Saturday 12th July 2025
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Max Fosh on viral pranks, comedy tours, and the art of posh self-deprecation

Billy Jeffs
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Max Fosh on viral pranks, comedy tours, and the art of posh self-deprecation

Max Fosh is a YouTuber and stand-up comedian, who first garnered acclaim for his StreetSmart series of street interviews. Fosh then expanded towards more prank and challenge-style videos, before launching his first stand-up tour Zocial Butterfly in 2021. Cherwell interviewed him ahead of his Loophole tour across the UK, Europe, America and Australia in 2024 and 2025. He is performing in Oxford’s New Theatre on the 20th September, 2024. 

BILLY: 

Take me back to your beginnings. Did you think you were funny growing up? Were you funny growing up? 

MAX: 

That’s a very good question. I remember, I was in the car once on the way to school, and I was probably about eight, and we were listening to the classical music piece – as we did on the way to my private school, listen to Classic FM, classic me, eight year old, loved it – we were listening to Carmen by the composer Bizet. I said to my mum “Who composed this?” she said “This has been composed by Bizet” and I said “Well he must have been a very Biz-ey man” and my mum laughed, I remember my mum laughing, she found it really funny,  and as an eight year old, I thought “I really enjoy his feeling of making someone off and then I tried to like keep going, and obviously wasn’t funny, I mean the first joke wasn’t funny anyway but it was for an eight year old. And I think that was like, hold on. Like, I enjoy doing this. I enjoy making people laugh. I enjoy entertaining people. So I’ve always had a bit of a bug for it growing up.  

BILLY: 

When you started getting involved in comedy, you started in radio at university. Did you 

see stand up as the end goal of your career? Did you think that’s where you’d end up? 

MAX: 

No, and I still I still don’t see it as like, you know, the North Star, the golden goose. But it is something that I think that I’ve worked on in terms of like the qualities that you need in order to do a live show. And the … I would hesitate to call it stand up comedy because it is a bit more than that. It’s more storytelling. It’s kind of using a screen, it’s telling incidents and kind of divulging different bits and bobs that happened while filming videos. But I feel like I have done the requisite stage time in order to feel comfortable on stage. And I just think it’s a way that I can enhance the relationship in the community that I already have on YouTube by doing a live show. 

BILLY: 

You said enhanced the relationship – I know in your last tour, you incorporated storytelling about how you came to do your videos, and in a way reinterpreting the content you’d already made. Do you see that as all part of a Max Fosh ecosystem and persona? Is it the same audience for your stand up as it is for your YouTube videos? 

MAX: 

Yeah, absolutely. The biggest feedback I had from the last tour was people saying “Oh, it was like a video but live”; and that is something that we tried really hard, when I was writing the show, to make sure that was the case and also, I want the live show to be as accessible to anybody like the videos are. If you find a concept funny on YouTube, and you see the title and you click on it you’re hoping to enjoy the 10 minutes or 15 minutes or whatever that I’ve got in store for you. And that’s the same with the live show. A lot of people come with their friends, their family, their partners who’ve never seen a single one of my videos and we are very very conscious of trying to make sure that the show is as accessible to them as it is to the big fans so there’s no there’s no in jokes. There’s no things that are a wink wink nudge nudge that you’ll only get if you watch the vids but rather something that everyone can enjoy. 

BILLY: 

In terms of where stand up fits in your whole ecosystem – obviously, you’ve kind of had a progression of going slightly more long-form. You started with StreetSmart, and then your prank style videos and now stand up. I know you’ve spoken about trying to be authentic, do you feel you can flesh out your persona more as you get into the longer form things? 

MAX: 

I think I’ve just tried to make sure that I’m as as well rounded as a kind of entertainer as I can be. I understand how to entertain someone on YouTube over a 10-15 minute period. I understand how I can cut that down to 60 seconds for TikTok, but there is a lot of people who are always talking about “Is it sustainable, what’s going to happen in the future and how long are you really going to be able to make videos for”, and I agree that that’s a legitimate question and a legitimate concern. And so I have tried to make myself as malleable as possible, to provide as many skills as I can so I can walk into any room in 5 or 10 years down the line and kind of like a buffet say “Hey, I can offer you 4 million subscribers – no? Okay, I can offer you a live show at the Palladium or a tour or the Edinburgh Fringe.” So I’m just trying to make myself as employable as possible in the future. 

BILLY: 

And is that a thing that you feel like you have to do to be taken as a kind of serious comedian? Does stand up have to form part of that in 2024? 

MAX: 

Being regarded as a serious comedian – I think that is always going to be something out of one’s control. Especially with the new wave of the way that comedians are breaking through; previously it was like you go to Edinburgh Fringe, you then did Mock The Week and the panel shows, the producer gave you a slot on a on a bigger show and you’re able to sell a tour. Whereas now, you’ve got comedians, like legitimate comedians, let’s say Andrew Schultz or Luke Kidgell, they’re utilizing social media to do to grow their audiences. And then you’ve got creators who are developing what they’ve already got and making live shows about it. I would probably say I’m more in the latter camp than the former camp. But ultimately, the most important thing is once you’ve got the people in front of you, if you can get bums on seats, you’ve got to be able to provide an entertaining show. And that’s all that matters. And so that’s my responsibility, if you will kind of want to say “Oh, he’s not a serious comedian or he’s not a serious performer”, then that is absolutely fine. As long as I feel like I’ve provided a good show, then that’s all I care about really. 

BILLY:  

Speaking about authenticity, I think you obviously self-deprecate with being posh and that forms part of your rapport. When you talk about being authentic, is there a danger that authenticity can just become acknowledging that and not recognizing that you can be more than just that persona? 

