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Oxford Union rejects motion ‘British Museums are Not Very British’

On Thursday night, the Oxford Union voted against the motion ‘This House Believes British Museums Are Not Very British.’ The final count had 95 members voting for the motion and 155 members voting against.  Speaking in favour of the motion was former Conservative Minister for Culture the Rt Hon. Lord Vaizey of Didcot PC. He was joined by second-year Philosophy, Politics, and Economics student Aliyyah Gbadamosi (University College) and first-year law student Karma Gad (Mansfield College).  The opposition featured Willie Jackson, New Zealand politician and former...

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Features

Things can only get… worse? Why 2024 is no 1997 for the Labour Party

One of the characteristic features of the 1997 Labour Party general election campaign was their use of D:Ream’s song "Things Can Only Get Better" in their campaign video. This song was selected to conjure...

The Art of Being Bored

Today, every corner of our lives seems to be filled with never-ending streams of information and vibrant entertainment. The concept of being bored has become almost extinct. Thanks to constant access to the internet...

The 2024 BNOC List

"Here it is! After three weeks of voting, the results are in. With slight adjustments made according to which BNOCs gave consent to be on the list and the addition of some whose fame strictly speaking surpasses that of BNOC-hood, the list is true to those initial nominations."

Sharron Davies, the Oxford Literary Festival, and the place for transgender athletes in professional sport.

The bell chimed for 2 o’clock on Thursday the 21st of March and the doors closed for the Oxford Literary Festival’s most controversial talk: ‘Sharron Davies, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport.’ I stood on the step of the main entrance wearing my ‘festival steward’ lanyard, and contemplating...

WaterTok, Stanley cups and the half-empty glass of consumerism

We all need to drink more water. A 1998 New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center survey of 3003 Americans found that 75% of those interviewed were ‘chronically dehydrated’ — a condition apparently characterised by fatigue, memory loss, irritability, and anxiety. It is no wonder that, according to a Cherwell poll,...

Philosophy and Technology: Science’s moral afflictions

On March 28th in a dingy Manhattan courtroom, unrepentant crypto-mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. This landmark sentence came after an appeal by his lawyers against Bankman-Fried’s conviction in November 2023 on seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.  MIT-educated Bankman-Fried was co-founder...

Profiles

Spotlight: Martian Moves

If you’re at all in tune with Oxford’s nightlife scene, I’m sure you’ve heard of “intergalactic boogie service” Martian Moves – but who are they, and what are they here to do? I spoke with three of the four-man group of St Peter’s and LMH undergrads (Michael Donlon, Louis...

Broadway, besties and Brian Cox: A conversation with J. Smith-Cameron

J. Smith-Cameron would like you to know that she is not Succession’s Gerri Kellman. She gently corrects me when I slip up by describing her performance as the Roy family’s legal counsel and cut-throat consigliere as her ‘biggest’ role, and she is right to do so. The broadway-mainstay turned...

Culture

The Orwell Tour review: ‘A unique and first-rate travelogue’

Within the last year there have been countless new books on George Orwell, but Oliver Lewis’s The Orwell Tour, just released in paperback, is the most accessible and enjoyable of them all. Lewis writes in a crisp and evocative style (I can still see in my mind’s eye the...

The Drake and Kendrick Lamar saga

Since the rise of hip-hop in the 1990s, diss tracks (short for disrespect or disparage) have been a staple of the genre. These tracks aim to tarnish a person’s reputation through the art of “spitting bars”, escalating conflict between individuals. It’s often a game of verbal ping pong, where...

Life

World Cocktail Day at the Ashmolean Museum

As News editors, when we received an invite to the Ashmolean Museum’s celebration of World Cocktail Day – 13 May, for those who didn’t celebrate – we jumped at the opportunity to take a break from running between protests and sending off comment requests. Instead of attending our usual...

Why don’t we go clubbing any more?

“ At the heart of this debate is a stark generational shift.”