Monday 9th June 2025
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Mass surveillance could save us from extinction, claims Professor

Ana Gheorghe
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Mass surveillance could save us from extinction, claims Professor

Oxford Philosopher Nick Bostrom put forward a case for mass government surveillance in a TEDTalk last week.

Speaking in Vancouver on 17th April, Bostrom argued in favour of mass surveillance, claiming that it may be a necessary step in preventing the destruction of humanity.

Sharing some insights from his latest publication The Vulnerable World Hypothesis, Bostrom argued that humanity’s demise is likely to be at the hands of a technology of our own design.

To counter this, he argued, we may require a more effective global government that could quickly outlaw any potential civilization-destroying ideas or technologies.

To demonstrate this idea, Bostrom employed the metaphor of humans standing in front of a giant urn filled with balls, each ball representing a different idea.

Based on their effect on humanity, the balls are of different colours: white for beneficial ideas, grey for moderately or possibly harmful, and black for civilization-destroying.

According to Bostrom we haven’t selected a black ball yet because we’ve been “lucky”. However, if “scientific and technological research continues, we will eventually reach it and pull it out”, he writes.

Speaking to Cherwell, Bostrom elaborated on his theory, saying, “this paper doesn’t exactly argue for mass surveillance; rather it observes that there are two structural features of the current world order that would make it vulnerable to the extraction of a technological black ball, and that to have a general capacity to stabilize civilization against this kind of vulnerability would require a capacity for extremely effective preventive policing, supported by mass surveillance, and sufficiently effective ways of resolving the worst global coordination problems.”

In conversation with Chris Anderson, the head of TED, he suggested that we implement a system of mass government surveillance in which each person is fitted with necklace-like “freedom tags” with multi-directional cameras.

Information gathered by these “freedom tags” would be sent to “freedom centers”, where artificial intelligence monitor the data, alerting human officers if they detect signs of a possible “black ball” idea.

“Obviously there are huge downsides and indeed massive risks to mass surveillance and global governance”, Bostrom said, conceding criticisms of the notion.

“I’m just pointing out that if we are lucky, the world could be such that these would be the only ways you could survive a black ball.”

This is not the first time Nick Bostrom has made controversial predictions. In 2010, his paper Are You Living In A Computer Simulation? argued for the statistical likelihood of human existence being a technological simulacrum.

Since then, his theory has mainly focused on artificial intelligence, with his co-authoring of a letter with Stephen Hawking to establish “23 principles of AI safety”.

He is the founder of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology, and is the founding director of the Future of Humanity Institute.

Union suspends member for Nazi salute

Angus Brown
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Union suspends member for Nazi salute

The Oxford Union has found a member guilty of attempting to perform a Nazi salute at last term’s “Into the Wardrobe” ball.

The member has been suspended for two terms and fined £40 in line with Union policy forbidding conduct “liable to distress [or] offend.” The member (who is not named in the re- port in line with Union rules) is also alleged to have “engaged in goose-stepping.”

The report, by a Union Intermediate Disciplinary Committee, explains that the allegations were corroborated by an un- named member of the Union’s committee who stated “that they saw the Defendant with their arm raised at an angle 45 degrees above the horizontal.”

The initial complainant at one point referred to these gestures as being “entirely reminiscent of a Nazi salute”, although the report found that this was not fully corroborated by the evidence presented.

In addition to these allegations, the defendant also stood accused of having goose-stepped in the society’s bar prior to their alleged conduct in the marquee. However, upon examination of CCTV footage from the bar the panel found no evidence that this had taken place.

As the Defendant entered no plea the disciplinary panel “proceeded as if a ‘not guilty’ plea had been entered”. In the course of the defence, the Defendant’s representative presented evidence that the goose-stepping had taken place alongside another unnamed member after “discussing the military traditions” of the unnamed member’s country in whose military they had served.

The defendant then noted that in this unnamed country “goose-stepping continues to take place, before deciding to start goose- stepping while mimicking the tradition”.

The unnamed member claimed that he had not engaged in Nazi salutes, but had “moved his arm to five degrees above horizontal reminiscent of the [national] military’s practice of raising one’s sword while goose- stepping, and that the defendant may have done the same.”

The defendant admitted to having engaged in goose-stepping at the ball which they referred to as “juvenile”, and admitted to having been heavily intoxicated at the time, but did not admit to having engaged in conduct reminiscent of a Nazi salute.

The complainant’s representative argued that the claim that these actions were taken in the spirit of “cultural exploration” were “wildly improbable”, and argued that “there was very little evidence of remorse besides the admittance of drunken conduct.”

The panel nevertheless found that the defendant had engaged in goose-stepping whilst raising their arm at an angle of at least forty-five degrees and laughing on at least one occasion.

They concluded that: “It is more likely than not that an ordinary member would, when looking at a raised arm coupled with goose-stepping, see an allusion to the Third Reich” which the defendant himself admitted was “the most likely explanation” for such behaviour.

