Monday 4th August 2025
Blog Page 351

EXCLUSIVE: Lewis Goodall, Jim Pickard and more to speak at Oxford University Media Society

Sasha Mills
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EXCLUSIVE: Lewis Goodall, Jim Pickard and more to speak at Oxford University Media Society

Lewis Goodall, the policy editor at BBC Newsnight, will be speaking at Oxford University Media Society this term, alongside other speakers including Julia Chatterley of CNN and Rianna Croxford of BBC Investigations. The society will also be hosting panels, including a TikTok panel with Business Insider journalist Paige Leskin and a Sex and the Media Panel featuring adult film director Erika Lust, alongside a panel with Gabriel Pogrund and Jim Pickard, who will be shedding light on the Greensill scandal. Cherwell will also be hosting a collaborative panel with OUMS on ‘Reporting Across Borders’ with Sunday Times Chief Foreign Correspondent Christina Lamb. 

Joe Stonor, President of OUMS, told Cherwell: “Term cards are notoriously a test of nerves but I’m incredibly glad that we have such a strong and topical term card to present to our members. I’m most excited to be hosting a discussion with Gabriel Pogrund and Jim Pickard, the journalists who have led the charge in bringing arguably the biggest story of the year, the Greensill affair and the subsequent revelations of government sleaze, to light. Lewis Goodall in Week 7 is another highlight, as well as a couple of panels that are an exciting progression from the type of events that OUMS usually hosts.”

Agata Hodur, Head of Events at OUMS, told Cherwell: “We’re really proud of this term card and the committee has worked hard to get a fantastic range of events. The online format has meant we can offer a diverse term card to members with exciting events focused both on new media and current affairs. I hope that members enjoy the discussions in The Comments Section, and I am holding my fingers crossed that events later in term may be run in person.”

Eddie Michael, Head of Marketing at OUMS, told Cherwell: “It’s lining up to be a great term at Media Soc, the events team has secured some great speakers as always and put together some very interesting talks. Especially looking forward to seeing how Joe tackles the Sex and the Media panel!”

Hope Nicholson, OUMS Secretary, told Cherwell: “I’m most excited about the non-orthodox media events such as the panels on the rise of TikTok and the depiction of sex in the media.”

You can see the full term card below:

Image Credit: edk7 / CC BY-SA 2.0 

Don’t just do something, sit there

Ruth Whiteside
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Don’t just do something, sit there

For those readers who have not heard anything about mindfulness, this may only be because you have surrounded yourself with people respectful enough, that they do not preach to you about their enthusiasms. Mindfulness has grown into such a craze, that we all probably know someone who is into it. Many of us have discussed mindfulness at some point, perhaps through the beloved student practice of ill-informed posturing about its “role in modern society”. Nevertheless, the preachers for mindfulness in these conversations probably do have some good points.

Mindfulness is about cultivating present moment awareness, with a sense of friendship and compassion for yourself and others. But am I not always present and aware? Well, in one sense, yes. We all live in the present and are responsive to things that happen. People talk to us, we get asked to do things, and we occasionally have to run to avoid getting hit by cars.

But in another sense, much of the time, we are not very present. We have a brain that lets us process past events so that we can learn from them, and imagine future events so that we can prepare for them. This involves moving our attention to and from memories of the past and projections of the future. So far, so good. It seems our brains are helping us. So why would we benefit from mindfulness making us more aware of the present?

Well, sometimes our brain takes us out of the present too much, in a way that becomes unhelpful. We obsessively repeat painful, awkward, or embarrassing memories in our own heads; instead of carefully imagining the future to anticipate problems, we constantly spike our levels of fear and anxiety about all the potential difficulties that could arise there. In times like these, we have a brain in overdrive, and mindfulness offers to calm these sorts of over-active minds.

So, one benefit of mindfulness is making us more present. Formal mindfulness involves short or long exercises which ask us to concentrate on our breathing, senses, or different parts of our body. This refocuses our mind and teaches it to be more in tune with what is unfolding in our present.

Another benefit of mindfulness is that it teaches us to be compassionate with ourselves and others. Here we are talking about Westernised mindfulness, which was conceived by John Kabat Zinn in the 1980s as a strategy for supporting those slipping through the gaps in the American healthcare system. Yet the practice of mindfulness comes from ancient religious and cultural traditions, since it is central to the practice of Buddhism.

Westernised mindfulness originated from forms of mindfulness that were an integral part of a holistic theory as to how we should live our lives. This is why mindfulness contains themes of self-compassion and compassion for others. This compassion is cultivated in different ways through mindfulness practice. One way is through specific mindfulness meditations that overtly focus on the cultivation of compassion. More generally, self-compassion is an element that is worked into all mindfulness, because it infuses how we aim to relate to ourselves in meditation.

Now, the case for mindfulness for Oxford students. Mindfulness correlates with a reduction in stress, as well as an increase in academic performance. In a study published this year, a group of pre-clinical medical students took part in a mindfulness course and experienced a reduction in stress that lasted six months compared to the control group. The group also experienced a short-term increase in scholarly success through high exam performance. The conductors of the study hypothesised that these improvements in academic performance could have lasted longer if the course had been followed up by more regular mindfulness classes.

