Thursday 11th September 2025
Blog Page 186

Teddy Hall latest Oxford college to condemn Kathleen Stock

Jakub Trybull
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Teddy Hall latest Oxford college to condemn Kathleen Stock

St Edmund Hall is one of the latest Oxford colleges to pass a motion condemning the Oxford Union’s decision to host gender critical feminist, Kathleen Stock.

The college joined a growing number of others, including Mansfield, Christ Church, St Anne’s and St Hilda’s, when their JCR passed a motion on Monday night condemning the Union’s decision. Other colleges, such as Hertford, are proposing similar motions in upcoming JCR meetings.

Like other JCR motions, Teddy Hall’s motion resolved to “condemn the Union for platforming Kathleen Stock and call on her invite to be rescinded in support of the trans community”. The Teddy JCR will also reaffirm their support of the trans community and release a public statement written by their LGBTQ+ rep.

Harry Mcwilliam, proposer of the Teddy Hall motion, told Cherwell: “JCRs passing these motions shows that Oxford colleges support trans people, we hope that the union rescinds its invitation, as was said in the official campaign […] statement. The statements already made stand for themselves, and the motions passed by JCRs reflect these sentiments.”

Other colleges’ motions include similar statements of solidarity, with many re-iterating that “the rights of minority groups should never be up for debate,” and that transphobia should not be welcomed by the Oxford community. A motion from St Anne’s further claimed: “​​The Union has made the choice to amplify a voice that actively harms trans students, trans people and the trans community at large.” 

The Oxford University LGBTQ+ Society told Cherwell it is “fully supportive of the[se] efforts … against the union platforming of Stock and in support of those who have suffered abuse as a result of her visit, some of which are our committee members”. The Society encourages all Oxford colleges to follow suit. They are in contact with all the common rooms across the university and have issued a statement which underscores the need for collective action against the Union’s invitation.

Alfie Davis, the OULGBTQ+ Society’s Welfare Secretary and an officer on for the SU LGBTQ+ Campaign, told Cherwell: “Every day, an ongoing choice is made by the President and Librarian of the union to not disinvite Stock, and they must be held accountable for the consequences of spreading her misinformation and hatred.

“Despite promises from senior union officials in our JCR meeting, the union is yet to reach out to the community in any way to condemn the hatred and violent threats we, and I myself, have received online as a result of speaking out. We were promised that a statement would be released last Sunday – a week has passed, and nothing. Either the union is completely disorganised, or they simply do not care enough to put out the presumably empty words of condemnation they assured us were coming.”

The Oxford Union released a statement Monday night after consultation from the Standing and Access Committees. In it the Union stresses that this event will “question and challenge” Kathleen Stock, as “any member who asks a question will have an opportunity to ask a follow up question. This format is designed to uphold the Union’s founding principle of freedom of expression for both our members and our guest speakers.”

Due to the sensitive nature of content discussed in this event, the Union will also provide “additional welfare resources available on the evening.” The Union concluded their statement by reiterating their commitment to civil discussion: “free speech is a two way street and we respect the right to speech of those who disagree with our hosting of the event and condemn the doxxing and harassment that some of them have faced.”

Alfie reiterated that trans rights are “far from a trivial issue, and as a community, we’re tired of having to fight and argue for our right to exist. We’re tired of the union platforming divisive speakers to generate controversy, and we’re tired of their refusal to listen to the communities they hurt by doing so.” Co-chair of LGBT campaign Bella Done told Cherwell: “I’m glad JCRs are proposing motions as the co-chair of the LGBT campaign.” Regarding the JCR motions, Alfie told Cherwell: “This is vital grassroots support and solidarity, and is more important than ever, so I’d encourage anyone reading this to show up vocally in support of the community!”

This article was updated at 22:50 on 08/05/2023 to include updated Oxford Union comment.

Oxford archaeologists find Roman military camps in northern Arabia using Google Earth

Anika Gupta
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Oxford archaeologists find Roman military camps in northern Arabia using Google Earth

Oxford’s School of Archaeology has recently found three new Roman camps across northern Arabia using Google Earth, through a remote sensing survey. The camps were identified using satellite imaging and may provide evidence of a formerly undiscovered and undocumented military campaign that spanned across east Jordan into Saudi Arabia.

The camps were identified by the Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa project (EAMENA) and were later photographed by the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan project (APAAME).

A report on the findings, published on the 27th March in the journal Antiquity, suggests the discovery may be linked to a possible Roman takeover of the Nabataean Kingdom in AD 106 CE. The Nabataean Kingdom was famously a wealthy, political entity centred on the flourishing city of Petra, Jordan.

Chief researcher, Dr Michael Fradley, who first identified the camps on Google Earth, explains that there is little uncertainty regarding the date of the camps. He said: “We are almost certain they were built by the Roman army, given the typical playing card shape of the enclosures with opposing entrances along each side. The only notable difference between them is that the westernmost camp is significantly larger than the two camps to the east.”

Experts are indicating that these camps are extremely important in providing new insight into Roman campaigning in the Arab world and the establishment of power. Roman military expert Dr Mike Bishop highlights that “Roman forts and fortresses show how Rome held a province, but temporary camps reveal how they acquired it in the first place”.

