Sunday, May 11, 2025
Blog Page 474

Rethinking Chocolate

George Phillips
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Rethinking Chocolate

When did you last eat chocolate? If you’re anything like the average Brit, your answer will likely fall within the last 48 hours. But what is the cost of our sweet tooth, and how can we make sure the chocolate we eat is ethically and sustainably produced? 

When I was young, my dad would take me to our local corner shop every Friday after school. I can’t remember exactly when this ritual started, but it lasted for most of primary school. Dad would chat to the elderly man behind the counter and I would pick two bars of chocolate off the shelf. Sometimes this would be easy – other times I would spend several minutes mulling over the options. There was only ever one rule for this Friday night trip: I had to choose two different bars, so that Dad and I could trade a square outside the shop. 

It’s a fond memory and, much to my mum’s dismay, probably explains my insatiable sweet tooth. Over the years my tastes have matured a little, and I’ll take a bar of 85% Green & Blacks over a Crunchie any day of the week. Still, my love of chocolate is still very much present. 

Thankfully I don’t feel guilty about this, safe in the knowledge that my obsession is shared by many. In fact, our infatuation with chocolate can be traced back centuries, during which we’ve romanticised, fetishised and even worshipped the cocoa bean. The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds were a gift from the heavens and were so valuable that they were used as currency. A few hundred years later in 17th century France, hot chocolate was revered by courtiers at Versailles who vouched for its power as an aphrodisiac.

This mythical status gradually fell away as technology progressed. Ever ingenious, the Victorians catalysed a seismic shift in the chocolate industry and, with mass-production and supply chain streamlining, the treat was suddenly within reach of the working class. 

Nowadays we’d be hard pressed to imagine a world without chocolate. Whether bars, blocks, slabs, squares, eggs or bunnies, we just can’t get enough. The UK occupies a healthy – or perhaps not so healthy – fourth place in global consumption rankings, hot on the heels of our European cousins in Switzerland, Germany and Ireland. To be more precise, your average Brit consumes 9.5kg of chocolate each year (for the curious, this equates to 530 Freddos, or 212 bars of Dairy Milk). It’s no wonder our doctors and dentists are under strain. More concerning however is that our chocolatey love affair isn’t just clogging our arteries and rotting our teeth – it’s destroying the planet. 

If the industry fails to change, we’re at risk of damaging the planet beyond repair. That’s according to a 2015 study published in the journal Food Research International, which looked at the environmental impacts of chocolate production. The sheer scale of the problem may come as a surprise to many. In my bid to help the planet I stopped eating meat three years ago, traded cow’s milk for an oat-based substitute, and avoid purchasing foods with a disproportionate carbon footprint. Put simply, I thought I’d all but nailed the ‘woke millennial’ trifecta. But this was not the case.

The report analysed the damage wrought by ingredients, manufacturing and packaging. Food Research International found that in Britain alone the chocolate industry produces the equivalent of more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year – roughly equal to that produced by a city the size of Belfast. Chocolate’s raw materials – sugar, palm oil and packaging components – are drivers of deforestation, and their farming is incredibly difficult for governments to regulate. 

Dig a little deeper and it becomes clear that the impact of cocoa farming extends far beyond carbon footprint. Just as the consequences of fast-fashion are felt primarily by sweatshop workers, the brunt of cheap chocolate production is borne by some of the poorest communities around the world. Cocoa farmers rely heavily on questionable employment practices and, despite claims from industry giants, child labor still plagues farms in Western Africa. Between 2013 and 2014, an estimated 2 million children were thought to be working in the cocoa trade in Ghana and Ivory Coast alone. 

‘But I only buy fair-trade!’ you may exclaim. While in theory buying fair-trade is a sensible move, in practice it has become clear that such labels carry little weight. Chocolate with certifications from Fair Trade and the Rainforest Alliance may claim to respect the rights and needs of workers, but those certifications rarely prove to be entirely free from exploitative labour practices. This is even more clear as most fair-trade inspections do not happen regularly – giving farm owners plenty of time to hide their unethical practices. Panorama revealed that in September 2009 seven cocoa farms were suspended in Ghana due to evidence of child labour. Further investigation showed that both Cadbury and Divine were supplied by these growers. Even aside from these practices, the economic downsides of fair-trade are numerous, with minimum price guidelines both limiting income for growers and discouraging output of higher quality cocoa. 

Many of these problems have been acknowledged by industry leaders and policymakers who are supposedly working hard to reduce the human and environmental costs of chocolate production. EU proposals to promote better land and resource management in target countries, as well as supporting research on sustainable farming practices, go some way to address key issues. However, The Guardian first reported on such plans in early 2018 and we’re yet to see any tangible benefits from these plans. Thankfully, chocolate companies have largely been receptive to proposed changes, showing there is genuine interest in improving business practices. In line with their sustainability goals, Nestlé now monitors ‘100% of [their] palm oil supply chain using satellite technology’ and in 2018 they joined the High Carbon Stock Approach Steering Group to further improve conduct. Change is coming, but it’s going to take time. 

To truly improve the industry will require effort from both consumers and corporations. On a personal level we have the power to turn the industry on its head, and with Easter just around the corner it’s more important than ever that we shop responsibly. Easter chocolate sales make up 10% of Britain’s annual spending on chocolate with a staggering 80 million eggs sold each year. Whilst tempting, these eggs are among the key culprits when it comes to carbon emissions. Cheap milk chocolate married with excessive packaging makes for a killer combination. The solution is simple: steer clear of eggs and opt for bars instead. Chances are the product will taste nicer, and you’ll do your bit to reduce the 80 million tons of food packaging we generate each year. 