It must be noted, however, that mindfulness is not for everyone. Some studies have highlighted the effects mindfulness can have in terms of depersonalisation and the possible incompatibility of mindfulness with some personalities and approaches. Still, there is ample research to show that mindfulness is beneficial for a large number of people, so if you have not considered giving it a go, maybe you ought to. To highlight only the benefits explored in this article, mindfulness is correlated with greater presence of mind, higher levels of compassion, reduction in stress and enhanced academic performance. There are many more benefits, and very plausibly you may be one of the people for whom mindfulness has profoundly positive effects.

There are many opportunities for engaging in mindfulness, but the best way to learn how to do it safely and well is to take classes or a course, so look out for subsidised classes being offered by colleges. If that doesn’t apply to you, there are also many helpful podcasts that offer short and useful introductions. The Oxford Mindfulness Centre has a ‘resources’ section on their website for young people, donothing.uk, which is a good place to start.

Happy Stress-busting! 

Image license can be found here.

“The state has declared a war on youth”: Student journalism is under attack in Russia

David Saveliev
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“The state has declared a war on youth”: Student journalism is under attack in Russia

On the morning of the 14th of April in Moscow, the doors of four student journalists’ homes were unceremoniously kicked in and the students hauled off for an interrogation. Their crime? A three-minute-long video covering a state campaign of intimidation of student activists and calling for a peaceful protest. The now-deleted video posited that “the state has declared a war on youth, but we are youth and we will win!” 

DOXA is a Moscow-based, student-run publication that covers academia in Russia and elsewhere. Since their establishment in 2017, the magazine grew into a prominent publication. The word “doxa” comes from Greek, meaning “opinion”. On their website, the DOXA team centers its mission around “forming an independent critical opinion on the issues of contemporary academia”. 

But DOXA’s opinions are no longer tolerated by the Russian state: the apartments of the four editors were raided, friends and family interrogated, all electronic devices confiscated. All four were slapped with two months of house arrest during which they are not allowed to interact with anyone other than their lawyers. The court proceedings are ongoing, and the journalists might face up to three years in prison. 

The DOXA case is extremely important for the future of the Russian opposition, especially for students and journalists. As Pavel Nikulin, a Moscow-based researcher and journalist put it to me, “this is a signal to all of us.” The Russian state is on the offensive against journalists and students but it is not alone. Neighbouring Belarus engaged in draconian repressions against its media and students, and even democratic european nations are on a march against dissenters. French parliament only dropped a controversial law against recording police officers after enormous protests. The UK government’s proposed Police, Crimes, Sentencing and Courts bill is threatening to make protesting extremely difficult — the list goes on. In the world where protesters, press and even the youth are under attack, cases like that of DOXA deserve global attention. 

DOXA has a history of confrontations with the Kremlin and pro-Kremlin institutions. In 2019, for a series of articles some connected to the anti-Kremlin protests, it was stripped of its status as a student publication of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, losing any funding and administrative support it enjoyed as a university society. German Nechaev, an editor at DOXA, told me that the magazine was never supposed to take up the mantle of an opposition media. However, the DOXA team felt that “politics are an inalienable part of student life so we couldn’t avoid it.” 

In the video that prompted the arrests, DOXA called upon students to ignore the threats of their academic superiors who were attempting to illegally deter students from attending anti-Kremlin protests. The Kremlin has long utilised school teachers, professors and administrative staff as tools for scaring young people away from the opposition movement. Students who dare to speak up against the Kremlin publicly might risk detentions, grade deflation, or even expulsion from universities. For instance, in February, the Astrakhan State University expelled three students, explicitly citing their involvement in anti-Kremlin protests. 

The battle for the hearts and minds of the Russian youth has always been important — students and youth historically have been at the forefront of social change in Russia. They were on the frontlines in the revolutions of 1905 and 1917, and later youth communities became a breeding ground for dissent in the Soviet times. Today, according to polls, millennials often constitute the bulk of anti-Kremlin protests, united by the common desire for change. As a young protester, who chose to be identified as Maria out of fear of arrest, told me during the winter protests in Moscow — “Us, young people, we all want change, we can no longer support this regime.”

DOXA has been instrumental in the Russian youth’s struggle for democracy. Not only it covered protests (something that many in the Russian media are cautious of doing) but it routinely exposed the corruption and abuse rampant in the Russian educational structures. As Russian universities are closely tied to the state, DOXA investigations often end up targeting pro-Kremlin politicians; in 2020, DOXA ran a bombshell piece detailing how government officials reserve spots for their children in prestigious universities. 

While the DOXA case might have been intended to scare the students ahead of mass protests, the state’s “war on youth” did little to prevent millennials from protesting, The most recent rallies on April 21 the percentage of young people marching on the streets did not decrease relative to earlier protests, according to data from sociologist Alexandra Arkhipova. The DOXA team that remains free is not losing hope either, as they continue their work despite fear of further repressions. 

