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NAZA: The most important film of the year

Willow Jopp
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NAZA: The most important film of the year

It was my final day at what had been a simultaneously controversial and underwhelming Venice Film Festival – controversial because of the lack of major Hollywood releases and the scarcity of female directors among the lineup, and underwhelming because the films which remained were boring, pretentious, or a combination of the two. The festival had a promising start, opening with the adrenaline-filled Ink, directed by Danny Boyle, and the crowd-favourite Wild Horse Nine, directed by Martin McDonagh, a couple of days later. However, there was a run of complete filler throughout the middle portion of the festival. The lack of female voices in the lineup was noticeable in the films themselves, with one film after another about a man struggling with his conscience while also cheating on his wife. Needless to say, I was feeling the fatigue.

However, upon the release of the festival lineup, there was one that I just knew was going to be good. That film was NAZA, a documentary produced by The Guardian and directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The title refers to “collateral damage”, according to one of the Israeli officers interviewed – the number of civilians who are killed in a targeted strike, in this case the drone strikes which Israel can use to kill any person they want, at any time. Both directors made the incredible No Other Land in 2024, and the premise of this film – interviews with Israeli intelligence officers about the systems used to remotely kill Palestinians essentially at will – was too good to fail. Going into my 28th film screening of the festival, I was proven right, with the film prompting the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history – 25 minutes. While watching it, I knew I had to write about it, especially while details of its wider release are still emerging. 

The death and destruction feel remote and are not shown to the audience until the film’s very last moments, in an emotional gut-punch. This is fitting, as the interviews focus specifically on remote killing. The filmmakers interview 24 Israeli operatives on the rooftops of Tel Aviv – only 60km away from a site of extreme devastation. Tel Aviv, however, is unsettlingly quiet. We see people in high-rises doing yoga, washing up, watching television, leading normal and uninterrupted lives. The interviewees, silhouetted and with digitally altered voices, talk matter-of-factly about the methods of remote massacre which they helped to create and execute. NAZA creates geographical, moral, and cinematic distance from the destruction in Gaza, withholding what many other filmmakers would want to confront their audience with. I am reminded of The Zone of Interest, in which violence is kept just out of frame, and the film’s normality is made unsettling by what it chooses not to acknowledge. The filmmakers of NAZA clearly know that beyond physical distance, emotional distance is what allows the violence in Gaza to continue, and show us just how easy it is to ignore what is going on right under our noses.

In case the film does not get a wider release, I will take some time to describe some of the topics discussed by the Israeli officers. We begin by being told that every phone in Gaza is being tracked and constantly surveilled by the Israeli government, which is how the following technologies can function. Firstly, ‘Lavender’, an AI program that tries to evaluate whether a potential target’s phone ‘behaves like’ a Hamas phone by comparing your activity to that of a confirmed Hamas member. It is a program which, despite creating thousands of targets to be bombed, is often incorrect – at least 15% of the ‘targets’ are incorrect, according to one of the tech officers who helped make it. The idea that the decision of whether a person should live or die is decided by artificial intelligence is harrowing, and yet is described as safer than being in the hands of a person who has a personal vendetta against Arabs.

We then learn of ‘Where’s Daddy?’, which spies on family members’ phones to see or hear when a target returns home, so that they can be killed in their house. We are told that the preference is to strike Palestinians in their homes, often at night, when they are least expecting it. Again, it is a system which often makes mistakes, as we are told of a case where the potential target simply left their phone at home, and only the man’s family was home, including his daughters of ages 3 and 6. We learn that the computer program used to analyse homes (every home in Gaza has a ‘serial number’) informs you of the expected NAZA, including whether they are children. 

The IDF has rejected the film’s central allegations, but NAZA’s emotional force comes from the accumulation of testimony, and the calm, technical language of those who say they participated in the system. The Israeli officers being interviewed don’t care about who they are killing, and this is clearest through their damning language. Here are a few quotes given by interviewees about the murder of Palestinians:

“It’s like a video game.”

“Quantity not quality.”

“The goal is to destroy.”

“Destroy everything as quickly as possible.”

“We expect them to learn it through blood.”

“If they want him dead, he dies.”

“We erased history.”

While some interviewees express guilt for what they have done to the Palestinian people, the overwhelming sense created by the language of the officers is that of pride. Some describe it as fun, an exhilarating, mission-driven sense of accomplishment. The film attempts to contextualise this way of thinking. In one clip, Benjamin Netanyahu is shown saying that he believes that all Palestinians knew about the 7th October attack before it happened, and that they are all implicated in the attacks. Another shows him advertising a book he edited in 1986 – Terrorism: How the West Can Win – in which he ironically describes terrorism as the targeted murder of civilians for political reasons. 

I gained no comfort in watching NAZA, no cathartic ending, and no sense that anything will change because of it. It plainly describes a machinery of violence operating at this very moment. After the screening, the audience leaves in a sombre silence, like a funeral procession. It is a strange feeling to leave a film about mass death by walking over a red carpet, above which the Israeli flag flies. I leave on a vaporetto and say goodbye to this year’s festival.

Protest held outside Town Hall over sale of Council-owned building to St Peter’s

Oskar Doepke
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Protest held outside Town Hall over sale of Council-owned building to St Peter’s

A protest took place today outside Oxford Town Hall against Oxford City Council’s plan to sell 11 New Road to St Peter’s College, which would convert most of the building into student housing. The protest, organised by the campaign group Save Our Spaces, was held at 5.30pm, ahead of the Council’s Cabinet vote on the sale of the building.

The Council-owned building, a mixed-use property on the edge of St Peter’s estate, houses a six-bedroom flat leased to the College and three other businesses: Castle News, Classy Barbers, and American Nails. Under the College’s plan, it would convert all but the ground floor into 24 student rooms and add an extra floor. The proposal is subject to planning permission. 

A petition opposing the sale of the building, launched on 11th September by the campaign group Save Our Spaces, has gathered over 400 signatures by the time of publication. A spokesperson for Save Our Spaces told Cherwell: “Once again, the City Council is selling off community space to serve the University’s land grab. These three businesses serve thousands of local people and are much loved by the local community. But they have been treated with total contempt by the Council and St Peter’s College, who have been drawing up plans behind their backs to kick them out.”