For those prepared to spend a little more, there’s no shortage of companies producing delicious and ethically sourced chocolate. Original Beans’ award-winning range can be enjoyed in full knowledge that you’re contributing to a good cause. Founded in 2008, the company protects rainforests around the world, planting a new tree for every bar sold. Better still, you can enter your unique tracking code on their website to follow the progress of each new sapling. Furthermore, Original Beans are increasingly supplying independent chocolate manufacturers such as Edinburgh based Ocelot who recognise the growing demand for high-quality, environmentally friendly cocoa – and from black cherry to blood orange, their chocolate is a far more sensible (and tastier) option than offerings from Cadbury and Nestlé. 

As it stands, the coming months and years will be crucial for the chocolate industry. The growing focus on sustainable and ethical trade is already making waves across the food and drink industry. From alternative milk to meat substitutes, we have shown that we’re genuinely passionate about reducing our carbon footprint. Coupled with an increasing demand for premium-quality products, I suspect we will see chocolate production follow a similar trajectory to the coffee industry. The specialty coffee market has exploded over the last decade and its growth shows few signs of slowing – traceability and single origin may sound like buzzwords, but for millions of customers they play a key role when buying beans.

Interestingly, coffee roasters are also experimenting with direct-trade models whereby working relationships are established between roaster and farmer, doing away with brokers. If smaller chocolate companies succeed in establishing similar business models, the results will be positive for growers, manufacturers and consumers. These changes aren’t going to happen overnight of course, and many of the underlying problems will require a monumental effort to resolve. That manufacturers and consumers are willing to engage with ethical and environmental debates are promising to say the least, and with specialty cocoa already predicted to be one of the fastest-growing market areas in Europe, the future looks bright. But to assume that as consumers we can sit back and wait for issues to be solved by others is naive, and with Easter fast approaching it’s the perfect time to reflect on our purchasing habits. I’m not going to stop buying chocolate for friends and family, but I will certainly focus on shopping small, shopping sensibly and spending just a little bit more money on higher quality, more sustainable treats.

The 2020 NFL Draft: who should we be looking out for?

Tristan Varakuta
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The 2020 NFL Draft: who should we be looking out for?

The 2020 NFL Draft will be without the pageantry normally expected of the event. It was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas to coincide with the Raiders’ arrival in the city but, instead, it will take place remotely. This move should come as no surprise following the NFL’s decision to ban all in-person meetings between teams and players in the lead-up to the draft due to Coronavirus. It will be interesting to see how this affects the draft process, as teams won’t be able to get up close to any of the prospects they are evaluating. Perhaps certain prospects will fall down in the draft order, as they will not have had the chance to smooth out any injuries or off-field concerns with potential suitors.

Quarterbacks: Reigning Heisman trophy winner Joe Burrow is almost certain to be selected first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals, after a meteoric rise over the past 12 months. This time last year, Burrow would likely have gone undrafted if he had chosen to declare for the NFL draft. His college football career up to that point had been extremely disappointing: after failing to win the starting quarterback job at Ohio State three seasons in a row he transferred to LSU and had a disappointing first season. However, since LSU implemented a new offensive system last spring, Burrow has been unstoppable. He led LSU to a national championship, with the team going undefeated and beating five of the top-10 ranked college football teams in what was arguably the greatest college football season by a quarterback of all time. Having grown up a stone’s throw away from Cincinnati, it will be truly shocking if the Bengals don’t select him.

A victim of Burrow’s ascendance is Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa has had an illustrious college career, and in his first season, he came off the bench in the national championship game as a freshman to lead a comeback victory. He went on to repeat this feat, winning a second national championship the following season as the starting quarterback. However, in 2019 he suffered a dislocated hip and posterior wall fracture from a brutal sack, thereby missing large parts of the season. There are lingering question marks over the long-term impact of this injury which have not been resolved, with coronavirus preventing teams from conducting medical examinations on Tagovailoa. With both Miami and the Chargers on the hunt for a quarterback, one of these teams will likely move in and grab him in a blockbuster trade, with the other taking Justin Herbert as a consolation prize. Herbert is a typical quarterback at 6’6”, with all the physical attributes needed to play in the NFL. He impressed at the Senior Bowl and has high potential, but his football IQ and tendency for misthrows may hold him back in the NFL.

Wide Receivers: The 2020 wide receiver class is being hailed as one of the best of all time and is expected that over ten will be selected in the first two rounds of the draft. Spear-heading this class are Alabama duo Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III. Jeudy is an extremely polished prospect with crisp route running and excellent ability to gain yards after the catch, whilst Ruggs offers truly electric speed, having recorded a 4.27 second 40-yard dash at this year’s combine. Ruggs’ skillset may not translate well to being a number one receiver in the NFL, but the attention he would demand as a secondary threat, and the dimension his pace could add to an offence, means he is certain to command a first round pick. Ceedee Lamb is also projected to go high. Whilst he may not have the blistering pace of Ruggs, his excellent ball handling skills and ability to win 50/50 match-ups potentially make him a more viable number one receiver in the NFL.

Tackles: It is expected that four elite tackle prospects will be selected in the first round, although it is difficult to predict the order they will be selected in. How General Managers rank them will be based on the classic draft dilemma: whether to draft sure-fire prospects or draft for potential. Jedrick Wills is perhaps the best overall prospect: he is polished in both pass-protection and run-blocking. However, teams may be put off by the fact he played right-tackle at college level. Andrew Thomas is a powerful run-blocker and would be an attractive prospect for teams running power-scheme offences, but his pass protection will need development. Tristan Wirfs, although less polished than the previous two prospects, offers tremendous upside due to his mobility and will likely attract attention from zone-scheme teams. Mekhi Becton’s skills as a tackle are a cut below the other three prospects, but his unique physical stature (6’7”, 369 lbs) means that he has the highest potential of the bunch. Coaches who believe they can teach Becton the skills to succeed at the next level may see him as a potential Hall of Famer.