As German Nechaev, the DOXA editor, told me: “publicity is our best defence. For now we will continue to work as normal.” Indeed, publicity and donations might now be DOXA’s best chance at survival. A guide to helping DOXA, translated into multiple languages, is at https://doxajournal.ru/statement. The donations are used to maintain the website and support the editors under house arrest, so that DOXA may continue to fight for independent student journalism, may continue to fight against fear. 

Few days ago I spoke to a young activist who chose to identify as Vera out of fear for her safety. After attending opposition protests she along with her fellow students was scolded and forced to publically plead for forgiveness by her university’s administration. But she, like the DOXA team and like many Russian students, remains defiant: “we can and we must continue engaging in politics. [The state’s] threats only tell us that [its functionaries] are scared.”

Photo: Anna Holina // Afisha Daily.

EXCLUSIVE: Oxford India, Hindu, and South Asian Societies Launch Fundraiser for COVID-19 Relief in India

Matthew Schaffel
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EXCLUSIVE: Oxford India, Hindu, and South Asian Societies Launch Fundraiser for COVID-19 Relief in India

Three Oxford societies have launched a fundraiser in response to the worsening COVID-19 crisis in India. The Oxford India Society, Oxford Hindu Society, and Oxford South Asian Society are aiming to raise £10,000 over ten days to help local and national organisations in the country.

The societies have issued a joint statement on their charity effort: “The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have made themselves felt in all areas of the world, but the situation in India is emblematic of this disruption. Caught between the threshold of its populated developing urban centres and its overburdened rural infrastructure, the pandemic has placed an unseen level of stress on India’s financial, medical and social framework.  Cases are rising at an unprecedented rate, with the daily number of new cases crossing 350,000, breaking records of single-tallies even during the first wave. In April, alone, India reported more than 5 million new cases, and more than 50,000 deaths, the majority of which were preventable.”

“The lack of availability of oxygen cylinders, hospital beds and essential medicines for critically ill patients has overburdened India’s healthcare system. The state has been unable to handle the full capacity of the crisis, and individuals and local organisations (funded through mutual aid efforts) have stepped in. It is necessary for the international community, whether a part of the Indian diaspora or not, to come together and provide as much aid as possible to help the nation tackle this crisis.”

“We strongly urge all members of the Oxford community to join us in supporting Indian charities who are seeking to alleviate and manage the burden on the healthcare system. Our aim is to raise £10,000 over the next ten days. At the conclusion of the fundraiser, we will be donating the money to local organisations and charities that are providing immediate on-the-ground relief in the worst hit parts of the country.”

Anvee Bhutani, President of the Oxford India Society, said: “The situation in India is a humanitarian crisis and one that requires immediate direct aid to prevent mass loss of life. We in the UK are privileged with our access to a reliable and efficient nationalised healthcare system, but this unfortunately is far from the reality in other places around the world. We are calling on the Oxford community with the hope that we’ll be able to join in support and solidarity to provide aid to India during this difficult time.”

Suyesha Dutta, President of the Oxford South Asian Society, added: “Having voluntarily immersed myself in the COVID relief effort virtually in Delhi, I’ve witnessed the catastrophe that has engulfed India. There is a critical shortage of hospital beds, ICUs, ventilators, oxygen, plasma, and medicines. It has often been the case that by the time I find a lead for a patient, they have passed on. This is an emergency with no end in sight.”

Aditya Dabral, President of the Hindu Society said: “All of us at HUMSoc are deeply upset and worried by the reemerging COVID crisis in India. We hope that this fundraiser will go some way in alleviating the plight faced by so many, and encourage all members of the Oxford community to donate however much they can in the service of a crucial cause. It can and will make a meaningful difference.”

You can donate to the fundraiser here.

I know which side my bread is buttered!

Isobel Sanders
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I know which side my bread is buttered!

‘Why don’t we have salty butter?’, my naive, eleven year old self asked my mother one day. Looks of consternation flew across the kitchen, my mother’s eyes pleading my father to answer this one. ‘Because we just don’t’ came the reply, hostile and no-nonsense, as though I was at risk of being instantly excommunicated for even thinking about salty butter. 

Of course, I’m exaggerating, but it is an unavoidable fact that butter is not just butter! There is a web of social implications behind the pat sitting in the top shelf of your fridge door. That is, if you have butter at all, and not marge, a whole other bag of historical worms. In the States, margarine production started in 1875. In the beginning, it was made from a primary product of beef fat, a far cry from today’s Flora or Stork. Within ten years just under half of all states (24 in total) had laws restricting the sale of this dairy substitute. Why? Well, that’s the thing – it was economically damaging to the dairy industry. Cue bootlegged margarine passing between States. 

Margarine nowadays is very much a beef-free affair, made from plant oils. What’s more, if you look carefully at your packet of Flora, you may notice that you can no longer ask someone to ‘Pass the marge!’ – it is, in fact, a spread! What defines a spread, I hear you ask? Less than 80% fat, hence why spreads are marketed as healthy alternatives to butter. And, so long as it hasn’t had to be smuggled across a border, it is at least two times (if not three) cheaper than butter. Many Modernist writers rail against margarine as poor-man’s fare lacking in nutrition:

Potatoes and marge, marge and potatoes. It’s after they feel it. Proof of the pudding. Undermines the constitution.

