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Headlines

Hague awards eight recipients with honorary degrees at special ceremony

News Alice Rubli -
Eight honorary degrees were conferred by William Hague, Chancellor of Oxford, today at a Special Honorary Degree Ceremony. Among the recipients were presenter of the ‘The Rest is History’ podcast Dr Dominic Sandbrook; writer and conservationist Isabella Tree; and award-winning journalist Christina Lamb. The other honorands were lawyer and former Principal of St Hugh’s College, Lady Elish Angiolini; former US Secretary of State John Kerry; President of Magdalen College Dinah Rose; Vice-Chancellor of the University Professor Irene Tracey; and political...

Comment

Features

Bridging the gap? Oxford’s fight against wealth inequality

Leo Jones -
The life of a student is rarely one of luxury. Pot Noodles for dinner, Vinted bids in place of new clothes, and the widely-prized Tesco Clubcard have become small but vital saving graces as the cost of living in the UK continues to soar.

Remembering Jaipal Singh Munda, an Adivasi pioneer

Sofia Mollona -
Hemant Soren, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, visited St John’s College on 23rd January to pay tribute to his ancestor, Jaipal Singh Munda, who graduated from the University of Oxford in 1926.

‘Having sex with University Challenge on in the background’: The Sextigation 2026

Cherwell Features Section Editors -
Welcome all to the fifth annual Sextigation. Just like the boyfriend you need to get rid of, it’s a little late for Valentine's Day.

15-minutes of fame: the legacy of Oxford’s traffic policy protests

Eden Smith -
Oxford City Council approved their Local Plan to make Oxford a 15-minute city on 14th September 2022. In response, conspiracy theorists organised a mass protest. With some of the new traffic regulations now in place, it’s time for a deep dive into the conspiracist movement and its sunset legacy in Oxford. 

£17,000 on grass, redacted files, and 250,000 parcels: Cherwell’s 2025 FOI review

Gaspard Rouffin -
As the Cherwell Investigations team, we take our job very seriously. A big part of what we do is Freedom of Information (FOI) requests – which allow us to ask for information on any topic (yes, any!) from public authorities, for example the University and colleges. Cherwell handles a lot...

Is the future of student protest set in stone? 

Lilly Law -
Niamh Lynch did not expect to attract international attention during Trinity term of her second year. That changed after her arrest at Stonehenge for spraying orange cornflour onto the ancient monument. From there, it was a barrage of articles, press requests, and more praise than she’d expected. Not that...

Profiles

Larry Sanders on Trump, climate change, and moral conviction

Isaac Gavaghan -
Sitting in his kitchen in East Oxford, Larry Sanders, local Oxford politician and brother of Bernie Sanders, speaks with honesty and conviction.

Anna Olliff-Cooper on being a 76-year-old student, her three-month prognosis, and defying time

Selina Chen -
When Anna Olliff-Cooper applied to Oxford, she had just been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer.

Ruth Chang: ‘If we keep going down this road, we are definitely going to get AI misalignment’

Peter Chen -
How do we make hard choices? Not the choices which are hard for us to make – because the right choice is psychologically difficult – not choices between options which we have incomplete information about, or choices that are incomparable. No. Hard choices are decisions between options neither of which is better, nor are they equally good.

In Conversation with Tom McTague

Hassan Akram and Hattie Simpson -
Tom McTague is among the few mainstream British journalists who see politics through the lens of history and world affairs rather than just the Westminster lobby.

Culture

Kooky and self-assured: ‘Brew Hill’ in review

Abigail Lakeland -
Pecadillo Productions’ latest show is (quite rightly) aiming for Fringe, but this kooky, self-assured tragicomedy has immediate cult classic potential.

Art is an argument, so argue back

Maxim Vorobev -
Often, how much we like artwork comes down to ‘vibes’, initial gut-reactions we make, and then quickly negate by stating that surely it's all about taste.

Red soles, red flags: Jaden Smith and the celebrity takeover of high fashion

Victoria Corfield -
Smith’s appointment has raised some serious questions about the extent to which nepotism and celebrity is superseding artistic talent in the fashion industry at present.

The ‘Silent’ Film

Willow Jopp -
Not speaking does not necessarily mean having nothing to say. As much can be said with an image, movement, or glance as with a word.

Life

Loaf actually? A guide to Oxford’s sourdough

Skye-Jane Ingram -
Sourdough is a simple pleasure. A perfect loaf should have a chewy, light, tangy, and springy crumb. On cold days it’s a reliable and simple comfort – the kind that makes Hilary term feel a little less bleak.

It’s 2016’s world, and we’re just living in it (or are we?)

Jiayue Shi -
Barely a month has passed since we made our flustered entry into 2026. But it seems like the verdict is already in: your honour, we’ve had enough. Bring back 2016.

All buttered up: Broche, and the art of the perfect croissant

Luis Prenninger -
During these cold winter months, in which – thanks to that pinnacle of British construction, breathable walls – I wake up in a freezing room, I find great solace in hiding beneath my blanket.

The case for doing nothing (on holiday)

Trevor Lee -
My best memories of gallivanting around Europe were of parks. They were found in the tranquility of self-reflection as I enjoyed the serenity of nature, clutching my too-expensive coffee and watching the ducks swim about in the river as the cold winter wind whipped the fallen leaves off the ground beside me.

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