’.
The oral exam is also not accounted for when higher class degrees are awarded by the ‘alternative route’, where the final classification is based on the number of papers with a mark in a given class.
One final year student told Cherwell that she feels that “in general speaking should be worth more of the degree and valued more than half a paper”.
The University has acknowledged that they “[c]onsider it important that your [final year] oral work during the course be acknowledged on your final degree transcript”. Thus, whilst no Distinctions will be granted, final year candidates will be given a Pass or Fail for the oral component.
The certificate of a Pass will be given upon confirmation that the candidate has attended and actively participated in eight oral classes (for each language if studying multiple) this academic year. This is a criterion the University expects the majority “will have no difficulty in meeting” by the middle of Trinity. Candidates can make up missed sessions at the start of Trinity.
Hearing the news of the cancellation one final year student said she reacted with “initial disappointment because their year group had been building up to it after three years worth of classes and extra sessions. In prioritising speaking, other aspects were slightly neglected during this time, such as literature”.
The student pointed out that this exam is also the opportunity for final year languages students to “properly show progress after the year abroad”, suggesting that speaking “is the most rewarding part of the degree where improvement is most noticeable”, and is “most directly relevant to the year abroad”.
However, the student did acknowledge that not all the revision will be fruitless as “for most people speaking preparation is helpful for paper 1 (writing)”. In addition, the student felt that “there’s not much else the University could have done due to the lateness of the strike announcement… there was no real good alternative”.
Some students responded to the original email with alternative suggestions to ensure the oral could take place. However, the University confirmed in a follow-up email that none of these would be possible.
The modern language oral exams were scheduled to take place between Monday 17th and Friday 21st April (0th week). Some students suggested having the orals the week before (at the end of week -1) to avoid industrial action. The University pointed out the following obstacles which made this impossible. Firstly, the closure of University faculty offices for Easter from Thursday 6th April until Tuesday 11th April would leave only a couple of days upon return to organize the orals before the proposed date. The University described the organisation of the orals as “a hugely complex operation” which “would not be possible in two working days”.
Furthermore, the University told students that they “had to take this prompt action because [they] are not able to guarantee the attendance, at the exams, of all examiners… Cancellation was necessary to avoid any uncertainty and, most importantly, to ensure that candidates are all treated equally. […] With the boycott commencing on the Thursday, it will be impossible to guarantee equitable treatment for all the c. 300 candidates across the week.”
In the follow up email they expand on this reasoning. During the Easter break, many academic and administrative colleagues may take some annual leave, and therefore not be reading emails. Some of the candidates, examiners, native speaker assessors and Exams Schools staff may have left Oxford for the break, possibly going abroad. They may not be able to return in time to hold the exams early.
Furthermore, they decline the possibility of postponing the exams in their first message, sympathising with the students that it “would interfere with your revision and the start of the written papers (we are mindful that some Joint Schools papers start as early as the end of the first week of full term, Friday 28 April)”.
A student that Cherwell spoke to described the general year group reaction as “mixed”. It seemed that generally among others, “bilingual people were disappointed”. However, “some students were relieved, for example Russian students, as they didn’t have a year abroad and didn’t feel prepared”. Furthermore, “people doing ab initio languages who had problems with visas because of Brexit, so could only spend limited time in the country, were also on the whole relieved about it”.
The University advises those who will not be able to attend the eight classes to speak with their tutors. They mention that a ‘Mitigating Circumstances notice’ may be suggested for some students further to this conversation.
For Russian and Czech students the cancellation of the oral component also means the Listening Comprehension is also cancelled, as it is part of the oral exam.
This action has raised some concern amongst students over the possibility of further exams being cancelled. However a student told Cherwell that “the faculty haven’t given us any details about whether it will affect further exams”. Given that exams begin on 22nd May, the student expressed hope that the oral will be the only assessment affected.
An Oxford University spokesperson said that the University is “recognising our colleagues’ right to take industrial action” whilst “working to minimise disruption for students – and in particular… taking all reasonable steps to ensure no student is disadvantaged in examinations and assessments.”