Joyce, Ulysses

During WWII margarine took up its place in the middle-class pantry, and was a handy vector for getting vitamins A & D into a malnourished populace. Today it lurks there unwanted, the cuckoo in the bread-spread nest. This situation was again made more complicated with the advent of mainstream veganism. Plant-based diets are often viewed as the preserve of the moneyed, whose wallets can stretch to avocado on sourdough toast and oat milk chia puddings with goji berry and almond butter. So maybe we’re due a soar in spread shares? 

Let’s get back to butter and the real question – to salt or not to salt? Well, again, it’s not clearcut. Nine years on from that unworldly query, I now realise that unsalted butter is one of those middle-class markers. There may be a historical reason for this. In the past, salt was added to butter to preserve it. Butter is essentially churned cream. Those with more milk than they needed, the rich, had a constant supply of butter hence no need to salt it. Nowadays we have fridges, but salted butter still lasts longer and so is cheaper. 

But that’s not it. The hidden reason is that the middle-classes are willing to pay for their unsalted privilege. Perhaps the answer lies in how we use it? It’s undeniable that for the platonic toast, melted salty butter steals the show. However, when it comes to cooking with the stuff, the ready-salted nature takes away control. Completely unsuitable for certain cakes and breads, and off the table for the sodium-conscious savoury cook, salty butter loses ground. And it is the middle-classes that make dinner from scratch the most. 

For full recipe, head to @cherwelloxford or @greens_and_grains

Why am I musing this now? I’m currently on my year abroad in France, where it’s a matter of geography. If you’re Breton or Normand, salty butter is your building block for everything. Everywhere else, it depends on personal taste. So here not only am I free from familial expectations on the butter-front, but I’m also cut off from any subconscious cultural pull towards unsalted butter in Tesco. I’ve embraced it to such an extent that I haven’t, dare I say it, bought unsalted butter once in France. 

I’m not ready to go mono-buttered with my fridge drawer, either. There are definitely some instances where unsalted butter is god. However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the number of dishes that are better made with salted butter rather than unsalted and a pinch of salt. Cooking shallots and mushrooms this way is infinitely better – tossed with cooked spaghetti and a grind of pepper and now we’re really talking. Salted butter in sweet treats is also no hardship. Chocolate and salt go well together, why not take out the element of chance and use salted butter? 

So yes, for now I’m singing the praises of salted butter. Perhaps I’ll be converted to olive oil once in Italy, the next step of my year abroad. But let’s see how long it takes me to be re-educated once back in Blighty… 

Oat-so-lovely: exploring the overnight craze

Matthew Prudham
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Oat-so-lovely: exploring the overnight craze

If you follow any food blogs or channels on social media, you may have noticed the breakfast trend sweeping Instagram and Tiktok: overnight oats. But what is it that’s driving this craze, and how is it supplanting traditional breakfasts and holding its own against fitness food brands such as Huel?

Quite simply, in my opinion, because it tastes good. Unlike breakfast cereals, which can often feel repetitive and boring – especially if you’re facing down a bowl of Corn Flakes in a rush – there’s something distinctively attractive about overnight oats. Perhaps this is due to the process behind it: preparation the night before, measuring out your oats and dousing them with milk and flavourings – whether this be cinnamon and mixed spice (my current favourite), cocoa powder, peanut butter. The possibilities are endless, and range across a spectrum of nutrition levels!

You can also add in a wide variety of fruit and veg – with my favoured “carrot cake” style oats including some grated carrot and a handful of sultanas, though I have seen friends swear by grated courgette (I have not dared to try this yet!). Such are the possibilities for experimentation, and the endless ensuing variation, all stemming from a simple combination of oats, milk or water and a pinch of salt, that it can sometimes leave me gazing at the aisles in Tesco wondering what could spice up my oats even further. This prevents the old shtick of ‘boredom with breakfast’ that one may get if having porridge, for example, for countless days on end – if you’re tired of your current flavour, it only takes a little change to switch things up.

Moreover, unlike Huel and even some breakfast cereals, it’s something that seems definitively appetising and affordable. A 1kg bag of oats costs between 75p-£1, and that’ll last you two to three weeks; compare that to the £1.10 per meal cost of Huel, or the average price of £3 for a decent size box of cereal (which will inevitably go way faster than the suggested serving time), then you’re saving a lot of cash. Sure, it may seem like it’s a new fad born from the Waitrose-shopping elite, but it’s surprisingly affordable. This is enhanced by the fact that I’m using scales to measure out my oats – something that I’ve never considered when throwing cereal into a bowl.

Overnight oats also improve the start of your day. There’s no better feeling than waking up, dragging yourself out of bed, and treating yourself to a damn good breakfast which you prepared the night before. Unlike with other great breakfasts like scrambled eggs or pancakes, there’s little to no extra preparation involved (only adding in extra toppings) as the fridge has done all the work for you, and the only cleaning up that’s needed is just soaking your bowl after eating, prepping it for the next day.