The spokesperson added that selling a publicly owned building that brings in “well over £100,000 per year in rent”  is “an incredibly short-sighted strategy”.  

The Council told Cherwell: “St Peter’s College… approached the Council with a proposal to acquire the property, and terms have subsequently been negotiated. The decision to dispose of the freehold title will generate a capital receipt that can be used to support the provision of investment in and services for communities in Oxford which otherwise would not be affordable.”

They added that the sale would “remove future liabilities associated with the property”, as a “significant future expenditure would be required” if it kept the property. 

In their statement to Cherwell, the Council disputed “misinformation” and claims that have “circulated online about the loss of community space as a result of the sale”, as the building is part of its commercial portfolio and has only commercial tenants. A spokesperson for Save Our Space, however, dispute the Council’s claim, and told Cherwell that 11 New Road is public space as it accommodates “three vibrant spaces open to the public, providing much-appreciated services to thousands of members of the public every week”.

The proposal would also see two of the three businesses continuing to operate, as St Peter’s is “proposing modifications to the upper floors and basement, not the retail on the ground floor”, according to the Council. St Peter’s similarly told Cherwell that it “plans to retain the business tenants, Castle News and Classy Barbers, occupying the ground floor of the building”. However, the floor occupied by the third tenant, American Nails, would be converted into student accommodation. 

St Peter’s added that “this project is in line with the College’s strategic commitment to increase the amount of College accommodation available to students who would otherwise be out on Oxford’s private rental market”. The intended purchase follows St Peter’s recent expansion on New Road, including Castle Bailey Quad, a 54 en-suite room Passivhaus development, which the College opened in 2024. 

The College’s plan is the latest in a series of disputes over college and University developments in Oxford. In February, residents objected to Oxford University Development’s plans for redeveloping 25 Wellington Square, which houses several independent businesses. In April, the Council rejected Regent Park’s plans to convert the Oxfam Bookshop on St Giles’ Street into its Middle Common Room.

Oxford student and family run record-breaking half marathon in memory of father 

Gavriella Epstein-Lightman
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Oxford student and family run record-breaking half marathon in memory of father 

Oxford History graduate Archie Johnston and his family have attempted to break the Guinness World Record for “fastest half marathon by a mother and three children” at the Worcester Half Marathon. Johnston, his mother and two brothers ran the race on September 13th in memory of Johnston’s father, Rob, who died ten years ago.

The previous record was set by a Swansea family in 2024, with a combined time of 8 hours and 8 minutes.  

The Johnstons’ combined time of 6 hours and 27 minutes beats the previous record by more than an hour and a half, subject to Guinness World Records verification. 

Johnston told Cherwell that running has always been a family pastime. Rob was a keen runner, completing nine marathons across four countries during his life. Yet the training for the Worcester half marathon was especially difficult in the summer heat. 

“The grief that comes with losing a parent is unspeakable, but our record attempt is a testament to the way it has drawn us together,” Johnston told Cherwell. “This race is a celebration of my dad’s memory and an effort to further the values he inspired in us.” 

The Johnstons set up a JustGiving page on 22nd July to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians. The charity provides critical health and humanitarian support to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, working with local partners to provide access to essential health services and build local knowledge. The family hoped to raise £5,000 – £100 for every year of Rob’s life – but have already raised more than £10,000.

After the race, Johnston told Cherwell: “The run was tough, as expected, but having the fire of what we were running for made it all the easier. I’m enormously proud of the four of us, and especially my younger brothers, who were racing across this distance for the first time.”

A midsummer nightmare: Our warming world

Minnie Mertz
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A midsummer nightmare: Our warming world

It feels like only days ago that I was walking through the University Parks, ringed by waves of the greenest grass, the shiniest puddles, and the healthiest plants. Despite the occasional shower or muddy shoe, everything in the world seemed in order. That oh-so-familiar smell of dampened greenery was always a comfort to a countryside girl like me. The knowledge that all growing things could thrive was something that, only now, in hindsight, I feel unbelievably nostalgic for. The early spring sun marked a warm greeting to what I thought would be another hot but usual year in the UK.

Oh, how wrong I was.

The summer of 2026 was set to be, according to the Met Office, the hottest since records began, primed to beat the already record-breaking heat of 2025. That statement feels like gospel truth. Sticky, sweaty, endless nights of useless fans, gaping windows, and ice-cold flannels are just a small testament to the intense annoyance of what is likely to become an everyday occurrence in summers to come.

There has always been a national obsession with the weather for us Brits, as it does make a fantastic icebreaker for small talk. But like the Old Man in Aesop’s Fables, in our constant wishes for a hotter and less rainy climate, we’ve been lumped with the very extreme of our desires. Air-con-less buildings, hosepipe bans, and unprepared UK infrastructure have proven, this year much more than others, that we are currently unequipped to handle this rapidly changing climate.

Those daily walks through the parks, meticulously cared for by the University’s groundskeepers, became, over July and August, a stark warning of a bleak and barren world, dulled by crusted, broken ground. I keep being reminded of the 2008 Pixar film WALL-E, which so brilliantly depicts a future devoid of the very things we are losing in this daily heat. It has never been clearer that the climate crisis is a very real and very present threat to the structure and upkeep of our lives.

But not all is doom and gloom. Just like WALL-E, there is a silver lining to be found within the lack of clouds. No year has been more powerful in showing individuals how a changing climate affects us daily. Our farming industry has taken a huge beating, visible in the rising prices of supermarket essentials such as meat, grains, and produce. Our transport industry has been thrown into disarray, with the growing heat torching rail tracks and softening road surfaces. Even our retail industry has been hit, as higher temperatures deter the ‘mooch’ culture we, as Brits, so love. As these changes become non-negotiable and so clear to the pedestrian eye, a new wave of discussion and fresh ideas for change are inevitable. A drive from individuals and local councils that filters all the way up to government and global schemes is a clear necessity now in our fight for a safe and sustainable climate. 

