Saturday 15th November 2025
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Oxford researchers launch £11 million programme to tackle chronic pain

Matt Donnelly
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Oxford researchers launch £11 million programme to tackle chronic pain

Researchers at the University of Oxford are leading a new six-year programme to develop brain implants and other cutting-edge solutions to treat chronic pain, which affects roughly 28 million people in the UK.

The £11 million Effective Pain Interventions with Neural Engineering (EPIONE) programme is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, bringing together world-leading experts to create “smart” therapies that aim to transform the management of chronic pain.

EPIONE will target the brain’s pain networks using a systems engineering approach. The programme recognises chronic pain as a disease of the nervous system, which is often caused by errors in how the brain processes signals during injury or periods of illness.

Professor Tim Denison of the Department of Engineering Science, who co-leads the programme, said: “EPIONE will develop ‘smart’ therapies for chronic pain that monitor the body and adjust treatment dynamically – rather than delivering fixed doses.

“We are including people with the lived experience of chronic pain to co-develop our technologies and research methods, especially how we explore the role of nocebo and placebo effects in novel interventions. Economics also factors into our work, as we want to ensure our technologies are viable for the NHS and beyond.”

Over the course of this programme, researchers plan to deliver a number of “world-first technologies”. These include an adaptive brain implant that can sense and respond to pain signals in real time, as well as a “closed-loop” drug delivery system that automatically adjusts medication based on patient needs. The drug delivery system is believed to minimise side effects and addiction risk. The team will also develop non-invasive ultrasound and magnetic stimulation technologies which are capable of targeting multiple regions of the brain simultaneously.

Professor Ben Seymour from the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience, who also co-leads the programme, said: “Neurotechnology has the potential to realise substantial impact on reducing the burden of chronic pain in the UK and worldwide.”EPIONE involves collaboration between Oxford’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering and UK universities including the University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, and UCL, alongside NHS pain clinics. Industry partners include Oxford spinout Amber Therapeutics, co-founded by Professor Denison, whose Picostim-DyNeuMo deep brain stimulation device will provide the technological platform for the programme’s first clinical trials.

Take it from me, there are worse things than Oxford

Laura van Heijnsbergen
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Take it from me, there are worse things than Oxford

There always seems to be plenty for people to complain about in Oxford. From late nights in libraries to crunch-time exam season, it’s never hard to find people on Oxfess or overhear them on Broad Street talking about their latest woes, academic or otherwise. It’s an enveloping force, a key part of being socially included: “This essay’s due in an hour”, “I’ve got a reading list the length of my arm”, “a 9am every day this week”. It’s also something I’ve always felt utterly excluded from.

Growing up, my mother experienced mental health problems, which meant that she was not present in our family home from when I was ten, my brother six. I grew up with an immigrant single father who juggled caring for us on one income with full-time work, without any family to fall back on in a country that has grown increasingly hostile to immigrants. But, unlike the everyday concerns that come with doing a degree, these are not socially acceptable problems to complain about: not something people can use to relate to one another.

I do not say this to condemn people who vent their worries about academic work, or who find that being in Oxford really does cause serious distress. I know from first-hand experience how important it is to seek help if you find yourself deeply unhappy with your life, however aspirational that life might seem to others. All the same, if Oxford does get you down, I think we could learn something from each other.

For a long time, I allowed my early life to define how I saw myself here. I thought of myself as naturally set apart, unable to take part in the rituals of waving goodbye to parents as they dropped me off at the start of term, looking forward to calls from home, and visiting in the vac. Doing laundry one night, staring at the row of washing machines spinning in perfect unison, I realised the opposite is true. I am a person in the world, just like anyone else. Perhaps my experiences are not a handicap, but a help.

When I sit down to Teddy Hall’s “ming” dinners every night, I know how to appreciate the guarantee of a meal that’s been cooked for me. When I get back to my room in the evening and turn the heating up, I know what a luxury it is to be sure I can do this, not just for that night, but every night. And when there are bad moments (and there are), I face it. I sign up to help the freshers move in, and when I look for the jealousy I think I should feel at the family relationships I see, it’s only vestigial. I make myself join in conversations when the topic turns to home and family. I remind myself that there are a million things I have that others don’t.

I think I’ve been coasting on other people’s happiness for a long time now. It’s part of why I felt I ought to write this – everyone who has ever made some passing joke or shown some heartfelt nostalgia for their childhood in front of me has helped me to see that there are always ways to catch up on happiness, and to appreciate seeing it in others. This is my odd way of returning the favour – of saying that, if you feel things are tough for you here, try to hold on to the little moments that remind you how lucky you are to be here.