Defence: Defensively, this year’s draft is thin on the ground compared to previous years, although Ohio State’s Chase Young is on par with any of the great edge rushing prospects to enter the NFL over the past 5 years. He matches elite physical attributes with a unique polish as a pass rusher. Young’s varied skillset means that teams will expect him to be an elite NFL pass rusher from the first day he sets foot on their training field and it is highly likely he is selected in the first three picks of the draft. Jeffrey Okudah offers similar promise as a cornerback and should be selected in the top 5. Moreover, Isaiah Simmons is a unique prospect and could be selected anywhere in the top half of the first round. Simmons’ athleticism is unrivalled; his 40-yard-dash time of 4.39 seconds at the combine was faster than all but six receivers, despite the fact that he weighed in at 238 lbs. At Clemson he was equally adept at rushing the quarterback, disrupting the run, or dropping into coverage. Coaches seeking to add complexity to their defensive schemes will love him as a prospect.

Overall, this year’s draft promises spark, and I would expect some blockbuster trades early on in the first round, as teams scramble to secure their franchise quarterback. How teams rank the tackles is likely to be extremely influential in the first round. It will be particularly interesting to see where this impressive class of wide-receivers get selected. A surplus of talent could perhaps mean they fall lower in the draft than many expect.

The Virtual Museum: Can technology transform the gallery space?

Adam Dalrymple
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The Virtual Museum: Can technology transform the gallery space?

It makes sense that museums are stuck in the past. Having spent their lives surrounded by antiquities, we can forgive curators for not being savvy with the latest technologies. Many of the most prominent museums in the world have not fundamentally changed over the past century, except for certain acquisitions and design tweaks. Entering the Ashmolean or the British Museum today, you still walk through colonnaded halls with glass cabinets, peering at the little written descriptions of the artefacts as you go.

However, developments in Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology provide curators with an opportunity to revolutionise our relationship with the artefacts of the past. Imagine, upon entering the Natural History Museum, you raise your phone camera and the blue whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling comes to life, swimming through the air above your head. Or upon entering a room of Roman sculptures in the British Museum, you can put on a VR headset and be transported to a street in Ancient Rome, where you can appreciate the statues in their original context. The potential of AR and VR in museums is to bring the past to life.

Currently, these technologies exist in museums only as small gimmicks for landmark exhibitions or virtual tours online. The British Museum’s “virtual tour” is limited to a wander around its foyer, while the Ashmolean tour consists of low-resolution three-second videos of various galleries.

Some museums have been more creative: visitors to the Modigliani retrospective at the Tate Modern could enter his studio as it was in the 1910s through a VR headset, while the Louvre took people Beyond the Glass of the Mona Lisa for a landmark exhibition commemorating 500 years since the death of Leonardo da Vinci. Yet none of these museums have fully exploited the potential of VR and AR by integrating the technology into their galleries in a meaningful way.

Firstly, we need to clarify what is meant by VR and AR. VR, or Virtual Reality, is a simulated virtual world, experienced through headsets such as the Oculus Rift. Curators might protest that this technology, by its very nature, is against what museums are all about as it removes people from the artefacts that museums exist to showcase. However, if you come to museums to immerse yourself in the past, Virtual Reality has the potential to actually take you there. As opposed to simply looking at a model of prehistoric huts, it is far more engaging to put on a headset and enter one. VR should not replace the objects on display but rather place them in their historical context.

AR, or Augmented Reality, involves projecting visuals onto a real-world background; think Snapchat filters or Pokémon Go. Only fragments of the past survive in the present day, but AR could fill in these gaps. Take, for example, the magnificent contents of the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, displayed in the British Museum, which has been eroded from centuries spent underground. What if, through AR, you could see the missing pieces of the famous Sutton Hoo helmet and shield slotting back into place, allowing visitors to appreciate the grandeur of Anglo-Saxon armour in its original condition? Phil Stewart, Creative Director of the company which modelled Modigliani’s studio for the Tate said, “Understanding art is about understanding the painter and the paintings, and also the historical and social context.” Bringing this technology into museums would not mean relegating the importance of the artefacts themselves to a secondary role but would, in fact, serve to enhance the viewing experience; rendering the displays within a virtually reconstructed historical context and allowing the opportunity to view them in their original condition.

New technologies also have the potential to bring these relics of our cultural heritage outside of their cabinets, beyond the walls of the museums themselves, and into our classrooms and our homes.

Google Arts and Culture is an online platform developed in association with museums and heritage sites across the planet. When it first came online in 2011, it was essentially an archive of high-quality photos of some of the world’s greatest artworks and historical artefacts. Since then it has developed an array of technologically sophisticated features that allow people to interact with these objects from their home. The outbreak of the coronavirus may have temporarily closed museums, but you can still walk through the halls of the Louvre, the Rijksmuseum and the MET from the comfort of your couch on the Google Arts and Culture app. The “Art Selfie” feature uses facial recognition to find a portrait that resembles you, while “Art Projector” brings masterpieces into your home through AR. Through “Pocket Gallery” I could enter the Cauvet Cave in France, home to figurative cave paintings that date back 36,000 years, which have been sealed off from the public since 1994 for preservation. At a moment when we cannot go to museums, museums can nevertheless come to us.

With the features developed by Google Arts and Culture, artefacts and artworks can become readily accessible to students who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to visit these museums. Likewise, when diplomatic deadlock prevents objects seized by colonial powers returning home, these platforms can allow people in post-colonial countries to engage with their cultural heritage without having to journey to the British Museum – although this virtual engagement is, of course, no substitute for the return of the artefacts.

A more recent development, pioneered by The Kremer Collection, is even more revolutionary. The collection consists of 70 works by Dutch Masters, acquired by George and Ilone Kremer since 1996 including masterpieces by Rembrandt. While the artworks are loaned to museums across the world, they were finally brought together and housed in a single space for the first time in October 2017: the virtual Kremer Museum. Designed by architect John van Lierop, the space is only accessible through a Virtual Reality headset, making it one of the world’s first exclusively virtual museums.