Bicycle rides down Broad Street, afternoons in the Radcliffe Camera, and punting trips down the Cherwell have never felt quite so anxiety-inducing. At the student level, these changes are already altering daily life. I have never experienced heat like this. While trying to get my hard-earned beauty sleep, I found myself constantly between my bed and the sofa in the living area. Although the rest of my house felt very much the same, the sauna upstairs proved to be beyond taxing. It was the most surreal and clammy game of musical chairs I’ve ever played. Top-floor rooms in student accommodation or houses bake like ovens long past midnight; our moods begin to drop, our energy drains and our bills rise. It shapes how we study, how we sleep, and how we move through the term. Eco-stress is far less a twee turn of phrase than an imminent reality. Fearmongering is not my game, but when your senses are this attuned to the problem, you feel compelled to act.

At Oxford University, we are surrounded by the smartest minds from across the globe. There is no better place to experience and take part in the momentum of grassroots campaigns and student-run organisations. The Oxford Climate Society, led by students sitting next to you in lectures or halls, is the central hub for making real and lasting change at personal and systemic scales. One of my oldest friends is a key committee member, focusing her time on the education section. It was through her passion for the society and her captivating debates that I knew I wanted to get involved. Through campaigns, events, workshops, and courses, the society offers an inclusive and student-led space ready to challenge, educate, and inspire. Not only that, but they are also warm, kind friends to make whilst at Oxford, who, unlike our current climate, are always steady. 

Small, seemingly trivial choices can absolutely build into lasting differences. We can demand smarter and more environmentally conscious food options in college dining halls. We can push for green initiatives, better energy investments, and stronger funding opportunities in JCR and MCR meetings. We can build our moods back up, recharge our energy supplies, and get those bills back to a level of mutual comfort. Despite feeling like a needle in a haystack, a student amongst many, we truly do have the power to create enduring effects. And we can hold institutions accountable and make a real difference within our university walls. 

WALL-E was ultimately a love story, not just between two robots, but between humanity and the earth. The course of true love never did run smooth. But with education, understanding, and active engagement with our changing environment, there is always hope. We don’t have to settle for enduring the summer heat; together, we can build a future where we don’t just survive, but we live.

In conversation with John Kennedy, “one of the most trusted voices in music”

Emma Heagney
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In conversation with John Kennedy, “one of the most trusted voices in music”

John Kennedy, like any great radio presenter, is endlessly curious. Joining me for a chat online, we discover that we’re sat just a mile apart, a coincidence only unearthed by John’s curiosity. This fascination with the world, its people, and fundamentally, its music, has guided John through his long career as a radio DJ. As “one of the most trusted voices in music” and now the host of the popular Tape Notes podcast, John has a wealth of hard-earned knowledge to be shared with us students.

John’s first foray into DJing occurred while studying at the University of East Anglia. Like many of us, he was no stranger to a student club night, even going so far as to start his own in Norwich. His experience is reminiscent of the recent resurgence in Oxford’s own student DJ scene, pioneered by Nightschool in 2024. Whether it’s the 1980s or the 2020s, students ultimately want to have fun, even if it means taking matters into their own hands.

But club nights never satisfied John’s curiosity. “They attract people who want to dance to what they heard the last time,” he tells me. “There’s no problem with that, but I wanted to vary my taste and discover new artists as much as I could.” This feeling, combined with sporadic contributions to his university magazine’s music section, drew him to the firm conclusion that he would, one day, work in radio. “It’s different each week. That’s why it’s so great.”

However, the start to John’s career as a radio DJ came by chance. “I applied to a course at Radio Thamesmead and a job at Tower Records. The interviews were scheduled for the exact same time! I ultimately tried my luck at Radio Thamesmead, and I managed to get in.” From there, John persevered to make radio a long-term job, rather than simply a story of his time at university. “You have to put yourself out there, and most importantly, dare to dream – I would give this advice to anyone trying to work in the media.”

After moving between several jobs, including a stint at the BBC Gramophone Library, John landed a full-time show at a new station, XFM (now known as Radio X). With the station geared towards rock music, and particularly indie rock, John gained notoriety for his deep, expansive interview style. On his show, X-Posure, John sits down with artists to break down an album, track by track, a methodical and attentive approach that will crop up again in his work on Tape Notes. X-Posure is the longest running show on Radio X, and John remains the only original presenter on the station.

Through X-Posure, John has been credited with discovering the likes of Adele, The xx, and Mumford & Sons – supporting new talent is one of John’s greatest joys. For several years, he hosted the In the Woods Festival in Kent, a curated lineup of up-and-coming artists, many of whom were yet to release their first record before performing.

Perhaps the greatest outcome of the In the Woods Festival, however, was Tape Notes. Co-founders Tim Adam-Smith and Will Brown wanted to increase the impact of the festival beyond one weekend a year, and with funding from the Arts Council, they were able to develop their idea, partly inspired by the music breakdowns in The Beatles Anthology. The festival ended in 2017, but Tape Notes continued to grow. John, with his years of radio experience, ended up as the host.

Much like X-Posure, Tape Notes is, first and foremost, about the intricacies of music production. Every fortnight, John sits down with a different artist to delve into their creative process – including visual demonstrations. Each artist represents something different, from the electronic flair of Fred Again… and Charli xcx to rock titans like Damon Albarn and Foo Fighters. Underpinning each episode is John’s natural curiosity for music, a curiosity shared by his guests. “Music is often a collaborative process. I think that artists are sometimes more comfortable talking about their work in a podcast format precisely because of this. It’s a real honour and privilege to be able to learn from them.”

Learn from them, we do. Tape Notes offers its viewers some of the most in-depth introductions to music production that money can buy, and John tells me that Tape Notes hopes to reach more students through its discounted student offer. “Creativity is born through exploration,” he says. “A subscription means access to gear lists, the full archive of episodes, and the opportunity to ask questions to the artists – a musical education in a time when such learning isn’t accessible to everyone. Young people are the next generation of music makers, and we want to foster that as much as possible.”

John still believes in the power of radio, as well. “Naturally, a spike is created by anything new,” he tells me, acknowledging that podcasts are becoming increasingly popular. So popular, in fact, that 27% of adults now listen to a podcast weekly. “The medium has changed the broadcasting landscape, particularly the standard of recording. While radio may sometimes be seen as overproduced, podcasts can be as simple as two people and a microphone.” But he stands firm in his conviction that radio is too often taken for granted.