Go cycling down Broad Street with the sun in your face and the wind in your hair and that interminable pile of books in the basket. Volunteer, if you can, in your local community and see how possible it is to make a difference in the world. If there’s something you want that you think you can’t have, some unreachable point you’re always striving for, take little steps. When a girl sits down opposite me in the library with her hair in two neat braids, I no longer think of all the things my mother couldn’t pass down to me. Instead, it’s just another thing I might learn one day, another joy left for me to discover.

Now, at the start of my final year, it’s difficult to imagine having regrets about being at Oxford, whatever it might bring. The sort of perfectionism that gets to so many people here, I’ve found, only becomes grating when it’s exclusively turned inwards. I might never be a great painter, but the museum’s as open to me as anyone else.

Oxford Theologian John Henry Newman honoured by Pope Leo XIV

Joseph Rodgers
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Oxford Theologian John Henry Newman honoured by Pope Leo XIV

The 19th-century Catholic theologian and Oriel College fellow Cardinal John Henry Newman has been conferred a series of honours by Pope Leo XIV.

Cardinal Newman was named “a patron of the church’s educational mission” last week, and was elevated to the status of Doctor of the Church over the following weekend. This title is given by the Catholic Church to saints deemed to have made a significant contribution to theology. Newman joins St Thomas Aquinas as a patron of education, and he is one of only 38 saints to be named a Doctor of the Church. He was further named Patron Saint of the Pontifical Urban University in Rome.

Newman was central to the Oxford Movement, a 19th century theological movement, which began in the 1830s. Originally an Anglican, he converted to Catholicism in 1845, after which he was forced to resign his Oriel fellowship. He was subsequently elected to an honorary fellowship at his alma mater, Trinity College, Oxford, in 1877.

One of Newman’s most influential texts was The Idea of a University, first delivered as a set of lectures at the Catholic University of Ireland (now University College Dublin). The work defends a liberal education, where knowledge is pursued for its own sake rather than for professional training.

Lord Mendoza, Provost of Oriel College, said: “[Newman’s] emphasis on the tutorial system of teaching and on the personal, moral and social development of students was adopted by every other college. It is in part to his credit and his The Idea of a University that Oxford is an exceptional place to study.”

Oxford University’s Newman Society, a student Catholic Society, is named after the theologian. It was founded in 1878 as the “Catholic Club”, and renamed with Newman’s permission in 1888.

Adam Gardner, president of the society, told Cherwell that the society was “ecstatic” about Newman’s elevation. He added: “It goes to show that [Newman’s] contribution as an academic in the University is recognised beyond the bounds of academia, and that he is on par with (arguably) the greatest Catholic theologian of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas.”

He also reflected on Newman’s position in English Catholicism: “With the memory of the penal times still in the minds of Catholics in England today, it is most wonderful to have a Saint so highly revered by the Universal Church being from England; that England has not been forgotten and is a land where Saints are born.”

Newman’s contribution to education goes beyond Oxford. He served as rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, and founded the Oratory School in Birmingham. But he continued to view Oxford as the best model for education, and is said to have chosen the Oratorians when joining a religious order because their organisation most resembled an Oxford College.

Samuel Troy, the Newman Society’s publicity officer, told Cherwell: “Among a lot of members of the society, there is a real sense that Newman is our friend. There aren’t many other saints who write about essay crises and finals stress, and it’s amazing that someone who feels so like a modern-day student has been declared a Doctor of the Church. In some ways, the proclamation of Newman as co-patron of Catholic Education makes the ‘Oxford system’ the educational ideal of the Catholic Church.”

Erotic suspense and trickery: ‘Twelfth Night’ at St Hugh’s 

Mary Stillman
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Erotic suspense and trickery: ‘Twelfth Night’ at St Hugh’s 

Lovers mismatched, siblings detached, and plans of trickery hatched: it is the time of year for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (otherwise known as What you will), performed in St Hugh’s College by the Oxford Rep Company. Jazzy live music greeted audience members coming in as we were faced with two neon bar signs: “‘Orsino’s”’ and “‘Olivia’s”’. The music and set created an ambience to the new imagining of Illyria that was about to unfold. 

I was initially shocked when the first lines were not the much expected “if music be the food of love play on”, but instead a modern exchange between Orsino (Ezana Betru) and Curio (Georgina Cotes) debating what to “text” Olivia about Friday night plans. Although this was fleeting (and I was thankful when the Shakespearean dialogue followed soon after), it set the precedent for the playful and witty show ahead.  

Twelfth Night’s premise depends on the art of disguise and the unfolding of mistaken longings. It is undoubtedly a play of doubles. Following a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a man (Cesario) to work for Count Orsino. While her heart turns towards him, Orsino’s desire belongs to Olivia. Caught in a classic Shakespearean entanglement, Olivia subsequently falls for Viola’s male disguise. Deceit is at the forefront of the plot, and every cast member in this production was able to subtly share the inner longings of their characters with the audience, inviting us to be omniscient listeners with knowing glances. 