It is worth emphasising the value of interacting with artworks and artefacts in person. Nothing compares to walking beneath a statue of an Egyptian pharaoh and being astounded by its grand scale or squinting to see the texture of Van Gogh’s brushstrokes on a canvas. The value of these objects is in their authenticity. They are relics of lost societies, sculpted and painted by people who are long since dead. No matter how accurate the virtual reproductions of the paintings in the Kremer Museum are, they were still not painted by Rembrandt’s hand.

The question is not whether we should replace our museums with virtual galleries but how we can enhance the museum experience with this new technology. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have the potential to transform our relationship with the past, making ancient artefacts accessible and placing them in their original historical context. Museum curators must employ the technology of the future to breathe life into the past.

An Introduction to K-dramas

Daniya Jawwad
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An Introduction to K-dramas

On the 9th of February 2020, history was made at the Oscars when Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite became the first ever non-English film to win ‘Best Picture’. However, that wasn’t the only award Parasite took home: the film went on to receive awards for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best International Feature Film’ and ‘Best Original Screenplay’, an unprecedented feat. As a result, more and more people find themselves curious about the South Korean film and television industry, with special attention being paid to K-dramas (or Korean television series), which have attained fan followings all over the world. Given the popularity of Parasite, here are four K-dramas (all available on Netflix) that should definitely be on your “must watch” list.  

MR SUNSHINE 

Don’t be deceived by the name. You need only to watch the first episode to discover that this series’ preoccupations are anything but sunny. Set in the late 19th century, the series focuses on the events leading up to the Japanese occupation of Korea and the gradual dissolution of the Joseon dynasty, which precipitated drastic social change. At the centre of these chaotic times are Choi Yoo-jin/Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun) and Go Ae-sin (Kim Tae-ri), whose lives are intricately connected. Eugune Choi is a Joseon man who fled to the US as a child and, having grown up now, is a part of the US Marines. He returns to Joseon as part of the Korean expedition in 1871, accompanying an American delegation for a simple mission. However, this one mission spirals out of control when he becomes increasingly involved in the secret life of a Joseon noblewoman and, soon, past traumas from his childhood resurface. 

One of the main reasons I enjoyed Mr Sunshine was because of its portrayal of women. Usually the women in K-dramas don’t have much agency but this show changed that and many other K-dramas have followed suit. Go Ae-sin, for example, is frustrated at how, being a part of the aristocracy, she can’t help her fellow countrymen against the growing presence of foreign forces. She decides to fight her helplessness by secretly taking lessons in marksmanship, allowing her to become an asset to the independence fighters. As such a game-changing example of the genre, Mr Sunshine would make for an excellent introduction into K-dramas; you might even recognise Lee Jeong-eun, the housekeeper in Parasite, who plays a supporting role.

Lee Byung-hun in Mr Sunshine

SKY CASTLE

If you’re in search of a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, look no further than SKY Castle. SKY Castle focuses on the academic pressure that high school students face in South Korea when applying to universities, as well as the rat race that is ‘elite’ society. The name of the series is derived from the names of the most competitive universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. 

What I love about this series is that they focus on the impact mothers can have on their children. The actors shine through in their roles, especially Kim Seo-hyung, who plays the elusive and mysterious Kim Joo-young, charged with preparing rich, competent students for university entrance exams. Han Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) is an obsessive, perfectionist mother who seeks out Kim Joo-young to help her daughter get into SNU’s medical school. However, a series of strange events start to occur, affecting Han Seo-jin’s neighbours, No Seung-hye, Jin Jin-hee and Lee Soo-im. No Seung-hye (Yoon Se-ah) loves her children very much and wishes to put their well-being first, but is pressured into pushing her children to their limits by her husband. Likewise, Jin Jin-hee (Oh Na-ra) wants the best for her child but doesn’t always know what to do and so is easily influenced by others, and usually bound to follow Han Seo-jin’s example. Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran) is a stepmother, but she too cares about her child very much. She doesn’t understand the frenzied concern of the other mothers around her, much to the distaste of Han Seo-jin. Suffice to say, the complex and multi-layered narrative of this drama led to its success and earned it a place as the highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.

A promotional poster for Sky Castle

ROMANCE IS A BONUS BOOK

What I don’t like about other K-dramas is that they sometimes go a little too ‘over the top’ and seem exaggerated. However, Romance is a Bonus Book is an exception – it’s chill, casual, feel-good watching, and well suited to quarantine watching. This drama centers on Kang Dan-i (Lee Na-young), a single mother and divorcee who is struggling to re-enter the workforce after having taken some time off to raise her child. Despite the fact that she is very experienced in her field and had previously held a high position, her extended hiatus, and the fact that she’s a single mother, discourages employers from taking her on. Desperate for a job, Dan-i destroys evidence of her many qualifications in order to be eligible for a job aimed at high school graduates. The job is at a publishing company that is partially owned by her childhood friend, Cha Eun-ho (Lee Jong-seok), who is much surprised by Dan-i’s entrance to the workplace. Romance ensues. 

This drama sheds a light on the particular difficulties working women face and, of course, seeing a show take an active role in encouraging social awareness is always refreshing. Also, Kang Dan-i is older than Cha Eun-ho in the show and it’s interesting to explore why it is still frowned upon for older women to date younger men in Korean society. The friendship between these two characters that blossoms into love is beautiful to watch and is wonderfully complemented by the mellow soundtrack, featuring K-indie bands like Jannabi and The Black Skirts.

The two leads in Romance is a Bonus Book

ONE SPRING NIGHT

Last but not least there is One Spring Night. Again, this K-drama is unlike other romantic dramas in that it is very subtle and low-key, yet heartwarming. In other words, it offers us a depiction of real life with real people and real problems. At the centre of it is Lee Jeong-in (Han Ji-min), a librarian who is unsatisfied with her four year long loveless relationship with her boyfriend, and Yu Ji-ho (Jung Hae-in), a pharmacist and single father, who meet one day and start to develop feelings for each other. One Spring Night explores the ‘grey area’ a lot of couples find themselves in after being with each other for a long time and slowly starting to recognise that the feelings they once held for each other are no longer there. Lee Jeong-in doesn’t love her boyfriend but still feels an obligation towards him, which prevents her from pursuing a relationship with Yu Ji-ho. Add to that the social stigma around single fathers in Korean society and we find ourselves immersed in the details of a very complex set of relationships.  