They also stated: “Any symbolism of Nazism, reasonably interpreted, is liable to distress and offend a right-minded member” and that “Goose-stepping in itself a symbol of Nazism, is liable to distress and offend a rational, right-minded member and is serious and improper conduct” regardless of the intention of the defendant when raising their arm.

In its concluding remarks, the panel noted: “During our hearing it became apparent that although the original complaint had been submitted against a single member, the alleged actions were of two members.

“The panel was dissatisfied with this situation.”

However, they found that the rules of the society did not enable them to extend the scope of their investigation beyond that of the original complaint, and as a result no punishment was brought against the second goose-stepping member.

The report did not rule out the possibility of a second investigation. Noting that this was the second time within a year that a case had been brought regarding conduct by an intoxicated member liable to distress or offend other members, the panel “urge[d] all members to enjoy themselves responsibly at Society events.”

Speaking to Cherwell, Union President Genevieve Athis said: “I can confirm that an Intermediate Displinary Committee did decide to fine and suspend a member that behaved extremely inappropriately at our Hilary Term Ball.

“After the incident, the member was removed from the premises by a member of the Union’s security staff.

“The complaint was brought by an ex- President on behalf of a member of the Union’s staff.

“The goose-stepping itself constitutes a breach of Rule 71 (a) (i) (1) and was deemed by the investigatory panel to be serious and improper conduct.

“It is very important that all members feel safe when they are on our premises and I think the seriousness of the punishment administered to the member in question illustrates our commitment to this.”

Protest planned against University’s animal testing

Amelia Horn
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Protest planned against University’s animal testing

A protest against Oxford University’s use of animal testing will be held today, coinciding with the 40th World Day for Animals in Laboratories (WDAIL). The protest intends to highlight the plight of animals who “suffer in the name of research and profit.”

The event is co-organised by WDAIL and Speak – the Voice for the Rights of Animals, which has previously campaigned against the building of a new animal laboratory by the University. It regularly holds demonstrations and information stalls in Oxford.

The organisation’s founder Mel Broughton, stated: “Millions of animals are still being experimented on in the name of medical research.

“In the twenty-first century we now have the means and the ability to carry out cutting edge medical research without recourse to animal experimentation.

“Those who think that science is ethically neutral confuse the findings of science, which are, with the activity of science, which is not.”

There will be speakers at the event, including the first person to rescue an animal from a laboratory in the UK Mike Huskisson, campaigns manager at Animal Aid Jessamy Korotoga, and the founder of AJP Claire Palmer.

The day begins with a rally at Oxpens Park at noon. The march begins at 1.00pm and will follow a route through Cornmarket and to the University’s laboratory on Mansfield Road. There is set to be speeches both at Oxpens Park and outside the laboratory.

British universities have been condemned by the anti-vivisection campaign group, Animal Justice Project (AJP), who alleged that some of the rabbits “had been infected with cholera, others given fatal injections, and some had their eyes sewn shut.”

In 2018, Oxford “neglected” to release the number of rabbits they had used in testing. This was the first time in four years that the University had not provided the information. In 2017, they carried out 236,429 tests on animals.

British universities have been acused of “growing more secretive” about their use of animal testing, with AJP alleging that Edinburgh, Cambridge, UCL and 15 others also declined to give details.

An Oxford University spokesperson said they refuse Freedom of Information requests only on data already due for release.

They stated: “The university also releases all animal testing data, by species and sever- ity, every single year. This is usually in the autumn.”

However, the Animal Justice Project called for greater transparency about “out-of-date and futile” tests on rabbits.

Other universities, such as Liverpool, UCL, and Sheffield, have also been criticised by the campaign group. The AJP alleged last year that Nottingham University “infected sixty baby rabbits with cholera, causing diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration.

“They were believed to have suffered extreme thirst, low blood pressure and irregular heartbeat causing death if “humane termination” was not carried out.”

According to data obtained by the AJP, the UK is one of the largest users of laboratory animals in the world. According to the latest Home Office statistics, over half of the 3.87 million experiments conducted in the UK in 2017 were in universities.

This figure corresponds to around 26 animal experiments per day in the United Kingdom.

Interview: Cindy Gallop

Fin Kavanagh
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Interview: Cindy Gallop

Saying “cum on my face” six times during your TEDTalk is a novel way of launching a business, though apparently a very successful one. Enter Cindy Gallop – the social sex revolutionary. Cindy used to work for the international advertising firm Bartle Bogle Hegarty, though she is better known for her own business venture: MakeLoveNotPorn. 

“We are kind of what Facebook would be if [it] allowed you to socially and sexually self-express and identify.” 

Cindy calls me from her New York apartment, formerly the backdrop to The Notorious B.I.G’s music video ‘Nasty Girl’. 

“We’re celebrating real world sex as a counterpoint. We’re socialising sex and making it easier for everyone in the world to talk about in order to promote consent, good sexual values, and good sexual behaviour.” 

“My reason for setting it up is entirely accidental,” she says, now ten years on from when she launched the site. 

