Sunday 28th September 2025
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OUBbC: Learning to love on an away night at Brookes

Calum Isaacs
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OUBbC: Learning to love on an away night at Brookes

Brookes 84-95 Oxford

It’s eight o’clock on a Monday night. The regular crowd shuffles in. We’re in the Oxford Brookes sports centre, and the players are warming up for a relatively important game in their season. Yet I do not care. I worry about the narrative that’s going to play out, and I hope for something interesting enough to commit to paper. But for all the time I’ve spent on this group of people, the tendrils of shared fate have not yet got a grip of me.

Today, I’m looking to change that—partly out of a sense that it’s time enough for it, and partly just because it’s a fun exercise in personal control (or perhaps guided surrender). As the game tips off, I start looking for villains. Roughly, I know my heroes. There’s the trio of Alex, Josh and Orin whom I covered last week, along with the host of other faces I’ve become used to. I don’t know exactly who the protagonists will be this time, but at least I’m clued up on the domain I’m drawing from.

Brookes I know only to an extent. The Blues played them earlier this term in what was a fairly vibrant game. What I had learnt was that their best player is no. 10, Maxwell Adzet Mauchline. The problem with Mr Mauchline is that he’s predominantly unassuming and inoffensive. He just does good things and doesn’t fuss too much about it, which is very unhelpful for my wannabe-zealot self sitting on the sideline. Anyway, Blues players Orin and Akin are tasked with stunting him for this game and, it turns out, they are going to do a pretty good job, so Brookes will be looking elsewhere for leading lights.

Orin Varley faces off with Maxwell Adzet Mauchline. Credit: Oxford University Basketball Club

Fortunately, the alternative choice is obvious. There is one guy I remember distinctly from the first Brookes encounter: their no. 8, Cole Barton. He has the demeanour of the kind of player that you find annoying whether he’s on your team or the opposition. Either way, he talks too much, protests too much. This is probably unfair, and he could be a great guy. But to enter the mode of true fanhood, you cannot treat people fairly. At least, you cannot treat the opposition fairly. They have to become one-dimensional characters in a two-bit storyline. To that righteous end, with all due apology to the man, I select Cole as my primary nemesis for the evening.

While I’m working this out, the game has been under way, and I look at the scoreboard—it’s lying. ‘Home 15, Visitors 9’. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the Oxford Blues, what you need to know is that they do not lose. In fact, they don’t ever look like they are losing. That’s how this works. I come and I sit and I enjoy a comfortable display of dominance, and the train chugs on.

But this time, a real game is going on, and Mr Barton (boo) is aiming a shot towards the hoop, and it’s bouncing on the rim, and it’s still bouncing on the rim, and will it ever stop bouncing on this godforsaken rim? I actually thought the ball might have just stopped, there on the rim, but I was wrong. The shot was a miss, and the ball is up the other end, and Josh Soifer scores a two. Nice, some normality.

It’s not really normality because Brookes come back, and I’m noting down more about the opposition players than I have done in any previous match. But now, Orin has earned himself two free throws, and the Brookes crowd is jeering. Free throws normally cast this sudden moment of quiet, but this is not quiet at all. Still, much to the gallery’s disappointment, Orin sinks both. It feels like a moment of proper leadership from the captain. The quarter ends at a balanced 26-25.

For a brief moment there, Brookes were outplaying Oxford—the first time any team has done so this season. Now, though, it’s fairly evenly pitched. The second quarter continues in the same vein, in a reasonably uninteresting way. So instead, I focus my attention on Cole. There’s Cole going for a two in loads of space, but he misses and Akin goes up the other end and shows him how it’s done. There’s Cole going on a big run to loud cheers, but with no end product. There’s Cole going for a big buzzer-beating three, but it’s way off. Turns out this vilification thing is quite fun. The quarter ends with a completely-not-game-changing score of 47-46, but I don’t mind. Take that Cole.

It’s half time. I assess the crowd. It’s larger than the ones we are used to down at Iffley. Or, at least, it has more people unconnected to the team. That is, more people have just come to enjoy the game, with beer and a barely passable grasp of the sport’s rules in hand. The whole sports centre, with its bar, cafe, and screens showing live sports has a communal, welcoming feel that Iffley Road misses. I can’t help but feel it’s a shame that Oxford lack a hub like this.

The third quarter is quite uneventful. Oxford have the slight edge now. As a small lead opens up, the crowd start to ramp up the noise. I feel a little tug of hostility to this. Just tentatively, I am starting to fancy myself as in opposition to those around me. By the end of the quarter, Oxford has built up a lead of 60-68, and I hope all these Brookes fans take note.