While there is no explicit need for extensive disguises, the costumes as a whole were temporally ambiguous. Yet the explicit incorporation of wireless headphones and sunglasses as modern props was a tasteful touch. The Oxford Rep Company placed interludes of the modern world into Shakespeare’s winter comedy with discerning timing. An entertaining moment was when Viola (Darcey Willing) built up into bursts of rap when first trying to woo Olivia (Harriet Wellock) on behalf of Orsino. Occasionally it was hard to tell whether the actors were ad-libbing their 21st century exclamations or whether their calls to the band were well -thought out and scripted; either way, the effects were amusing.  

Sienna Jackson Wolfe’s production embraced the comedic revelry of Twelfth Night with full dramatic force. The notable audience favourites were of course Sir Toby Belch (Flynn Ivo) and Sir Andrew (Gilon Fox). Shakespeare’s text allows these brazen kinsmen to be a great base for comedy in any production, but Fox and Ivo navigated their double act with a witty rapport that was very pleasing to watch, resulting in many laughs throughout the show. A personal highlight was when their drunken antics resulted in oscillations between quiet whispers and jaunty song, disturbing the stricter members of Olivia’s entourage. Ivo in particular did a good job of not making drunk-acting cringe. He performed with a controlled sloppiness that was both funny and believable.  

Comedic moments also arose out of more romantically charged scenes. Kick-started by Orsino and Viola (who is dressed as Cesario) having flirtatious chemistry from the start, the production anticipated their eventual fate by having the pair lean into a near kiss which is suspensefully interrupted. The audience were later assuaged after this anti-climax by the intense homoerotic kiss between Sebastian (Luke Nixon) and Antonio (Bailey Finch-Robson) moments before they part ways. Sebastian is bound for Orsino’s court and insists on making this journey on his own. Antonio, out of devotion and loyalty (secretly) follows him anyway.

 The play’s resident fool ‘Feste’ (Ethan Bareham) was a sly yet important presence on the periphery of the stage, helping the audience to locate themselves among the mishmash of identities by switching the neon signs of “Orsino’s” and “Olivia’s” on and off between scenes. This was a subtle detail yet added to the well-rounded and clear staging. Bareham was very versatile (a quality inherent to playing a Shakespearean fool) and did well to ventriloquise many voices. His voice went beyond just speech as he broke into a soulful rendition of “What is love? Tis not hereafter”, comically bringing Sir Andrew and Toby to drunken tears. The songs were supported by the pleasing resounds of Orsino (Ezana Betru) playing the Saxophone with a debonair poise.  

Jackson-Wolfe’s production team collaborated in creating a satisfying rendition of Twelfth Night, adding attentive detail when needed and bringing out a jolly essence in the play. The lighting (operated by Juliet Taub) added a charming layer to the fast-paced scenes: Malvolia’s infamous yellow stockings protruded against the yellow backlight.  

A gripe of mine about (usually student) adaptations of Shakespeare is the affected tone with which actors feel they need to speak their lines in order to sound like a ‘thespian Shakespearian’. However, I would like to commend this cast, as most of them executed the words with natural ease. Special mentions must go to Luke Nixon (Sebastian) and Kate Harkness (Malvolia). Both of whom seemed to have a particular instinct for the rhythm and intonation that Shakespeare’s prose and verse calls for. 

Harkness should also be praised for her acute pronunciation and tonal precision in every line, something much harder to achieve than she made it look. The militance that she brought to Malvolio’s character was thoughtfully broken down in the final act, for while Twelfth Night is a comedy, it does not end happily for everyone. As merry reunions collide with frisky new couples, the darker truths of the play are revealed by the mistreatment of Malvolia, left humiliated and ostracised. Harkness brought the first truly sincere moment to a show that had thus far been largely jovial, driving the scene to a powerful standstill. There was a noticeable quiet on stage as she made her final exit, vowing for revenge.  

Yet it is the fool’s final song that must tie up the performance. In this production, the lines were spoken and layered with a faint song recording as accompaniment. This decision brought a powerful auditory heaviness to the last two lines: “But all that’s one, our play is done, And we’ll strive to please you every day.”  

Former Oxford student acquitted after spraying Stonehenge orange

Poppy Geyman
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Former Oxford student acquitted after spraying Stonehenge orange

A Just Stop Oil activist and former student at the University of Oxford, Niamh Lynch, was recently cleared of causing criminal damage to Stonehenge, along with two other activists, Rajan Naidu and Luke Watson. The activists sprayed the UNESCO World Heritage site in an act of protest, using fire extinguishers filled with orange powder. 