These newly found camps are located in a straight line from Bayir to Dûmat al-Jandal, a former settlement in the eastern region of the Nabataean kingdom (now modern-day Saudi Arabia).

The team estimates that the distance between each camp is between 37 km and 44 km. Due to this information, they speculate that it would have been too far to have been crossed by infantry in a day, and were therefore instead built by a unit, possibly on camels, which could have been able to cover an extremely barren terrain in a single day.

The distance of the camps also suggests that other camps may have existed further west at the later Umayyad fort and well station at Bayir.

Surviving Roman history suggests that the transfer of power was a peaceful event at the end of the last Nabataean king’s reign, yet new evidence of the camps indicates a forceful Roman takeover instead.

Though archaeologists still need to confirm the date of the camps through in-person investigation on the ground, there are other questions that remain unanswered concerning the camps. Co-author of the paper, Professor Andrew Wilson asks: “Why does the western camp have twice the capacity of the other two? Did the force split, and if so, where did the other half go? Was it half wiped out in a battle, or did they remain in the western camp to resupply the other camps with water?”

The research is ongoing and supported by the Arcadia Fund. The full paper can be found at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/lost-campaign-new-evidence-of-roman-temporary-camps-in-northern-arabia/538421A1D1F89C6EA23F1B757D08CB9

Russian Ambassador who denies atrocities to speak at Oxford Russian Club

Charlie Hancock and Rufus Hall
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Russian Ambassador who denies atrocities to speak at Oxford Russian Club

Russia’s Ambassador to the UK will take part in a Q&A hosted by the Oxford Russian Club on Thursday 11th May. The invitation has been criticised for its potential to be used by Russian propagandists who want to claim Russia still has legitimacy in western circles.

As a representative of the Russian government, Andrey Kelin has denied reports that Russian forces committed atrocities in Ukraine. He called the Bucha massacre, where hundreds of people were found dead, as “fake” and “staged by Ukrainian special forces”. Evidence of war crimes including torture, executions, and attacks on civilians and their homes have been under investigation since Russian soldiers withdrew from the city in March 2022. The Oxford University Ukrainian Society added to Cherwell that “as some of the Ukrainian scholars in Oxford witnessed this tragedy, the presence of Mr Kelin in the city wedges a knife in an open wound.”

In an interview with Al Jazeera, he also denied that Russia bombed a theatre in Mariupol which civilians were using as a shelter while the city was under siege. An investigation by the Associated Press indicated that the strike killed 600 people, including children. Amnesty International decried the attack as a “clear war crime”.

Image: The ruins of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater. The Russian word for children – ДЕТИ – was written outside the building to tell Russian forces that the theatre was not a military target. Credit: Google Maps, March 2022

Dr Jade McGlynn, a research fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, suggested that the Russian Club’s invitation could be weaponised in propaganda. She told Cherwell that people wouldn’t understand that the invitation came from a student society rather than Oxford University, and that the University’s prestige could be interpreted as an endorsement. “This is going to give further succour to the idea that there are lots of people in Britain who want to hear the Russian view, and that there’s still support for Russia among some Britons,” she said.

McGlynn also expressed doubts about whether attendees would be able to hold the ambassador accountable. “Everyone can see he’s done plenty of interviews. Some really great journalists have struggled to hold him to account,” she said. “His job is to represent the Russian government. And his job is therefore, in my view, to justify and convince people that what amounts to a genocidal invasion of a neighbouring peaceful country is in some way acceptable.”

The Oxford University Ukrainian Society has contacted the Ukrainian Embassy about Kelin’s invitation. 

Over 200 Russian diplomats were expelled from embassies in Europe and beyond between February and April 2022. However, the UK did not follow suit. The Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy called for Kelin to be expelled after the Bucha massacre, saying “there should be no place for Russia’s ambassador to parrot the regime’s lies or intelligence agents to continue their hostile activity in the UK”.

As of May 7 2023, the war has been going for 438 days. The Oxford Russian Club has previously been criticised for downplaying the invasion, declining to comment or take an official position in the wake of the invasion. The club has a doctrine of ‘political non-alignment’, and says its aims are to promote Russian culture and language in the University.

All attendees will have to present ID to gain entry to the venue, which will only be disclosed to registered guests in an email, “for security reasons”.

The Oxford University Ukrainian Society told Cherwell: “As far as we know, Oxford Russian Club is not affiliated with the University of Oxford. However, […] we hope that the university will cut short any contractual, commercial or non-commercial relationship with this organisation. 

“Mr Kelin represents a country headed by a war criminal, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. HE Kelin is already banned from Parliament’s estate in Westminster. Hosting events of this kind might affect the reputation of the Oxford city community that welcomed hundreds of Ukrainians displaced as a result of the unlawful Russian invasion of Ukraine since the Kremlin propaganda might use it as a publicity stunt to show that Russian diplomats with dubitable agenda are warmly welcomed by the world’s leading institutions.”

The Oxford Russian Club has been approached for comment, and this article will be updated to reflect any comments Cherwell receives.

The Identity Crisis of Everything Everywhere All At Once

Hayley Chow
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The Identity Crisis of Everything Everywhere All At Once

‘Here, all we’ll get are a few specks of time where any of this actually makes sense.’