MAX: 

Yeah, that’s a really good question. And it’s something that I recently have moved away from. In the last show there was a bit of bit of stuff about poshness and where I grew up and I agree that often you hear entertainers banging on about something that’s the same thing every single time and it gets quite boring. And I’ve made a concerted effort over the last few years to make the content less focused on posh, and less talking about my background or upbringing. And the same goes with the show; there’s nothing to do with poshness in the show whatsoever. Because ultimately, I think people look past that. Yeah, you can make a few gags about it and there’s fun self-deprecation opportunities there. But ultimately, it can be quite taxing and tiring from an audience to just constantly be fed that narrative. But also my upbringing, my background is not something that I want to hide or I can hide. And I think that that’s more disingenuous, because the audience wants you to be the most authentic self you can. But ultimately, there’s also there’s also an odd situation at play in the media and entertainment in general: the affable, lovable, posh person, there’s always one. There’s always one in the entertainment ecosystem. I mean, Jack Whitehall did it in the comedy world, Jamie Lang has very much been able to do that in the reality TV world and then gone into podcasting. So there is obviously a fascination from the wider populace about this version of poshness that people find interesting, I’m not a sociologist to be able to delve into that deeper but it’s something that I recognize. 

BILLY:  

I remember when I first came to your videos, it was in the StreetSmart phase and I know that at that time, you were younger and your content engaged a lot with university culture and people at university. Do you still think that informs your comedy now you’re more distanced from that part of your life? If you’re talking about making the show accessible to families, is that something that’s less important? 

MAX: 

Yeah, I’ve always tried to make the videos as things that I want to watch, like that is one of the biggest mantras that I have. And when I was at uni, like when I started in 2017, I was 22. I thought “Yeah, I’d love to see more of these” because you know, every university has that format going on, but they post them once every six months. I’d always think “These videos are so long, there’s much fluff and we can cut all of this out”. So I made my own because I wanted to watch that. And then ultimately I did that for two or three years, I left university, I grew up. You leave the ecosystem where it is your life when you’re there, as it should be. And then as I got older, I thought, well hold on, what do I want to see? And so that’s when I started doing a few sneak in videos and being a bit cheeky because I enjoyed watching that kind of format. And then subsequently from there, it’s moved and changed and shifted, and I’m 29, I’m nearly in my 30s. I’m sure that my content is gonna be different in three or four years time. What that’s going to be I don’t know, but I think it is important to shift with your audience as you get older. 

BILLY: 

So do you think you’ve retained that audience all along and added somebody else? Is that something that you think about? I know, obviously the creative mindset is making something for yourself, but how do you in your creative process understand what it might be to be a family show, rather than just your kind of experience? 

MAX: 

I try not to give that much agency to what the audience wants or thinks about, because I’ve seen it being quite a slippery slope when it comes to making content. Like you see creators who start to really look at data, and start to get analysis paralysis, and almost pander to a demographic that they see as watching the videos. And that is changing all the time. That’s very fluid as to who is watching the video. And now the way that the algorithm works, where it’s getting very, very good at being able to identify what you want to watch specifically. So the old subscription model of YouTube where ‘this is a channel that’s for these types of people’ has slightly moved away now. It’s more these are videos; who wants to watch this video? So I think that it means that YouTube has become more accessible for creators to create things for almost anyone. And ultimately though the most important part of my video of creation is title. You’ve got to be asking a question in that title that has some form of information gap that people want to watch the video to find out. And that is basically pretty universal. I think if you take my most recent videos for example, like ‘hot dog eating competition between a grizzly bear and a competitive eater’, you want to know who’s going to win that regardless of age demographic, wherever you come from. And so that’s kind of what we’re trying to do with this.  

BILLY: 

Beyond the title, in terms of the structure of the video, do you feel there’s space to be creative with trying to understand the algorithm? Once a viewer has clicked onto the video, is retention then predicated on having a certain structure, or is that the place where you can get creative? 

MAX: 

No, absolutely, it’s structure, structure, structure, and it’s about within the first 30 seconds, earning their click. They’ve clicked on something because they’re interested, so then you’ve got to deliver in that first 30 seconds and you’ve got to set up a reason why you’re doing this. And then from there, it can be slightly more fluid in terms of how it plays out. But that first 30 seconds is incredibly important and I look at a lot of storytelling structures that are used in TV and films to inform how the videos get made. Because ultimately, you sit down with a bunch of footage, and how do you try to form this into a coherent story? And that’s  where the editing is. It’s kind of the most important because it’s a lot of just working out how you’re going to tell the story in the most interesting way. 

BILLY: 

Just to go back to the idea of poshness. Do you think in terms of punching up and punching down in your comedy? That poshness is easily accessible for comedy because you’re never going to be punching down when somebody’s posh, especially now when those issues are more sensitive about punching up and punching down. Do you think things will trend more towards that way? 

MAX: 

Yeah, and that’s why I think that’s why initially in the in the StreetSmart days and the interview days, the posh videos did so well, because there was this feeling of it was a victim-less crime if you will, because people like to see posh people have the mick taken out of them. And also weirdly posh people also love this, in a weird Stockholm syndrome where, you know, the people themselves are like, “Oh, please take the mick out of me!”. It’s out of me. So that was that was quite interesting to see. And with the videos again, the video that is kind of my best performing video was the Welcome to Luton prank; I think it did well because again it was a victimless crime. It was just, you know, a sign in a field. And it was like a lot of the the media coverage that was used about it was talking all about “oh this is funny because nobody’s getting hurt”. And we have seen the 2014-ification of pranks and videos; it’s no longer the case where it used to be “Yeah, I’m happy to watch a member of the public have their day ruined because it’s cause it’s funny”, whereas now I don’t think consumers quite have the same appetite for that anymore and I’m glad they don’t because I don’t think it’s a particularly nice way of creating content. 

BILLY: 

Do you think that appetite changes because YouTube has drifted closer towards traditional 

media with production values and big creators? 

MAX: 

I don’t know whether it’s it’s a result of YouTube. I think it’s just a result of it becoming a tired format of being a nuisance to the general public. That expires after a while but I’m sure that will come back in 20-30 years time because these things are all cyclical and they do often repeat themselves. 

BILLY: 

Three quickfire questions before we go: biggest comedic influences? 

MAX: 

The Comedy Store Players which are an improvised group in the Comedy Store in central London, so people like Richard Vranch, Josie Lawrence. Cariad Lloyd, Paul Merton. Bill Bailey, Jack Dee and Bo Burnham. 

BILLY: 

I know you once said your volcanic video was your favourite that you’ve ever made, so what about your favourite since then? 