The beauty of One Spring Night lies in the incredible acting on display. The English language soundtrack too (featuring Carla Bruni’s Spring Waltz) adds a unique touch to the show. Unfortunately, because One Spring Night is not a conventional K-drama filled with slapstick comedy and bolstered by a soundtrack featuring big names, the show didn’t received much attention, but I assure you that it is well worth the watch. 

Female friendship in One Spring Night

COVID-19 Is Changing the Way We Socialise

Janae Byrne
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COVID-19 Is Changing the Way We Socialise

With the UK in lockdown, we must resort to new forms of socialising. The lack of daily routine and inability to meet other people seems to provide an endless void for those staying at home, but once this void becomes filled with unlimited social media interactions, are we actually becoming overstimulated in our attempts to navigate social isolation?

The importance of social media has taken on a new meaning in the context of a global pandemic. It is a powerful tool for bringing people together which many relationships and friendships are currently dependent on. Unable to see my best friends for the foreseeable future, I feel very privileged to have the means of keeping in touch with them virtually. However, with this being the prime way of communicating with people outside of my household, I am finding myself spending more time than ever staring at a screen.

I must admit, there was a certain novelty to it at the beginning of this period of lockdown, with the non-stop Houseparty notifications resulting in impromptu conversations with people I hadn’t spoken to since high school. But once I’d FaceTimed everyone in my contacts and swiped through an endless stream of mundane Instagram stories, I noticed that what initially seemed like vast amounts of time to fill was actually becoming saturated with meaningless interactions.

As much as we can replicate reality through Zoom calls, it can never replace it. When my friend and I ran out of things to talk about 1 hour into a FaceTime call I seriously started to question the basis of our friendship. But when in real life would you sit and talk face-to-face with someone without any external distractions? I can hardly offer them a virtual cup of tea when the conversation runs dry.

Video-calling loses the subtleties of real-life and intensifies social interaction to the point that it feels unnatural. This is a concerning factor with the majority of students receiving teaching online over the coming weeks. I worry that video-call tutorials and seminars will never achieve the same dynamic as those in person.

Social media provides a fast-paced stream of communication that is alien to real life. In under a minute I can watch someone cook their dinner, flick through an album of photos of ‘pre-corona’ times or read a series of quarantine routines on Twitter.  The mutual boredom of all those without a job or classes to go to means that social media is, now more than ever, the nation’s stream of consciousness.

In a recent article in The Guardian, Joel Golby claims, “coronavirus has infected our culture, and the discourse is mutating around us, and the language and intensity of discussion will be permanently disfigured by this once-in-a-lifetime event”. People are aware of each other’s lives now more than ever and the effort needed to keep in contact is reduced to simply picking up the phone.

I wonder, when we finally reach the light at the end of the tunnel, how we will re-adjust to the coffee dates and pub trips which require more careful planning. I hope that the magic of casual interaction, the sitting and enjoying the presence of someone else without formal communication, is something we will have a new appreciation for when normality resumes.

Currently, socialising online is our only option. Yet I would encourage people to see social media as a complement to reality rather than a replacement for it. We must be creative with the way we use the technology we are privileged to have. It warms me to see people getting together for virtual dinner parties, movie nights and reading groups. Keeping up the routines and activities we took for granted before this pandemic helps to make this craziness feel slightly more normal.

Socialising is important, but it isn’t everything. While many of us are blessed with more free time than we’ve ever known, why not take up a new hobby or do those things that you previously never had time for? I have started reading a book for pleasure for the first time since high school, spent more time playing the piano, and even made time to do arts and crafts. So next time you find yourself scrolling through an endless stream of ‘hot takes’ on Twitter, why not take some time for yourself? I promise you won’t be missing out on much. These past couple of weeks have taught me not to be ashamed of declining group calls to continue with my knitting.

Friday Favourite: The Things They Carried

Wei Khai Lim
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Friday Favourite: The Things They Carried

In the perverse manner of a bored and immature conscript in peacetime, I spent my weekends off in 2015 and 2016 consuming as much media about wars as I could. The Vietnam War was a favourite theme. Everything was so familiar to me: the vulgar cadence songs in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket declared themselves ancestors to the ones we inherited in the Singapore Army; Pte. Chris Taylor’s dog-tag sticking to his neck after hours of sweat in Platoon (1986) reminded me of the recurrent heat rashes we all got outfield. Even the way men react to enemy fire recalled my own instructors, and the sheer fatigue of each week spent in the jungle.

Thankfully, the similarities ended there. After all, I wasn’t fighting in a war, and I could still bring books into the barracks – all the while pretending to myself that being able to strip and re-assemble my assault rifle made me a patriotic hero. So I looked for, and found, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (1990), which accompanied me on the interminable hours in the live-firing range. Like the movies, it insists: ‘a true war story is never moral.’ And insists again:

‘If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue.’

Of course, as both Wilfred Owen and military clichés remind us, the real ‘victim’ of the lie is the dead soldier. Yet the silly strength of O’Brien’s ‘true’ war stories is their ability to make us believe how beautiful dirt is, and in how much courage narrative gives us when we’re far enough away from the events it is based on. Away from any real theatre of war, I nevertheless felt convinced to perform nobly for my bored friends and family – ‘the infantry is so tough, I should’ve malingered like <person X> instead’, or ‘yeah I gave up my foot for the country’ (I didn’t even catch footrot, I had just bruised it kicking a root). To rehash some tired platitudes, O’Brien’s power is more than his ability to formulate a world that isolates narrative from reality, but also consists in his capacity to transport us away from the latter. The Things They Carried carried me through moments of isolation – isolation that inevitably washes in when you pluck an irritable and unready boy fresh out of school, throw him into a group of other angry young men and tell him he has to earn their respect. Lieutenants in armies worldwide still famously fail to accomplish this, let alone the enlisted corps that can’t hide from their men once commissioned officers have long disappeared into their field offices.  I was a sergeant, and so enlisted, and so for the first time in my life I truly had nowhere else to go. Every tomorrow was something different, and I had to roll with the (sometimes literal) punches.