Now, the fourth quarter begins. Big Alex three—11-point game. Josh two—13-point game. Strong Alex drive—15-point game. Swerving Harry run—17-point game. I note: “It’s starting, finally, to feel comfortable.” With 6:51 left in the game, the score is 68-84.

The spirit of conquest is broken by a controversy. The Oxford bench is greatly aggravated by something. In basketball, when a player commits five fouls in a game, they are said to have ‘fouled out’ and are not allowed to play any more minutes. The referees have mistakenly miscounted the fouls of Brookes no. 9, Arseniy Pushkin. They say he’s on four. He’s actually on five. But oh well, no biggie.

Pushkin scores a two. Pushkin scores a two. Of course. A big ginger Brookes guy does a great tackle on Josh. The crowd cheers. Pushkin scores a three. This does not stop. In total, Brookes go on a 14-point run. 12 of those points are scored by Pushkin. No biggie.

It’s timeout. The score is 82-84, with four minutes to go. There is a lot of energy pumping around this room right now. As they come out to resume play, Cole riles up the Brookes fans. The referee joins in. Everyone is loving the theatre. We’ve been subjected to a Brookes lead and an Oxford comeback, and now an Oxford lead and a Brookes comeback. Everyone’s had their comeuppance. But somebody has to win this thing. For the first time in the Blues’ season, there is real uncertainty about how this game is going to end. And… I almost care. Almost.

Well, you know the rest, you’ve seen the score. But let me tell it to you. Akin earns two free throws. We’re at the crunch point of the game. The crowd jeers, loudly. They are so ready for him to miss. And he does. He misses both. I feel for him. The game remains in the balance.

But soon enough, Josh scores a two. This is fairly standard procedure. By this point in the game, the term ‘Soifer 2’ has become its own stock phrase in my notes. But this one is special. It relieves some stress, and I’m thankful for it. Yet only a few moments later, I am writing it again. Soifer 2. He runs back into position: “Let’s go!” And again, there he goes, there he goes, there it is. Soifer 2. Oxford are running away with this. And Josh is running away towards the Oxford bench, and he’s jumping and nodding, and everyone’s on their feet. And I’m loving it. Take that Cole. Take that crowd. This is the pinnacle of the Blues’ season so far. It’s a great moment.

In the last minute or so, Akin gets another two free throws. Jeers again. But this time, he does not miss. He swishes both. Each swishing sound is music to my ears. Cole, in resignation, goes for a dunk, and fails, and the buzzer goes. The Oxford squad roars. On a knife edge, their day has been made.

For me, I’m left to ponder my connection to what has happened. Sports fanhood is rationally desired irrationality. It’s the hedonistic paradox—if you try and maximise your happiness, you will not do so. Instead, you have to make yourself invest in something enough that it can cause you pain. To get the most out of it, you have to absurdly surrender yourself to some people out of your control throwing a ball around.

But believe in this idea as much as you want, it cannot, by the nature of its irrationality, be constructed soberly. You have to stare down the barrel of a Brookes victory and feel the oncoming affliction. You need that illegal Pushkin tornado to appreciate the Soifer chest-thumping. As my luck had it, this is what I was able to experience.

And so, I feel ready to say to Brookes that guys, you couldn’t hold us back. You had your little comeback, but eventually the dam broke, and we showed you what’s what. Yes, we. Yes, us. I had won the victory over myself. I loved the Oxford Blues.

Review: 2nd May 1997 // Love Song Productions

Martha Storey
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Review: 2nd May 1997 // Love Song Productions

2nd May 1997 celebrates an era that feels unimaginably far from our current political landscape. Love Song Productions’ performance of the play captures this spirit of change; of breaking away from the past, and racing towards the future.

The play is sectioned into neat thirds ー naturally, one for each of the three main parties  ー spread over the course of the election night and the following morning. It opens with Tory MP Robert (Karan Lalwani) reflecting on his career as he tries to evade the grim inevitability of losing his seat. Meanwhile, his wife Marie (Céline Barclay) both dotes over him, and opens up about the lonely life of an MP’s spouse. The endless constituency garden parties and condescending SpAds are cited, but more serious are the tales of numerous handsy and leering MPs that Marie has had to endure. In the light of recent allegations about Stanley Johnson inappropriately touching journalists and MPs, this sheds a stark light on how old problems continue to plague politics today, twenty years on.

Lalwani is excellent in the role of Robert, capturing the old-boy, traditionalist mentality of 80s politics that New Labour tried so hard to break away from. His strong attachment to conservatism and frustration at this changing of the tide is clear, whilte his age and illness parallels the tired-feeling Conservative party of the late nineties; too broken to be complacent, and too stubborn to change. 