MAX: 

Let’s have a look. *Opens YouTube* I mean, you’re right – the volcano video purely because it just took so long to come together and was something that I was working on for genuinely years. A video that I’m really proud of … probably making a full Hollywood trailer to get my friend a date. We hired a Hollywood director, an explosions department, a stunt team, everything, the works to get my friend the best Hinge video that the dating app has ever seen. I think I think it worked. I think he got a few dates off the back of it, which is nice. That’s good. 

BILLY: 

Final question – your dad and granddad both went to Cambridge. If you had to choose would it be Oxford or the other place? Remember that you’re speaking to an Oxford student newspaper. 

MAX: 

The good news is that both of them rejected me. So luckily, I don’t have to make that decision. 

Veranilda by George Gissing review – The best historical novel never written

Hassan Akram
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Veranilda by George Gissing review – The best historical novel never written

George Gissing remains the most underrated novelist in the English language. He wrote twenty-three novels, although the average bookshop today only contains four of them. Two of these – New Grub Street, a harrowing story of London literary life, and The Odd Women, the most powerful feminist novel of its century – are acknowledged masterpieces; less so The Nether World and The Whirlpool. A few others are available to order from quality independent presses: these include my favourite, Demos, which concerns the gradual corruption of a working-class socialist who inherits a fortune, and the autobiographical debut Workers in the Dawn. The scope of his talent is exceptional. He is a Balzac, a Turgenev, and a Zola; he is also a Dickens, a Lawrence, and an Orwell. 

In recent years Grayswood Press has done more than any other publisher in bringing closer the far-off day when complete sets of him will be as widely available as sets of Dickens. This excellent new edition of Veranilda: A Story of Roman and Goth, the historical novel left unfinished at Gissing’s death, is edited and introduced by Markus Neacey, an independent scholar and editor of the quarterly Gissing Journal. Neacey is the best Gissing scholar since Pierre Coustillas. He not only provides a lucid and comprehensive discussion of Veranilda’s genesis, historical context, critical appraisal, and much else but, astonishingly, has copied out the entire text of the novel from the original manuscript as it was on Gissing’s death in 1903. Oxford World’s Classics would benefit from this level of dedication.  

Outwardly, Veranilda seems to be an atypical book for a man who made his name chronicling the London slums and the shabby-genteel middle classes. Under the surface, however, the entire package of Gissing’s motifs is here – inherited fortunes, literary men, noblewomen, love across social divides, the pressure of convention – the only difference being that it is wrapped up in a blazing historical epic instead of a piece of Victorian realism. Gissing, a classical scholar and devotee of Gibbon, succeeds in placing his story against the backdrop of sixth-century Italy, when the Romans were caught between Greek occupation and barbarian invasion. Anyone interested in the historical context can do no better than to read the illuminating introduction in this edition. To the non-historian the period detail remains remarkable for its immersiveness, its enduring picturesqueness and grandeur. As Neacey puts it: “In its elegiacal evocation of a decadent and decaying historical empire, it is a novel which is as relevant today as when it was first written.”  

The plot sweeps pacily through love scenes, duels, monasteries, royal courts, and medieval landscapes, and watching it unfold is like watching a Technicolor epic such as Ben-Hur or Cleopatra. As with all Gissing’s novels, there is not a wasted scene or filler chapter anywhere. There are several vividly drawn characters – including the brooding Maximas, the bold Heliodora, and the scheming Marcian – although the key players are Basil, a Roman noble, and Veranilda, a Gothic princess. Theirs is a case of love at first sight and, throughout the novel, various things contrive to keep them apart.  

First there is the stigma attached to their difference of religion – he is a Catholic and she a Goth – and Gissing is acute as ever here in describing the pressure of social convention on character. Then Veranilda is kidnapped – by whom, Basil gallops away to find out – and the process of suspicion, discovery, and elimination sustains the pace for a large chunk of the story. In the final instance they are separated by the character of Marcian; he is something of an Iago figure, jealous, lustful, and subtly sadistic, who initially helps in the search for Veranilda, but then, falling for her, turns her against Basil, only then to be confronted by him in a bloody chapter of enormous dramatic power. It is a credit to Gissing that he executes it without becoming melodramatic. Following the violence, Veranilda and Basil, distrustful of one another, exchange bitter words. A few chapters later they are reconciled. Some of the love scenes are not, admittedly, samples of Gissing’s most mature or realistic writing: 

‘My fairest! Let me but touch your hand. Lay it for a moment in mine—a pledge for ever!’ 

‘You do not fear to love me, O lord of my life?’ 

The whisper made him faint with joy. 

‘What has fear to do with love, O thou with heaven in thine eyes! what room is there for fear in the heart where thy beauty dwells?’ etc., etc. 

Fortunately, this Romeo and Juliet stuff is kept to a minimum. A more significant flaw than the occasional archaism is the fact that the novel was never completed; three weeks after writing Chapter 30 the author fell into an illness and died. Even this is not a huge problem. Gissing was a careful constructor of plots and his workmanlike style required very little finetuning, with the result that in spite of the slightly jarring ending the novel as a whole remains richly readable. Some of the descriptive work, especially of the Italian landscapes, reaches heights of beauty which he rarely achieved: 

Soon after sunrise, he was carried forth to his place of observation, a portico in semicircle, the marble honey-toned by time… Below him lay the little town, built on the cliffs above its landing-place; the hillsides on either hand were clad with vineyards, splendid in the purple of autumn, with olives. Sky and sea shone to each other in perfect calm; the softly breathing air mingled its morning freshness with a scent of fallen flower and leaf. A rosy vapour from Vesuvius floated gently inland…  

For all this, Veranilda is not the place to start for anyone looking to become familiar with Gissing. The book is not representative of his body of work and, if he had been solely a historical novelist, he is unlikely to have produced anything of the calibre of New Grub Street or Born in Exile. Fans of fantasy, epic, or historical fiction will find more to suit them here, and will appreciate it for what it is: a fantastic effort of the imagination, by turns thrilling and serene, with a watertight plot and powerfully observed characters.  

Veranilda is available now from Grayswood Press. ISBN: 978-1-7396203-1-8. 