In an alternate universe, you are not an Oxford student reading Cherwell. In another alternate universe, you are a pinata hanging from a tree. In yet another alternate universe, you have hot dogs for fingers. 

If the aforementioned hot dogs seem to be just one absurdity among many in Everything Everywhere All At Once, they should not be so lightly dismissed. The film’s exploration of the wacky, disordered multiverse raises profound questions about endless parallel selves and thus broader ideas about one’s identity.

I often feel as though I lead three completely different lives: my life back home, my life at university, and my life during my year abroad. Just as the film’s protagonist, Evelyn Wang, jumps across the multiverse acquiring skills from various realities, so am I the amalgam of seemingly irreconcilable selves which reveal themselves to be inextricably linked. We are not singular beings, but rather contain a multitude of versions. We are everything, everywhere, all at once. But at the same time, we are nowhere. We are not rooted in, nor do we belong in one place; we criss-cross worlds and often even cultures. Indeed, Daniel Scheinert, one of the directors, commented, ‘The whole immigrant story is kind of already a multiverse story because you exist in three or four worlds.’

Yet we would be mistaken in believing that we simply lead such lives because we actively shape them. We find our identities and create them. Evelyn’s daughter, Joy, exemplifies the collision of worlds. Torn between her American mindset, Evelyn’s traditional Chinese values, and an inability to speak in anything but broken Mandarin to Gong Gong, Joy’s identity does not fit into any singular category. Evelyn, her husband Waymond, and Joy are fundamentally multifaceted. Each chooses their own way to fight: Evelyn with her fists clenched, Waymond with his optimism, and Joy with her bagel (a way to become oblivious to ‘the pain and guilt that you have for making nothing of your life’). 

Everything Everywhere All At Once was lauded as a breakthrough for Asian representation in Hollywood. But representation here is not just about race – it probes a yet more complex question of finding one’s identity in a different country. The film’s depiction of the troubled lives of Asian immigrants encapsulated my own experiences. I watched the film in September, drawn not by the critical acclaim, but rather by the mere fact that it featured English, Cantonese and Mandarin. My life at home was imbued with the co-existence of these three languages, all conspicuously absent during my year abroad in Paris. What I thought would be a comforting reminder of home ultimately challenged my identity more than any other film I had ever encountered.

Although Everything Everywhere All At Once centres on what it means to be a Chinese immigrant in America, as well as the nuances of the Asian-American experience, its portrayal of the multiverse voices a timeless, universal question: what if? What if Evelyn had listened to her father and had not married Waymond? What if she had not gone to America? Considering the ‘sea of every other possibility’ in our lives is overwhelming, almost paralysing. It is all too easy to ruminate over past decisions, to regret the path not followed, to pine for what we do not have. Like Evelyn, we fall for the temptation of thinking that the road not taken would have led to a beautiful life. A narrative in which the dreams we never followed become a reality. However, despite her countless other lives in the multiverse, Evelyn ultimately accepts her original universe and rebuilds her fractured family. Amidst the infinite, whirlwind chaos of the multiverse, love persists. Indeed, Joy is ultimately Evelyn’s daughter in every universe. Her mother is her rock (literally and figuratively). If ‘every tiny decision creates another branching universe’, as Waymond explains, every branching universe leads Evelyn and Joy to each other. At its core, the film reflects the power of love to overcome family conflict and generational divides. Love is why Evelyn cannot bear to kill her daughter and even chooses to protect Joy, who is the evil threatening the multiverse.

Cinema can create ‘a few specks of time where any of this actually makes sense’. For two and a half hours, the film pierces into the very heart of the complexity of the immigrant experience. And yet, Everything Everywhere All At Once does not illustrate how one’s self-interrogation never ceases because Evelyn returns to her original life and reconciles with her family, emboldened by her adventures across the multiverse. In contrast to this ‘happy ending’, the viewer, having been suspended in ‘a few specks of time’, discovers that perhaps things make even less sense than they did initially. For our identities are not fixed; we are never static. With each film, each experience, and each question, we evolve. It is the question that drives us, knowing that we can never find out who we truly are, but hoping instead that we can begin to accept who we may be today.

Art Behind Bars: The Jazz Album Born On Death Row

Harrison Jowett and Amelia Inglis
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Art Behind Bars: The Jazz Album Born On Death Row

‘I write and recite these words on January the 2nd 2022, less than two years away from my proposed execution, which is scheduled to take place on November the 16th 2023. In other words, I’m standing on the brink of my existence, staring directly into that terrifying darkness that awaits us all. It’s a difficult dilemma to be in, I won’t lie, but the only way to face it is to make it mean something; it is in this very strict sense of the word that I consider myself an artist: someone who’s trying to make a way out of no way.’
– Keith LaMar, death row, Ohio

These are the words of death row prisoner, Keith LaMar, scheduled to be executed in November 2023 for alleged crimes that occurred during the 1993 Lucasville Prison riot. For three decades Keith has maintained his innocence, all while being held in solitary confinement, with the fear of execution looming.

Along with a cadre of professional jazz musicians, Albert Marques, convinced that Keith had not received a fair trial and was in fact innocent, began putting music to work as a tool to help him. The pair, together with some of New York’s finest musicians, produced an album of Keith’s spoken-word accounts to jazz, addressing the pain and terror of isolation and incarceration, as well as the benefits of hope and of having been introduced to improvisational music, to which, he claims, he owes his sanity. What’s more, recorded during the pandemic, the project was completed almost entirely remotely with Keith’s vocal being recorded via telephone directly from his cell.