The University assured that “with specific regards to the cancellation of Modern Language oral exams, Exam Board Chairs will ensure that no students are disadvantaged in any way as a consequence of this action”.
Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’: A Tenth Anniversary Retrospective
This spring marks the tenth anniversary of French duo Daft Punk’s fourth and last album, Random Access Memories. There’s a chance the name doesn’t sound familiar to you now, but this album was big at the time—both before and after it came out. The rollout is still remarkable in how slow and gargantuan it was, with over two months of anticipation-building teasers anywhere from physical billboards to Coachella to SNL. And, when the album finally came out, the reception matched the hype—lead single ‘Get Lucky’ was the group’s first and only UK #1, and Daft Punk were essentially the protagonists of the 2014 Grammy Awards, two white-clad robot-heads collecting win after win after win, topping it off with the fifth and most important ‘Album of the Year’.
This still does not explain why we should be looking back at this album ten years on. Albums happen, they get big, even huge, but very few remain in the public consciousness after the last of their singles fizzles out of the Top 100. An album isn’t a child, we have no obligation to celebrate its birthdays, be they double-digits or not.
That said—when it comes to Daft Punk, it’s a bit of a different story.
Daft Punk have been around since 1997, which means we’ve had enough time to see whether their sound has had any effect on the landscape of music as a whole. And, decidedly, it has. Not only have countless artists from Avicii and Skrillex to Jay-Z heralded the duo’s early releases as life-changing, but their second album Discovery has often been credited as a pivotal predecessor to the EDM genre. So, the obvious question follows: if Daft Punk’s early 2000s music bled over into the pop and dance music of the 2010s, could we now be seeing the echoes of their 2013 project in today’s pop trends?
I’m arguing that we absolutely are.
For us to understand what Random Access Memories represents, we need to understand what it meant as a change of direction from Daft Punk’s previous sound. A lot of the talk surrounding the album does not make sense otherwise—typical album-writing activities like doing studio sessions or playing real drums or collaborating with other artists are mentioned with a tone of awed surprise, as if they are the strangest most topsy-turvy concepts. However, hearing even one Daft Punk track written before 2008 immediately explains why the duo’s fourth album was the first one they recorded in a studio: their signature sound is usually created not out of live instruments but an intricate mesh of samples chaotically worked into dance music (only to be lovingly detangled by meticulous fans).
Random Access Memories took what could be argued to be the complete opposite approach—instead of upcycling retro songs into a new-sounding product, the duo instead attempted to create music with newly recorded instruments but carrying a retro groove. Iconic disco guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers, whose instantly recognisable bright-timbred guitar appears on multiple Random Access Memories tracks, says of the project that “it’s like they went back to go forward”. If the early 2010s, when the album was being composed, are full to the brim with electronic and digital-age-sounding music—from the 2009 robopop of ‘Boom Boom Pow’ to the 2012 meme-fuelled EDM trap of ‘Harlem Shake’—then returning to vintage synthesisers and acoustic instruments is downright counterculture for a dance music group. As ‘Fragments of Time’ feature Todd Edwards says, “You’re listening to [the tracks] and they’re future classics. [Daft Punk] brought the sound of something that’s been lost for a long time.”
As of this March, interviews are not the only places where you can hear Edwards’ excitement over his collaboration with Daft Punk. As an early teaser for the Random Access Memories 10th Anniversary Edition, which contains 35 new minutes of demos and outtakes, the duo have released ‘The Writing of Fragments of Time’. During the track’s eight minutes, we can hear Todd Edwards and Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter throw lyrical and melodic ideas to each other over an often-interrupted instrumental loop, a seemingly uncut recording taken directly from their songwriting session. This is very representative of Daft Punk’s method—the band’s collaborators talk of the way the duo recorded continuous improvised jams rather than any prewritten material, only to be mix-and-matched after the fact. The ‘Fragments of Time’ line “turning our days into melodies”, one that Edwards can be heard singing and then passionately complimenting during the new recording, is a brilliantly concise way to capture the spirit of Random Access Memories: recordings of jam sessions over four years and two continents end up coming together seamlessly to form the sound of the album. The result of this unorthodox recording method is an album chock-full of legends—overlaid upon each other, enmeshed with each other, or sometimes being given centre-stage to monologue about their careers like on the track ‘Giorgio by Moroder’. As soon as your ear starts picking these different building blocks apart, you get a real feel for what Bangalter meant when he claimed that “we wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samplers, (…) but with people”.