The protest took place in June last year, one day before summer solstice celebrations, which typically attract around 15,000 people to Stonehenge. Although the powder left no permanent damage, the clean-up costs totalled £620. After spraying the 5000-year-old stones, Lynch and Naidu remained at the site and allowed themselves to be arrested.

The activists were charged with damaging a public monument and causing a public nuisance. Their recent acquittal was based on their rights to freedom of speech and freedom to protest under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Reacting to her acquittal, Lynch told Cherwell that her immediate response was “relief”, adding: “The concept of going to prison is scary. But it’s categorically nowhere near as scary as the fact that one person is dying every minute from heat stress as the planet gets ever warmer.”

Discussing her motivations for joining Just Stop Oil, she said: “I just want things to be better…I refuse to believe that billions of living beings should be needlessly suffering and dying to make a few billionaires richer. I might not be able to do much, but I refuse to do nothing. I refuse to stand and watch as our world, our home, burns around us.”

Lynch previously studied Geography at Oxford, and is now pursuing a Master’s in Ecology at the University of Exeter. She attracted attention from several news publications for requesting that her trial didn’t coincide with her final exams.

Just Stop Oil is a direct action climate activist group founded in 2022 and focused on ending new fossil fuel projects in the UK. Direct action involves physical and disruptive protests: in the past, activists have made the news by throwing soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, disrupting the M25 for four days, and interrupting a West End performance of The Tempest.

In 2024, Just Stop Oil achieved its principal aim when the UK government agreed to halt licences for all new oil and gas projects in 2025. As a result, Just Stop Oil announced that it was “hanging up the hi vis” in March 2025 after three years of protest, meaning it would no longer be organising direct action or mass protests. However, some Just Stop Oil members have told the BBC that new governmental powers such as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act and the Public Order Act have also made it easier to arrest and prosecute activists.

1930s artefacts uncovered during renovation of Oxford theatre

Ruaridh McEwen
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1930s artefacts uncovered during renovation of Oxford theatre

Renovations of the New Theatre on George Street have uncovered a variety of historic artefacts, including newspaper clippings, milk bottles, and photographs, many of which date back to the theatre’s construction in 1933. 

The discoveries come amidst a period of renovation, in which the New Theatre’s foyer and bar is being refurbished, whilst retaining the venue’s distinct art deco character. The theatre recently opened its new Priority Club Bar, located in an area of the venue that “hasn’t been open to the public for quite some time”.

Amongst the items discovered is a newspaper article including an advert for Boswell’s department store – an iconic Oxford retail establishment which was located on Magdalen Street, around the corner from the theatre, until its closure in 2020.

A spokesperson for the theatre told Cherwell that “the most remarkable discovery was definitely a collection of personal items belonging to a World War Two sergeant”. Found in his belongings were “photographs, cigarettes, and a service card, hidden behind the bar. It was an unexpectedly personal and emotional find, almost like uncovering a small, forgotten story frozen in time”.

A spokesperson added that the theatre is “planning to display some of these items around the venue, including the Priority Club Bar, so that everyone can enjoy a glimpse into our rich history. On top of that, our backstage tours offer visitors the chance to see the inner workings of a living theatre, celebrating both our heritage and the dedicated team who help bring every show to life”.

The recovered artefacts serve as a reminder of Oxford’s rich historical pedigree and the everyday lives of individuals who lived and worked in the city across generations. 

When asked about the consequences of their discovery, the spokesperson added that: “These findings reveal the people who came to the theatre seeking a brief escape from their everyday problems, leaving traces of their lives behind.” Even during a time of war, the theatre likely acted as an escape from reality, just as it continues to do today.

The BBC’s dying sports coverage is hurting Britain

Charlie Towle
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The BBC’s dying sports coverage is hurting Britain

The President’s Challenge – the annual tradition that marks the official launch of the Boat Race – was this year accompanied by another, rather curious, announcement. The race, first broadcast on BBC Television in 1938, will now instead be broadcast exclusively on Channel 4 in the UK from 2026. 

There is no way to construe this as anything other than a big loss for the BBC: last year’s race coverage drew 2.8 million viewers, and the women’s race remains the second most watched women’s sporting event of the year in the UK, behind only the summer’s Euros.

The loss of the broadcasting rights to the Boat Race does not come as too much of a surprise, however, as it is merely the latest in a long-running trend of major sporting events moving off the BBC. Since 2012, the BBC has lost all live TV broadcasting rights to The Open, The Grand National, and Royal Ascot, each of which a key fixture in the British sporting calendar. The BBC also gave up its rights to broadcast Formula 1 races in 2015 and hasn’t shown a live English cricket test match since 2005.