His advice for young musicians extends to those looking to become radio presenters. “Commercial radio is always looking for more talent, and broadcasting is much more democratic now than it was in the past.” In many ways, he is right – with better technology at our fingertips, it is easier than ever to create our own opportunities, even if it means simply posting videos online. University radio stations are also a great way for students to become familiar with the ins and outs of broadcasting. Oxford’s own Oxide Radio is a free, beginner-friendly way to get involved with student radio, and who could forget about Cherwell Spoken?

Speaking about some of his favourite guests, John is once again endlessly curious. “Charli xcx is just a force of nature. Jack Antonoff, as well, his episode was really a masterclass in songwriting.” As Tape Notes continues to grow in 2026, John is just as huge of a fan of music as he was in the 80s, DJing in Norwich for his fellow students. “Radio, live gigs, buying records – that’s how I became a music fan.” In a media landscape often dominated by gossip, rumours, and sometimes pure hate, it’s undeniably refreshing to listen to John, a man who never lost sight of what really matters.

Oxford’s new Reform UK society puts students like me at risk

Saba Ahmadzadeh Noughani
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Oxford’s new Reform UK society puts students like me at risk

“Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me”

-Excerpt from ‘First They Came’ by Pastor Martin Niemöller

I was too mentally exhausted to write this article, but I grew up watching my mother respond to every verbal harassment we faced on the street. When I once told her she could ignore it, she told me that they are relying on stereotypes surrounding Muslim women: they rely on us to be what they want us to be, silent and meek. It is our silence that emboldens them.

My heart dropped when I saw Cherwell’s headline: “Oxford Reform Society registers for Michaelmas”. This comes after Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, Nigel Biggar, defended the use of the N-word, and a few months after the Oxford Union hosted a debate on the motion “This House believes the West is right to be suspicious of Islam”. In the term prior, the former Oxford Union Librarian, Brayden Lee, was recorded making a string of comments targeting ethnic minorities, particularly those from Muslim-majority nations.

It’s clear that anti-Muslim hostility has not only passed the dinner table test, but has further infiltrated our student societies. But even at a time when a mosque in the UK is attacked every five days, I still refuse to make this article about my feelings or the British Muslim community’s fears about Reform UK. I am reminded of Muslim poet Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan’s poem ‘This is not a humanising poem’, and I too refuse to defend my humanity or plead for empathy before my fellow Oxford students. To see us in this undignified position has been the cause of entertainment for many Oxford students, and has motivated many recent debates about our faith and background at the Oxford Union.

I do argue, however, that the Oxford Reform UK society will invite a breeding ground for anti-Muslim and anti-BME rhetoric on University grounds. Its existence only makes students like myself feel more at risk in our own University. Reform’s record of targeting Muslims and minorities speaks for itself.

In May 2024, Reform leader Nigel Farage said that “a growing number” of British Muslims “do not share British values”. In March 2025, the then-Reform Business and Agriculture Spokesman, Rupert Lowe (who has since been suspended after allegations of bullying and now leads the Restore Party), asked the government whether it would prohibit slaughter without stunning in order to ban halal meat, despite such a prohibition also applying to Kosher slaughter, which he did not call for banning. In January 2026, Sarah Pochin questioned the UK government’s definition of anti-Muslim hostility.

Reform also embraced Lee Anderson in March 2024, who was suspended by the Conservative Party for saying: “I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of [Sadiq] Khan and they’ve got control of London.” 

Another Reform candidate, Paul Harrison, backed mass deportations and retweeted an AI-generated caricature of Muslim men with Pakistani flags. A post on candidate Howard Raymond Din’s social media called for the mass shooting of Muslims, and candidate Leo Fruhman adopted the slogan “Every Muslim Out of Europe” under his tweets, which include “don’t f**king bring your barbarism tho or we’ll kick you to where you came from”, and “yes I do have a problem with Muslims”.

Many articles in the national press argue that Reform is racist, misogynistic, and Islamophobic. I need not write to convince you of this. I simply argue that a political party with a record of anti-Muslim hostility should not be active, promoted, and legitimised, least of all at institutions where many Muslims like myself live and study.

Every student has the right to feel safe and welcomed in their university, especially when university grounds are where they call home. It is not unreasonable for a student from any vulnerable group to feel unsafe around other students who openly support a political party that repeatedly targets them. It is also not unreasonable for them to feel unsafe on college grounds that may be hosting a politician for a society event who holds such views.

While unregistered, the Oxon Universities’ Reform Society hosted a Restore/Reform debate as well as inviting David Starkey to give a talk – the very same David Starkey who said “so many damn blacks survived during slavery”.

Reform has had to address extremist views spiralling out of control in its own party. During the 2024 general elections, it was made to remove more than a dozen candidates over their racist comments. This included campaigner Andrew Parker, who described Islam, rather than organised religion in general, as ‘a cult’. He suggested that the army should “F**king just shoot them”, referring to asylum seekers, and said of Rishi Sunak: “I’ve always been a Tory voter, but what annoys me is that f**king [P-word] we’ve got in.”

A 2026 investigation found many more Reform candidates making Islamophobic and racist comments, only some of whom were suspended. Former candidate Caspar Thomas tweeted that we should “kick Muslims out of our country”. He has written that “Black peoples have such a cringe victim complex”, and that “Indians are nasty”. While some of these individuals have been removed by Reform, it begs the question: what is it about Reform’s policies that keeps, time and time again, attracting these circles to begin with? 

If one truly studies Reform beyond the few examples mentioned in this article, they will quickly realise that the party is not truly concerned about immigration, integration, or British values, but only cloaks its moral panics and hostilities against Muslims and ethnic minorities behind these talking points. I do not expect students from different backgrounds to fully understand our experience of life. Non-British Muslims will also never understand the fears that dominate our lives. But it is further isolating to know that nobody will speak up or stand up for us, even outside the Reform event rooms. 

Students at the University of York protested their Restore student society. But I don’t feel confident that Oxford students would react the same way to the newly formed Reform society. It is not only the society that worries me, but also other students’ indifference towards it. I grew up in Britain where an anti-Muslim rally is described as a “an amazing day out with the family” and men who spew hatred against Muslims are called “activists”. Unsurprisingly, I have not always felt safe walking down the road as someone who is visibly Muslim. 