So, the question remains. What is there in our current pop landscape that could possibly have its roots in Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories?
Well, of course, first of all we have the monogenre. This album brings together disco, funk, pop, and electronic influences in an early example of the genre that pop music has been tending towards since the mid-2010s: that is, no genre. While the monogenre was first being conceptualised around the time Random Access Memories was released, nowadays it’s a given in the current music industry. Neither newcomers, such as Lil Nas X with his record-breaking country-fusion ‘Old Town Road’, nor established voices, like Ariana Grande with her trap-infused Positions album, shy away from blending what would usually be considered disparate genres. As overlap grows between the indie, pop, rap, and rock charts, Thomas Bangalter’s quote—”we really liked the idea of breaking all the barriers between these musical genres”—starts sounding less and less about their album exclusively and more and more about the duo’s plans for music as a whole.
But what genres do remain also seem to follow a markedly Daft-Punk-esque trajectory. The Grammy Awards’ website declares jubilantly at the end of last year that “pop has seen a disco revival seeping in over the last few years”, and gives the example of Beyonce taking inspiration from Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ for her 2022 album Renaissance—the original Donna Summer track being, of course, produced and written by Random Access Memories collaborator Giorgio Moroder. This disco revival has certainly been in full bloom post-pandemic, but the rise of retro had been building up for years—albums like Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and The Weeknd’s After Hours follow the Daft Punk tradition in not just sampling or interpolating 70s tracks but writing new music that could have easily fit on the charts forty years earlier. The Weeknd is actually important to mention here: not only has he been named “one of the biggest torchbearers of retro”, but his two 2016 hits ‘Starboy’ and ‘I Feel It Coming’ are the last two projects on which Daft Punk ever worked on as a duo, leaving The Weeknd with the seemingly-unlikely but actually very fitting responsibility of carrying forward Daft Punk’s legacy.
I want to make it clear that I’m not claiming Random Access Memories to be the one album that brought the retro-pastiche revolution to pop music; I can’t ignore the impact of other hugely influential musicians like Amy Winehouse and Lana del Ray when it comes to the vintage-pop trend. What I am arguing, however, is that when the Cherwell review for Random Access Memories, written almost exactly ten years ago, called the album ‘defining’, I get to confirm that as true an entire decade later. Defining, absolutely, for Daft Punk as songwriters and musicians, but also more largely defining for pop music as a whole.
Music and Cosplay: In conversation with MAKO Girl and cosplayer, A-Ni Ochoa
Cosplay, a portmanteau of ‘costume play’, is an activity and performance art where in which participants wear costumes to represent a specific character. The term was invented by Japanese film producer and director, Nobuyuki Takahashi, after seeing costumed fans at the 1984 World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles. However, it’s said that the history of cosplaying lies in the masquerade balls in 15th-century Europe. Gradually, the practice grew, developed, and evolved into modern-day cosplaying.
Of the many modern-day cosplayers, A-Ni Ochoa is one of the most well-known on the internet. With 940k followers on TikTok, the music artists’ cosplays have captivated the internet. She tells Cherwell all about the world of cosplaying and what it means for her as a Black woman and music artist.
A-Ni tells us that her interest in cosplaying came to surface in early 2018, when her older sister was into cosplay and A-Ni was invited to go with her to MOMOCON, knowing that she had an interest in anime/gaming. She said she “loved everything about it!” and “was in awe of the cosplays that people had and I wanted to be able to be a part of that.”