Plush to host new student night, ‘Quackers Wednesdays’

Emily Henson
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Plush to host new student night, ‘Quackers Wednesdays’

Cherwell can exclusively report that Plush will begin a new Wednesday student night, Quackers. This comes after ATIK Oxford closed at the end of Trinity Term and coincides with the move of Park End, previously held at ATIK on Wednesdays, to Bridge.

The club aims to “refresh the scene”, with lower entry and drink prices compared to its competitors, in response to the rising cost of Oxford nightlife. This is set to include £1 shots and £5.50 doubles, alongside other drink deals, a Blues Events spokesperson told Cherwell.

Quackers will be exclusive to students, with a focus on those from Oxford University. It will feature a duck mascot and hopes to attract sports teams, including facilitating pre-drinks in various bars around the city. Plans are currently being made to enable sports socials between different teams. 

Plush plans to introduce various themes throughout the term because the team hopes to counter “stale” nightlife with events that are “more than just clubbing”. 

Bridge is set to host Park End, previously held at ATIK, also on Wednesdays. Before the closure of ATIK, Plush and Bridge were typically attended by students on Tuesdays and Thursdays respectively. 

Despite students telling Cherwell they find Oxford clubbing “astronomically expensive” compared to other cities, citing entry fees of over £10, venues have struggled to stay afloat.

The city has seen a number of clubs close over recent years, including Fever and Cirkus, largely due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. The Blues Events spokesperson told Cherwell that while they do not think new clubs will open, they hope to create contrast between Plush’s nights that counters the absence of other venues. 

The closure of ATIK at the end of Trinity Term, as the result of the landlord’s decision, has left Plush and Bridge as the only clubs in the city centre. Nationally, as many as five clubs a week have closed, with various factors being cited, including lowering levels of drinking among young people and the rising cost of living.  

A first look at Oxford’s next Chancellor

Cherwell News
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A first look at Oxford’s next Chancellor

Six candidates running to be Oxford University’s next Chancellor spoke exclusively to Cherwell on free speech, balancing tradition with modernity, and supporting Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor. 

Lord William Hague was the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001. He also held the position of Foreign Secretary as MP for Richmond from 2010 to 2014 during the coalition government. 

Lady Elish Angiolini, who has held the position of Principal at St Hugh’s College since 2012, is Solicitor General and Lord Advocate of Scotland. If elected, she would be Oxford’s first female Chancellor in its 900-year history.

Lord Peter Mandelson, who announced his candidacy exclusively to Cherwell last week, held positions including Director of Communications for the Labour Party, Secretary of State for Trade, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and European Commissioner.

Imran Khan was the prime minister of Pakistan and an international cricket star who previously captained the Oxford Blues team. He is campaigning – and answering Cherwell‘s questions – from prison on remand, where he is under “arbitrary detention” according to a UN human rights working group. Some of his charges – including leaking state secrets and un-Islamic marriage – have been overturned, while a corruption case remains in trial.

Who can know better than me right now how important all forms of freedom are?

Imran Khan to Cherwell

Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford is a lawyer and businesswoman who previously served as Chancellor of Coventry University. She is a Board member of the Co-op Group and was Chair of Shakespeare’s Globe.

Dominic Grieve served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. Grieve was commissioned to review the governance structure of Christ Church College.

Q: What is your view on freedom of speech at universities?

Hague: “Freedom of speech, understanding differing viewpoints, hearing uncomfortable truths and being open to the power of reason are all vital parts of learning at universities.” 

Angiolini: “Freedom of speech is a fundamental and precious element of any modern democratic society and must be supported in Universities. Speech can however be abused to cause real harm, for example, re Nazi propaganda and threats of physical assault. It is therefore a freedom that must be exercised responsibly.”

Mandelson: “I believe in freedom of expression and in tolerance and respect for others’ views and I particularly want to hear and listen to students’ views and opinions during this election. But none of us likes to hear hateful or unkind speech and we are entitled to say so.”

Khan: “An institution which denies people the ability to speak freely cannot call itself a university. Universities are founded on the concept of freedom – the freedom to think, speak, question, debate and create. As Chancellor I would fervently defend those freedoms… Who can know better than me right now how important all forms of freedom are?”

Casely-Hayford: “A University environment should encourage listening, debating and learning from each other.  As has been famously stated elsewhere: ‘I disapprove of what you said, but I will defend unto death your right to say it’, and for me, an important codicil is that within a civilised society this isn’t an absolute right.”

Grieve: “The right to freedom of expression under law and with civility is essential to a place of learning and underpins academic freedom. It is essential that it should be supported and I would do so.”

With pro-Palestine protests and encampments in Oxford and other universities, freedom of speech has been a pertinent topic of discussion.

Days before the Conservative government’s Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 came into force, the current Labour government halted its implementation. The act required universities and student unions to protect freedom of speech, but opponents raised concerns that it may protect hate speech.

Presidents of four Ivy League universities in the US – Harvard University, Cornell University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania – have resigned over criticism of their handling of campus conflict around the war in Gaza.

Q: What do you think is a right balance of modernity and tradition at Oxford?

Hague: “It is not so much a question of balance as of ensuring that tradition and modernity serve and strengthen each other, which will be vital in the unprecedented period of change now beginning. 

Angiolini: “The status quo.”

Mandelson: “Widening access to the university for students from different social backgrounds and parts of the country should be the main modernising effort. Otherwise, the university’s traditions are valuable and should be protected, including its traditional college tutorial system. New technologies should be utilised when there is demand from students, in ways that will benefit them.”

Khan: “There are two traditions which are more profound and which underpin all others: academic freedom and intellectual rigour. To continue to thrive, however, Oxford must embrace the modern world. It must open its ancient doors to the leaders of the future – the brightest minds from across the UK and the world, regardless of their income or background.”

Casely-Hayford: “Of course there are traditions that are the essence of this 800 year old institution that should be cherished but we should also recognise the need to modernise culturally and operationally and should not to be wary of embracing change as we move forward, in order to make the University continually relevant, pertinent and appropriately agile.”

Grieve: “Oxford’s great strength is the combination of its rich history, its traditions that support its shared life and its academic excellence as well as its modernity and being at the cutting edge of research and thinking. The correct balance between them cannot be fixed as it evolves all the time.”

Q: In his farewell interview with Cherwell, Lord Patten advised the next chancellor to support the Vice-Chancellor. How do you plan to support Irene Tracey and potential Vice-Chancellors?