But now, with the new Oxford Reform society, I cannot say that I will always feel safe walking on college grounds, outside my dorm, in the JCR kitchen, or in any other shared space. Muslim and ethnic minority students should not have to navigate these spaces worried that the people close to us feel the same sentiments towards us that the student political society they belong to does.

Oxon Universites’ Reform Society was contacted for comment and told Cherwell that they share “concerns for the safety of all in Oxford”, with reference to a BBC News article from 2020 about grooming gangs in Oxford.

The legacy of the caricature

Ruya Oral
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The legacy of the caricature

Hollywood has had a tough year so far. That the ‘In Memoriam’ section of the 2026 Academy Awards is going to be a serious tear-jerker was solidified by the passing of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry over two consecutive days. Both legends in their own right, one can scarcely imagine Parton and Curry in the same room, the former a peroxide-blonde, rhinestone-clad country singer and the latter the ultimate black-comedy villain typecast – but their successive deaths have brought to light the many ways in which the two stars embodied the same, distinctive strangeness in the celebrity scene. 

The current cultural landscape requires that every celebrity also be an influencer. Since the start of the millennium, stardom has been undergoing a perhaps uncalled-for yet inevitable co-mingling with the rise of social media. It is no longer possible to be celebrated simply for, say, your acting skills – you must also cultivate a persona with which to engage with your fans. This means that ultimately what celebrities profit off most is normalcy. To appeal to the largest group of people, they must appear quirky whilst actually being anything but. The ‘niches’ they sign their names to are of no use if they are not easily applicable to anybody who has an Instagram account. Hence the mass hysteria surrounding what I term ‘nothing aesthetics’: clean girl. Quiet luxury. No-makeup makeup look. The most sought-after manicure? Funny bunny (milky white), or if that is sold out, bubble bath (pinkish white). Pantone’s colour of the year? Cloud dancer (cloudy…white?). Disturbing political implications aside – we are still living in the aftermath of Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad, after all – we are somehow witnessing the death of both individuality and community formed around unique and marginal traits at the hands of inoffensiveness.

One of the biggest perpetrators of the monochrome and monotone-ification of everything is Kylie Jenner. In an effort to keep up her quirky appearances, she has momentarily set the nude lip-kits aside to start a trend of putting gem stickers on everything – including the lip-kits. She’s so crazy, love her! Since Jenner launched the bedazzled editions of her makeup line, every social media platform has been flooded with images of people covering their journals, bedsheets, and pickle jars with gem stickers, no doubt to be removed as soon as the photo has been taken. It’s both devastating and embarrassing, then, to hear Dolly Parton’s nephew Bryan Seaver announce that before her death Parton told him that she wanted “to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest”. Not even the most committed “whimsy-maxxer” will ever get to make such a bittersweet statement.

Largely acknowledged as the most universally beloved public figure, dead or alive, Dolly Parton spent much of the first few decades of her 70-year career facing ridicule for the way she presented herself. Infamously modeling her look after the ‘town tramp’, Parton sported blonde wigs piled up to the high heavens, blood-red acrylic nails, and tight, rhinestone-studded clothes that accented her figure all the way until her final public appearance. “I’ve often made the statement that I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable”, she said in a 1977 interview with Barbara Walters, where she also acknowledged that many people’s initial reaction to “the ridiculous way I look” was either shock or mockery. However, she knew that the real joke was always on those who made fun of her: “I know exactly what I’m doing, and I can change it at any time.” Hers was a costume that was designed to be abnormal, and she chose to put it on every day. She reveled in the caricature that she made of herself, and by never once folding under the pressures of those who thought her ‘trashy’, she eventually brought everybody over to her side. 

Though even Donald Trump joined in on the national mourning period, Parton lived as a decided non-conformist until the end. She never had children; she never made public appearances with her husband, and often talked about how their relationship thrived because she was often away from home and free to do whatever she wanted; she supported LGBTQ+ causes, and even went on record many times to say that if she were born a man, she would have been a drag queen. Indeed, many of her queer fans think of her as the first cisgender woman to do drag on the global stage on account of her campy, ultra-feminine persona, performance skills, and witty, self-effacing humour. Beyond her branding, her philanthropy was also consistently aimed at enabling social and cultural progress. She supported new artists, both financially and morally; she started one of the biggest and most successful literacy programmes in history with her Imagination Library; she funded COVID-19 vaccine research, and offered herself up for their trial. She used the glitz and glamour which once made her strange, different, and alienated her from her people to foster happiness, mobility, and freedom in communities like her own. 

Unlike Parton, Tim Curry revealed little to nothing about his personal life throughout his lengthy career on both screen and stage. He also didn’t have a consistent persona like Parton’s, rather walking through a revolving door of increasingly freakish and subversive characters. Similar to Parton, though, his embrace of the caricature was a force that created community, even in the absence of any discernible shared traits. Best known for his performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) – described by Peter Bradshaw as a “sonorous and feline… vampirically queer alien sex god” – Curry’s lasting influence in the role is showcased by the millions who attend showings of the film in full costume every year. A self-proclaimed “sweet transvestite”, Dr. Frank is a figure of unintelligible sexuality and gender who violates both scientific and ethical codes to satisfy his desires. He is also not altogether human, hailing from the planet “Transsexual” in the galaxy of “Transylvania”. By playing into these stereotypes about queer people, Curry’s performance emphasises their ridiculousness and forces the audience to reckon with the rigidity with which they treat those unlike them, and how their bigotry ultimately reflects on how they govern themselves. For 50 years, Curry’s Frank-N-Furter has brought people together and allowed them to leave the binaries that rule their lives at home. That is the power of kitsch: it invites you to laugh with, not at, the strange and unfamiliar.  

We are living through a watershed period of conservatism and regression. What conservatism does, as well as actively infringe on our rights and livelihoods, is inspire fear and shame surrounding behaviours that might provoke those in charge to infringe on our rights and livelihoods. It also turns us against people who are in truth no different from us, but we see them as stepping over some arbitrary line we have drawn, fearing that it might endanger us too. The weekly ‘cancellation’ of Chappell Roan, who is more like both Parton and Curry than not, proves it. The definition of ‘normal’ is becoming narrower by the day, and even if you currently believe yourself safe, come tomorrow you too might be strange and dangerous in the eyes of the law. Though their deaths have dimmed the sun in my world as well as many others, I rest easy knowing that Parton and Curry never once compromised the things that made them happy in fear of being perceived as strange, and the art that they have left behind means that they will be remembered forever. Few of us will get to be so lucky.