As the stage is transformed yellow, we are taken to a scene midway through the night, where a man and a womanl stumble in after an election party. Ian (Tom Baker), being a Lib Dem, is unable to cope with any kind of sexual tension, while Sarah (Iris Bowdler), having gatecrashed the party, is after something a little more exciting than watching the seats come in. Bowdler manages to perfectly capture Sarah’s chaotic and drunken state as she pendulums from brazen flirtation to confused vulnerability, perfectly opposing Baker’s nerdy nervousness. Throughout the play, the characters neatly fit into their party’s stereotypes, however co-directors Katie Kirkpatrick and James Newbery are careful not to lean too much into cliché, and in this scene, Baker’s Ian slowly transforms from a spineless bore into someone more, well, human, as Sarah opens up to him. 

Throughout the play, we are reminded of the impact of politics upon the character’s lives, and I’m sure anyone who has spent enough time with a PPE-ist can recognise the moment when switching on the election coverage makes Ian’s eyes light up in a way that poor Sarah could never manage. Despite this, though, Sarah and Ian’s chance meeting reminds us that the world does not, and should not, stop for politics, despite what Ian may wish.

As Blair’s new dawn breaks, we find ourselves in a teenage bedroom, where friends Jake (Noah Radcliffe-Adams) and Will (Hari Bravery) find themselves entangled after the previous night’s festivities. We see their furtive excitement as they pour over the morning’s papers and attempt to memorise the new cabinet, and their youthful energy as they plan their own political careers. They are sure of everything, it seems, apart from themselves. Where Jake shakes off the events of the night before with a winning smirk, Will hides his feelings for Jake behind his enthusiasm for this new era of politics, giving the boys’ jubilation a bittersweet undertone. 

Radcliffe-Adams’s Jake is marvellously arrogant, eager to show-off his political knowledge and intellectual prowess. Meanwhile, Bravery’s longing stares and nervous tension in the part of Will give the scene its edge, Jake being too busy dreaming to notice his silent admirer. While initially, the boys seem the epitome of the hopeful, Cool Britannia spirit of Blair’s campaign, this emotional tension reminds us that politics can’t solve everything, no matter how hard we may try to pretend it does.

2nd May 1997 manages to use a pivotal moment in political history to explore three very different relationships and the difficulties they face. It is performed with grace and humour, using the political events as a mirror that reflects the difficulties of each pair’s situation. 2nd May 1997 is about more than just politics; it’s about love and about the relationships that shape our lives, despite the changing of political tides.

Image Credit: Jemima Chen

Timothée Chalamet’s ‘Wonka’ to be filmed in Hertford College

Estelle Atkinson
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Timothée Chalamet’s ‘Wonka’ to be filmed in Hertford College

In a newsletter to its students, Hertford College confirmed that the resident college cat, Simpkin IV, will soon be “competing for quad space with the cast and crew of the new Wonka film.” The filming is set to take place in the College before Christmas. 

Simpkin IV, the Hertford College cat, relaxing in the marquee in Old Building’s Quad. Image Credit: Charlie Hancock

The film has been described by Warner Bros and the Roald Dahl Story Company as focusing on the life of a young Wonka before he opens his chocolate factory. The film is directed by Paul King, who also directed the Paddington movies. Horrible Histories star Simon Faranby wrote the script alongside King.

Timothée Chalamet is starring as the third rendition of Willy Wonka to hit the screens. He was recently spotted filming in Lyme Regis, Dorset. The town councillor, Daryl Turner, told the BBC that “the town as a whole has fully embraced [the film crew], they are fantastic news for the town.” Others starring in the film include Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, and Sally Hawkins.

The film’s venue administrators, Narrow Mark Films, have applied to close Catte Street in Oxford on the 12th and 13th of December, and then again on the 21st. New College Lane, Brasenose Lane, and Merton Street are also going to be used as locations to film in. Scenes have already been filmed at Culham Lock in Abingdon, reported OxfordshireLive.

Hertford College clarified in its newsletter, “it is fake news that we are adopting as our new motto its title character’s suggestion that ‘a little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.’”

Image: Maximillian Bühm/CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Startup spotlight: Bringing rocket science into cooking

Hung-Jen Wu
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Startup spotlight: Bringing rocket science into cooking

FIREUP is a new Oxford cookware spinout founded by Raghav Agarwal and Professor Thomas Povey at the Department of Engineering Science. It recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to market and drive sales for a Dutch oven, which incorporates a unique design inspired by jet engine technology. 