Hague: “The Chancellor can support the Vice-Chancellor with private counsel when needed, public steadiness in a crisis, contagious enthusiasm for plans and achievements, and a global network of contacts and friendships.”

Angiolini: “Irene Tracy is an outstanding individual. She may not need a great deal of advice but more often the ability to debate an issue before she has come to a decision. Being a sage and good listener is one of the strengths of our current Chancellor.”

Mandelson: “The role of the Chancellor is not to be the same as the VC but to bring different personal experience, skills and a strong reach into the world of politics and business outside Oxford. With a new government in office, if elected I will use my longstanding political links to advocate both for Oxford and the university sector as a whole.”

Khan: “Oxford is a global university, and I would be a global Chancellor, drawing on my extensive networks and experience in fundraising to help Oxford raise the money needed for transformative research. Team work has also been a integral ingredient as a cricket captain and building one of the largest political parties in Asia.”

Casely-Hayford: “Support for the Vice-Chancellor should encompass being a wise old head, proffering good judgement and sound advice when it’s sought, and recognising that there are local and domestic roles as well as an essential function of global brand ambassador and fundraising figurehead.”

Grieve: “The role of Chancellor, apart from its ceremonial and Visitor functions for some colleges, is to support them in their work and to be an advocate for the University to government and generally and an adviser to it when required.”

Election updates

Although current undergraduate students cannot vote in the upcoming elections, scheduled for October, some have taken action through online campaigns.

Oxford University Conservative Association has officially endorsed Hague, while members of the Oxford University Labour Club are campaigning for Mendelson.

Historically, elections took place in the Sheldonian Theatre where the Convocation – made up of former students and members of the Congregation, Oxford’s supreme governing body – cast votes in academic dress. 

This election will be the first held online, a change made by the University earlier this year. An earlier version of the rules included a committee that will decide on the eligibility of candidates with “due regard to the principles of equality and diversity”. Following allegations that the committee might prevent the election of another white male candidate, the University dropped the “equality and diversity” plan.

Instead, the Chancellor Election Committee, which “plays no substantive role”, puts forth candidates with due regard to a narrow set of exclusion criteria only: A candidate must not be a current student or employee of the University or a serving member of an elected legislature. They must also not be disqualified from being a charity trustee and must qualify as a “fit and proper person”. No other requirements are asked of candidates.

Several fringe candidates have announced their interest, including Reverend Matthew Firth and Reverend Nigel Biggar, and Maxim Parr-Reid, who represented Trinity College in University Challenge in 2017. Firth has conveyed his interest in representing an “anti-woke” ticket, writing on X: “Please vote for me to be the next Chancellor of the University of Oxford. I’m the only candidate who will be publicly anti-woke, and that’s what academia needs.”

Underconsumption-core: Are students the perfect subculture to reclaim underconsumption?

Madelina Gordon
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Underconsumption-core: Are students the perfect subculture to reclaim underconsumption?

When it comes to consumer culture in 2024, most would agree that TikTok is among its most infamous drivers. TikTok itself claims that its users are 1.7 times more likely to engage in e-commerce behaviour than the users of any other social media or video platform. TikTok’s model is explicitly designed to incentivise consumption. On the user side, the platform’s proprietary algorithm provides users with personally appetitive content on their video feeds and rapidly circulates popular videos so that they can go ‘viral’ in a matter of hours. On the seller side, ‘TikTok for Business’ conjoins the addictive user model to an advertising function – its website entices businesses to begin their TikTok advertising journey by citing that 1 in 2 Gen Z users are likely to purchase something from the app.

Accordingly, there is no doubt that TikTok has been both a beneficiary and subsequent bolsterer of capitalist overconsumption. Consumption isn’t a side effect, it’s front and centre of the user experience. Users are exposed every few scrolls to massive haul videos; boxes of products gifted to influencers by advertisers; and product recommendations from regular users. Overconsumption is an embedded feature of capitalism, but on TikTok, the problem is incessant. 

So it comes as a surprise that TikTok, the very platform which so readily supports consumption, has played host to the ‘underconsumption-core’ trend that emerged this summer. The trend entails people showing the parts of their lives that reflect an ethos of underconsumption, or as many videos cite in brackets, ‘normal consumption’. Think: reusable coffee cups, revamped second-hand furniture, three-product skin care routines and keeping scraps of veggies for soup stock. To the untrained eye, these might just be seen as routine habits anyone might adopt to save money. Yet culturally, this trend represents a grander, paradigmatic shift.

Reducing consumption is not something new. It’s been performed by millions of families for centuries, as it is today. Moreover, this isn’t the first time saving money has been trendy (Depression-era feed-sack dresses weren’t just cost-efficient; they were fashionable). But the glamorisation of these lifestyles, that by their nature lend themselves to recycling, reusing and reducing consumption of excess products, on social media, has the potential for exploiting the ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ effect of TikTok trends to encourage sustainable consumption on a level so far unachieved through public information campaigns.

The question I ask, though, is to what extent is this trend really taking off, and does it, albeit still in its nascent stages, have any potential as a countering force to the massive engine of overconsumption? A TikTok trend will not unravel the entire capitalist system that exists today. However, ‘underconsumption-core’ marks the beginning of a process of cultural reclamation – one that students might be the perfect subculture to catalyse.

University students are almost all on budgets, seeking to save money in a host of creative ways. Students don’t have large disposable incomes to spend on luxuries, let alone additional items above and beyond essentials. In efforts to reduce expenses, students naturally limit themselves in what they consume, and many look to how they can reuse and revitalise things they (or others) already own. Some sell and buy clothes and furniture on Vinted and Facebook Marketplace; many own only single sets of dishware and only one or two sets of sheets. Living at university – with lives bundled completely and entirely into 4-by-4-metre rooms – requires prioritising the necessary. In doing so, students learn vital skills, which retain relevance even in their futures when they might indeed have more money or more space.

So many people say that their university years are the best in their lives. Is it a coincidence that these years are the ones where they consume the least? Where the emphasis is on connections, people, and ideas rather than the things that are owned? The ability to live perfectly happily, without constant gratification from an excessive abundance of things in a one-bedroom accom room, creates the space for introspection and relationships that ordinarily compete with material distractions.