This leaves us with the question of why: what has led what was once the home of British sports broadcasting to discontinue its live coverage of so many different events? It is not “wokery in action” coming from a Director of Sport with a dislike of Oxbridge as some have claimed. The answer appears to be far simpler than that: money.

The cost of TV broadcasting rights has risen dramatically in recent decades. It will come as no shock that football leads the way: the last package of domestic rights alone cost a total of £6.7 billion. Other sports too have seen costs increase significantly. The most recent Six Nations Rugby Union rights package was reportedly worth an estimated £90 million per year, and the ECB’s cricket rights deal with Sky that expired last year totalled £220 million across its duration. 

The astronomical cost of broadcasting sport seems to have priced out the BBC. This has been compounded by a period of uncertainty and declining income for the organisation. Record numbers of households have been cancelling their licence fee in recent years, leading to calls to completely reform the funding model. This has increased pressure on leaders to keep budgets tight and avoid what might be deemed unnecessary expenditure.

Sport appears to have fallen victim to these cost-cutting measures. While the Boat Race will be staying on free-to-air television with Channel 4, many of the live sports whose rights the BBC has surrendered now exist entirely behind a paywall. The full Sky Sports package starts at £22 a month, an additional cost of over £240 a year. The British public is suffering as a consequence.

Primarily, this trend is depriving much of the nation of the opportunity to watch live sport. The BBC exists as a public service, and the provision of live sport has long been a part of this. It provides entertainment, drama, and attachment to a social identity. There are even studies linking watching live sport to improved mental wellbeing. By putting sport behind a paywall, only those who can afford to pay are able to access these benefits. 

Only those who have significant disposable income are now able to enjoy lots of the country’s live sport, This is only acting to deepen the class divides that are so entrenched in British society. While football may be so important to so many that it does not face this issue, the same cannot be said for other sports. Sports like rugby and cricket are having their reputations as the preserve of Britain’s middle and upper-classes reinforced, and risk disappearing from the working-class consciousness altogether.

There are also worrying implications for racial integration. Sport has historically been a critical avenue for people arriving from abroad to socialise and settle into local communities: cricket has been identified as hugely important in the experience of Caribbean communities settling in England throughout the 20th century. It is clear that, as much as ever, Britain is in need of shared cultural pursuits that cut across the dividing lines of race and immigration status. The decline of many sports amongst the general public, in no small part due to their lack of visibility on national TV, is depriving the country of key tools to foster integration and unity. The BBC is failing us in this aspect of its public service.

It is also difficult to avoid the sense that we are being robbed of the opportunity for more truly ubiquitous national sporting moments. Events like the World Cup and Euros are elevated into the national conversation by the fact that anyone can watch them. Other sports outside of football are capable of bringing together the nation in a similar manner. The 2005 Ashes series captured the nation’s attention as England triumphed over Australia for the first time in over 18 years. But the disappearance of international cricket from free-to-air TV means we are unlikely to see a repeat.

In a political environment that feels increasingly polarised, and a country that often seems as disunited as it has ever been, the loss of more opportunities for moments of sporting captivation on national TV is to be lamented. The Boat Race moving off of the BBC is another small sign of the decline of the BBC’s role in providing Britain with live sports coverage. We can only hope that action is taken to prevent further damage to the BBC’s sports slate and its contribution towards national cohesion.

Interview with Mishal Husain ahead of the Romanes Lecture

Conor Walsh
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Interview with Mishal Husain ahead of the Romanes Lecture


Mishal Husain is an award-winning journalist, author, and broadcaster. She was a household name at the BBC for over two decades, working as the broadcaster’s Washington Correspondent and as a presenter on Radio 4’s Today Programme for eleven years. Husain is now Editor at Large at Bloomberg Weekend, and recently launched her first podcast series, The Mishal Husain Show, where she interviews world leaders, business titans, and cultural icons.

Husain describes her Muslim faith as an integral part of her identity, as well as her work as a journalist. She delivered this year’s Romanes Lecture at the University of Oxford, by invitation of the Vice-Chancellor. During the lecture, Husain tied her faith and ancestry to the history of empire, questions of identity, and the search for reason. She talked of ‘searching for light’, which she said is found beyond the headlines – in history and forgotten texts.

Cherwell sat down with Husain whilst she was in Oxford. In between dress rehearsals and touring the Schwarzman Centre, we discussed the theme of her lecture; her career in journalism, and the changing landscape of the news media – from tapes and print, to tweets and reels.

Cherwell: Maybe we could start by talking about the theme of your lecture: ‘Empire, Identity, and the Search for Reason’. What inspired this?