There is, however, a danger. Just as it is possible to add too much milk to your Weetabix, leaving it to become a sludgy, unappetising mess, one can add too little or too much to your oats. Waking up to a failed jar is not the one, an anti-climax after opening the fridge door with so much expectation. But, though this may occur once or twice as you get started with making overnight oats, the more experience you get, the less often that disaster occurs. Of course, you can always put some more oats or more milk in, go back to sleep for an hour or so, and the problem may have resolved itself.

Whatever your diet (gluten-free, vegan, non-dairy), overnight oats are available for you. Just get your oats, your soaking liquid of choice (any milk or water will do), and a pinch of salt, and have a browse of the thousands of recipes, blogs, vlogs and TikToks about it. I do provide a word of warning – your friends may get tired of you mentioning it. But for the best start to the day? I think a few broken friendships are worth it.

Is the drinks industry chugging sustainability initiatives?

Mia Clement
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Is the drinks industry chugging sustainability initiatives?

In February 2020, the drinks industry scored a poor 4.8 out of 10 for sustainability in the inaugural Drinks Industry Sustainability Index Trends Report 2020, published by Magners producer C&C Group and Footprint intelligence. The report recognised the fact that businesses were rethinking packaging, transportation, and wastage with sustainability in mind, but found there had been no great lengths of change in the industry. The drinks industry can require highly intense energy input for the processing of fruits or grains and distilling processes. According to the report’s findings, only 50% of glass containers were recycled in the drinks industry, with bars and restaurants sending 200,000 tonnes of glass to landfill each year. Meanwhile, growing concern for sustainability and plastic pollution within the industry has resulted in the fivefold increase in sales of water in cans. 

The issue of ethical consumption and ‘think before you buy’ can be starkly seen in the plastic versus canned drinks debate. According to a citizen survey, conducted by the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment in 2019, over half of UK consumers agree that they are less concerned about packaging, including plastics, if their council collects it for recycling. While bottles are one of the most readily collected plastic items – and can be recycled with relative ease – their reprocessing actually does little to benefit the environment long-term. According to, the EU-supported industry consultant group, Zero Waste Europe, Mechanical recycling, which describes the shredding and melting down of used plastic into flake-like grains to be sold on to manufacturers, “is kicking the problem of plastic waste into the long grass”.

This is largely down to the open-loop nature of the plastic recycling process, or as it is better termed, the ‘downcycling’ process. Contrary to popular belief, plastic bottles are rarely used to make more bottles or plastic packaging which, according to a 2017 report from CNBC, means that nearly every drink we buy is packaged in new plastic. It finds that major soft drinks companies only source approximately seven per cent of their plastic from recycled materials. The chemical fibres in plastic bottles and objects, made from the polymer strain PET, considerably weaken when the product is recycled, and are usually turned into items such as carpets, fleece-lined clothing, jumpers, jackets, and sleeping bags. In the making of these goods, various other non-recyclable elements are added, meaning the products are likely to end up in landfill, alongside the 700,000 tonnes of textiles that are thrown away each year in the UK. Further, it remains widely unknown that most of what we throw into our recycling bin never gets reprocessed, because only 2 out of the 7 common plastic varieties are widely recycled (Repurpose Global). Plastic recycling, in most instances, merely delays the inevitable landfill.

Plastic recycling, in most instances, merely delays the inevitable landfill. 

A new proposition for the use of aluminium cans promises higher levels of recycling and may be the best replacement for plastic when it comes to beverage packaging. Recycled within a true closed-loop system, aluminium retains its quality each time it is reprocessed, meaning cans are able to be transformed back into themselves an infinite number of times. Unlike plastic bottles, the average rate of recycled content in European aluminium beverage packaging is 47%.

However, there are still downsides associated with the use of cans: aluminium is extracted from bauxite ore, which is strip-mined and incredibly destructive to the natural environment, leaving toxic ‘tailings’, and is highly energy intensive to refine. Roughly speaking, it takes nearly 15 times the amount of energy to produce new aluminium than it does to produce new glass. Even if you take into account the amount of recycled material used in a can, the contrast of energy used in production between a bottle and a can is vast. 

The WWF reports that 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year and 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs. Yet plastic still remains the modern world’s packaging material of choice: roughly a third of the 350 megatonnes produced globally is used in packaging. According to a European Commission study, PET bottles and their lids are some of the most commonly found items among ocean debris.However,  as public perception shifts, and the issue gets pushed up the political agenda, the blame cannot be solely placed on the consumer. Instead, the corporations and systems we live in must change. Endless capitalist growth and consumption provides high demand for cheap and harmful options like plastic packaging. Individual action is important; we must always push for change and advocate for what we want to happen. However, corporations must implement the changes we want to see and take the next steps into cultivating  a sustainable production line.

This is a complex issue involving individual action, consumption, business, and industry.  What is needed to protect our environment, and promote a future where nature becomes a significant focus, is systemic change. Systems change when sustainable products become accessible to everyone, policy change and legislation ensuring that all socioeconomic groups can acquire a variety of green items. Advocacy for reducing plastic pollution has forced the drinks industry to change production materials, now we must keep on pushing. While the Covid-19 pandemic has put a temporary stop to mass campaigning on the streets, it has also given a new urgency to the warnings that destroying the environment threatens us all. We cannot continue to be unspecific about the action required to address the climate crisis. At some point, we will have to move from a position of simply calling for action to setting out our vision of how we could get to a post-climate-crisis world.