A TikTok trend will not dismantle capitalism. But the student experience – and the simple joys of our university years – offer us a glimpse into what life could be if we rejected our capitalist-rooted impulses to constantly consume.

Lord Peter Mandelson officially announces candidacy for Oxford chancellorship

Éilis Mathur
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Lord Peter Mandelson officially announces candidacy for Oxford chancellorship

Lord Peter Mandelson has confirmed that he will be running for Chancellor of Oxford University, Cherwell can report. 

This comes after Lord Christopher Patten announced his retirement from the role in February of this year. Mandelson now joins a small pool of frontrunners seeking to become the next Chancellor.

A former Labour Party politician and life peer in the House of Lords, Mandelson has held several Cabinet positions during his career, including Secretary of State for Trade and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In the latter role, he oversaw the establishment of the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. His tenure as Director of Communications for the Labour Party gained him the nickname ‘the Prince of Darkness’ for his handlings with the media. 

Mandelson has also been European Commissioner and is honorary president of the Great Britain-China Centre. More recently, he reportedly advised Prime Minister Keir Starmer and has been described as having “significant influence inside Starmer’s office.” 

Mandelson studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at St Catherine’s College, matriculating in 1973. He told Cherwell: “I have a great attachment to Oxford but also feel passionately about the University sector as a whole.” In a previous interview with Cherwell, Mandelson mentioned his indifference to the Oxford Union during his student days, describing how “the greasy pole didn’t attract [him].”

If elected, Lord Mandelson would be the first Labour Party member to hold the position. Historically, the role has been occupied by Conservative Party politicians. Out of the nine Oxford chancellors in the last century, seven, including Lord Patten, were Conservative politicians. 

Mandelson told Cherwell: “The last Conservative government gave universities and students a really hard time financially. Universities were denigrated by ministers and I am glad that has ended with the election of a new government.”

He also said he would “use [his] political links with the new government to advocate for Oxford and the university sector” and his “extensive network with the rest of the world, especially America and Asia.” 

Mandelson will face, among others, Lord William Hague, former Leader of the Conservative Party, and Lady Elish Angiolini, former Lord Advocate of Scotland and Solicitor General. While these three are considered the front runners of the election, other reported candidates include former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and lawyer and businesswoman Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford. 

The election, which is scheduled for the third week of the upcoming Michaelmas Term, will be the first in Oxford’s history to be carried out online, opening the process to 250,000 eligible voters. The Convocation, which consists of former Oxford students and the Congregation, which includes academic staff and members of University governing bodies, will elect the new Chancellor. Mandleson said he hoped current Oxford students would have a say in the election despite not being eligible to vote. 

Even prior to the announcement of his candidacy, Labour students at Oxford University began an online campaign in Mandelson’s support. A member of Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) told Cherwell: “As current Oxford students, we want a Chancellor who will stand up for our interests and advocate for desperately needed reforms to higher education funding.” Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) have publicly endorsed Lord Hague on their social media platforms. 

Chancellor of the University of Oxford, historically an eminent public figure, is a highly coveted role which involves serving as the titular head of the University and presiding over all major ceremonies. Mandelson acknowledged that it is “largely ceremonial” but also said: “I hope it will be enjoyable, participative, and energising for the University.”

Mandelson described how “Oxford never stands still. It’s always going forward” and referenced the upcoming election as “a chance to think about our future and where it is going.” He told Cherwell: “I hope the Chancellor election will be a spur in this conversation about the future.”

How Oxford defeated fascists the first time

Louis Johnson
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How Oxford defeated fascists the first time

Monday 5th August saw antifascists rally at Oxford’s Carfax Tower in a show of solidarity with communities of colour and a rejection of the racist violence that has engulfed Britain in recent days. The tragic murder of three young girls in Southport led to an explosion of misinformation as false rumours that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker gained massive traction online. Far-right protesters first attacked Southport’s mosque before bringing riots and racist attacks to towns across the country. Wednesday 7th was anticipated to be a nationwide day of action for the far right, with more than 100 anti-immigration protests purportedly planned, including one in Oxford. But they didn’t turn up. Maybe they remembered what happened last time the far right were faced with antifascists in Oxford. It didn’t end well for them.

The Battle of Carfax is the lesser-known brother of the historic Battle of Cable Street, when the people of London’s East End fought against a British Union of Fascists (BUF) march designed to threaten the area’s large Jewish population. While Cable Street was a deliberate provocation in an area naturally opposed to fascism, Carfax was the culmination of an attempt to drum up support in Oxford for the BUF, the main fascist party in Britain throughout the 1930s. The BUF had received large donations from William R Morris, a businessman and the founder of Nuffield College. Even more shamefully, Oxford was home to the Oxford University Fascist Association (OUFA), which was one of the country’s most active fascist student groups and whose members praised Hitler. 

A few months before his Blackshirts would march on East London, the BUF’s aristocratic leader Oswald Mosley scheduled a meeting for the Carfax Assembly Rooms (now the site of HSBC) after being denied the use of the Town Hall. He had visited the OUFA once before in Carfax three years previously, a meeting which was relatively uneventful (some reports suggest this was because leftists in the city were otherwise busy that day). On the 25th May 1936, Mosley and his jack-booted lackeys descended on Oxford. Fascism was more notorious in Britain by then: the Nazis had begun their murderous march across Europe with the reoccupation of the Rhineland in March that year and already antisemitic persecution of German Jews was rampant. 

This time, Oxford’s residents would be prepared for the Fascists. The meeting halls were packed: around 1000 people attended Mosley’s speech, many of whom were not there to applaud. Those who fought against Mosley’s men that day were mostly ‘Town’ rather than ‘Gown’: antifascist workers and bus drivers, Jewish residents and leftist activists. Oxford was a very different place then; both the Oxford University constituency and Oxford itself were longtime Tory stalwarts. Compare that to Cherwell’s recent polling showing the resounding strength of Labour among the student body. Of course, the vast majority of Tory voters would not have supported Mosley’s Fascists, but Oxford’s clear right-wing lean was fairly fertile ground for Mosley’s insidious ideas to spread.