Husain: My starting point was seeing that the first Romanes Lecture was given in 1892, because that date rang a bell with me straight away. The reason was that when I was researching my family story, Broken Threads, I had noted 1892 as being the general election that brought the first Asian MP to the House of Commons, Dadabhai Naoroji, and the fact that this lecture was first delivered in that year by Gladstone, who was, you know, Naoroji was one of his MPs, I just thought: “Oh, what a wonderful bit of serendipity. This date actually means something to me.” And, of course, when you’re asked to give a lecture as prestigious as this, you also feel the pressure to say something that is ideally unique, but certainly meaningful.

I thought, “my professional life as a journalist is why I’ve been asked to do this”. I also have researched the impact of empire on families like mine, both the establishment of the British Empire and the way it came to an end. And when I thought about 1892, I thought this was a moment – the first Asian MP was elected to the House of Commons, this was an imperial subject who ends up being a legislator for the Empire. This is a moment when East and West come together. From there, I started to search for other examples where East and West come together, really challenging the divisions that we’ve seen for many generations, but which feel particularly current now. And that’s why the final part of my lecture is essentially on Islam and Muslims and some of the underappreciated, if not unknown, ways that Islam and Muslims have either influenced this country, or are linked to this country and its culture in perhaps unexpected ways. That’s why I look at architecture and poetry; reason and insight in the Quran; the world wars; and Muslims in the Renaissance. 

I wanted to say something that reflected who I am, both who I am as a journalist, and my heritage, particularly the Muslim part of my heritage. The fact is, that particular community is underrepresented in my profession of journalism.

Cherwell: One thing that particularly stood out to me is this idea of identity, and the importance of understanding one another’s identities better. You call, in particular, for reason as a response to misinformation, and I was wondering what the best way is, in your view, of tackling misinformation, and who do you think should be responsible for this – is it journalists, politicians, or perhaps day-to-day users of social media?

Husain: I feel the responsibility to arm yourself with knowledge is part of your duty as a citizen. There is, certainly in relation to Islam and Muslims, I think, a lot of casual misinformation. People’s opinions are formed without either much access to knowledge, or interest in proper knowledge, and that’s why there are numerous myths circulating. There’s no doubt, also, that there are cultural practices and there are individual actions and difficult issues that we should never shy away from discussing. I’m not trying to suggest that there are any areas of public life that should go undebated. I’m arguing for proper discussion. I’ve chosen to focus on what I call, in my lecture, ‘the five points of light’, because I think there’s a lack of bedrock knowledge. I think we’re very keen to see divisions rather than common threads. That’s the message I wanted to get at in this lecture. And I hope what I say offers less discussed points or points of new insight.

Cherwell: On the point of division – one of the things that you’ve, no doubt, seen as a journalist is that the way we consume the news is changing. There’s huge gaps between generations and how we engage with the news. To a lot of young people, or some young people at least, the news is something that old people do. Social media has become a priority. Meanwhile, older generations continue to consume these more traditional kinds of news. What would you say to these young people who say, “Oh, the news is something for older people.” Why does the news matter?

Husain: Well, the news is evolving, and I’ve grown up in what we certainly think of, and see. as traditional news media. I’ve spent most of my career at the BBC, and often that’s called ‘legacy media’ nowadays, usually pejoratively. I’ve seen the whole trajectory of the technological revolution in news. When I joined Bloomberg, and then the BBC, tape was still cut by an actual TV editor. You would take the tape which had come in from the agencies, which had been recorded in-house, and you’d physically run with it to an edit suite, and a videotape editor would cut a 10 second headline for you. So the idea that you’d ever have a device in your own hand which you could film an entire documentary on, or you could go live around the world on, was just nonsensical to me when I was your age. I’ve seen a whole technological transformation. But I certainly think traditional media really has both moved with social media, and has also been massively challenged by it. 

I’m launching a podcast, and I think what podcasting has done to the world of information has been revolutionary. I’m now moving into that phase of my professional life. Although the podcast is also going to be filmed, and is going to be on YouTube, and social media. So I think the media of the future is going to have to straddle all these dimensions.

Someone who set out today to have exactly my trajectory, I think would be a very unwise path to go down. That route is not there anymore. I suspect now that if you were setting out as a young producer in a newsroom, as I was in the 90s, what platforms your work goes on would, 10 years down the line, be a bit unknown. TikTok, for example, has come out of nowhere as a news source, as well as a source of other kinds of information. So I think it’s really hard to predict what the landscape is going to be a decade down the line. 

But I do believe that good content travels, and I think my core philosophy as a journalist is to do good work in whatever the medium, and for your principles and who you are as a journalist, not to change, because I think that is transferable. I was at the BBC, and as everyone knows the BBC has a certain kind of framework of impartiality. I’m in a different news organisation now with its own set of editorial standards, but who I am as a person hasn’t changed. I am as committed to fairness and accuracy at Bloomberg as I was at the BBC, and I think that’s the zone which every journalist or aspiring journalist needs to be in. They need to ask themselves: “What kind of journalist or content maker do I want to be?” And then you have to find the vehicle or the employer or the platform that fits what you want to do, but equally, be prepared to pivot.