“It came out of my direct personal experience dating younger men. I realised I was encountering what happened when two things converge: today’s total freedom of access to porn online and our society’s equally total reluctance to talk openly and honestly about sex. This means porn inevitably becomes sex education by default, and not in a good way. I basically en- countered a whole bunch of sexual behavioural memes in bed. I thought, gosh, if I’m experiencing this, other people must be as well.” 

I’m not taken aback by these intimate revelations about her own sex life. Everything about Cindy screams outrage from her not-so-coy Twitter bio, “I am the Michael Bay of business. I like to blow shit up”, to her 59th birthday invitation – six topless blokes with “Property of Cindy Gallop” tattooed on their backs. She later tells me the RSVP was in keeping with the theme of the party: come as your ultimate fantasy. 

Our interview could not come at a more apt time, as the UK government prepares to introduce its controversial porn ban. The legislation will require users to have to verify their age through new software, in a bid to restrict the access young people have to adult websites. 

“Ten years ago, no one was talking about this issue, which is why that talk was gobsmacking. No one had spoken out publicly about the issue of porn.” 

She refers to her renowned TEDTalk, in which she launched MakeLoveNotPorn, back then just a clunky website that at- tempted to expose the truths and realities behind the camera. 

“Both that TEDTalk, and [the site] were a manifestation of me. They were both totally honest, truthful, straightforward, down-to-earth, utterly non-judgemental, and delivered with a sense of humour. We never get to have conversations about sex in those parameters, and the moment we do the floodgates open. It wasn’t just what I was talking about, but the way I was talking about it. 

“I got this avalanche of emails immediately following it. One man wrote to me, in his thirties, saying: ‘a measure of how fucked up we are about sex is that I’m writing all this to a woman I have never met, a complete stranger, simply because she is the only person I’ve heard talk openly and honestly about all of this’.” 

As we talk more it becomes apparent that she is not just talking about Britain. 

“It’s the same in America, the UK, across Europe, China, India: this issue applies in every single country in the world. You may ostensibly have a more open culture about sex, but when it comes to what actually happens when people are in bed with each other we don’t want to talk about it openly in society. It’s an area of huge insecurity.” 

She is quick also to address the myth that young men are the only victims of porn. 

“Porn is skewing us just as much in the case of young women as it is men. My site is entirely gender equal. People make the mistake of thinking only boys and men watch porn – fuck that shit. Girls enjoy watching porn just as much as boys do, but they may not enjoy watching porn entirely through the male lens. 

“This is the only area of universal human experience where every single thing about it in society is completely fucked up. Yes, upbringing has a lot to do with it, because most people’s parents find themselves totally incapable of talking to children about sex. But also it’s because everything around us socially conditions us to think that sex is an area of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. It lives in the shadows, it must never be talked about in polite society or in polite conversation, it’s not just the way you are brought up in your family – it’s every single thing around you culturally. Obviously, that’s a huge issue today, when the average age of a child when they are first exposed to porn online is eight years old.” 

A quick google reveals that this age has actually dropped to six since that first study was released. 

“It’s not because eight or six year olds go looking for porn – they don’t. It’s a function of what is inevitable in the visual world we live in today, and it cannot be prevented, no matter how much we would like it to be, they will stumble across it. 

It’s the function of what somebody shows their friend on a cell phone in the playground. It’s what happened when your child goes around to a neighbours’ house. It doesn’t matter what parental controls you have at home, your kids go other places. Maybe your child learns a new naughty word and innocently they google it, and then there’s something they never expect to find. 

“A mother told me her eight-year-old daughter innocently googled ‘black tights’, and misspelt it ‘tits’ – you can imagine what came up. A father wrote to me and said: ‘Me and my wife have a ten-year-old son, and we decided it was time to have the sex talk, so I sat down with him, and he said to me ‘daddy, why do men wear masks when they’re having sex?’”. 

Even with parental controls, Cindy points out the ease with which children can access porn online, something only made worse when coupled with the widespread ignorance of their parents. 

“I’m always torn, when I talk to parents, especially the mothers, who often have no fucking idea what their kids are seeing. They are many parents who have good relations with their kids, but will never talk to them about this.” 

She quotes another email she received from a supporter: “My daughter just showed me the latest video clip which is doing the rounds, which shows a woman having a glass jar shoved up her anus until it breaks. I’m 51, and I’m terrified about the world my daughter is growing up in. I showed her your TEDTalk and she just felt so empowered by that.” 

“Too many parents, often the mothers, because they are not watching porn the same way the fathers are make the mistake when they hear the word ‘porn’, they think it’s just people making love. No it bloody isn’t! 

“This is why I’m doing what I’m doing. I want to make parents understand the importance of talking to their kids about sex, and feel comfortable about doing so. The advice I give them is that you cannot begin talking to your children about sex too early. When I say talk about sex, what I mean is the very first time a child asks where babies come from, or touches their own genitals, the most important thing is not what you say. It’s how much you say it.” 