Mosley addressed the crowd to the tune of the Nazi Party’s anthem, levelled antisemitic bile at the Labour Party and at one point insulted the antifascist hecklers from primarily working-class Ruskin College, mocking their “stage guardsmen accents”. When Blackshirts tried to violently remove Liberal journalist Basil Murray from the meeting, the powder keg was sparked. Future Labour politician Richard Crossman recounted:

“[Murray] was dragged off his chair by the face, one Blackshirt digging his nails into his cheek” and was “dragged along the floor, and rabbit punched from behind”. As antifascists fought back using chairsone Christ Church tutor was “roused to a berserk fury” after being hit with a steel chain by a Blackshirt.

The result? On the antifascist side, some nasty bruises and cuts. On the Blackshirt side, four men hospitalised. The result was no less humiliating for Mosley himself, who scarpered out of a side entrance once the fighting began and never held a meeting in Oxford again. The violence initiated by Mosley’s supporters that day, antifascist activism by people such as Abraham Lazarus and later the horror of the Spanish Civil War discredited the BUF in Oxford and their support plummeted. 

The violence of Mosley’s Fascists mirrors the violence of today’s far right; this time, they were dwarfed by the sheer number of counter-protesters preaching peace and tolerance, and violent clashes between both groups were largely avoided. The Battle of Carfax is a vital chapter in both the history of Oxford and of British antifascism. Those who came to protest Mosley largely did not seek violence, unlike his thugs. Those who protest the far right today largely do not seek violence either. For violence is inherent to far-right ideology; as shown in Oxford, my very own Walthamstow and across the country, antifascists win through peace.

Has Oxford made us hate reading?

Victoria McKinley-Smith
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Has Oxford made us hate reading?

As Oxford students, we are supposed to like reading. Reading critically, reading for our tutorials, reading for our essays. But what happened to reading for pleasure? Amidst the endless lists of books and academic journals from your tutor which you *definitely* read, it’s easy to end up not reading anything for fun at all. Ever felt like you were suffocating under a pile of books, making the idea of picking up yet another feel utterly daunting? You, my friend, were experiencing a reading slump. 

What does this actually mean? Put simply, a reading slump is a period in which you read very little or not at all, even feeling physically unable to. It can last anywhere from a few days to a few months and is every reader’s worst nightmare. During a reading slump, the desire to pick up a book diminishes significantly and the usual excitement associated with reading feels distant and unattainable. It’s as if the connection between the reader and the world of books has been temporarily severed. Readers may find themselves staring at their bookshelves, feeling a sense of frustration and helplessness. You might attempt to start several books, only to abandon them after a few pages and turn to the old foe Instagram reels instead. 

But what do we do about this? Sure, we may be able to dissect a text with surgical precision for our tutorials and our essays may be analytical masterpieces (shout-out to ChatGPT), but it seems like Oxford has destroyed our ability to read for enjoyment. Reading for fun may seem like a distant memory, especially for foreign language students – like myself – who read less in their native language than their language of study. However, reigniting your passion for reading is entirely possible: it’s simply a matter of being mindful of the material you choose to engage with. It goes without saying, but Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov is probably not going to be the beach read to ease you back in.

But has Oxford made us too critical? Can we still read without a purpose? Undoubtedly, university has changed our relationship with literature, and our criteria on deciphering a good book from a bad one has altered significantly from our days of reading Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson. Even subconsciously, we judge the books that we read, which is both a blessing and a curse as we cast a discerning eye over the books stacked on the shelves in Blackwell’s.

Despite our best efforts to unwind and switch off our academic brains, it is all too easy to slip into the judgemental habit of analysing characterisation, narrative structure, and literary style rather than valuing pure escapism and enjoyment. For this reason, it’s easy to feel plagued by guilt when reading books unrelated to our degree subject. There will always be another white-haired academic publishing another book on Kafka’s The Metamorphosis to be recommended by our tutors or to mysteriously appear in our pidges. 

Are we still able to appreciate less intellectual and potentially – dare I say – even kitsch, lazy, and poorly written books after being subjected to some of the best literature of the past 1,000 years? This is a matter of perspective. If you are conscious that what you are reading is not claiming to be the next Great American Novel, then guilty-pleasure literature is more than capable of serving its purpose (presumably relieving academic stress). In fact, it can be exactly what it takes to begin a new chapter of our relationship with literature. After all, who doesn’t love a cheesy romance book undoubtedly destined to end up as a Netflix series starring Jacob Elordi? 

But what does this mean for the industry of the trashy novel? It’s very possible that this phenomenon is just another product of our age of overconsumption and instant gratification. You pick out a novel, about 300 pages long, devour it in a couple of sittings, and then quickly move on to the next one. This pattern is reminiscent of binge-watching Netflix series or scrolling through social media, constantly seeking the next quick fix. Authors therefore thrive on this cycle of rapid consumption and immediate gratification.

Publishers churn out these books at an astonishing rate, knowing that there is a ready market of readers eager for the next quick and easy read. The formulaic nature of these novels – predictable plots, stereotypical characters, and sensationalised storylines – ensures that they can be consumed without much mental effort. This allows readers to escape into a familiar and comforting world, even if only temporarily. Such books may be easy to read but this often comes at the cost of quality and development. They offer no real lessons, but maybe that’s the intention. As with many things in this life, self-awareness is key. 

You may think that it is only books we do not enjoy that can push us into such a predicament, but let me introduce you to a ‘novel’ concept – ‘the book hangover’. Whilst this may just sound like the amalgamation of two staples of the Oxford lifestyle, this is a very real phenomenon: when a book you read has such an impact on you that you feel unable to move on from it, prompting a complete aversion to any other books and a total loss of literary appetite. Then begins the struggle for the next great read, which can be easier said than done. 

If finding a new great book proves too much of a challenge, there is always an old faithful sitting on your shelves to return to and re-read. Think of it as meeting up with a friend who you haven’t seen in a while, yet once you do it feels like you’ve never been apart. You know the characters, you know the plot’s twists and turns, and perhaps most importantly you know how the story ends. There’s a sense of comfort and nostalgia that comes with re-reading a beloved book. You can pick up on details you might have missed the first time, appreciate the nuances of the writing, and relive the emotions that the story evokes.