The conception of this idea originated a decade ago with Povey, whose research involved designing cooling systems for jet engines. On one mountaineering trip, Povey struggled to get a pot of water to boil at high altitude. When a conventional pot is placed over a stove, a lot of heat dissipates into the environment after the flame goes around the edges, thereby reducing the cooking efficiency. He and his students spent the next three years prototyping with different pot designs and came up with a cast aluminum saucepan with tapered fins replacing the otherwise smooth cylindrical edge. They called this invention the Flare Pan. 

The inclusion of the unique fin design guided the flame around the pan and into the fins, allowing the pan to retain heat more effectively. This enabled the pan to utilize 40% less energy and cook 30% faster than comparable saucepans. This novelty earned Povey’s group a coveted Hawley Award from the Worshipful Company of Engineers for “the most outstanding engineering innovation that delivers demonstrable benefit to the environment”. 

In 2019 Raghav Agarwal, a former entrepreneur who launched a cookware manufacturer in India, earned his MBA from Saïd Business School. Whilst at Oxford, Agarwal was chair of the Oxford Entrepreneurship Network and represented the business school on the Oxford Foundry’s Student Advisory Board. Through an Oxford University Innovation (OUI)-sponsored programme, he met Povey and the two hit it off immediately given their mutual interest in cookware and innovation. 

After exploring different applications, base materials and marketing directions, they decided to launch their new company, FIREUP. Their first product is a 5 litre cast iron Dutch oven which uses the signature tapered fins of the Flare Pan.

Raghav cites the versatility of the Dutch oven to saute, sear, fry, braise, roast, and use in the oven as the primary reason for launching with this product. He also cites amount of hype that home cooking trends like “No-Knead Bread” received on Instagram during the pandemic. What did they bake their bread in? Not in a pan, but quite often in a Dutch oven. 

He also cites the lack of innovation in under a century in cast iron cookware, and the potential of a market currently worth $2.8 billion globally to grow to $3.3 billion in the next four years, as the key reasons for his optimism. The total UK cast iron cookware market is worth £1.3 billion. Raghav told Cherwell: “On one hand you have painstakingly expensive French brands, like Le Creuset, that force you to almost sell your house to buy a long-lasting premium product. If you look at the history of these brands, they’re almost 100-200 years old [that only come in] different shapes, sizes, and colors. That’s not innovation. [Then there are] smaller trendier startups [that are] investing a lot of marketing dollars to market a product that’s not as premium.” 

Initial financial support was provided by OUI and FIREUP was built up by a global team during the pandemic. The plan is to produce aesthetic and environmentally friendly cookware primarily for home chefs, finance its production through online pre-orders and sell units directly to customers. FIREUP also stands out amongst OUI spinouts as the first to use Kickstarter as its key funding source. The campaign began on 19 October and as of 18 November, £144,511 has been pledged by 1,276 backers. Due to popular demand, this campaign will continue for the next month on Indiegogo.

The FIREUP Dutch oven will be manufactured in Belgium with a nod to the sustainability profile of its predecessor. As Agarwal puts it: “The materials we use are long-lasting and non-toxic. We manufacture in an 80-year old foundry […] [which] is fully compliant with the highest environmental work standards. It pays fair compensation for workers, complies with global safety procedures and environmental standards.”

For now, FIREUP is completely focused on launching their Dutch oven but they do have plans to incorporate the heat retaining tapered fin design to additional cookware down the line. Affirming his vision, Raghav said: “We are here for the long term. We want to build a brand that the ultimate customer can believe in.”

To learn more about FIREUP, go to www.fireupuk.com.

Image Credits: FIREUP Cookware Limited

Money Diaries: Overdraft edition

Cherwell Money Diaries
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Money Diaries: Overdraft edition

Monday, November 1st, 9:00am, somewhere in OX1. I wake up from a five-day Halloween bender and find myself sore, at least a week behind on work, and, most importantly, broke. My banking app informs me that I have ten Great British Pounds and seven Pence to my name. I have precisely two weeks until the German government once again transfers valuable taxpayers’ money to my account so I can sustain my extravagant lifestyle of Gail’s cinnamon rolls and straight cigarettes. Which leaves me with the question: how do I stretch £10 over two whole weeks?

Just like George Washington knew back in 1799 that “the best form of defense is a good offense”, I knew that the best way to stop being broke is to make money. In this city, there are many side hustles to choose from. From tutoring private school kids how to get into Oxford PPE to life-modelling for art students and selling Union hacks oregano as marijuana, the options are unlimited. But this time, the solution was much simpler: I had booked a ticket for formal hall at my undergraduate college, and I wasn’t too keen on going anyway, so I sold it to a fresher for a tenner. That’s right, we’re at 20 pounds now – something we can work with!