“Do not look flustered or visibly embarrassed. Do not shut them up or close the conversation down, don’t leave the room or try to evade the conversation. The most important thing is to answer them openly, honestly, and truthfully. If you do that you open up a channel of communication for them that will always be there in the future and they will really welcome and value it. When you have that conversation about sex, you must simultaneously have one about porn.” 

She explains mothers often hesitate when she tells them this. 

“I tell them it’s a lot easier than they think, all they have to do is a version of this. They just need to talk to their child about sex and make them aware it’s a great area of pleasure and enjoyment. There is no need to make it all mechanistic: ‘Now, darling. You know how we watch movies and cartoons, where things happen that aren’t real? There are also movies and videos about sex – and they aren’t real either. They can be confusing, so we would rather you didn’t watch them…if you come across them, on your phone or on the iPad, come to talk to us about it, and we can explain it.’ 

“By doing that you’ve set up a channel of communication and encouraged them to actively come to you and talk about it. All a parent wants is for their child to be happy, this area will impact your child’s happiness more than anything growing up, so it’s really important.” 

Cindy’s attitude towards porn surprises me. From the off I expected her to be completely against it. However, a different attitude is revealed by her website’s tagline: “Pro sex. Pro porn. Pro knowing the difference”. 

“The issue isn’t porn; the issue is we don’t talk about sex in the real world. I set out to solve that issue. I knew if I wanted to combat ‘porn as default sex’, I was going to have to do it in a way that was going to have the potential to be just as mass, just as mainstream, and just as pervasive as porn is in our society. That’s why I had to put something out there that can be as integrated in our lives as porn is today.” 

I can’t help but feel a bit shocked by the size of the task she has set herself. With the major porn sites hosting more monthly global traffic than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined, I question the boldness of Cindy’s claims. 

She tells me she aimed to pioneer a new category of online sexual content that has not previously existed: social sex. She admits her vision has not been without hiccups. 

“Setting out to build the world’s first social sex platform is a fucking enormous battle every single day. That’s why no one else has ever done it.” 

This brings us onto her student viewership. I ask her whether she thinks her model can really compete with the amount of porn students watch, especially given the subscription fee. 

“Our core target audience is you, it’s millennials everywhere in the world. The reason for that is because first of all, you get us. You’re the generation that’s grown up with porn, and you know you need us. Secondly, you’re the most digitally savvy generation; you get what older people don’t understand. We aren’t just something you watch, we’re a community. 

“We would love to have the money to put in place a campus programme for everywhere in the world, to be able to have stu- dent street teams, ambassadors, to go into campuses, Oxford included, but we just don’t have the funds. Investors aren’t falling over to fund us like they are for other forms of social network.” 

She admits that she has high ambitions and her commitment to her project is unwavering. 

“I had to design a business model that enabled us to make money to keep us going. I’ve poured all my savings into this. I designed MakeLoveNotPorn around my value that everyone should make money off something they create. My background is theatre and advertising, two areas where ideas are undervalued, even by the creators themselves. I believe when you create something that gives other people pleasure, you should see a return on it. 

“If we were completely free it would be very easy to think ‘ew, not very good amateur porn’, and then leave. When you pay to rent our videos, you watch them beginning to end, because you want to get the value of what you paid for and that is how you experience how different social sex is from anything else out there.” 

As for the fee, even she can’t resist a light-hearted pop at millennials: 

“The price of a monthly subscription is the same as a couple of lattes from Starbucks.” 

MakeLoveNotPorn appears more than just a means for Cindy to make a quick buck off some randy middle-class couples looking to spice up their sex life. She seems genuinely keen to change our attitudes towards sex, both inside and outside the bedroom: 

“Everything in life starts with values. So I regularly ask people: ‘What are your sexual values?’, and no one can ever answer me, because we are not taught to think like that. Our parents bring us up to have good manners, a work ethic, a 

sense of responsibility and accountability, but no one bring us up to behave well in bed. They should, because their empathy, sensitivity, generosity, kindness, honesty, are as important as they are in every other area of our lives and work, where we are actively taught to exercise those values.

“We could not be more timely in the era of #MeToo, which has surfaced on college campuses around the world because of the dialogue around consent. So everyone is talking and writing about consent. But here’s the problem, no one knows what consent actually looks like in bed. The only way that you educate people about great, consensual, and communicative sex, and about what constitutes good sexual values and behaviour in bed, is by watching people have that kind of sex. MakeLoveNotPorn is the only place on the internet where you can do that.” 

Keble students launch rent petition in response to continued accommodation issues

Sam Millward
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Keble students launch rent petition in response to continued accommodation issues

Students from Keble college have reported serious safety and welfare issues concerning the ongoing construction of the H.B. Allen Centre.

Members of the college have complained of physical injury, the creation of an unsafe environment for women in the accommodation and unmitigated risk as a result of activity on the site.

Intended to house nearly 200 graduate students from a variety of courses, the development of the HBAC has already seen previous controversy. At the start of Michaelmas this year, construction of the accommodation was not complete, meaning many students were moved multiple times between hotels far from campus.