It’s like slipping into a pair of favourite old shoes that miraculously still fit. The familiarity allows you to relax and enjoy the journey without the uncertainty that comes with a new read. Moreover, revisiting an old favourite book can remind you why you fell in love with reading in the first place. It can reignite that spark and inspire you to dive back into the literary world with renewed enthusiasm, hopefully before you’re hit with another set of literary criticism readings for next term… or next week.

Sometimes, the key to breaking a reading slump lies not just in what you read, but how you read. Changing your reading habits can make a significant difference to how much you enjoy a book and can often even be linked to location. Sometimes all it takes is to romanticise your life a little, grab your oat latte from Jericho Coffee Traders and find a quiet spot to delve into the world lying within the pages of your book.

Granted, for academic reading this is not quite the same, and sometimes you need the silent pressure and judgemental looks that come from  being in the library. After all, an English and Modern Languages student may read an average of 105 books over the course of their four year degree. Yet taking the pressure out of reading for fun is absolutely essential to rediscovering the joy we once experienced, as well as the ability to read at a leisurely pace, a luxury not afforded to those of us who inevitably leave our vac reading until the final month of summer. 

There are many disagreements regarding the remedy for a reading slump, with the two extremes being either to seek out quality literature or to reach for something a little less challenging. There’s a reason that the classic ‘enemies to lovers’ trope is one of the most popular amongst readers, and it is not for its originality or innovation. This literary equivalent of fast food can act as an intellectual palate cleanser from the struggles of academic reading. Books that are ‘so bad that they’re good again’ are often the key to rediscovering the joy in reading. Just try picking up that trashy romance novel with the mildly risqué cover, it might be the secret to overcoming your reading slump. 

Crankstart Scholarship expands to include graduates

Mair Andrews
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Crankstart Scholarship expands to include graduates

An expansion of the Crankstart Scholarships will extend initiatives across a wider group, including graduates and students from disadvantaged and underprivileged backgrounds from the age of 14, Oxford University announced in a press release.

The Crankstart Scholarships currently support 17% of the University’s full-time UK undergraduate students. It is offered to students across the whole university who are completing their first undergraduate degree and have a household income under £32,500. 

This funding will be extended to graduates through supporting the University’s pre-existing Academic Future scholarships which support students to graduate courses applying from under-represented backgrounds and aim to help improve equality, diversity and inclusion in the graduate student body. Academic Futures is currently aimed at refugees and those with care experience. 

New support is to include “outreach to schools, engaging with students from the age of 14; transition support for students starting university or moving into graduate study; additional graduate scholarships’ and careers support.”

“The University relies on bringing the very best minds from across the world together, whatever their race, gender, religion or background to create new ideas, insights and innovations to change the world for the better.”

The Crankstart Scholarship provides one of the most generous undergraduate bursaries in the UK. Established in 2012 through a donation from Christ Church alumnus Sir Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman, it has supported over 1,000 students since its launch. 

Up to 50 full awards are already available across Academic Futures’s three streams: Black Academic Futures, Refugee Academic Futures, and Care-Experienced Academic Futures. Each scholarship offers eligible students a grant for living costs and covers the full course fees for the duration of the course and the students fee liability. While the undergraduate scholarships are only available to full-time students, these graduate scholarships are open to both part-time and full-time students.

Undergraduate access is still developing with new initiatives such as BeUNIQ, a programme for 14 to 16-year-olds in UK state schools who are under-represented among Oxford undergraduates. Students from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds in schools within Birmingham, Bradford, and Oldham are the focus of the first programme which aims to “foster academic confidence and support educational aspirations”. Currently, this group make up 3% of students at highly selective universities, despite making up 5% of those achieving top grades.

Other existing programmes are also receiving increased funding. UNIQ, the University’s flagship programme offers around 1,300 places each year to UK state school students in their first year of higher education, including the opportunity to stay in Oxford on a residential. A similar programme, UNIQ+, gives around 130 interns from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to experience postgraduate student life and support in the transition to graduate study.

Oxford’s £10m Azerbaijani donor can remain anonymous, court rules

Roy Shinar Cohen
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Oxford’s £10m Azerbaijani donor can remain anonymous, court rules

A judge has ruled that Oxford University could maintain the anonymity of donor with ties to Azerbaijan’s ruling family. The ruling from July ended a months-long legal struggle with news website openDemocracy, which revealed a £10m donation to the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre.

The judge said: “The [University] has a committee and a process in place for just this purpose and in this case after careful scrutiny it found no issues that would render the donation unwelcome.” 

In December, ​​openDemocracy filed a Freedom of Information request to Oxford “asking for the identity of the donor and copies of communications around the handling of the donation.” But the University refused to disclose the information, citing commercial interests that could be harmed by the information being disclosed as well as data protection concerns.

However, it revealed that the donation came from Azerbaijan and that the person behind it was a “highly successful businessperson who wished to remain anonymous.” The University has also made known that the donation was “facilitated” by Azerbaijan president’s sister-in-law.

Consequently, openDemocracy contested the case with the Information Commissioner’s Office, which earlier last month sided with Oxford.

Alexander Morrison, interim director of the Nizami Ganjavi Centre, told Cherwell that the University is “mistaken” in accepting the anonymity: “The question of the donor’s identity has ended up overshadowing all the good work that the centre actually does in funding independent, high-quality academic research on the Caucasus and Central Asia.”

The initial report by OpenDemocracy found that Oxford accepted by far the highest amount of anonymous donations since 2017 – £106m from just 68 donors – out of the 24 Russell Group universities that collectively received more than £281m.

Notably, in April of this year eight Oxford academics joined more than 120 academics, campaigners, politicians and journalists to publish an open letter calling for legislation requiring universities to publish a register of large donations and research funding. OpenDemocracy’s findings, along with fears relating to Chinese influence on UK universities, were a driving force behind a campaign for stricter disclosure rules for universities.

A spokesperson from the University told Cherwell: “Donors have no influence over how Oxford academics carry out their research, and major donors are reviewed and approved by the University’s Committee to Review Donations and Research Funding, which is a robust, independent system.”

In June of 2023, MPs did not pass legislation to ensure UK universities would publish the names of any foreign donor who gave a university more than £50,000.

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