Artwork by Mia Clement 

Material girl: How the pandemic changed the way we shop

Jill Cushen
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Material girl: How the pandemic changed the way we shop

Almost 40 years later, Madonna’s words still ring through: “everybody’s living in a material world, and I am a material girl.” Guilty as charged, and mildly ashamed that pandemic me proved to be more materialistic than I would like to admit.

The reopening of non-essential retail marks a return to the throngs of shoppers on UK high streets, but when the first national lockdown greeted us, many bricks and mortar retailers were forced to open their virtual doors – and consumers flocked. 87% of British consumers started utilizing online retailers in 2020, increasing from 53% in 2008. Dependence on e-commerce peaked and the value of online sales reached £99.31 billion in the UK. For some, the pandemic came with the realisation of what is really important, and that, perhaps, life would go on without a new pair of shoes or the latest beauty supplies. For others, online purchases were a treat after a long week of working from home and with less social living expenses, they had more to spend on discretionary items.

When first faced with our new reality, even a trip to the supermarket, an armour of hand sanitiser, face masks, and gloves in tow, was no small feat, and for some, it was easier, safer and more convenient to buy groceries with a swipe and a click. But Tesco and Ocado were not the only delivery vans on the road. In April 2020, online retail experienced an increase of 15.8% and during the most recent lockdown in the UK, the proportion of online spending soared to 35.2%.

The periods of lockdown changed the state of online shopping and retailers were forced into drastic shifts in order to keep up with consumer behaviour. To navigate this new competitive reality, retailers adapted by extending their digital engagement, attempting to bring an ‘in-store’ feel to their online presence, improving their delivery services, investing in warehousing spaces, and simplifying the experience by reducing the number of clicks. Celine Pannuti, Head of European Staples and Beverages Research at J.P. Morgan, said: “In the past few years, some of the big players have invested a lot to be more digitally savvy, accelerating innovation and refocusing their portfolios. I think a few of these companies had come into the pandemic prepared to a certain degree, because they had prepared their company to change and pivot more online. We see retailers narrowing their product range, focusing on what matters more and mainstream brands and products, so the shift to e-commerce for big and small brands is key.”

The word ‘essential’ is difficult to define in a society where, for most, all the basic needs of Maslow’s pyramid are met. Non-essential retail shut but that didn’t stop non-essential purchases. In the midst of lockdown, boredom was rampant and buying online was safer. But deeper psychological theories underpin the online habits of pandemic buyers.

People took to the supermarkets in droves last March, even before a national lockdown was announced. Trollies overflowed with jumbo packs of toilet roll and enough dried pasta to feed the population of Italy. Upon entering a frightening abyss of uncertainty, people clasped at what control they had. Speaking to CNBC Paul Marsden, consumer psychologist at the University of the Arts London, said: “Panic buying can be understood as playing to our three fundamental psychology needs.” He explained that autonomy, relatedness, and competence, give people a sense that they are “smart shoppers”.

Among the top products that boomed during lockdown were jigsaws, to counteract boredom, computer accessories and furniture, to spruce up the home office,  and booze, well, to keep sane. Sales of activewear and casual clothes continued to rise throughout the year, but, as we sank deeper into lockdown funks, luxury apparel and accessories also started to rise. Why buy a Gucci handbag when you can’t flaunt it while out for brunch? The answer: because we could. For some, buying unnecessary items also provided hope for time when strutting down to the local pub in brand new loafers would be allowed.  

Online shopping enables a similar sense of control to panic buying. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that shopping choices restored personal control and reduced residual sadness. The research was based on the fact that “sadness is strongly associated with a sense that situational forces control the outcomes in one’s life”. The concept of situational forces dictating the events of our lives – sounds vaguely familiar during a global pandemic. A year of turmoil wrought personal upheaval and a lack of individual control, resulting in consumers clinging to their power of consumption. When faced with an uncertain situation we tend to try whatever we can to feel like we have some control. And so, virtual retail therapy and comfort buying provided a sense of control at a time when we felt deprived of so much.

The sight of delivery drivers raised a smile during the height of lockdown when the thought of opening a package was the peak excitement of the day. However, the increase in home delivery had wider environmental impacts. But it’s not unusual to have to tear open a large box and unwrap multiple layers of plastic and cardboard before reaching a product that would fit in the palm of your hand.  Amazon’s sales in the UK soared to a record $26.5bn but even before the pandemic, a report from the nonprofit ocean advocacy organization Oceana estimated that Amazon was responsible for 465 million pounds of plastic packaging waste. In 2019, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge and committed to “making all Amazon shipments net zero carbon through Shipment Zero, with 50% of all shipments net zero carbon by 2030”.Senior air quality manager for Environmental Defense Fund Europe, Elizabeth Fonseca, told the Evening Standard:  “Air pollution is an unintended consequence of this rise, especially since most deliveries happen via diesel-fuelled vans that pump dangerous pollutants into the air we breathe.”