In some cases, students had to move more than five times in the middle of term, with the average occupant moving at least twice. Whilst notice was given, students were only allowed three days to prepare to vacate their room to allow construction to continue.

It took until February 2019 to for all students allocated the accommodation to gain access to their rooms. Building work is still in progress across the site. The end-of-construction date has reportedly been extended multiple times, meaning the initially scheduled move-in date was 5 months overdue.

One student was struck on the head by a chunk of plastic thrown by a construction worker, whilst another injured her foot, following the collapse of a poorly fitted piece of furniture.

In addition to this, the Porters’ Lodge sent an email to residents, warning them to “be extremely careful when crossing over the Quad” as “due to the high wind, the barriers and the matting are being blown around causing Flying [sic] objects.”

The email continued: “For your own safety please avoid using the Quad tonight.” Aside from immediate physical risk, student welfare has been allegedly threatened by dangerous noise levels and frequent obscene remarks from workers on the site.

Students occupying the accommodation have shared videos of loud, invasive noise from building plant, continuing every week day between 7.30am and 5pm.

At times, decibel levels of 97dB were recorded, a figure louder than a Boeing 737 flyover. It is estimated in industrial noise control regulations that 80dB can damage hearing over an extended period of time.

As well as offensive comments being heard by students, which reportedly rendered their live/study environment hostile and unsafe, countless invasions of privacy are said to have occurred, with workers in front of stu- dent windows every day.

Maintenance workers have also entered student rooms without consent, in order to resolve issues stemming from poor construction.

In response to the failure to improve unsuitable conditions, Keble college offered 50% rent reductions between September and January, with a 20% reduction in February. However, Trinity term residents are expected to pay 100% of the contract-agreed rent.

A petition has been circulated by students who claim that living conditions do still not justify complete payment: “It is clear that the current status of the H B Allen Centre construction and the living conditions within the H B Allen Centre accommodation have not significantly improved to a state where paying full rent would be justified (in some cases the state has worsened).

“The building and complex are far from completion, construction noise continues to disrupt abilities to work and sleep, the promised gym facilities are non-existent and safety/security concerns abound.

“Please sign this petition if you are dissatisfied with the current state of HBAC and do not feel you should have to pay 100% rent for what is clearly not 100% of the H B Allen Centre we signed up for.”

Keble College has been contacted for comment.

Is sadness ‘all Greek’ to you? – Greek tragedy in the modern day

Robyn Allen
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Is sadness ‘all Greek’ to you? – Greek tragedy in the modern day

What do modern performances of Greek tragedy say about the constancy of human emotion? Despite the ever-enduring and painful pervasiveness of the phrase ‘It’s all Greek to me’, frequently hurled at the unexpecting classicist with the vim and confidence of a comedian on Live at the Apollo, it should be clear that ancient Greek tragedy is something which does, in fact, receive love and understanding from its modern audiences.

For starters, if there were not an active appreciation of Greek tragedy it would not be continually staged with the dogged determination that it is continually presented with. This is evidenced by Oxford’s recent all-BAME production of Medea directed by Francesca Amewudah-Rivers at Keble College’s O’Reilly Theatre, along with the endless examples in professional theatre.

The Almeida’s Greek Season in the summer of 2015 was a particular hit which saw not only readings of the Odyssey and Iliad but productions of Medea, Oedipus, The Bakkhai, and an utterly extraordinary performance of the Oresteia directed by Robert Icke. Other notable examples are Helen McCrory’s Medea at the National Theatre and Kristin Scott-Thomas’ Electra at the Old Vic.

Despite the fact that Greek tragedy is still hovering around modern theatre with the air of an over-anxious helicopter parent, given the original context of Greek tragic performance it is not entirely obvious why this is. Greek tragedy hit its vogue, like so many things, in Athens around the time of the 5th Century BC. The big players of the era were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, all of whom were whipping out sordid and tragic tales.

Unsurprisingly given this was all happening over 2000 years ago, theatregoing has undergone some pretty drastic changes. It seems unlikely, for example, that women were allowed to go to the theatre in 5th century Athens. Going to the theatre was considered a ‘citizen’s duty’ and women, entirely confined to the religious and domestic spheres, were not citizens. This leads to queries about how plays about women and their intimate feelings and emotions could possibly stand the test of time when they are originally written by a man, performed by an all-male cast, and performed to an all-male audience (such as Aeschylus’ Clytemnestra, Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Medea). How could something with such a background hold resonance for a modern female audience?

Another issue is the standard by which tragedy was judged, as it was not necessarily evaluated on its entertainment value like art so often is judged today, but instead on its ability to present two sides of an argument to an audience and have them emotionally engage. Every visual aspect was also bizarrely mannered: performers would have worn masks and, in order to be seen from the back of the amphitheatre, platform shoes.