As Keith recites in his piece ‘Calling All Souls,’

‘That an innocent man could be thrown into the depths of hell is an unspeakable horror, one that stretches back to the agony and pain that attended the middle passage. Indeed, what I am going through is not unprecedented; it has been done before, a long time ago and recently. It took a fellow prisoner to point this out to me, an old man named Snoop who turned me on to the healing powers of music. It is to him that I owe my sanity. He gave me the means to sublimate my pain and the tools to reconstruct my mentality, which, in turn, allowed me to see and understand that what I’m caught up in is, in fact, the continuation of a centuries-long struggle against oppression and greed.’

Throughout his spoken-word, which can be found in the album, ‘Freedom First’, Keith frequently uses his music as a form of resistance, shining a light on the injustice and inhumanity of the US criminal justice system, and to continue to claim his innocence in the lead-up to his execution. It is not uncommon for prisoners in the US to be executed, only for us to find out through DNA evidence or the confession of another, that they were in fact innocent. Additionally, many individuals on death row today claim innocence. Since 1973, 191 people have been exonerated and released from prison after wrongful conviction and being sentenced to death. This means that for every 8 people sentenced to death since the 1970’s, one person has been exonerated from death row.

For more than two years now, Albert Marques and his band have travelled the world organising concerts that draw attention to Keith’s case. During these concerts, Keith uses his limited and often interrupted call time from the Ohio State Penitentiary to call into the concerts, reading aloud some of his spoken word, making remarks, or sometimes simply enjoying the music.

A collection of Keith and Albert’s works will be played throughout the duration of a temporary art exhibition to be installed in Oxford this weekend. Keith’s passionate advocacy, which he channels through music, embodies the very purpose of the exhibition, to explore expression through art.

Within the soundscape of the ‘Freedom First’ tracks, visitors will see physical works from those on death row all across the world which have been sent especially for this display. The moving collection speaks to art as a unique channel through which to express complex emotional and psychological experiences and the exhibitors invite you to attend and witness the transformative power of art as a tool for reflection and self-exploration. In addition, the exhibition sheds a light on the terrible injustice of capital punishment by celebrating the liberating artwork and giving space to those victims of the system.

The exhibition (free to attend) will run from May 7 – 8 in the Oakeshott room at Lincoln College, Oxford.

Female Rage: Too normal to be so rare

Iona Blair
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Female Rage: Too normal to be so rare

A quick glance at the TikTok search results for ‘female rage’ tells a very interesting story – women, shouting and expressing their anger without shame, presented as though this is something shocking. But is female rage really so different to men’s anger, or do we just see it less on screen?

When I see the words ‘female rage,’ I think of two scenes. Mia Goth in Pearl, screaming, ‘Please, I’m a star!’ and Toni Collette in Hereditary – ‘Don’t you ever raise your voice at me! I am your mother!’ Both of these moments are emotional climaxes of films full of bubbling anger, which the characters have pushed down until it explodes. They lead to violence, chaos, and disaster. And they are directed at men.

But what makes these scenes so special, other than the fact of women, rather than men, being loud and angry? Women’s place in society – expectations of docility, homemaking, and submission – make these moments more shocking, and of course Collette and Goth are both incredible actresses, but scenes like this are a dime a dozen in movies starring men. Just look at cult classics like Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange. These are films full of violence and rage, enacted by men, and yet the phrase ‘male rage’ is rarely, if ever, used to describe them.

When people we relate to lash out at the world around us, the fictional world they inhabit lets us forgive them, even if they are violent and hateful. Is Pearl’s murder spree justified? Of course not. Is Annie’s outburst at her son okay? It’s not so bad as murder, but still hardly the best example of good parenting. Yet we look at these characters as examples of the power women can hold – this violence is symbolic, encouraging not real-life murder but emotional release.

The same goes for many films with rageful men. The Narrator in Fight Club is, in my opinion, one of the great protagonists of our time – emotionally complex and compelling. Of course, he is violent, but from the very first scene of the film we understand why; he is a victim of a world that encourages male aggression, discourages healthy coping mechanisms, and stops him from getting the healthcare he needs. His actions wouldn’t be justifiable in the real world, but on film, his rage is satisfying. Like Pearl and Annie, he isn’t a role model, but a symbol.

Why is it, then, that ‘female rage’ is such a topic of conversation and ‘male rage’ isn’t? As far as I can tell, it is for two reasons: first, women are presented as angry in media so much less often, and second, women’s role in society more generally as peacemakers and caregivers means we don’t associate femininity with anger. Films that allow women to be full of rage and violence inherently go against our expectations – they shock us, and can even inspire us, not to violence but to expression.

For men, perhaps ‘male fragility’ is an equivalent term; the right to cry on screen, to be vulnerable in public. Look at Brendan Fraser in The Whale. He won Best Actor at the Oscars for this performance, full of fragility. His character is often pitiable and emotionally weak – everything that men are told they should not be – and so to see him celebrated like this is brilliant. It’s satisfying in the same way that women’s anger is. It lets us see the true range of human emotion, beyond what society expects of men and women.