How my year abroad in France healed my relationship with food

Verity Fleetwood-Law
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How my year abroad in France healed my relationship with food

CW: Eating disorders.

We’re sitting at a makeshift dining table at the foothills of the Pyrenees, the mystic beauty of the mountains enveloping our little group. Stretched out before us is rich tomato pasta, savoury soups, cold chicken, and crusty baguette from the best bakery in Tournefeuille. A ‘quick lunch’ in the midst of a busy choir tour. An impossibility in the French mind. The main course is naturally followed by a litany of post-lunch titbits: cheese, compote, coffee. I enjoy my food without anxiety – the mountains have made me hungry, and I relish each bite.

I have not always felt so liberated in my enjoyment of food as I did that day in the Pyrenees. I never really considered our relationship to be damaged – it was just the natural suspicion of something which might affect my weight, and thus my worth. Calories occupied my thoughts, but I had never restricted myself so much as to cause a physical problem, which meant that there was no problem.

As someone who developed at a young age and towered over primary school friends, I found it hard not to be conscious of the space I took up. At secondary school, while other fears crept in, that one, the one about my body, seemed to fade out. Yet almost immediately after starting my first year at Oxford, I felt it return, this time stronger than before and reinforced with a healthy dose of imposter syndrome.

My academic and social status felt newly intertwined with how my body looked. I remember excruciating conversations at formals – the declaration of the confident maxim that “everyone here is skinny!” – and feeling my stomach drop, thinking that I was not included in this “everyone”. Looking back, such thoughts were paranoid and irrational, and the decision to only very occasionally eat breakfast during first year made me tired and unhappy at a time when my tutorial essays were exhausting enough.

Something began to shift in my second year. Having faced down Prelims, I had a greater confidence in my academic ability and started exercising regularly, which necessitated eating more food. I also started going out with someone who loves cooking and eating as much as I do, and I’m happy to say that the enjoyment of delicious food continues to be a core part of our relationship. Despite this, food still played on my mind. I enjoyed a regular breakfast, but fears of calories loomed and I only allotted myself one sweet treat every two days (or often every three, or four).

Enter the year abroad. On my second day in Toulouse, where I would study for one semester, we lunched with family friends at a food market that could be classed as one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Modern World’. Stalls sold glossily sheened and butter-enriched pastries, every cut of meat imaginable, and an exotic variety of fish, including sea urchins. All this wonderment preceded a long lunch upstairs, which observed the restaurant’s formule (a concept I came to know extremely well). Naturally, the meal started with an apéritif, followed by crusty bread and two courses. Though at this first, emblematic encounter I instinctively wanted to excuse my indulgence with thoughts of “it’s okay to eat like this because I’m technically on holiday”, I would soon come to break this pattern of thinking – my delight in French cuisine had only just begun.

In French culture, dining is about conversation as much as food. I quickly noticed that Toulousains often sat for hours, chatting, over meals. A combination of reasonably priced restaurant menus – free from the shackles of calories (thanks, Boris!) – the travesty of my student accommodation prison kitchen, and a rapidly formed friend group of fellow Erasmus students, quickly allowed me to assimilate into this alluring way of life.

Of course, my student lifestyle in Toulouse did afford me much more time than I ever had in Oxford. Post-Brideshead Revisited, most of us rarely have time for a three hour long lunch in between lectures and tutorials. However, even working 9am to 5pm for six months in Paris, I found space to regularly enjoy an apero with my friends and relish a superb sandwich from my favourite boulangerie. I was fortunate to live in an unusual student residence in Paris which offered a daily breakfast of tartines to all inhabitants, a practice which both saved me money and facilitated some of the most interesting conversations I had during my time in France.

My relationship with food had changed without me realising it. I no longer limited my intake of sweet things to twice or thrice weekly, instead relying on my own intuition. Sometimes that final course doesn’t seem appealing at a restaurant, but equally one sometimes must acknowledge the futility of denying oneself a particularly appealing patisserie. The year abroad was transformative for me in so many ways – not only did my relationship with food begin to heal, but I also had the luxury of time to reflect on how I was changing as a person, which, in turn, motivated me to maintain these positive changes.

I do not mean to say that diet culture and eating disorders do not exist in France – of course they do. Through conversations with French friends and colleagues, I learnt that fatphobia is also rampant, as is the favourite French appetite suppressant: the cigarette. Nor is French culture unique in granting the dining table a hallowed status – I recently learnt that in the Antioquian culture of Colombia, it is customary to spend the first hour of dinner discussing the quality of the food.

I am reluctant to claim that my relationship with food is completely healed. Like learning a language, the process has been a non-linear one – some days are worse than others. There is no doubt, however, that my time in France has irretrievably altered this crucial relationship for the better, and I expect to continue this healing process as I rejoin Oxford life.

Oxford Reform Society registers for Michaelmas

Stanley Arlidge and Mair Andrews
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Oxford Reform Society registers for Michaelmas

The University of Oxford has a Reform UK society for the first time, after registering with the Proctors. 

After a six-month wait to approve their application, the political society announced its official registration with the University in an Instagram post. The society’s President, Lincoln Hewitt, told Cherwell: “Our overarching aim is to open up Oxford to new ideas and debates ideas that students have had nowhere to discuss but a quiet pub corner, debates that the Union would not host.”

Though previously operating as the Oxford University Reform Society, they are officially referred to as the Oxon Universities’ Reform Society due to University rules on the use of the University trademark by new clubs. The extent of the society’s official relation to Reform UK is unconfirmed. 

The Oxford society’s registration comes amid a surge of Reform-affiliated groups at UK universities. In November 2025, the national party set up Students for Reform, a network of Reform UK groups in universities across the country, to champion Reform-supporting students. A recent Instagram post by Students for Reform celebrated the presence of Reform societies at 13 out of 24 Russell Group universities.