What is clear to see is that Greek theatre, in its original form, with its original performance conventions is, thankfully, not the ‘thing’ which has endured into modern day British theatre. Due to that rogue phenomenon known as equality of opportunity, I imagine the National might receive some backlash if its ushers started to reject women, alongside glass cups, from its auditoriums. This means that what is left of Greek tragedy, when the performance strategies are taken away, must be the elusive, ‘enduringly successful’, element.

An interesting case-study to look at is the previously mentioned Robert (not David) Icke’s lizard-free production of the Oresteia at the Almeida. Over three hours long, this production completely reworked the entirety of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. The reworking was comprehensive: the entire character of Electra was (through use of modern psychoanalytical theories) presented as figment of Orestes’ imagination, created by him due to childhood trauma as a means by which to cope with his own emotions.

Additionally, the lead up to the sacrifice of Iphigenia by her own father was heavily focused on, although in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon the emphasis lies in the fall-out of the act. Given that this play removed even more than usual from Greek tragedy it is particularly interesting to see what is left. What is left is the fact that it is the same stories that are being told.

We then must think about why these stories have stood the test of time. It is certainly not because everyone has a next door neighbour who has decided to shuffle her children off of this mortal coil in order to spite an ex-boyfriend (@Medea), so what is it that remains?

The sentiments of jealousy, vengeance and loneliness (again @Medea) are what have stood the test of time. People cannot directly relate to the choice that Agamemnon has to make in regard to sacrificing Iphigenia (filicide not being fun family weekend activity) but the love one has for one’s child and a sense of duty are feelings which have remained. These stories, which present an audience with situations that induce powerful human emotion, are eternally captivating.

The themes raised can also hold specific relevance at different points of human history: for example, a production of Antigone performed by Syrian refugees in Beirut, Lebanon. The political situation in Syria and the political situation presented in Antigone is similar; it is interesting to note that societies across the world are still torn apart by war, while tyranny as ‘an innate human greed for power’ has also sunk its claws into the historical timeline.

The main themes of this play being insurgency, rebellion, and disobedience, Antigone held extreme relevance for the women performing it in 2014. Antigone herself asks the same questions a lot of them were asking themselves: did they do right or wrong in deciding to ask for freedom?

It is interesting, however, to see how the practicalities have changed. We might be surprised today, for example, if there were only three actors allowed on stage at a time, or if they were all wearing masks. These conventions would seem strange to a modern audience, detracting from the message of the play rather than adding to it. Modern interpretations of Greek tragedies allow the core message to be retained, while elements of modern theatre practice are used to maximum effect – for example, the absence of masks allows the actors’ facial expressions to be seen, increasing the emotional intensity of the performance.

Yet again, it is these emotions and these feelings which are the same 2500 years later. Feelings of want, greed, and desperation for security. The pain of losing a family member; the intense love one feels for another.

Despite the fact not just the pure and clean emotions have survived – jealousy and hatred are just as prevalent in Greek tragedy, if not more so, than love and joy – there is something comforting in this conclusion. Something comforting in being able to say that humans have remained the same, imperfect as they are. We have not become removed from the fundamental emotions that make us human. Sadness has not become ‘all Greek’ to us.



To Sleep, Per-Cheese to Dream?

Peter Lewis
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To Sleep, Per-Cheese to Dream?

The earliest nightmare I can remember experiencing happened around the age of seven. I was being chased through my school corridors at night by a gigantic version of the dinosaur from Toy Story who wanted to Sellotape books to my ears. In hindsight, I’m unsure why this was scary or what it really says about me as a child; however I distinctly remember my dad jokingly blaming the experience on “eating cheese before bed.”

The earliest link between the dairy and the scary can be found in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, wherein Scrooge attributes his holiday haunting to an undigested ‘crumb of cheese.’ However, Dickens also characteristically lists a ‘bit of beef, a blot of mustard’ and even ‘a fragment of underdone potato’ as potential candidates for prompting the apparition. As such, it is interesting that Scrooge’s specific mention of cheese has remained so culturally enduring.

In 2005 the British Cheese Board conducted a survey to investigate the influence of different cheeses on sleep. The study consisted of 100 male and 100 female participants consuming 20 grams of cheese 30 minutes before they went to bed. This was repeated every day for a week, with each participant being assigned to one of six types of British cheese – Stilton, Cheddar, Red Leicester, British Brie, Lancashire and Cheshire. The participants were asked to keep a record anything they remembered about their dreams and how well they slept every morning.

The study showed that 67% of participants could remember dreams; however, not a single individual recorded experiencing a nightmare. Undoubtedly the credibility of such results is dubious, consisting as it did of a relatively small sample size, while also remaining unratified by a scientific journal; however the survey is at least amusing for the influence it suggests that the type of cheese can have on the events of the dream. Those who consumed Cheddar supposedly dreamed more about celebrities, whereas those who ate Red Leicester experienced more nostalgic visions. Stilton produced ‘odd and vivid’ dreams, with one memorable example including a vivid encounter with a ‘vegetarian crocodile,’ miserable because it could not eat children.  