Female rage might be an overused term, but it speaks to something I’m sure many women understand: the desire to be listened to, and treated as deserving of attention and even fear. It’s not the rage that is shocking, but the brashness of its presentation. It is something true, something honest, and something we all relate to.

Oxford’s café scene – The definitive guide

Oliver Hall
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Oxford’s café scene – The definitive guide

Photo Credits – Depositphotos

Perhaps more than anywhere else in the UK, Oxford is home to a truly thriving and diverse independent café scene.  Apart from London, I can’t think of anywhere where so many different people bring their own coffee cultures to one city.  The result?  You can never grow bored of the endless variety of spots for work, food, catch-ups, and of course, great coffee.  Here is Cherwell’s definitive guide…

High St. Café

This one is a true sleeper pick.  Stay away in the winter when the door is open and heating is limited, pastries and cakes always look appealing but are overpriced.  Coffee is Illy, reasonably priced, and generally well made but the crepes are the star of the show without a doubt.  Sweet and savoury are on offer but the smoked salmon and poached egg is an all-time favourite.

Love Coffee

Love Coffee has been a Cowley Road stalwart for years but made the move to the top of the High Street last year.  Open until 8 PM, it offers all manner of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (shoutout to the chicken salads and club sandwiches).  Greek coffee here is unrivalled anywhere else in the city and the sheer number of Greek pastries and cakes is extraordinary.

Italiamo

Italiamo, oh Italiamo.  I’ve written an extended review and ode to this student favourite that you can find here but for the purposes of this piece I’ll stick firmly to coffee.  The Italian beans, both decaf and standard, are superb and the Crick Crock, cannoli, cantucci and other bites all come in at around £2 for an ideal pairing.

Vaults and Garden

William Pouget has a little Oxford Eatery empire going that started with Alpha Bar and now incorporates Salsas del Sol and Chickpea.  Vaults and Garden is at the high end of the price range for both drinks and food but the unique setting, both inside and out, does make it stand out.

Opera Café, by Deborah Ogunnoiki

Opera café is a quiet café situated on Walton Street just opposite the junction on Little Clarendon Street. I first encountered it on the walk back from Port Meadow with a friend, I had never heard of this little café before despite living on Walton Street myself. I knew what drink I wanted: Iced Caramel Latte with Oat Milk. A tough drink to get right, too much coffee and I’ll throw up, too much caramel and I’ll be bouncing off the walls. It’s safe to say they made the perfect Latte, one so good that I have all my meetings and friendship dates in the Opera Café now. Absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it is a 2-minute walk from my bed…

Colombia Coffee Roasters, by Thomas Bristow

Colombia converted me into a coffee drinker. It’s a short walk from college and is by far the best coffee I’ve had in the city. In my opinion, it tastes almost the same everywhere else, but Colombia has a rich chocolatey flavour which is completely unique. Furthermore, the staff are pleasant and there’s a decent amount of seating. Located in the Covered Market, it is the perfect place to people-watch and procrastinate.

Art Café, by Aryemis Brown

“A peanut butter smoothie, please.” That was my very first order at Art Cafe on my very first day in the United Kingdom. The barista smiled warmly. “A milkshake?,” she replied. I have frequented the place for their peanut butter “milkshake” now for the past two years. It is second only to the kindness and passion of the wonderful staff. If I’m feeling especially adventurous, their Sexy Brazilian sandwich is delicious! I’m a creature of habit for those two, but may I also recommend their egg and avocado toast, English breakfast, and blueberry muffins – to be enjoyed inside or outdoors?

Jericho Coffee Traders

It might be small and seats are hard to come by but students across the city swear by these guys.  They provide coffee for countless other cafes and their filter is superb but the charming spot on the High Street is open until five and ever-reliable.

Mayas

Yet another place with a full written review and podcast, Mayas is a true coffee lovers’ café.  Om will talk you through everything and anything on offer from countless different beans, to drip, filter, and superb hot chocolate.  If you love your caffeine and need to kill some time, just pop in for a chat!

Peleton

THE Cowley Road café.  A beautiful garden and great value high-quality coffee are punctuated by the best banana bread and cakes around.  Simply sensational in everything it does.

Cornmarket Pret

Wow, there’s so much to say about Cornmarket’s Pret.  One of four Pret a Manger’s in the city, this is where essays get written, deadlines get just about met, and union careers are born.  Coffee?  Overpriced and bang average.  Atmosphere and wonky tables?  Depressing to say the least. 

Ole and Steen

I love Ole and Steen for their cakes, salads, sandwiches, and basically, any kind of food they offer.  The coffee is a different story.  Terrifyingly expensive, synthetic-tasting, and often poorly made, stick to the Too Good to Go boxes and the teas.

Tick Tock Café

Tick Tock Café is an Oxford institution and the only real true greasy spoon still around in the city.  Value is absolutely sensational and although the coffee might not blow you away, it sure tastes better at these prices!

Queens Lane Coffee House

Oldest coffee house?  This debate is a little like the seemingly endless list of places that claim to be the oldest pub in London.  The prices certainly reflect it but the food is high quality when it comes out the kitchen.  The cakes share a supplier with Sofi de France and are certainly an indulgence for when you’re feeling fancy but bring your wallet!

