Lifestyle

Cooking for friends: An apology, served hot

“It’s probably a bit bland,” my friend said tentatively in the first week of living out of college, just after they had put down a delicious plate of fish and rice.

Beyond the Rad Cam: My quest to visit all 22 Bodleian Libraries

Between March 2025 and October 2026, I visited all 22 Bodleian libraries, from the reading rooms of central Oxford to the obscure medical libraries.

The art of reaching out to old friends

Coming to university, I realised that the stable, effortless reliability of my friends from home was, all of a sudden, precarious and difficult to maintain.

The only thing missing from this bean was chocolate

If there were a smell I could capture, bottle up, and treasure forever, it would be the toasty and heartening smell of cacao roasting in the morning.

Windy colours

Emma Leech recalls her encounter with Henry the homeless artist and his unexpected colour palette

An Indian Christmas feast

Gitanjali Sharma recalls the Indian dishes she sampled around the Christmas dinner table this year

Recipe: Chanukah doughnuts, a user’s guide

Rachel Korn explores one of the festival’s most popular food traditions

Christmas around the world: Hungary

Rosie Gyorfi speaks about her celebration of Hungarian Christmas traditions in the UK

Recipe: Let the festivities be-gin

Julia Alsop shares a trio of sparkling winter cocktails to liven up your Christmas celebrations

Christmas around the world: Austria

Jack Schofield discusses the (sometimes terrifying) festive traditions of alpine Austria

Recipe: festive gingerbread stars

Emily Beswick suggests a great teatime snack, or thrifty Christmas gift

Recipe: A duo of warming Christmas drinks

Sam Purnell shares his favourite two drinks to enjoy this festive season

Conquering the Varsity ski trip

Susannah Goldsbrough feels as though the Varsity ski trip is even more gruelling than an eight week term at Oxford

From cocaine to porcelain: how one homeless person escaped crime

Michael Jacobs meets one of Oxford's many homeless people to hear his life story, from crime to happiness to the streets.

Mirror synesthesia

Verity Crane examines the unusual phenomenon of suffering from too much empathy

The reality of homelessness in Oxford and the imperative of helping

William Rees-Mogg discusses the city’s problem and the efforts to address it

A night at the clubs: Hypnotize

James Lamming is put in a trance by the Isis' budget-friendly club night

How to beat Fifth Week blues

Richard Birch and Cat Bean discuss nine ways to relax amidst the Oxonian madness

Gym diary: start getting your fitness back on track (and maybe even keep it that way too)

Today is the day. 20 years of questionable diet habits and lethargy have left you tubby. Three years of vegetarianism have left you puny—or...

Letters from abroad: Nîmes

In his generation-defining novel Fiesta (or The Sun Also Rises),Hemingway exalts the passion and courage on display in the Spanish corridas of Pamplona. Yet,...

Town versus gown: a view from the fence of the age-old divide

Coming to Oxford was an overwhelming experience of excruciating pain, tears and much fussing around me; so much of all this that I hardly...

What animal is your degree?

Nicola Dwornik defends humanities degrees against the charge of apparent laziness

A night at the clubs: Two Doors Down @ The Cellar

Two Doors Down's indie extravaganza leaves James Lamming hungry for more

Letter from abroad: Kobe

Matt Day talks nature and modernity living side by side in Kobe

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