Cherwell: You talked briefly at the start about representation in journalism, and I guess that brings up two things: ‘representation’ in terms of how certain groups in our society, in our country, are portrayed, and also ‘representation’ in terms of who journalists are, who the media is. What more could we be doing to improve representation in the media? 

Husain: My podcast, The Mishal Husain Show, is going to be in-depth conversations with newsmakers, or ideas people, or cultural figures. And I think what I’m really trying to get at there is something of the lost art of conversation, the lost art of the long form interview. Obviously things get clipped up and shared in different ways, but I also really hope that a really good conversation is the kind of thing you can really immerse yourself in. But look, representation of all kinds in newsrooms is really important. I’ve been around so many tables where people will spot stories. Either they’ll spot stories which no one else has spotted and you need that. Or they’ll say “no one’s thought about this particular angle on a running story”. Journalism is still a very middle class profession and you might do a story on something like prepayment meters, and you look around a room and realise, actually, there are very few of your colleagues who know what it’s like to pay for your utilities in that way. 

So that’s one thing, I think that representation is just really important. You can’t do the best work unless you have enough input from a diverse range of sources. But you also need to have the kind of culture where people can speak up. And I think that’s probably harder to do, because journalism is the kind of profession where the louder voices can command a room. So as editors, as managers, to create the kind of culture where, the person who’s got a thought running through the back of their mind and would really like to say it but feels intimidated, can do so, is such an important thing to do. I think this is often the underappreciated part of representation. It’s not just sitting around the table, but it’s feeling that you’ve got a voice in that particular editorial meeting – you’re not going to be rubbished, you’re not going to be made to feel small. 

And of course some newsrooms, some news providers, they’ve got a very particular axe to grind, and they’re not going to be interested in that. But that’s not the kind of place that I’m ever really going to want to work. So that’s not my world. My world is one where I want to feel that different voices have a say, and I want to be challenged by my colleagues, as well as by people watching and listening, because I think ultimately it makes you better at what you do. The harder you have to think about your process and your product – your output – then the better it is likely to be. That’s also what I’m arguing for in the lecture: you know, there’s a long tradition within Islam of an emphasis on reason and insight and thinking, and that’s one of the under-appreciated and little known aspects of the faith. So I feel like how I am as a journalist is linked to my heritage and my upbringing, as well as the places I’ve worked and the people who’ve influenced me professionally.

Cherwell: I know we’re short on time, but can I ask one very quick question: on your very last broadcast of The Today Programme you chose a song, Daydream Believer by the Monkees. Why did you choose it?

Husain: You know, no one’s asked me that, Conor, it’s very good. Why did I choose it? I think I knew I wanted to have music. And then, of course, there’s the question of what will it be? It’s then very hard because you think “people are going to analyse this”. It’s a bit like desert island discs, although there’s only one song.

I think it’s because it starts with the 6 o’clock alarm. So I thought the very beginning of it was for someone who’d been in that early morning world, or that very early morning world, because it was a 3 a.m. alarm, not a 6 o’clock alarm. I felt that worked, and I also really wanted something upbeat and joyful. But I had a few different options on the go, and in the end I settled on that one. I only expected it to run as a little blast. But then my colleagues at Today decided they wanted the whole 3 minutes. I feel like I sent the nation off with a whole load of music that day.

I did think hard about how to say goodbye, because it’s a programme with a unique place in national life, and I was part of it for 11 years. Someone told me the other day that they cried during my enduring goodbye. I was so touched by that – that’s not the only person who said it to me. I thought “how wonderful – this is about the power of audio to reach out and connect you to people who you’d never otherwise meet”. I was very touched by that.

Oxford Climate Justice Campaign relaunches with Rad Cam demonstration

Joseph Rodgers and Arina Makarina
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Oxford Climate Justice Campaign relaunches with Rad Cam demonstration

The Oxford Climate Justice Campaign (OCJC) has relaunched with a banner-drop demonstration in Radcliffe Square, marking National Climate Action Day. It has also joined the Fossil Free Careers Campaign, which aims to reduce the ties of Oxford Careers Services with fossil fuel companies. 

OCJC’s aim is to campaign for the University’s divestment from fossil fuels through reevaluation and amendments to the Oxford Martin Principles. The Oxford Martin Principles were established to “provide a framework for engagement between climate-conscious investors and companies across the global economy”. They were designed by Oxford University and Oxford Martin School, a research and policy unit in the Social Sciences division, to analyse the contribution of investments to carbon dioxide emissions.