Bbuona

Another place that I love so much it has its own full review, article, and podcast.  As well as morning deals on pastries and coffee, the freshly piped cannoli are hands-down the best in town.  The decaf coffee comes from a secret Italian supplier and is too on a different level.  The owners are authentically delightful and the WIFI never falters.

McDonald’s

Fast-food?  Yes.  Great quality?  No.  I tell you what though, the taste is passable and the price is unbeatable.

Subway

I know, another fast food chain.  I absolutely wasn’t planning on including Subway but they have one saving grace.  £1.99 for an acceptable Americano and cookie might just become my new go-to for when I need a pick-me-up on a budget.

Blacksheep

Since moving to the corner of the High Street, Blacksheep Coffee has found a whole new fanbase.  This is the only chain that offers a genuinely high-quality variety of beans.  The decaf is good too and the long-black is my choice for an extra-strong version of an Americano.  The ‘black-hoof’ is the signature with just a little more milk than a macchiato and you can add whatever you want to your drinks, from CBD to protein and chia.  Food is good too with Belgian waffles and breakfast baps standing out.  The loyalty scheme is also better than most.

Tree Artisan Café by Iustina Roman

I fell in love with Tree Artisan Café from the very first coffee I had there, and I only wish I had tried it out sooner. It’s on Little Clarendon Street, in an area already populated by many well-loved cafés — but this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t stand out. In fact, you would be lucky to manage to grab a seat inside this cosy spot! Their silky oat lattes are among my favourites in Oxford, and this café is great for catching up with a friend or grabbing a quick lunch.

Horsebox

An even better option as we head into the summer for all of those walks around University Parks, Horsebox offers good quality grinds in normal drinks but has a pleasing rotating filter option.  The current one is brilliantly fruity and unique.

OxWIB apologises for event “dictated” by external group

Cherwell News
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OxWIB apologises for event “dictated” by external group

The Oxford Women In Business society (OxWIB) has issued a statement after hosting a “Women in Media” event, which included an interview between The W magazine global editor-in-chief, Phadria Prendergast, and Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, known for his leadership of the SPAC Nation church.

OxWIB claims in a statement posted on Instagram that an “external group filmed and set up the event”. Cherwell understands this group was The W magazine. OxWIB added that they believe the purpose of this external group was to “platform their own media team and speaker” and that OxWIB “did not invite the final speaker [Pastor Tobi]” nor “know of his identity while he was speaking”. The W magazine denies wrongdoing, claiming that “[e]verything we did was approved by Oxford Women in Business”.

The event was presented by The W magazine and OxWIB to provide networking opportunities. Prendergast presided over panels alongside an OxWIB vice-president with participants from Forbes, Vogue Business, Chatham House and Essence. According to The W, “Ms. Prendergast is a revered journalist working with some of the world’s leading brands. The intention for this event was for Phadria to provide opportunities, which it did”. Prendergast has also previously led the Women of the City magazine, which has been accused of offering grants “that come with a catch”. 

OxWIB told Cherwell that they had been “under the impression [Prendergast] would be on the panel rather than the moderator”, but that “[f]ive minutes before the event, plans to change the format were dictated by [Prendergast], and she decided how the questions would be asked”. The W magazine refutes these claims, however, stating to Cherwell that “from the very beginning stages of organising the event alongside OxWIB”, it was always intended “that Ms Phadria Prendergast would co-host the panel, as it was a collaborative event”.

OxWIB argues that they had to accept the changed format because the event had already been delayed by the arrival of an “extensive media team”, brought in without OxWIB’s consent, and they did not want to delay the event further. However, The W claims that during a Zoom meeting two days earlier, they and OxWIB had “discussed and confirmed that we would be bringing our media team as we had speakers joining us online, as well as in person”. The W also added that “OxWIB was very happy [with the large media presence] as they didn’t have the media equipment to accommodate this style of event”.

As the event drew to a close, Prendergast announced a final panel consisting of a one-on-one interview between her and a special guest. She then invited Tobi Adegboyega on stage. 

Adegboyega, widely known as “Pastor Tobi”, founded Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church or “SPAC Nation”. He has since faced allegations of misconduct following the government’s decision to shut down the church over allegations of fraud. He was also a key figure in the BBC Panorama special, “Conned by my Church”. 

Listed on the OxWIB programme only as “PT”, Adegboyega’s attendance of the event and unique one-on-one interview came as a surprise. During the interview, Adegboyega criticised the BBC’s coverage of the SPAC Nation church and rebutted allegations that had previously been made against him.

OxWIB told Cherwell that they “only realised Mr Adegboyeda would be speaking when he got up on stage”, as he “was not properly introduced at the event nor was his name on the itinerary”. They also claim he was not included on the finalised list of speakers approved by OxWIB. 

However, The W magazine argues that Adegboyega’s attendance had been discussed on the 3rd May Zoom meeting with OxWIB. At this time it was “confirm[ed] that he would be part of the programme”. According to The W, “OxWIB had only managed 15 registrations” by then, so it was agreed The W could “invite up to 20 external guests including the speakers”. The W told Cherwell that three of the speakers at the event “were not ‘pre-approved’ by OxWIB, however [OxWIB did] not seem to have any issues with their participation”.