Arguably, I could’ve tried to make some more emergency cash, but I believed that I had to repent and learn how to be financially responsible. Here is what I learned:

1. Milk what you have: With a Pret coffee subscription, a Union and a Law Soc membership (the holy trinity of good value for money), there was surprisingly much free stuff I could get my hands on. None of the coffee items on Pret’s menu are particularly nutritious but if you drink enough, your heart palpitations will make you forget that you were hungry. Burgers and Milkshakes with Kirkland & Ellis for the small price of acting like I’m interested in corporate law? Say no more.

2. Choose your grocery stores wisely: Some will say Tesco has the best prices, others will swear by Aldi or Lidl. I’ll let you in on a secret: one way grocery stores make money is by selling some items below market price while making profit on others. So by picking and mixing, I got the best value for my money. Also, know what knock-off brands are worth buying (Aldi’s Crave gives Kellog’s a run for their money, but stay away from the Mini Cheese Bakes!)

3. If it’s batteled, it’s free: I said what I said. This is essentially like taking out an interest-free loan, so I made sure to eat lunch in college as much as I could – I even convinced them to put the small celebratory glass of mulled wine that I had at the end of my two-week journey on my battels account.

After what felt like an eternity, two weeks were finally over and while I was glad to be able to spend my money at Turf Tavern again, some of the lessons I learned along the way remained. I’ve now permanently switched to some of the Aldi knock-off brands – they’re simply better – and it turns out that you don’t actually need to eat out every week. My mother will be proud of the two dishes I taught myself to cook (don’t get too excited, they both involve pesto and some form of pasta), and I even learned one or two things about Magic Circle law firms; mainly that I never want to work for one, no matter how many more times I need to stretch £20 over two weeks.

Transgender healthcare inequality: The life and death battle for adequate treatment

Claire T Coulthard
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Transgender healthcare inequality: The life and death battle for adequate treatment

The right to universal healthcare without discrimination, and the ability to access such healthcare, has been a point of major contention for the transgender community within the UK for decades, with progress towards this goal achingly slow and often times intermittent. Lack of reliable data, poor understanding of transgender bodies and prejudices within the medical community are cited as some of the pivotal areas at the heart of the problem. Yet, this barely encapsulates the whole picture or the severity and gross negligence of care for transgender people in the UK. 

So close but yet so far, trans visibility and awareness has arguably never been more prevalent than it is now; tireless efforts made by trans activists and groups like Stonewall have ensured that these conversations are now etched into public consciousness. Current waiting times on the NHS for those seeking services at gender identity clinics are at a minimum of 3 years, with no promise of immediate treatment after the initial appointments. It is therefore no surprise that those of the trans community who can afford it, choose to seek privatised healthcare. 

“I personally have not gained much through NHS gender services and am planning to go private for it in future, however as a disabled person in a working class family, getting the funds required for this is likely to take me many years, if I ever can”, says Ali, an 18 year old student. Ali is certainly not alone in this respect, with nearly half of the trans people surveyed in a report by Stonewall echoing the same sentiment, that they simply cannot afford the medical expenses associated with transitioning. “I don’t personally know anyone who uses the NHS services and the general consensus seems to be that you don’t use the NHS unless it’s absolutely unaffordable to go private”, says Arthur, a 24 year trans man. Arthur recently opted for private healthcare and has been on testosterone for 4 months, being charged nearly £70 a month for his hormone therapy. This, however, is nothing in comparison to the estimated £18,000 he will need to allocate towards gender reassignment surgery. 

The process of transitioning can be a daunting one which is not helped by interacting with healthcare personnel who are openly prejudiced against trans people or gatekeep medical treatments. A new report by TransActual UK found that 1 in 7 transgender people have been refused care by a GP in the UK. Even for medical students who understand the necessity of this branch of medicine, very few training providers offer courses pertaining to transgender healthcare. There are still large gaps in understanding how trans bodies react to medication; for something as serious as anesthesiology for example, determining how much dose is required for a trans person is essentially guesswork, purely because there is not enough research to support comprehensive care. 

Oftentimes, when seeking services for their general healthcare needs, trans people find GPs have a tendency to relate their illnesses to any hormone medication they may or may not be using. “I went in for stomach issues once and pretty much the first question was whether it could be related to the hormones, but the symptoms started before the HRT so that explanation was ruled out”, says Avah, a 21 year old trans woman. This problem is exacerbated even further for trans people of colour who are twice as likely as their white counterparts to experience transphobia when accessing trans-specific healthcare. Taking the human factor out of the equation, transgender people still struggle with an out-of-date medical record system.