OCJC have also joined the Fossil Free Careers Campaign, led by the national student group People & Planet. This is a national effort to pressure University Careers Services into cutting their partnerships with fossil fuel companies and providing “opportunities that sustain and support the environment”, according to OCJC’s statement. The group has been in contact with the Oxford Careers Service, who have agreed to sit down with them to discuss sustainability. OCJC expects this to take place within the next week.

An OCJC representative told Cherwell: “A lot of people are going directly into really damaging industries, and we think it’s the responsibility of Oxford, If they’re telling us for three years that we’re the best and the brightest, to send us towards the things that are doing good for our world.”

Regarding the University’s Careers Service, a University spokesperson told Cherwell that their mission is “to help students make the best-informed decision about their career”. They added:  “We were the first UK university careers service to ask employers for their green credentials and several thousand employers have completed that information.”

OCJC also announced their partnership with a sister society at University of Cambridge. Together, the societies will reinstate the Climate League of Oxford and Cambridge Campaign (CLOC), which will also include a project ranking the Cambridge and Oxford college’s sustainability policies.

The OCJC representative told Cherwell: “A lot of the reason why students don’t demonstrate as much as they used to for the climate is because it feels so huge and so out of control. If we can show people that there’s actually this very focused campaign, that’s college-based and so within their own community, then it might be more appealing to get people involved.”

On divestment from fossil fuels University spokesperson told Cherwell: “The University is banned from investing directly in fossil fuels extraction companies and is compliant with this. The University holds no investments in fossil fuel extracting companies. It has 0.2% indirect exposure through fund investments.”

SU President for Communities and Common Rooms found guilty of Oxford Union electoral malpractice

Cherwell News
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SU President for Communities and Common Rooms found guilty of Oxford Union electoral malpractice

Shermar Pryce, President for Communities and Common Rooms at the Oxford University Student Union (SU), has been found guilty of electoral malpractice by the Oxford Union Society, which led to the suspension of his membership for a term.

An Oxford Union tribunal ruled that Pryce interfered in the Union’s 2025 Trinity term elections, using his influence on social media to solicit votes for George Abaraonye. This included campaigning for Abaraonye and distributing a Cherwell article concerning a police investigation into Rosalie Chapman, the other candidate in the Trinity term election, and her connection with an anonymous smear campaign. Abaraonye won the election, receiving 611 first preference votes against Chapman’s 416 votes.

The article was shared by Pryce in a Union-affiliated WhatsApp group chat with approximately 200 members, as well as his personal Instagram story, where he has over 3,000 followers. The panel ruled that this was sufficient evidence to convict Pryce of electoral malpractice.

Cherwell understands that Pryce is currently appealing the ruling, and that the decision is not final until the appellate board reaches its decision.

Pryce told Cherwell in a personal capacity: “This matter predates any relationship and my employment with the Students’ Union. The matter relates to an internal process at a private members’ club which is unrelated to the University or the Students’ Union. It would be inappropriate for me to comment further until that process has concluded.” 

The unknown owner of the Instagram account Overheard at Oxford has also been convicted of harassment and electoral malpractice, specifically “acting violently or in a manner that is liable to distress, grossly offend, or intimidate others in connection with the Election”. The account, which has just over 15,000 followers, posts quotes from Oxford University students that have been overheard around the city. These quotes are often humorous, relating to student life and intercollegiate rivalries.

According to the report: “It has clearly become so widely believed that Mr Pryce controls OaO”, however, Pryce “categorically” denies the ownership. The evidence initially led to a “unanimous verdict, beyond reasonable doubt, based on Mr Pryce’s apparent control of the [Overheard at Oxford] Instagram account”. However, this decision was reversed for procedural reasons. The panel decided that time restrictions meant that Pryce would not have “enough time to properly rebut the case”, so this raised concerns that the decision would be “procedurally unfair”.

Chapman told Cherwell: “What I went through during the Trinity election was extremely distressing…I still care deeply about this institution, and I hope this decision helps move the Union toward a more respectful and fair democratic culture.” The statement was made regarding Overheard at Oxford account, whose ownership remains unconfirmed.

As SU President for Communities and Common Rooms, Pryce sits on a number of University committees, acting as a representative for Oxford students. During his election campaign he was endorsed by all of Oxford’s main political societies, including the University’s Labour Club (OLC), Conservative Association (OUCA), and Liberal Association (OSLA). Pryce was also elected to the Union Society’s standing committee during Hilary Term 2024.

Correction: The article previously stated that Pryce was elected to the Union Society’s standing committee during Trinity Term 2024. In fact, Pryce was elected to the Union standing committee during Hilary Term 2024.

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