The conclusions drawn from the study were that as none of the participants suffered night terrors, cheese could be officially declared a nightmare-free consumable. Nigel White, secretary of the British Cheese Board stated,

‘Now that our Cheese and Dreams study has finally debunked the myth that cheese gives you nightmares, we hope that people will think more positively about eating cheese before bed.’

Ignoring the possibility of vested interest within the Cheese Board’s investigation into cheese, White claims that eating cheese before bed can actually enhance the chances of getting a good night’s sleep. White attributes this to the essential amino acid tryptophan found within many dairy products. Benefits supposedly include a reduction in stress levels and a balancing of hormones, making cheese the ideal pre-kip snack for every anxious, coffee-fuelled finalist.

However, before White’s comments as an encouragement to gorge on late night cheesy-chips, it is worth bearing in mind the other nutritional impact that cheese can have upon sleep patterns. While unlikely to cause nightmares, cheese is high in fat, and therefore takes longer than most macro-nutrients to digest. This can disrupt sleep cycles as the body works harder to process the fat, while also increasing the risk of constipation. Consequently, the most advisable dietary choice would be to limit any large intake of any food within an hour of going to bed, and to opt for lighter, low-fat snacks to tide you over until morning.

Business School receives £15 million donation from Syrian “arms deal fixer”

Amelia Horn
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Business School receives £15 million donation from Syrian “arms deal fixer”

The Saïd Business School has accepted a donation from Wafic Saïd to help build the new Global Leadership Centre – a vast teaching and residential facility.

Saïd, who founded the business school, also helped to facilitate the al-Yamamah deal between the British and Saudi governments in the 1980s. It was the biggest export deal in British history, generating £43 billion in revenue for the British multinational defence, aerospace, and security company BAE Systems.

Saïd has been described as a ‘key fixer’ who ‘helped broker’ the deal by The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.  

The Vice-Chancellor, Louise Richarson, said: “I would like to express our deep appreciation to Wafic Saïd for his generous and visionary support of this exciting project.”

Mr Saïd said: “The Saïd Business School’s success and impact on global business practice has surpassed even my most ambitious dreams.

“It is a pleasure and a privilege to support the School as it embarks on the next chapter of its remarkable story with the Global Leadership Centre.”

The Saïd Business School told Cherwell: “When the business school was established in 1996, as a result of a landmark donation from Mr Saïd, the relevant committees of the University of Oxford gave careful consideration to the original gift proposal and concluded that it was entirely appropriate to accept this funding. That remains the case today with this subsequent donation.

“Mr Saïd continues to be a generous benefactor to the School through the Saïd Foundation which provides charitable grants to support a range of initiatives and we are very grateful for his ongoing support.”

The Guardian wrote that from the proceeds of al-Yamamah “[British] Police later calculated that more than £6bn may have been distributed in corrupt commissions, via an array of agents and middlemen.”

The new project will be built on the site of Oxford’s first power station, Osney, which has a “scenic waterside setting.” Its facilities will include 121 bedrooms, flexible classrooms with an associated breakout space, a gym and exercise studio, and a library area.

Building work is scheduled to begin in early 2020.

Saïd, the Saïd Business School, and the University were contacted for comment.

The real emergency

Rachel Cordery
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The real emergency

In a political world increasingly consumed with Brexit woes, the British government risks neglecting crucial issues which will damage not only our country, but the wondrous planet on which we live. With no foreseeable end to the deadlock over the future of EU-UK relations, environmental issues continue to take a back seat, despite the dangerous persistence of climate change.

“You can worry about Brexit if you want, but you’ll be worrying about the wrong thing,” Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said in a speech on Tuesday.  “If you rank the things that could literally kill us on a scale of one to ten, Brexit isn’t even a one. Climate change is a ten.”

The speech came as activists across London brought the capital to a stand-still for the second day running. The climate-change group, encamped in some of the city’s busiest areas including Parliament Square and Marble Arch, plan to continue in order to force the government to take urgent action, “escalating the creative disruption across the capital day by day.”

Extinction Rebellion, a British group which generated headlines earlier this month for semi-nude protests in the House of Commons, is demanding the complete reduction of carbon emissions by 2025. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the urgency of their cause is evident. “This crisis is only going to get worse…Prime Minister, you cannot ignore this crisis any longer. We must act now,” the group wrote.

With colourful murals drawn on the ground, juggling, vibrant banners unfurling, and dancing to reggae music, activists transformed Parliament Square, a place where, for the past three years, priorities have lain far from the environment.

Home to both Leave and Remain protesters, one man has championed the importance of environmental change for the past two months. Robert Unbranded, who has long been a lone voice in the Brexit ocean, holds a sign which protests the impact of single-use plastic and wears a fluorescent orange vest and cowboy boots.

Decorated with an array of used bottles, the sign reminds passers-by that fifty percent of the plastic produced in the world is single-use disposable plastic, a problem which is simply overwhelming us.

Having campaigned locally in East London for a long time, Unbranded, originally from Aberdeen, took the decision to protest outside the Houses of Parliament because he believes we are approaching a chicken and the egg situation. If there is no human intervention to stop climate change, the inevitable catastrophe could soon overtake us, and it depends which comes first.