It is clear that unacceptably long wait times, costly treatment and poor general care are endangering transgender people who encounter roadblocks to treatment at all stages. The light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, is fueled by the success stories of trans people who have received their treatment or have had positive experiences with medical professionals. 

Alfred Ellis, 23, who works full time as a staff trainer at a care home and has been openly trans for 1.5 years said: “We are living in a time of major reform to healthcare and human rights for LGBTQ+ people. Past generations have had many different struggles which we are now improving. Accessing healthcare as a trans person is still hugely difficult for many, but we have overcome some major milestones and the research has led to huge discoveries into different types of surgeries etc. which suit a lot of individuals far better and have greatly improved results… I’m positive that future generations will come into a world that is more aware of the trans community and has more resources to give.”

Linacre alumni express concern over name change procedure

Charlie Hancock
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Linacre alumni express concern over name change procedure

Linacre College, a small graduate college near the banks of the River Cherwell, has been thrust into the spotlight since it was announced it would change its name to Thao College following the receipt of a “transformative” £155m donation from a Vietnamese investment group. The donations will be used to fund scholarships and the construction of a new graduate centre.

Cherwell has heard from early alumni of Linacre College who have expressed concerns that the multi-step process of approving the name change could disadvantage the views of alumni and fellows of the College. The process, which could take as long as a year, requires the 5430 strong Congregation to approve the proposed change before it is submitted to the Privy Council for approval.

If two members of the Congregation oppose changing Linacre’s name, the Congregation will hold a vote.

The register of the Congregation from February 2021 lists around 90 staff and researchers who are affiliated with Linacre College, amounting to 1.7% of the total body. The alumni who spoke to Cherwell felt this means that people with the strongest attachment to

The Oxford Climate Justice Campaign criticised the donation because of SOVICO Groups connections to the fossil fuel and aviation industries. Although the company agreed that it would seek to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as part of the agreement, OCJC called for increased transparency over how this would be achieved.

Other concerns raised by alumni to Cherwell included discomfort over what some saw as an attempt by a foreign billionaire to associate their name with the prestige of an Oxford college.

Mrs Thao has been reported as saying she chose to donate to an Oxford college because she saw Oxford as the “right place to make [her] long-time desire to contribute to humanity through education, training and research come true”. 

A letter to The Daily Telegraph on November 2nd argued that the College’s name was significant despite its young age. Maria Kawthar Daouda, a lecturer at Oriel College, wrote: “Linacre College may have been founded some four centuries after Thomas Linacre died; but through its name, it is rooted in a tradition of learning shared among all the medieval and early-modern universities, from Cairo to Cambridge. Linacre was the paragon of a scholar of his time, but a model for ours too. What he learnt from his mentors and his travels, he did not keep for himself – he transmitted it and made it fruitful. His life is a perfect illustration of the college’s motto: “No End To Learning”, neither in time nor in space.

“The college’s founders meant his name to be a constant reminder of what scholars should strive for. Its crest bears the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end of the Greek alphabet and, to Christians, a sign of Christ as truth incarnate, the “beginning and the end” of all things. The crest also bears three shells, a symbol worn by the pilgrims who reached Santiago de Compostela; yet another image that learning is a pilgrimage and a progress towards truth.

“Some might argue that the stakes with Linacre are not as high as they would be for, say, Christ Church or Magdalen. But there is a lot in its name none the less. It bears a deep history and should not be altered just because a major gift has been made. Gratitude for Mrs Thao’s money could be expressed in ways that do not erase what the donation is meant to protect.”

Oxford University, Linacre College, and SOVICO Group have been approached for comment.

Image: D Wells/CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Climate Justice Campaign criticise Linacre name change donation

Charlie Hancock
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Climate Justice Campaign criticise Linacre name change donation

Linacre College’s receipt of a “transformative” donation from SOVICO Group has drawn criticism from the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign because of the company’s associations with the aviation and petroleum industry.

The College announced that after it signed a memorandum of understanding with SOVICO Group to secure a £155 million donation, it would apply to the Privy Council to be renamed ‘Thao College’ after the group’s chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. The donation will fund graduate scholarships, and the construction of a new graduate centre.

In a statement, the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign (OCJC) criticised the College’s decision to accept the donation. They say that because SOVICO has worked alongside fossil fuel companies, including the Russian oil company Zarbezneft, 

They also said they were “deeply concerned” about SOVICO’s role as the largest shareholder of HD Bank. The bank has entered a ten-year partnership with the Vietnam National Petroleum Group. “At a time when institutions around the world are cutting their ties to the fossil fuel industry, it is disappointing to see Linacre embedding itself more closely with those financing this damaging industry,” they added.