But later, in those long, silent hours (quiet for ‘tactical’ reasons) marching through the green, I imagined that someone who had come before me can sympathise, and that if I have it hard, someone else has had, and will have, it harder – including my own troops:

‘They plodded along slowly, dumbly, leaning forward against the heat, unthinking, all blood and bone, simple grunts, soldiering with their legs…’

I took each step as I did each clause here, with no wailing but some gnashing of teeth. O’Brien gave me a way to think and talk about these muddy memories in retrospect: with more modesty than I had managed, but we shared that tone of relief all people speak in when we no longer have to  do something difficult.

Now, over 3 years after I finished my term of service, I find myself in isolation again, this time with the law itself putting a cordon around my movement. At time of writing, I am serving day 7 of a 14-day isolation notice. I realised that I have finished 8 terms of a degree in English (with my tutors, all 4 of whom would probably disapprove of my mawkish review). I have used the houseparty app 3 times in the past 6 days for ‘virtual pubbing’. I sleep 4 hours a day, twice a day owing to jetlag. I am putting numbers on things to have a grasp on time passing, but even that is slowly slipping away from me. So for some calm and control I returned to O’Brien, but the things I value about The Things They Carried are no longer the same. I am more cynical now; more self-reflective about how much power books and movies and poetry really have about the way they move me. In the recent, crazy days, people have rightfully called out Waterstones supremo James Daunt for attempting to argue that book retailing should go on business-as-usual. Opponent arguments have gone many ways, including the fact that Audible – recognising the essential importance of books – has now made hundreds of volumes available for free to stave off our cabin fever. Good things, and good conversations about how important books and movies are to our cultures. Perhaps a sign that I should watch, read, or listen to something new.

Yet I still go back to The Things They Carried. It must be said that I hate to think about metaphors of ‘war’ in relation to the novel coronavirus. Susan Sontag years ago had already warned us that ‘military metaphors contribute to the stigmatizing of certain illnesses and by extension, of those who are ill.’ But military metaphors are productive because they are triumphalist, so they persist with us as we look forward to eventual victory over an illness that has and will continue to rob us of the vulnerable in our midst, not to mention countless milestones in our lives. As NHS England curiously declares ‘outbreaks of altruism’, O’Brien gives the time of day to the heroes in our midst: heroes because, like the soldiers who have been sold pipe dreams of glory, they are just like us.

‘They carried all the emotional baggage of [women and] men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing – these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight.’

As he takes us away from the gore and the dirt, O’Brien brings his camera eye-level with the people who push past the rubble for the rest of us. I can’t look away. Once again, I have nowhere else to go. Auden would have us believe that violence is ‘history’, that 30s slang for public affairs ‘that never sleeps or dies, / and, held one moment, burns the hand’. O’Brien will burn your hand while letting you watch how he does it. In the time of Coronavirus, he will prove that loving yourself can also come through loving other people.

EXCLUSIVE: Union to move to podcast format for Trinity

Tilly Walters
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EXCLUSIVE: Union to move to podcast format for Trinity

The Union will go online only for Trinity Term, with talks and debates in podcast format, Cherwell can exclusively reveal. 

The society will continue with a full termcard, which will be released in 0th week. It will have regular individual speakers, two debates a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays), and will hold several “weekend specials” throughout the term. 

Talks will be similar to their standard format, with the President or Librarian interviewing. Debates will more closely resemble a panel format, with the hosts interviewing the speakers one by one, followed by a discussion. The talks will be recorded collectively, so individual speakers have the chance to respond to each other. All podcasts will be pre-recorded. 

Speaking to Cherwell, President Mahi Joshi said: “With teaching going fully online for Trinity, and few students expected to be in Oxford, it would be impossible to hold our traditional events in Oxford. Not only would few of our members be able to attend, but it would potentially jeopardise the health and safety of all those involved.

“Moreover, current travel restrictions mean that it would be effectively impossible to secure any confirmations, either from UK-based or International speakers. All the work we as a committee do over the vacation is in the interests of putting together a term card which shares exciting and important voices with our members, and organising fully online events is the only way to achieve this in TT20.”

Interviewing speakers, and conducting debates remotely will allow a solution for travel restrictions currently in place globally. Joshi commented that, “The online format of the podcasts means that it will be easier to welcome speakers who might not be able to make it to the Union for a traditional event, whether for reasons of mobility or distance. We hope that, as a result, we will have a broad range of participants joining us, making for a diverse and exciting term card.”

Members will be able to submit questions to speakers through a form shared on the Union’s Facebook page. The host will choose the most popular and interesting questions and pose these to the speaker. Joshi said, “For individual speaker events, tough lines of questioning by the host, as well as pre-submitted member questions, will challenge speakers as normal. 

“For our debate podcasts, the opportunity for speakers to engage more directly with each other than they might in a debate means that any controversial views will be directly and intelligently challenged by speakers with differing views.”

She hopes that the online talks will provide a convenient alternative to traditional events, and noted that: “We appreciate that few people’s first thought at the announcement of Trinity being fully online is, “oh no, what about the Oxford Union!” But during these isolating times, our podcasts will hopefully give members the opportunity to listen to something insightful and inspiring, outside the day-to-day COVID news.

“We also hope, with students feeling disconnected from Oxford during this remote term, our podcasts will offer students a connection to Oxford life, and will give them something to look forward to each day.”