OxWIB claims that “we believe we were deliberately misled into thinking that this would be an ordinary event, when in fact the intent behind it was to platform Mr. Adegboyega and provide further legitimacy for the W Magazine. We are appalled to have been used in such a way.”

The W magazine defends their choice of including Adegboyega in the Women in Media panel, arguing “Mr Adegboyega, a media matriarch[sic], was asked to be an addition to the panel because he is well versed and experienced in handling the media”. The W magazine touts the success of the event and this interview, claiming Adegboyega’s “story on the day inspired and caused not only for many of the students revered journalists who attended to approach him for further questions and photos [sic]”. 

After the interviews and panels concluded, guests stayed around to talk with the speakers “asking for advice and exchanging contact details”, according to The W magazine. Due to concerns about “the sharing of personal information” between attendees and representatives of The W during the subsequent networking event, OxWIB have spoken to the police for advice. They told Cherwell they are also in the process of reporting the incident to the Action Fraud Police and intend to approach Trading Standards.

The W magazine told Cherwell “[t]here was no guest list and on the day no one took note of attendees via OxWIB, therefore The W created a guest list on the day of every attendee on arrival whilst they received goody bags”.

OxWIB are advising anyone who attended the event to email [email protected], urging attendees “not to engage with anyone you gave contact information to at the event”.

OxWIB told Cherwell: “[W]e have a duty of care to our members to ensure that any personal information given out at the networking session does not put them at risk. We agree that we should be scrutinised for how this event was run and for the way we respond to it. But we also believe that media attention should be on the activities of The W magazine, Ms. Prendergast, and Mr. Adegboyega, which we entirely condemn as a society and would never have wished to promote.”

The W magazine maintains that they acted with OxWIB’s approval and that proof of this correspondence with OxWIB is to follow.

‘Women, Scorned’: Exploring Feminine Rage in Art

Kelsey Moriarty
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‘Women, Scorned’: Exploring Feminine Rage in Art


Feminine rage is all the rage. It’s everywhere. Following Anya Taylor-Joy’s declaration that she has ‘a thing for feminine rage’, there has been growing popular realisation that the expression of it is both beautiful and necessary. Its increasing visibility suggests that society is more receptive to the celebration of female anger. Throughout history, representations of feminine rage have tended to take a more passive route in its portrayal. Women are constantly expected to be so many conflicting things — innocent yet sexual, angry yet dignified. Feminine rage allows us to ask: what happens when women focus these two polarised states of feeling into one of pure, unbridled rage?

One of the earliest and most iconic artists to answer this question is Artemisia Gentileschi. It’s a continuing theme in her work, but Judith and Holofernes is indisputably the most famous. It depicts feminine rage in a way that was highly unusual for the time. Previous depictions of the murder of Holofernes presented Judith as oxymoronically sexual and innocent; Gentileschi was far more willing to explore the idea of Judith as the aggressor rather than a passive figure. Judith’s furrowed brow and tight grip banish notions of reluctance in the eyes of the viewer. The strong diagonal emphasis of the painting, as well as the use of light, pull the viewer’s eyes towards the figures of Judith and Holofernes’ neck. This works quite well — pushing women into the foreground with such intense focus really forces you to take in the brutality of the act. It’s perversely spectacular, and done so well that centuries later, you also feel Judith’ righteous rage. Her reconstitutive approach to a classical religious narrative, challenging contemporary reproductions, makes space for a visceral interpretation of feminine rage.

A different take on feminine rage is offered by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the nineteenth century. His 1862 pen and wash drawing of his sister, famous poet Christina Rossetti, depicts feminine rage as normal and human. The drawing was created to alleviate and poke fun at her worries about reading reviews of her poetry collection. It depicts her in a state of delightfully destructive rage, breaking windows and toppling tables. Her impact on the scene is quite commendable, creating a strangely romantic notion of women as whirlwinds of anger. Christina is depicted in motion, clearly experiencing overwhelming feeling. The chaotic composition and hurried pen marks are indicative of immediate rage and destructive tendencies. Whilst this should create a sense of urgency, the viewer is met with comedic contrast — the scale of the drawing reminds you that this outburst is not as consuming as the central figure believes. To put yourself in Christina Rossetti’s shoes (although few would dare!) is to feel humoured and reassured looking at this drawing. Gabriel has alluded to the creation of this feeling with an inscription on the left reading ‘Miss Rossetti can point to work which could not easily be mended’, from a Times review of her work. Christina often poked fun at her temper, and this sketch by her brother echoes that and offers a portrayal of feminine rage as natural and human, even if unwarranted.

In search of an ostensibly more modern work, Piplotti Rist’s Ever is Over All (1997) is the natural answer. It combines the visceral nature of Gentileschi’s work with the human element of Rossetti’s — it is unsurprising it holds up so strongly. Through the compelling medium of the large-scale video installation, Rist’s work is made to have an immersive and engulfing feel. On one screen is a field of flowers. On the other, a young woman walks down the street in red heels and is quickly given over to violent impulses and begins smashing car windows whilst accompanied by serene music. Shot in a single take with a camera of rather questionable quality, it emphasises the spontaneity and suddenness with with rage can overcome us, as well as suggesting that rage within women is always close to the surface. The music in the background, combined with the blue tint of the video, has a hypnotic effect designed to portray feminine rage in a surreal and ever-present way. As we continue to navigate the complexities of gender and power today, Rist’s timeless approach is a good one. The constancy of feminine rage has been fascinating artists for centuries. In a world that seeks to suppress it, it is truly commendable that feminine rage continues to be such a powerful artistic force.