As part of the memorandum of understanding, SOVICO Group has committed to reducing its carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050 with the support of Oxford University academics. OCJC are calling upon Linacre to be “fully transparent” about the contents of the memorandum and how this is to be achieved. 

They also questioned how a holding company with involvement in the aviation and petroleum industries can effectively decarbonise. “For SOVICO’s promise to become net-zero by 2050 to be meaningful it must commit to immediately ending new extractive projects as per the recent IEA report, commit to not relying on so-called “nature-based offsets” as per the Oxford Offsetting Principles and publish a comprehensive net-zero transition plan and medium-term targets as per the Oxford Martin Principles,” they said.

“Given that no company involved in fossil fuel extraction or aviation has been able to meet these standards we seriously doubt whether SOVICO group’s own promise to become net-zero represents anything other than greenwashing.”

OCJC has previously criticised the University, colleges, and schools for accepting donations from companies linked with the fossil fuel trade and chemical production. The University has said that these donations have no influence on what research is undertaken, or the conclusions they reach.

The donation is yet to receive approval from the University’s due diligence committee.

Linacre is one of Oxford’s youngest colleges, and is named after Thomas Linacre, an English humanist scholar and physician. It is not unusual for Oxford Colleges to be named after benefactors, as has been the case with Lincoln, Wadham, and Balliol Colleges. The Times has reported that alumni have expressed reservations about the plan to rename the College, but that fellows have welcomed the addition to the College’s finances. Linacre is one of the poorest colleges in the University with an endowment of £17.7m in 2018. The richest college, St John’s, has an endowment of £606m which is almost as large as the GDP of Samoa.

Mrs Thao did not attend Oxford University, although her son studied Economics and Management. She said she believed Oxford is “is the right place to make my long-time desire to contribute to humanity through education, training and research come true”. 

Linacre College and SOVICO group have been approached for comment.

Image: D Wells/CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

“It is not for you”: Review of Adele’s 30

Lucas Jones
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“It is not for you”: Review of Adele’s 30

Adele’s journey to 30 has been more exciting than most. At 19 years old she was an international bestseller, and by 21 she was one of the leading lights of the global music industry. The power and quality of her voice catapulted her to the forefront of a celebrity culture that Adele has seemed desperate to avoid, for obvious reasons. A genuine cultural icon, she has so many recognisable hits that it would be pointless to list them. The girl who once went to the BRIT school and sung for her friends in a park in West Norwood is now on the cover of Vogue and British Vogue simultaneously, the first person ever to do so. Throughout her career, Adele has combined sheer vocal power with a vulnerability that makes it so easy to love her despite not knowing that much about her. It is this intoxicating mix that makes her the unrivalled queen of the breakup song (Adele could sing Red, I imagine Taylor wouldn’t fare so well with Hello).

Adele’s latest album does away with some of the mystery, favouring stark honesty. 30, in Adele’s own words, is an explanation of her divorce to her son, Angelo, who actually features on one of the tracks. The Adele that sings My Little Love is at a stage of vulnerability, and emotional maturity, that is the culmination of an emotional development that began at 19. The hummed backing calls back to the days of River Lea, but the biting conversation with her child and heart-breaking message about loneliness that she speaks over it is proof, on track three, that this album is less about pride and more about being pulled in a hundred different directions.

This album is not 21 or 25, which were wall-to-wall with chart-topping power ballads. This album is more mellow, reflective, and deeply personal. The change certainly isn’t anything to do with her vocals: ITV’s An Audience with Adele proved that she is still one of the strongest singers in modern pop music. Adele has been crystal clear that this isn’t the Chasing Pavements style that Generation Tiktok has fallen in love with; this is music for her generation, for 30-something year olds sitting in a stark, white kitchen in Surrey with a glass of red wine in hand and divorce papers delicately positioned on the counter. Why I feel such a strong connection to that kind of music is a mystery to me, and a pressing question for my boyfriend. Maybe I should get a divorce…

The strange thing about Adele is that we never really know what to expect. Her singing is so heartfelt and powerful that it seems strange to see her giggling away with Dawn French as she hosted her ITV audience. All of her live performances have the strange moment where the star sings a bone-shaking last note of a song about her heart being broken, takes a breath, and starts jabbering away like she’s your best mate. I imagine those moments will be far more pronounced when she tours with this album, which has everything from a love-song to wine (in what could be the biggest leap forward for music since the invention of the instrument) to heartfelt tunes about coming to terms with her divorce.