Henry David Thoreau once said that “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it”. Judging by that account, I’ve given Asos much more than they deserve. Fast fashion brands were one of the few retail winners. Boohoo, for example, recorded an increase in its sales by 45% to £368m from March to May. While fewer clicks before being thanked for your purchase may help retailers stay afloat while also being convenient for consumers, for some passive shoppers (those whose go-to procrastination method is adding items to their wishlist), there is a dangerous lack of steps before their bank balance drops a few digits.

During the pandemic, people started to rely on the instant gratification of online shopping. Buying is just one click away. And for anyone with an overdraft, there’s no need to worry about having enough cash at hand. Many people add items to their basket and after finding themselves curious as to how much of a bill they have worked up, they end up confirming their purchase. The only roadblock is entering their card details giving them time to come to their senses and change their mind. But, thanks to autofill, your order is on its way! The ability of devices to save card information also means that all we have to remember is that three-digit CVV. Farnoosh Torabi, a personal finance coach, said: “Money is abstract as it is, and it’s why a lot of us have a hard time managing it. If you have to see money leave your wallet, overspending is harder.” 

After days confined to their homes, many people started to spend their time and their money differently. People spent less and saved more. Barclaycard found that overall consumer spending was down by 7.1%. The transition to a cashless society also gained momentum. Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at UK Finance, said: “September [2020] saw the proportion of contactless debit card payments hit a record high for the second month in a row, rising to 64% of total transactions in August. The value of overall contactless spending was also up by over 18% compared to the same period last year, as consumers made further use of the increased £45 contactless spending limit.”

Instantaneous access to money, the convenience of carrying only a thin card and no rattling sound of coins in the bottom of your pocket all sounds very appealing but the prospect of a cashless society also brings risks. Sweden has one of the world’s most aggressive policies to become cashless with cash accounting for less than 1% of total transactions compared to 23% in the UK. Many find it harder to control spending when they can’t see the physical cash leaving their hands, and if anything was to happen to your bank account, in a cashless society there are no alternative sources of finance. Diners are also less likely to leave tips when they haven’t got small change and, for children, there’ll be no spontaneous £5 notes from generous neighbours.

Despite the hike in retailers switching to digital sales, for certain stores, such as Primark, online retailing isn’t an option. The related logistics costs to online shopping means that delivery costs would exceed the value of many of its goods.  A recent report carried out by IMRG, found that 33% of retailers had to increase prices to cover the cost of returns.

The question now that non-essential retail has reopened and things are gradually returning to ‘normal’, is whether the shifts in online shopping, our attitude towards consuming and our conception of money, are here to stay. Sarah Hunter, Chief Australia Economist at BIS Oxford Economics, said: Australia is a really interesting case study on this as the pandemic is basically under control domestically which means that the majority of restrictions have been lifted.” She added: “We can see in the data that although online’s share of total retail spending has fallen back from its lockdown peak it’s a long way above where it was a year ago.”

According to Statista, online retail is forecasted to grow by 34% in the next three years but Celine Pannuti researcher at J.P. Morgan said: “In the next 12-24 months, consumers are going to be left with less money in their pocket. Many people will be left unemployed and will have less to spend. This will reinforce the trend for staying at home. We could also see some downtrading as consumers settle for more affordable options, though for now, we have seen consumers buying big brands and choosing household names overvalue or private label products.” 

Before I left home for Oxford last October, my dad told me that a significant number of delivery drivers were losing their jobs. Why? Because my leaving meant a huge drop in deliveries to the area. After that funny, but not so subtle, nudge, I realised that I may need to reexamine my online shopping habits. At least now, while I’m still a material girl, if I do splurge on a clothing haul, I’ll have somewhere to wear my new purchases, even if it’s only to my local beer garden!

Artwork by Rachel Jung 

Cher-ity Corner: KEEN Oxford

Sophie Morris
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Cher-ity Corner: KEEN Oxford

One of the most important lessons I have learnt, as I imagine many others have too from this pandemic, is the value of offering up our time to help others. Cher-ity Corner is a weekly column that highlights local Oxford charities that students can volunteer with and make a difference.

I spoke with Catherine Smith, Programme Manager of KEEN; discussing the origins of KEEN, the various opportunities they have for students and the rewarding nature of volunteering with them. Find out how you can get involved and more about their amazing work.

What’s KEEN?

KEEN can be traced back all the way to 1984, upon the arrival of a Rhodes Scholar who recognised the lack of sporting opportunities for those living with disabilities in Oxford – and wanted to do something about it. Initially what was a small tennis club for disabled individuals, is now 30 years later an international non-profit movement that serves hundreds of young people with disabilities each week in cities around the UK and US, training over 30,000 volunteers as a result (but… Oxford is still its flagship branch)!

KEEN’s mission is to create, support and promote inclusion for disabled children and young people. They exist because they believe everybody should be meaningfully included in their communities and have equal access to sports and recreational activities. Not only do KEEN run their own inclusive activities, but they do so much more work beyond that in trying to change perceptions of disability and working within the local community to make society a more inclusive place across the board.