Increased Reform presence on campus has caused controversy at multiple UK universities. Over 400 students and staff at the University of York protested against a Reform UK speaker event in November, while other Reform societies have faced hostile campaigns from left-wing groups and petitions against their affiliation. Earlier this year, a confrontation between Reform students and left-wing protestors at St Andrews University prompted Suella Braverman, a former Conservative MP who defected to become a spokesperson for Reform UK, to release a statement condemning both the university and the “political violence” of the students involved. A poll from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in January showed that 35% of UK students believe Reform should not be allowed to speak on campus. 

While unregistered, the society hosted a Restore-Reform Britain debate and an event with historian David Starkey titled “A Scandal Unlike Any Other: Mandelson and the Rise and Fall of the New Labour System of Corruption”. The President of Reform Society told Cherwell that “the resources at our disposal and the University’s freedom of speech protections will permit us to run the full complement of events expected of an Oxford political club”. A forthcoming term card promises an “extensive programme of speaker events including members of parliaments and public figures”, the President added. 

Regarding the new society’s role in the student politics landscape, the President told Cherwell: “Students on the right can expect to find their home and their voice.” President-Elect of the Oxford University Conservative Association, Aarav Desai, told Cherwell: “Oxford University Conservative Association will always remain the greatest home of conservatism in the University, with our esteemed history of fostering debate, free speech and conservative ideals… There will be no defectors to Reform society here”. 

From Oxbridge to Silicon Valley: The rise of student entrepreneurship

Emma Heagney
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From Oxbridge to Silicon Valley: The rise of student entrepreneurship

90% of startups fail – but some young people aren’t deterred by this infamous statistic. Between 2014-15 and 2022-23, there was a 70% increase in the number of UK university startups, with these being led by some of Britain’s brightest young minds. But as the graduate job market continues to suffer, these founders often look abroad to scale their businesses. The pattern is a familiar one, and one characteristic of an ‘incubator economy’, in which startups move to London or overseas due to a lack of funding. Does a university education remain valuable for these young entrepreneurs, or can entrepreneurship serve as an increasingly popular alternative to traditional routes to success?

Social media and startups

For content creator and Cambridge student Erin McGurk, entrepreneurship was the natural outcome of her social media experience. Beyond the hard-earned skills that come with a combined following of over 1 million on multiple social media platforms – such as negotiating contracts, having her voice heard in sales meetings, and creating engaging videos – Erin told  Cherwell that documenting her university experience was the main factor motivating her to launch her business. Egoist Machines allows users to create an ‘AI passport’, in which their personal information can be transported across AI platforms. The startup is backed by Y Combinator, arguably the most prestigious startup accelerator in the world – but, speaking to Cherwell from San Francisco, she still sees the immense value of a university degree.

Erin’s appreciation for her Cambridge experience derives primarily from the opportunity to connect with like-minded people: “Without Cambridge, I wouldn’t have met my co-founder, Daniel. There’s also a sort of availability bias, as I have the privilege of meeting experts in their fields.” Erin also shared on her TikTok page that she had switched courses in her first year, shifting from economics to land economy, stating that she wanted to study “the practical applications of economics”, a choice that seems to align with her ambitions in the business world. Nevertheless, Erin doesn’t entirely reject a traditionally successful career path, such as law or finance: “These industries make the world work!” For her, the risk of founding a business was something she was prepared for, because she had her social media career as a backup and was still young enough to lack significant financial responsibilities. If anything, one of the hardest adjustments has been to American hustle culture: “The UK has a disproportionate amount of talent, but ‘San Francisco optimism’ is abundant, and quite un-British.”

For some young entrepreneurs, however, university is off the table. Ishaan Bhimjiyani, better known online as Revishaan, shocked his ‘studytok’ audience in 2023 by abandoning his Oxbridge aspirations for an entrepreneurial path in Dubai. Speaking to Cherwell, he lists a number of factors that influenced his decision, the greatest of which was his social media success. With just over 400,000 TikTok followers as of 2026, Ishaan has been creating content since before he even sat his GCSE exams. He first gained attention for his study-focused videos, from livestreaming his revision to hosting study meet-ups in London. Speaking to Cherwell, he noted that developing his image and working with brands gave him the skills he needed to start his own business. He told Cherwell: “Content creation starts as a fun hobby and slowly becomes a side hustle. I had to file my own taxes, negotiate my worth, and learn how to be brand safe.”

This business acumen, acquired from a relatively young age, was bolstered by him having the right characteristics for entrepreneurship. “You can’t get anywhere without taking risks”, he said. “Being a good entrepreneur is about what you do with your opportunities, how you communicate, whether you know your worth, and whether you can solve problems.” For Ishaan, these characteristics are enough. “People think I come from a wealthy background, but I had no family connections in this industry. A full-time job isn’t enough anymore, and the pressure on young people to earn is enormous, so side hustles often end up performing better than a main career.” This precarious situation in the UK led Ishaan to relocate to Dubai, where he enjoys lower taxes and better support for his entrepreneurial vision. “The UK really punishes business owners,” he said. “You pay so much in tax, and you don’t see where it goes, whereas countries like Norway and Finland have high taxes but plenty of support for businesses. Silicon Valley and Dubai are the best places for an entrepreneur to be.”

Ishaan doesn’t regret his choice to forgo a university degree: “Gap years exist for a reason. You can always go back to education.” He is currently the CEO of TapLab, a talent management agency representing over 100 ‘study influencers’. With an impressive display of brand partners, from Apple to Samsung and Beats, his ed-tech company reflects the very beginning of his career – in his room, livestreaming his GCSE revision. When asked about the future of his business, Ishaan firmly states that he is aiming to eventually exit and sell the company. Investing is his main passion, and has been the focus of his content since deciding not to attend university. Speaking to Cherwell, he revealed that this pivot in itself was incredibly difficult, as it struggled to resonate with his study-oriented audience. But Ishaan believed first and foremost in pursuing his passions, whether that meant revision or entrepreneurship.

Being your own boss

For Erin, Ishaan, and other content creators, taking responsibility for their online presence made the foray into entrepreneurship natural. But there are other factors at play that make the world of startups, pitching, and incubators appealing.