I have heard some people my age complain that the album hasn’t got the strongest melodies, or isn’t quite as exciting as her previous album. To those I say: it is not for you. If people our age can enjoy the songs, that’s perfect. But sometimes music isn’t for us, even if it’s by our idols. We’ve got 19, 21, and 25 to hear Adele sing about growing up, breaking your heart, and the power of belonging. 30 is another project personal to a stage in her life, and regardless of whether it’s for everyone, it is a simply brilliant listen.

Image Credit: Kristopher Harris/CC BY 2.0

A Review of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s everything grows extravagantly

Eric McElroy
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A Review of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s everything grows extravagantly

The Oxford Lieder Festival and the Oxford Botanic Garden commemorated their anniversaries this year – 20thand 400th, respectively – with the commission of a new song-cycle by composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad (Visiting Research Fellow in the Creative Arts at Merton College) to an original text by poet Kate Wakeling. The premiere of this work took place at St. John the Evangelist on October 20thas part of a lunchtime concert by baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist Libby Burgess. 

Entitled everything grows extravagantly after a letter by Mary Somerset, one of the Botanic Garden’s first female gardeners, this cycle of thirteen songs traverses horticultural subjects as diverse as ferns, mandrakes, waterlilies, compost, wood libraries, and even a storm-ravaged yew tree. Wakeling’s evocative text engages as many of our senses as it can: the scent of a cactus flower, the ‘sweetest filth’ of mud clung round a thumbnail, the sight of undisturbed water resting ‘mirror cool’, or the latent sound of wood that ‘practically vibrates with the promise’ of music. These images are gifts to a composer, and Frances-Hoad’s setting delights in exploiting every available detail: the pooling of water around waterlilies, the ‘heft’ and ‘heave’ of muck and dung, the stuttering tick-tock of irregular heartbeats waiting to be treated by a foxglove’s ‘toxic cure’. The text-painting is thorough and meticulous without ever becoming pedantic, and this is because the poetry’s specificity is translated into a musical style so effortlessly natural that it makes the listener doubt it could be set any other way.

Clocking in at just under thirty minutes, this cycle was so absorbing that I nearly forgot the other songs with which the concert began. The evening commenced with a selection of six songs by six different composers (Gerald Finzi, Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Albert Roussel, Francesco Paolo Tosti, and Roger Quilter) spread across four languages – a varied bouquet, yet all of them plucked from garden landscapes. Preceding everything grows extravagantly with these well-known songs was a shrewd act of programming. While Frances-Hoad’s cycle is unmistakably modern, these songs remind us that it is also a continuation of a long-established tradition of garden-themed works – like a newly burst bud on an age-old tree.

Farnsworth and Burgess dazzled throughout. Their performance was a masterclass in the art of holding an audience’s attention not only during but also between songs. One is grateful to know that the concert will remain available for viewing online through the Oxford Lieder Festival’s Digital Concert Hall until the end of November 2021. Farnsworth’s dramatic range was on full-show, shifting nimbly from martial boom to velvety swoon. As for Burgess, she is that ideal sort of accompanist who can not only set the stage but also, when the circumstance calls, command it. The listener followed this duo gladly down the garden path. All composers should wish for such sensitive and committed performers.

In a pre-concert discussion, Frances-Hoad described everything grows extravagantly as the most ‘lieder-like’ of her song-cycles. One can understand why. Each song features its own distinctive character and mood while simultaneously contributing to the impression of an organic whole. Also ‘lieder-like’ is Frances-Hoad’s decision to begin and end the cycle with the same song, ‘For a Garden’, which, other than the final few bars, is sung verbatim as an epilogue. That said, being separated by so many songs of such diverse spirits, this framing music itself undergoes a subtle transmutation. It is the same song – but different. And this is the magic of such a song-cycle: it offers us a chance to rewild a familiar space. The next time I go to the Botanic Garden (or any garden, for that matter), I will see it with new eyes, listen to it with new ears, and perhaps know for myself how a yew tree, in Wakeling’s phrase, ‘rehearses its soul in every cell’. We read words like that, or hear music like this, and we want more than anything to feel what it is like to experience the natural world so intensely and with so much wonder.

Frances-Hoad claims that this cycle ‘more or less wrote itself’, which is a humble way of saying that she has absorbed the techniques of composition so thoroughly that they have become indistinguishable from instinct. But beyond the manner and materials of music-making, Frances-Hoad has what matters most in a composer: she has soul.

Premiered October 20th, 2021 at the Oxford Lieder Festival by Marcus Farnsworth (baritone) and Libby Burgess (piano)

Image credit: Harshil Shah/CC BY-SA 2.0

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