Culture

How books are burned today

It is a worrying thought that what sits on your bookshelf today could be out of reach tomorrow. You might believe book banning to be a thing of the...

The burden of the face: Why are so many singers wearing masks?

We can all name at least one musician who has performed behind a balaclava, helmet, or hood. Whether to preserve anonymity, cultivate mystery, or construct an entirely new artistic identity, masking the face is common among those under the limelight.

New Oxford Windrush generation exhibit opens for Black History Month 

Amidst recent political tension provoked by the government’s refusal of slavery reparations to the...

“There’s a play in that”: interview with ‘The Gang of Three’ playwright Robert Khan

It’s Budget Day as I sit in the foyer of the Oxford Playhouse. Down...

Review: NTLive’s A View from the Bridge

Sophie Hall-Luke finds the view from her cinema seat perfect for this stage adaption

Review: Still Alice

An Oscar-winning Julianne Moore is left in search of a film, in this Alzheimer's drama

Review: The Babadook

Anthony Maskell calls The Babadook a landmark chiller

An artist’s obsessions

Surya Bowyer reviews the Barbican's eclectic new exhibition of artists' personal collections

Review: Poldark

Sophie Hall-Luke is seduced by Poldark's charms.

Review: Insurgent

Emmanuelle Soffe struggled to engage with the latest disposable entry in the Divergent series.

Review: Wild Tales

Toby Scadding finds this Almodóvar produced anthology a riotous examination of people pushed to the brink.

Review: Nurse

Dominic Hewett finds Paul Whitehouse's new dark comedy adept at balancing humanity and humour

Review: Seventh Son

Anthony Maskell finds Sergei Bodrov's sword-and-sorcery epic a disappointing waste of time and talent

"HOLY SH*T I’M ONLINE": art, literature and the web

Fintan Calpin discusses postinternet art and literature

Preview: Game of Thrones Season Five

Emmanuelle Soffe recaps events on the hit show, and looks ahead to what may be coming our way in the next season

Review: Mark Knopfler – Tracker

Mark Barclay is disappointed by Knopfler's good but predictable album

Review: Mommy

Sam Joyce finds Xavier Dolan's latest oedipal family drama to be a revelation.

The review club: filthy, spoiled, rotten

A look at the dark side of the Oxford drama world

6 songs to show you and your old mates still like each other

Stifle your weeping and listen to The Killers

Review: Life Itself

Anthony Maskell reviews Steve James' celebratory documentary about the life of America's most famous film critic

Hitchcock and Voyeurism

Anthony Maskell explores how the legendary director changed the way audiences watched cinema

6 Songs That Will Show Your Mum How Cool You’ve Become

Your mum's never even heard of PC Music. Let her know how uncool that is.

How not to talk to grown ups: Ian McEwan’s The Children Act

Ben Cooke reviews Ian McEwan's latest novel.

Islamic State’s war on cultural heritage

Elliot Langley argues that IS's systematic destruction of ancient Assyrian culture is a form of genocide

Follow us