The barrier to entry is lower than ever, with AI tools accelerating the process of building a business. From maximising the productivity of a small team to allowing for cost-free testing, what once may have required a dedicated marketing team or extensive market research can now be done in a matter of hours with Claude or ChatGPT, the latter of which is at many students’ fingertips. Similarly important is the widespread availability of open-source AI models like Llama, Qwen, and Mistral, which can be easily adapted and redistributed with little knowledge of the technical ins and outs – a practice known as ‘vibe coding’, and heavily criticised within the industry.

Much like the iconic, rose-tinted representation of Hollywood, San Francisco and its entrepreneurial culture are increasingly common symbols in popular imagination. TV shows such as Silicon Valley, Shark Tank, and even The Apprentice hold significant cultural weight as representatives of capitalist optimism – particularly for Big Tech – that has grown in recent decades in the UK. This has occurred to such an extent that the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor has been dubbed ‘Europe’s Silicon Valley’ in government communications. Yet, the lifestyle and status of being a ‘founder’ is also increasingly glamourised. For instance, Steven Bartlett’s massively popular The Diary of a CEO podcast makes use of the jargon and self-help sheen of the Silicon Valley mindset, with The Times columnist James Marriott describing the show in 2023 as “encouraging, motivational, [and] vaguely businessy”. It raises the question of whether entrepreneurship is truly motivated by passion for a product or company, or is in large part a vanity project in tandem with content creation and personal branding. However, while there may be aesthetic motivations in getting stuck into ‘founder’ terminology and vying for a lucrative exit, much of the same could be said for traditional law or finance, in which industry rankings and generous perks are part and parcel of the profession.

But entrepreneurship is not accessible to everyone. Some of the most touching – and viral – stories are about entrepreneurs who come from nothing and have no connections, but this is very much the exception that proves the rule. Having access to wealth and connections through nepotism is often what allows individuals to take the risks necessary in business since they possess a safety net to fall back on. Even in the competitive race to attract investment, socioeconomic inequality runs rife: Y Combinator’s prestigious funding scheme includes a compulsory 3-month residential in San Francisco, in which accommodation and flights are not covered. These inequalities exist in almost every industry, but we should perhaps feel greater concern when these persist in a line of work so heavily entrenched in ‘meritocratic’ ideology.

The value of university

In many ways, student entrepreneurship also speaks to the real concerns young people have about higher education. Rising tuition fees, extortionate interest rates, and a precarious job market have markedly devalued a university degree, and the unattractive prospect of being saddled with lifelong debt makes for a poor return on investment. In January, Labour MP for York Outer, Luke Charters, described England and Wales’ student loans system to Parliament as a “mis-selling scandal waiting to unfold”. A scandal, it is. After years of paying their debts, graduates often find themselves left with higher remaining balances than when they took out these loans, a particularly concerning result when the terms of such loans were rarely advertised as being subject to change. Home ownership, children, and retirement are becoming unrealistic financial investments as a result.

More and more often, a university degree does not translate into a job at all, let alone a high-paying, high-status role. This month, a record 262,820 students were accepted onto an undergraduate course, with roughly 17,000 graduate jobs available. According to the What Do Graduates Do? 2025-26 survey, only 56.4% of first-degree graduates were in full-time employment 15 months after graduating. Of those working in either full-time or part-time employment, 10.2% worked as retail, catering, waiting, and bar staff, the second-most popular category. Statistic after statistic reveals a hostile environment for young people, but there are few alternatives, with places for degree apprenticeships being similarly competitive.

But university is not always doom and gloom. Particularly for those at Oxford and Cambridge, the institutional prestige and potential to form high-profile connections are unrivalled. In addition, Oxford and Cambridge both aim to promote entrepreneurship in their students. The OX1 Incubator, for example, has provided over £120,000 worth of equity-free funding to over 800 student founders. Cambridge’s entrepreneurial culture is perhaps even more impressive, with the city being a British biotech hub. Alongside the Cambridge University Entrepreneurs, a society which has awarded over £750,000 in funding, several colleges host their own incubator programmes, from the King’s Entrepreneurship Lab to the Trinity Hall Entrepreneurs’ Network. However, few universities can match the resources and funding of Oxbridge, and as the industrialised world’s most regionally unequal nation, the UK may be home to only a tiny minority of students who can take advantage of these programmes.

Anya Trofimova, a recent graduate from St John’s College and former Oxford BNOC, was offered a training contract in her final year. She turned it down to build her own AI startup, PRINCEPS, which aims to reshape how data centres are insured – PRINCEPS is backed by Y Combinator and recently won a £1.7 million prize at London Tech Week. While reminiscing positively on her Oxford experience, she felt that a life in corporate law was not for her. “It’s a huge privilege to have my first proper job be one in which I’m self-employed, and I certainly wouldn’t have had that opportunity had I not gone to Oxford. But in terms of making a meaningful impact, I couldn’t do that in law or policy without a good decade of experience.” Anya felt that the corporate environment was ultimately too far removed from the interesting, and often hugely consequential, cases which she got a taste of. Entrepreneurship, on the other hand, allows her to build her vision here and now. “The Oxford process facilitates this – you realise just how much you can achieve if you apply yourself.”

What’s the point?

Though it is one of the most popular industries for student startups, AI is a particularly contentious field to venture into – most AI is accessed in the cloud, hosted in large data centres which consume huge amounts of water and electricity. There are eight data centres in Oxfordshire alone, seven of which are situated in Didcot, while plans for a ninth near Bicester have recently been approved by Cherwell District Council. In a country significantly impacted by drought, and in which water bans are being introduced, reconsidering our distribution of these limited resources may be long overdue. Or, perhaps, as Erin tells Cherwell, it may be a mistake to ignore the inevitable: “There are good things happening with AI, especially in the medical field. After a rocky transition we’ll hopefully be left with these, but for now the environmental impact is disastrous.” For her, optimising data centres to be as environmentally efficient as possible is how we mitigate what is already well underway.

No one can know what the future has in store for these young entrepreneurs, but on paper, they have everything needed to succeed: a world-class education, substantial funding, and the audacity to aim high. An Oxbridge education, once a direct pipeline into law and finance, is changing, with students increasingly pursuing other ventures while still enrolled in undergraduate study. Perhaps our brightest minds could be put to better use, or perhaps they will continue to solve complex problems – even if they tend to be the problems of Big Tech’s wealthiest. In the meantime, these entrepreneurs will no doubt continue to build ferociously enviable CVs.

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