“Working in partnership with other organisations, university clubs, and charities is so important to that side of our mission: we recently established Inclusive Oxfordshire with the aim of making Oxford fully inclusive place for disabled people by 2030.”

In normal times, KEEN run a regular weekly timetable filled with things like AllSorts (their flagship sports session), ZigZag (their creative session), KEEN Teens and GrEAT Social, as well as KEEN plus events which involve trips to museums, the theatre, bowling and so much more!

At the moment, they are operating a busy Virtual KEEN timetable over zoom which is a blast: you can do everything from yoga to talent shows, cooking to exercise classes, KEEN choir, Film Clubs and even just general chats. There have been up to 20 sessions weekly, with around 400 total sign-ins weekly. They have also been sending out weekly postal packs to families unable to access zoom since last March and have created our own YouTube Channel packed full of fun activities to complete. 

How can students get involved?

“KEEN simply couldn’t function without our absolutely brilliant team of student volunteers. I can’t speak highly of them enough – they truly make KEEN as wonderful as it is.”

Many students get involved by coming along as a “Session Buddy” to in-person or virtual activities, offering support and getting stuck in themselves. Many volunteers also run the sessions, so get to decide what activities KEEN do on a week-to-week basis. “It’s a fab way to escape the student bubble and release your inner child!” – Catherine

KEEN also have a very committed Student Committee working behind the scenes on an operational level who run KEEN’s social media, help produce accessible resources and so much more. “We’re a sociable bunch and welcome absolutely anybody to get involved.” – Catherine

Why should you get involved?

“It’s a joy to watch as young people develop and grow in confidence and build relationships – we have participants who at first barely say a word and then start performing at KEENs Got Talent every week or showing everybody a stretch in yoga, and who wave like mad when they see their friend join the call.”

KEEN is driven by inclusivity: it helps make the world a friendlier, more equal and more accessible place.

“A parent recently told me how grateful they were for ‘adding so much colour’ to their child’s life; a volunteer told me KEEN had been a lifeline over lockdown – it’s little things like this that encapsulate how rewarding this work is.”

Want to get involved?

You can get in touch with the Programme Manager (Catherine) at [email protected]. Their website and socials also have useful information:

https://www.keenoxford.org

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The Undercurrent: Fun – a vital ingredient for optimising your performance?

Lucas Jones
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The Undercurrent: Fun – a vital ingredient for optimising your performance?

I’ve got hundreds of questions for the University, but the overarching one is fairly simple: how have they kept a straight face as they stitch-up their students at every turn? How did they resist the temptation to add a cheeky ‘lol’ to the emails that rejected student residency in favour of letting tourists roam the grounds? Which wannabe comedian came up with the idea of adding a line about the importance of student well-being to the end of emails announcing measures that make student well-being immeasurably worse?

Every email that comes into my inbox from a University or college email at the moment displays a breath-taking lack of self-awareness. I recently got one with the line “remember to have fun” near the end. I held my breath, beside myself at the idea that someone in college might actually value my social life. Imagine my disappointment when I read the next words: “fun is a vital ingredient for optimising your performance.” In Oxford, that’s what passes for a message of encouragement. To anyone else, it’s the sort of phrase you’d see on a billboard in a dystopian future where humans are kept as pets by robot overlords.

The pandemic has laid bare the tutors’ predilection for viewing every aspect of student life through a magnifying lens of academic achievement, which they seem to have placed firmly between food and water on their warped idea of a student hierarchy of needs. During the pandemic they’ve turned this magnifying glass on students to devastating effect, frying us like ants in the summer sun. Without wanting to sound needy, it would be lovely to hear from someone at the University who cares about my well-being regardless of whether it improves my essays.

You can’t even escape to social media for a break from it all. Take the official University Twitter account, which recently published a video on the benefits of walking that included the (unironic) line “if you get a really bad email from your boss or a frustrating message from your sister, go out and stretch your legs.” If I went for a stroll every time I got a “really bad email” from the University, I’d be able to drop out altogether and pursue a career as an Olympic walker. If the frequency of these “really bad emails” continues when everyone comes back I worry that Cornmarket might start to erode.

Another shining example of this total inability to read the room came in their tweet urging the student population not to trash each other because of the practice’s “negative social, financial and personal impacts on the whole Oxford community.” I’m all for a bit of well-placed environmentalism, but being lectured about the social impact of shaving cream by an institution that is perfectly happy to support arms companies leaves a distinctly bitter taste in one’s mouth. God forbid the sound of celebrating students disturb the researchers hard-at-work on Britain’s next for-profit death machine.

Now, this would all be very funny if these messages weren’t coming straight from the people that have been assessing our mental health claims for the last six months. The delicious irony of being asked the reasons for my mental health issues by the institution that has caused almost every problem in my life for the last two years has not been lost on me. 

Only Oxford could turn the delicate process of divulging a mental health issue into a sick version of Britain’s Got Talent that’s all sob-story and no singing. And, to be honest, if I was choosing whom to divulge the intimate details of my home life to, I’d rather Simon Cowell than a panel of tutors whose combined insight into mental illness is that it disappears when you go for a bloody walk.

Art by Justin Lim.

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