The Union buildings, including its members’ bar and library, closed early at the end of 8th week. Buildings will be reopened as and when government measures are changed. Library loans will be extended to the 13th of October, 2nd week of Michaelmas Term 2020. 

The Oxford Union podcasts will be released on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon Alexa.

Staying sex-positive during a global pandemic

Genevieve Athis
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Staying sex-positive during a global pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic, of which the far-reaching consequences will not be fully appreciated for many years, has seen a short-term shift from young people living independently, to returning to their family homes. While for many people it is reassuring to be with family at such unprecedented times, it also means time away from partners, friends and a huge loss in the independence that comes with living on your own. Deprived of partners, privacy and Thursday night Bridge, and with the amount of time isolation is set to continue appearing uncertain, it is inevitable that many students will be feeling sexually frustrated. This frustration is entirely natural but is somehow harder to wrestle with than other issues associated with social distancing because of outdated societal attitudes about sex and (specifically female) sexuality. 

“Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die!” Not only is this infamous Mean Girls line a ringing indictment of America’s (lack of) sexual education in its schools, it also speaks to wider cultural norms that associate sex with shame. It is a plea to restrain sexuality at all costs and if you must express yourself sexually, then the least you can do is have the decency to keep it private and not talk about it. In the UK too, our sexual education is often limited to non-existent. At my school it consisted of looking at different pictures of people suffering from STIs, followed by a Q&A in which questions about LGBTQIA+ issues were actively ignored. Sex-positivity aims to counter prevailing narratives that sex is inherently shameful. It encourages openness towards sexuality in all its forms and emphasises sexual pleasure, fulfillment, health and education. Essentially sex-positivity says ‘What’s the big deal?’. 

For many students, being back at home makes their usual forms of sexual expression or activity difficult. This is less than ideal at a time when stress levels are already running high, and complicated by the enduring taboo around sex in contemporary society. In the absence of human contact – here are 9 recommendations on how to maintain a sex-positive attitude in these troubling times: 

  1. Take the time to educate yourself about sexual issues! I recently went to a talk by Tarana Burke (founder of #MeToo) and I was shocked by how little I knew about the original motivations behind the movement. Sex-positivity tries to combat the lack of public education available about sex and sexuality by providing information – after all knowledge is power. Lots of sex educators/organisations have platforms on Instagram (@evyan.whitney, @karleyslutever, @sh24_nhs are just a few examples). Take the time in isolation to read up on issues you feel out of touch with or unsure about!
  2. If you’re away from your partner at the moment, self-isolation is the perfect opportunity to explore phone sex. Focusing on your own body and your partner can be a great way to relieve anxiety and phone sex can provide more intimacy than sexting. 
  3. However, for those of us who don’t have the benefit of a mansion in Surrey (or equivalent), phone sex might not be an option as you’re likely to be living in close quarters with the rest of your family. In light of this, sexting can provide a way to enjoy shared experiences of pleasure without being stressed that someone is going to overhear your conversation. 
  4. Porn – it had to come up eventually. For many people porn is the first way they explore their sexuality and educate themselves on sexual issues (often for lack of other alternatives). However, for many feminists porn is the embodiment of exploitative male power which commodifies women’s bodies and normalizes fetishes, abuse and degradation. The last decade has seen the rise of ‘ethical porn’ (check out Erika Lust’s main site, BrightDesire.com, makelovenotporn.tv and CrashPadSeries.com) which often describes porn made by and nominally for women, with a specific focus on female sexual pleasure to correct the imbalance of mainstream porn. For many people these porn sites can provide an alternative to the frankly off-putting depictions of sex on mainstream websites. 
  5. Read a book – for those who reject porn in all its forms, erotic literature can provide the answer to guilt free self-pleasure. From classics like the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy and Sarah Water’s Fingersmith, to short stories by amateur authors which can be found on sites like Literotica, there is plenty to choose from. 
  6. Sales of sex vibrators are through the roof at the moment. Instead of buying a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, consider a toy that will relieve your frustration rather than adding to it. 
  7. Talk to friends/partners/anyone about sex – discussing sexual issues can be a very liberating experience: the ability to be open and be honest about sex is critical to developing a healthy relationship with your own sexuality and discussing intimacy can also help to bring you closer to those that you choose to confide in. 
  8. In times of acute boredom many people turn to Netflix for refuge. Sex Education provides over thirteen hours of sexual escapades with an emphasis on education and debunking common myths. 
  9. Finally, for anyone that is interested in female pleasure OMGYes.com is a website that uses scientific research to provide practical pleasure techniques for its users. However, it will cost you a £39 one-off payment to access the website in full. Although, let’s be honest – what else have you got to spend your Trinity Term student loan on at the moment? In the words of Emma Watson, it’s a “pretty cool website”. A sound investment if there ever was one.

Sheldonian Theatre Plans for Gender-Neutral Toilet in Refurbishments

Irene Zhang
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Sheldonian Theatre Plans for Gender-Neutral Toilet in Refurbishments

The University of Oxford Estates Service has submitted a planning application to Oxford City Council for the refurbishment of basement toilets in the Sheldonian Theatre, including the introduction of an independent-access, all-gender bathroom.

On February 27th an application for the internal refurbishment of Sheldonian Theatre basement toilets was submitted to Oxford City Council, and the planning application was validated on March 6th. Aric Barcena, the case agent for the application and an architect employed by the Conservation & Buildings Team of the University’s Estates Service, explains that since the Sheldonian Theatre is a Grade I listed building, an application is needed to measure ‘impact’ and provide ‘mitigating details’.

The application submitted includes a heritage assessment done by the University: according to the Estates Service, the basement toilets in question are not original to the building but were added in the 20th century, and their “current conditions and aesthetics … are not in keeping with the rest of the building’s interiors”. The University cites adherence to the Equality Act of 2010 as justification for the refurbishments, asserting that the new gender-neutral toilet will improve “privacy and gender-equality” for all visitors and users of the Sheldonian Theatre.

