Sunday 17th August 2025

Opinion

The Encaenia is PR without the public (or anyone else)

Wholesale reform is the last thing Encaenia needs. If only people knew what it is, it would be a well-suited PR exercise for a modern Oxford.

This is how we combat the crusade against universities

It’s easy to think of an arts degree as a fruitless pleasure. But education and academic study are intrinsically valuable.

From pensioners to students, all should fear the Palestine Action ban

If you think this is a win for one side over the other in relation to Israel’s war on Gaza, be careful what you wish for.

Trashing rules save face, not students

Trashing is banned. But what does the banning achieve except pushing students further from...

Time to emulate Eton?

Abolish: Education secretary Damien Hinds has said he wishes to call time on the phrase ‘public school confidence’, mainly by introducing a programme of ‘five...

On Liam Neeson, sexual racism and the optics of white fragility and black monstrosity

If the rapist had been white, I doubt Neeson would have stalked the streets looking for any white man to attack.

Who can afford such indulgence?

'The Economist's' giddy attacks on an elitist Oxbridge reduce the issue to a caricature.

Interview: quantum gravity physicist Carlo Rovelli

The man who uses his writing to share his love of physics

Changing Perceptions: Contraception is not just a ‘Women’s issue’

The issue of contraception is an issue for all of us.

No squidding! Time to ink again about octopus terrine?

Having a plate of octopus – a food I don’t think any half-educated person should need to have pointed out is not a staple of the British working class – set down in front of you at your first formal dinner at Oxford firmly joins knowing which type of gown to buy in the latter category.

The world’s in dissarhea: the sillier side of life

Turn on the news, open up the paper and prepare to enjoy the strangest show of all – the real world.

The awkward conversation around ‘Privilege’

Exploring the different types and degrees of privilege

Is a college shared a college halved?

Comment discusses the benefits and disadvantages of pooling college resources

Bring down controversial speakers with debate not disorder

Marcus Walford argues against no-platforming after Maréchal's controversial appearance at the Union

Bolsonaro’s most vulnerable targets: the Indigenous Brazilians

Bolsonaro goes beyond viewing the indigenous tribes and the quilombolas (the protected, black descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves) with racist contempt. He does not believe in their right to exist in a culture outside of “mainstream” Brazil.

Gillette’s advertisement is sharper than usual

The divide between the two runs deep and is, forgive the pun, razor-sharp. It’ll continue to be a daily task to point out that certain ideas of manliness are outdated and simply unacceptable. But that can’t change without normal men, real men, in fact: all men reflecting on their own behaviour, and taking their own share of responsibility.

Still nothing moderate about Malaysia

For the no-platforming, self-proclaimed anti-fascists it does beg the question, where was your protest on Friday evening?

Whales: cultural traditions vs conservative concerns

Japan’s withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission must be seen in the light of our own environmental decisions

Annelise Dodds tells Cherwell second referendum could be the “only way out” in exclusive interview

"We need to be looking at Brexit from the point of view of what is best for the country, and not from the point of view of quite a right-wing ideological position."

Lunch with Cherwell: Giles Coren

Giles Coren talks controversy, children, and college wives over lunch at Pompette

Chris Grayling has really outdone himself this time!

Chris Grayling has awarded a freight ferry contract… to a company that owns no ferries.

The money behind the St Peter’s Perrodo Project: meet the Perrodo family

The Perrodo family's environmental and human rights record is more than dubious: is the moral cost of such donations worth the money?

Who cares about sustainability?

How big brands are doing the absolute minimum

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