Why an AI pause would be detrimental to humanity

Alexander Elliott
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Why an AI pause would be detrimental to humanity

Imagine you had a pet parrot. One day, you heard it say “kill all humans”. Obviously, it doesn’t actually want to kill all humans; it can’t even understand what the phrase means. It’s just regurgitating what has been heard from elsewhere, perhaps from a TV programme in the background.

An AI saying it wants to “kill all humans” is the same thing, albeit on a grander scale. It takes what has been fed into it, identifies the patterns and words, and spits out what is asked of it by humans. I would posit that AI poses as much a threat to human life as a parrot (perhaps even less, given it doesn’t have a beak).

Nonetheless, countless reasons have been given for halting AI development, culminating in the recent petition to “pause” development for six months. Predictably, it views ever-evolving human ingenuity as a fundamentally bad thing. The irony of the petitioners saying AI “could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth” on the internet (which, to my knowledge, is not a naturally occurring phenomenon) is not lost on me.

Yes, “profound change” to history included such tragedies as world wars, famines, diseases, and nuclear weapons. But it also included the internet, penicillin, vaccines, modern agricultural methods, and countless other excellent inventions. Why can’t AI join the gallery of human progress? The petition argues that we cannot “understand, predict, or reliably control” AI. Firstly, how is pausing AI development going to help with this? Typically, understanding something requires more testing, not less. Secondly, if we limited ourselves to what we could predict, humanity would have gone nowhere. Alexander Fleming could never have predicted that leaving a petri dish out would lead to penicillin. Orville and Wilbur Wright could not have predicted their invention would have led to cross-Atlantic flights. Should we have paused Jonas Salk’s research until we were sure that “[its] effects [would] be positive and [its] risks [would] be manageable”?

Moving on to the claim about jobs. I am always sceptical when technology is decried on the grounds of “taking away jobs”. Of course, I could pay hundreds of people to comb through encyclopaedias until I find what I’m looking for; or I could use Google. I could pay someone on the street to go down to Greenwich and adjust my clock based on theirs, or I could use a more accurate wristwatch. The economic process of creative destruction has made us richer and happier, and indeed helped the environment. I’m sure no one reading this article yearns for the days before the lightbulb when whaling for lamp oil was necessary. The question “Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones?” ignores the huge number of industries which have gone bust because better alternatives were found. I, for one, am glad that I don’t have to use horse riders to deliver mail to my parents, even if it did employ more people than the current postal system. Perhaps AI will cause a similar adjustment to employment; that’s no reason to pause development. Quite the opposite, actually – why should consumers be forced to pay for a more inefficient way of doing things? New industries can and do pop up when old ones fall; whalers were replaced by lightbulb manufacturers, horse riders by telegraph operators. Consider how fast industries related to computing have sprung up. Are we really to believe that no new jobs whatsoever will be created thanks to AI?

The petition also claims that AI will lead to “propaganda and untruth” flooding social media. Firstly, AI will only have as much power as we choose to give it. ChatGPT cannot access sites like Twitter and Facebook without its creators giving it access to a vast network of accounts. Therefore, the only threat of AI comes from nefarious actors willing to give their AI a platform on social media. This brings me to my second point, which is that any pause to AI will not be heeded by bad actors. States like North Korea and Russia, intent on spreading discord within enemy states, are not going to listen to any pause. As Margaret Thatcher pointed out with nuclear weapons, what has been invented cannot be disinvented (of course, with the caveat that an ideal world would not contain nuclear weapons, a claim which does not hold with AI). No matter what, now that AI has been invented, it is in the hands of those who wish to do harm with it. Rather than slow down, the only logical course of action is to speed up, using AI for such actions as detecting this nefarious content. A pause will not benefit anyone but bad actors in this regard. 

On a final note, Business Insider reported that Latitude, a much more basic AI model, pays $100,000 a month to run its servers. Given that the new Russian minimum wage is 19,242 roubles per month, Russia could afford to hire a troll farm of 423 people for the price of running an AI disinformation programme, not including development costs. 

Predictably, the petition decries the “out-of-control” race to develop new AI. This completely ignores how products that we use today were created. The mobile phone was famously a competition between two companies; the first call was made to inform competitors that they had lost the race. Smartphone builders did not collaborate with each other to create the first touchscreen phones. It is only through competition that products improve. It’s ironic that the signatories of the petition include Elon Musk, a man who owes his entire career to competition in a free market economy.

The Future of Life Institute is not improving the future of life with this petition; quite the opposite. It scaremongers about “losing control of civilisation”, as if anyone has seriously suggested giving AI the right to vote or run for office. Even if you still disagree that AI will be good for humanity, the fact is that the cat is out of the bag. No number of pauses, regulations, and bans will stop bad actors from using the technology. Unilaterally disarming ourselves is irrational. I don’t claim to know how AI will progress over the years any more than Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot could predict how cars would progress. Let’s allow it to develop to its potential, rather than shutting ourselves off from a better tomorrowrow.

Image Credit: David S. Soriano//CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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