However, as cosplaying enters more mainstream media, issues like ethnicity and gender become more and more controversial. Issues such as blackface, brownface and yellowface become greater topics of debate as many cosplayers still feel that it’s acceptable in order to be true to their cosplays. Further issues are created where cosplayers of colour face criticism when cosplaying white characters, facing backlash claiming that ‘that character isn’t black you can’t cosplay as them’.
I ask A-Ni what it means to her to be a black cosplayer when the cosplaying community and the anime community can oftentimes be hostile to black people. A-Ni tells us that “It’s very disheartening to hear that people would be hostile to black cosplayers. To me it feels as if we haven’t progressed much as a community. Cosplaying is supposed to be fun and feel like a safe space that anyone can enjoy, regardless of what their skin complexion is or race. We have to support and protect POC cosplayers so that they don’t feel discouraged or worry about what others might think about them cosplaying. To help combat that, having a diverse community and a safe space within it can definitely be the start of making a better impact!”
Her positive attitude truly surprised me. As I myself am a big fan of her cosplays and the general cosplay community, I know too well the levels of abuse that cosplayers can receive, especially people of colour and women. I ask her if she herself has ever experienced colourism or racism when sharing her cosplays, and how she deals with it. “As a black cosplayer, there are often times when I get a wave of hate comments from cosplaying characters that aren’t black. I would get called racial slurs, and many other things, and even had experiences of people messaging me that they didn’t like that I cosplayed a certain character.
Despite getting those types of comments, I ignore them completely and to be honest it never affects me at all. Due to me already being in the music industry prior to cosplaying I’ve already built the thick skin for it and received worse comments on that end. But overall focusing on the hate did not get me as far as I am or halt me from doing what I love to do. It was catering to the audience that do love me and being an inspiration to other black cosplayers that got me to where I am now.”
A-Ni Ochoa is one-third of the Hip-Hop/Pop group, MAKO Girls. Based in Atlanta, the group features the three West Indian sisters Kena, Mimi, and A-Ni. The girls have performed live throughout the United States and the Bahamas with one of them as young as 14. Being in the public eye for as long as they have, and as young as they are, it’s not a surprise that A-Ni and her sisters have built a thick skin against internet trolls.
Though despite having a thick skin against those on the internet, how does she feel about the cosplayer community itself? The anime and cosplaying community has been accused many times of misogyny. Female cosplayers experiencing over-sexualisation, assault and lewd comments online. The anime community similarly has been accused of underrating its female characters and seeing them as figures of sexual desire rather than characters of genuine admiration or interest. These experiences have alienated women from cosplaying spaces and created an environment within the cosplaying community that could be said to be hostile to women. A-Ni’s take on this is that “From the experiences that I have with the anime community, I feel like the women in the community are lifting each other up constantly. I love and respect all of my mutuals because they always support any cosplay that I do. They are the first ones to comment, repost, or share my videos. And they truly make being a cosplayer worthwhile and fun. Now with the misogyny that’s been occurring, I haven’t been on receiving end of it, or heard of it happening, so I won’t be able to add too much to that topic. But that’s just my experience, especially since my audience is majority women.”
It’s beautiful that a young woman has the support of her community online. But it’s not just her female audience that supports the young cosplayer. I ask A-Ni how her family feels about her cosplays. Older generations, especially African and Caribbean parents, tend to struggle to understand things like cosplaying and anime. But A-Ni answers that “My parents are very supportive of me cosplaying, they just show it in different ways! My mom would always interact with my content, she’ll be excited for any character’s cosplay that I show her, and she loves the outfits despite her not knowing the show. Whereas my dad would see my post interact with some of them, but any milestone that I hit on my page he’ll always be one of the first to congratulate me. I am very grateful to have them.”
Though A-Ni explains that there are times when it is extremely difficult maintaining multiple social media presences as a music artist and cosplayer with her fully booked schedule. It is clear through her social media stats and bomb-ass music (stream ‘Leverage’ by MAKO Girls on Spotify!), that this is a both dedicated and talented young cosplayer and music artist.