The proposal describes the refurbishments as such: “Internal refurbishment of the north and south basement toilets to include upgrades to mechanical and electrical services, replacement wall and floor finishes, internal redecoration works and new suspended ceilings. Alterations to the northeast female toilets to provide a new WC with independent access from the corridor. Reconfiguration of the southeast male toilet layout to conceal the existing services.”

The Conservation Officer from Oxford City Council told the Estates Service last year at a site visit that “it does not appear that the proposed scheme would impact any original/historic fabric of significance”, and Barcena anticipates no resistance to these upcoming works from historical societies. However, due to the current situation with COVID-19, he cautions that the timeline for these refurbishment works will all depend on the government’s pandemic guidelines for the construction sector and the effects on the supply chain. A full budget has yet to be calculated because the Estates Service is waiting on contractors’ bids, but once the planning application is approved and the full values of the works are calculated, the works will be planned in “continuous phases”, thus allowing some toilets to remain open while others are being refurbished.

Oxford SU LGBTQ+ Campaign’s 2018 Trans Report criticizes a general lack of gender-neutral facilities in many colleges and University buildings, and strongly recommends that “all University, college and faculty buildings be required to install gender-neutral facilities”. Aric Barcena comments that the University’s Estates Service is “always looking for new opportunities to increase the equality standard in university buildings”, and asks that anyone interested in this issue contact their Accessibility team for more information and future plans.

Image Credit to Mark Addison. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Oxford company to screen 15,000 drugs for COVID-19 cure

Christina Kirk
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Oxford company to screen 15,000 drugs for COVID-19 cure

The Oxford-based company Exscientia will use artificial intelligence to evaluate over 15,000 drugs in order to test them for effectiveness in curing coronavirus. The Scripps Research Institute in California is providing Exscientia with the collection of drugs that will be screened in the process.

This endeavour is to be undertaken in collaboration with another Oxford-based company, Diamond Light Source – a national synchrotron science facility, which acts as a giant microscope, operating by deflecting electrons through a magnetic field to generate a bright light that enables scientists to effectively study viruses. 

According to Professor Andrew Hopkins, the chief executive of Exscientia, the company is hopeful that they can discover a compound that can be repurposed to treat coronavirus within the next six to 12 months. Then, the drug would be used in clinical trials, being tested on patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Still, Hopkins emphasized that the timeline of the project is difficult to estimate.

“When designing a brand new drug, even when using Exscientia’s accelerated AI methods, we do not expect such a new molecule to be ready for testing in human clinical trials until the end of 2021. However, if we discover a molecule that already has regulatory safety data, we can speed that up to a matter of months before human testing can begin, depending on how fast we can source or manufacture sufficient quantities of the drug substance for clinical trials,” Hopkins said.

In a comment given to The Guardian, David Stuart, director of life sciences at Diamond and professor of structural biology at Oxford University, remarked on the ability of Exscientia’s drug discovery process to expedite the rate at which clinical trials can begin, while still ensuring safety. 

“The drugs we are testing have either been approved by the [US regulator] FDA for other diseases or have been extensively tested for human safety. By being able to repurpose existing molecules, we can save a lot of time in the drug discovery process, meaning a faster route to clinical trials, and potentially a treatment for patients,” Stuart said. 

The project started in the later half of March, and Exscientia projects that its first data sets will be ready within the next six to eight weeks. Drug molecules that appear to be viable combatants against Covid-19 at this stage will be further tested to ensure effectiveness as treatment against the virus.

Diamond Light Source has several online resources updating the public about the progression of this project. Dr David Owen, a structural biologist at Diamond, has provided updates about Diamond’s contribution to the project so far.

“[W]e are looking at clinically approved compounds with the view of repurposing drugs already available for other diseases. The … strategy could provide an accelerated platform for drug discovery against sars-cov-2. It should be stressed that the development of clinically approved antivirals can take more than a decade to develop and made available in the clinic. Our research at present will help guide the identification of potential strategies for selection of drugs to be screened and we hope will aid direct researchers in the current crisis,” Owen said in a recent update.

Exscientia specialises in drug discovery and design using artificial intelligence. In order to screen molecules for effectiveness against the virus, Exscientia will use algorithms, machine learning, and biosensor technology, which will assist researchers in analysing the viral pathogenesis of COVID-19.

In regards to the Exscientia’s collaboration with Diamond, Hopkins outlined the process as follows:

 “Firstly, we are generating a large amount of high-throughput screening data for 3 key COVID-19 drug targets through this collaboration with Scripps and Diamond. Secondly, we are also working with Diamond on discovering seed data to the design of new drugs, in what is called fragment screening, where we take compounds that may only be 1/3 the size of normal drugs, called a ‘fragment’ search, to find which ones may bind and provide us with anchor points from which our algorithms can evolve new compounds. For any hits we discover, Diamond are poised to also determine the protein structures of any drug molecules bound to one of the Coronavirus proteins. Three-dimensional structure data can accelerate novel drug design.”

In addition to Diamond, Exscientia is also working in partnership with Oxford University. Since January, Exscientia, Diamond, and the University have been working to develop proteins for drug screening in aims of producing viral proteins for screening and structural analysis, which can provide atomic-level detail that will assist researchers in understanding anti-viral properties. 

Vigorous efforts to find a cure for COVID-19 are happening globally and have generally focused on existing drugs – particularly the Japanese anti-flu drug favipiravir, HIV treatment Kaletra, Ebola drug remdesivir, and anti-malaria drug chloroquine. Results from clinical trials using remdesivir as treatment in China and the US are due in April. UK biotech company Synairgen is currently testing an experimental lung drug – which was developed as a treatment for chronic-obstructive pulmonary disorder – on COVID-19 patients.

Image Credit: Mark Addison. License: CC BY-SA 2.0.

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