“The damage that we’re doing is irrefutable, to marine life, to woodland life, to birdlife, to water and soil too… When I see these things, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut any longer, I had to come down here to get my sole voice heard,” he chuckles at the seemingly impossible task.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revealed that we have 12 years to limit the catastrophe of global warming, in a report in October 2018.

Despite the gloomy outlook, Unbranded spoke with a glimmer of hope: “When I see people from every country, every skin colour, every language, they all react in the same way.” He has even attracted the attention of the Minister for Climate Change, Claire Perry, who has commended him on his actions.

Believing that change is imminent, the “Plastic Protestor” will remain a symbol of the pressing issues which are being put aside during this period of never-ending Brexit chaos.

“After nearly three years of argument over Brexit, all the polls show that most people want to move on,” James Bevan concluded his speech. “Because while there may or may not turn out to be a Plan B for Brexit, there is no Planet B for us.

Review: Heart of Darkness at York Theatre Royal

Imogen Harter-Jones
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Review: Heart of Darkness at York Theatre Royal

Pushing meta-theatre to its limit, ‘Imitating the dog’s’ bold, energetic and innovative reinterpretation of The Heart of Darkness (1899), currently on tour, poses the question — can we retell Conrad’s disturbing critique of exploitation in colonial times without falling prey to racism which even the author couldn’t avoid?

Telling, retelling and reinventing Conrad’s exploration of ‘the horror’ of Belgian Congo, a slave state with genocidal policies of murder and mutilation in pursuit of profit, is an enterprise requiring tact and imagination, of which there was no shortage in the production. While the novella was praised for its presentation of the evils of colonialism, it has been criticised for a Eurocentric view of Africa as a place of savagery, a point made forcefully by projecting Chinua Achebe’s withering assessment on one of the screens in this multi-media show. The play stresses that global capitalism and colonialism were the darkness, not the indigenous population: the ‘heart of darkness’ was not what Marlow found in Africa, but what he left behind in Europe, only seen in all its monstrosity in a different place. This story has modern relevance as well as historic significance; it isn’t too ‘problematic’ for today’s audience.

Geopolitically reversed, this production is set in an Africa that is stable and civilised, not the colonially ravaged Congo. Their journey to ‘The Heart of Darkness’ is to a Europe that never escaped the worst aspects of the Second World War. Indeed, its whole civilisation has degenerated into a system of concentration camps. London, the final destination, is the heart of darkness, destroyed and lawless but with eerie echoes of Conrad’s foggy sequences on the Thames. The result is not far-fetched but plays tellingly on our fears for a Europe racked by populism. It is the ultimate story of a journey into the unknown and self-discovery on the winding roads of Europe, rather than a journey up the River Congo.

This is a play of ideas and multiple narratives. Framing the central action is a metanarrative of the cast workshopping the play collaboratively, allowing intensive discussion of many issues of race and identity that inform the production.

The ‘guts’ of the play, has Marlow, updated as a black Congolese woman and classily played by Keicha Greenidge, employed as a private detective — this resolved the cliché of the ‘white saviour’ rescuing the crazed Kurtz from the brutality which had warped his mind. Kurtz, convincingly performed by Matt Prendergast, was still a white man who had worked his way up from within the trading system, showing this was no simple racial allegory.

With a strikingly bare and minimalist set, we were confronted by the story, ideas and messages with no distracting decorative touches. Three large screens hung ominously above the stage broadcasting the action of the play with subtitles. Two large cameras projected live videos of the action as five actors took on multiple roles, seamlessly switching between characters. Digital technology was creatively used throughout, assisting its multi-layered, innovative approach. It was as much cinematic as theatrical. As the story became messier and more violent, so did the relationship between what was on screen and what was presented on stage deteriorate.

The Brechtian use of stage and offstage spaces had characters filming each other at opposite sides of the stage but appearing side by side on the projector screens. Stage directions dictated by the ensemble didn’t result in actions on screen — more was implied off-screen than shown on-screen.  Languages proliferate: Yiddish, French, German and Swedish are spoken but not translated. Breaking and blurring the boundaries of form, style and genre, this play blends live action and film to visceral effect.

This production questions not only how to stage such a story but also explores its contemporary significance. Their answer was the rise of the far right. ‘Imperialism is capitalism in its raw form’, proclaim the characters in a ‘play within the play’. The glorification of the Empire by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage was referred to with footage of their speeches and of Boris idiotically suspended on a zip wire clutching Union Jack flags. ‘Rule Britannia’ plays in the background. If ever there was a time that we needed reminding that the past isn’t to be viewed with rose tinted spectacles, it is now.

In an ambitious, imperfect, exciting and hard-hitting performance, ‘Imitating the dog’ succeeded in capturing the spirit, rather than the voice of Conrad. Ever unsettling, it reminds us the horrors of the past, challenges us to look at our present, and to reach for a brighter future than ‘the horror’ depicted on stage.

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