Hooked on Hooks? Thoughts on the current crochet craze
I first learnt to crochet when I was nine, waiting for my brother to finish a sports class. I noticed one of his friend’s mums making a blanket, and was absolutely fascinated by how she was doing it. She ended up teaching me how to make a small flower, and kindly gave me one of her hooks and some wool. The next week I took back several flowers to show her and I have been crocheting ever since. It’s safe to say I was hooked (pun intended).
In the last few years I have been excited to notice a massive surge in the amount of young people who are crocheting regularly, and I think we can all agree that it is no longer just grannies making Christmas jumpers – although we love those too! Everyday on Instagram I see posts featuring everything from coasters, to bags, soft toys, and bikinis, and it is no surprise that the Instagram tag #crochet has over 46 million posts.
However, it is no secret that the crochet trend has caught the eye of fast fashion clothing brands in a concerning way. Not only have there been frequent accusations of large companies plagiarising self-employed designers work, crochet cannot be created by a machine due to its three-dimensional structure, and whilst you can get machines that design something similar, they do not look the same. For this reason crochet is a dangerously time-consuming fast fashion nightmare which is helping to fuel exploitation in sweatshops.
When considering this I turned to Shein to see how they are marketing this trend. Shein sells a crochet bucket hat for £6.50, made of 5 floral squares and joined with double crochets. I decided to see how long it would take me to make, and was unsurprised to find that just the 4 colours of yarn required for the design would cost me £6 (prices for Hobby Craft’s own brand selection April 2023), leaving just 50p if I was to attempt to sell a similar product matching Shein’s prices. Making the squares for the hat took around 30 minutes each, so including joining time, that was at least 3 hours of making time. Whilst re-creating this hat is a fun and very manageable project it did make me very aware that fast fashion brands are not only making the market inaccessible for small business owners, but that it is almost impossible for them to be paying their workers, as even excluding materials costs the price of the product is considerably less than living wage for the time it would take to make it.
So for those of us inspired by the infamous ‘Harry Styles cardigans’, Katie Perry’s Granny Square American Idol Dress, or Tom Daley’s Crochet Instagram page @MadewithlovebyTomDaley, who want to avoid fast fashion but don’t want to pay hundreds of pounds, it is the perfect time to grab a hook and take up a new hobby and learn to crochet!
Whether you are a crochet novice or a hardened hooker, here are my top five tips for crocheters:
1) Buy a decent quality hook and some wool – don’t start with a ‘ready-made crochet kit’
I’m not saying you should go out and spend loads on money on a fancy hooks set or hundreds of balls of wool, but for the same price as a beginners kit from a craft store you will be able to get a metal hook and a ball of wool, and with the amount of free patterns available online it is possible to find beginner tutorials that will make a much nicer final piece than a craft store kit and can be tailored to your crochet dreams.
2) Use a video pattern – there are lots on YouTube
On the subject of patterns…whilst ‘book’ patterns may be more traditional, video patterns have the advantage of you being able to see the creator making the stitches. This means that you don’t have to learn loads of code words – who wants to be worrying about what ch, sc, dc, hdc, and sc mean when they are just trying to make a fun hat? or worry about whether you are following a US or EU pattern (the stitches have different names!).
3) Start with something small
Who doesn’t love finishing a project? Not only is a small project cheaper in terms of materials, the serotonin from a completed project will always be a draw for a busy student.
4) Practise a pattern with lots of the same stitch
As with the above, getting really good at one stitch is a great way to quickly build confidence and develop your skills. Lots of simple tops and cardigans will do this, but a Granny Square is a great way to start because they use two stitches and build quickly.
5) Pay attention to your tension
One of the biggest mistakes crocheters make is not paying attention to their tension – as your work builds, tension is what will make your stitches look even and keep your project to the right size. To keep your tension uniform, focus on the way you are holding your hook and yarn, note if the stitches feel tight or loose as you pull the hook through. It is something that gets easier with practice! And if you get stuck, check out Krista Cagle’s great article on Easy Crochet, ‘How To Get Perfect Crochet Tension’.