FEATURED
Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party at the Burton Taylor Studio: Reviewed
“an intriguing interpretation of Harold Pinter’s classic comedy of menace” Nancy Pierre reviews The Birthday Party at the Burton Taylor Studio
WHAT’S NEW
Second Draft: Times New Roman is a girl’s best friend
Eleanor Davies returns with reflections on Hilary, essays, and their likeness to relationships. Illustration by Eleanor Davies, used with permission.
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A Night to Remember: the Jesus-Exeter Ball 2026
Music, churros, dodgems, and even a shisha tent! All of this and more could be found at the first Jesus-Exeter Ball, held on 25 April 2026. The ball was first…
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Fossil Fuel Funding: Why our universities must divest from industry-sponsored research
“Just as universities disengaged from controversial funding sources like Big Tobacco before, universities can and should refuse to accept funding from fossil fuel corporations.” Hannah Smith explores the funding of…
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Dependants at the Michael Pilch Studio: Reviewed
I was ushered inside the Pilch and, as I entered, the stage was dimly lit with blue lights and three characters sitting slumped in their chairs. It looked like they…
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Lady Grinning Soul: Record Store Day Rewind
Julia Blackmon explores how Record Store Day was celebrated in record stores around Oxford and how physical media is making a return.
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Spotlight – The End of a Year Abroad
“In Tallinn, I found my feet for the first time. First year had been a complete whirlwind, so it was on my Year Abroad that I truly understood the freedoms…
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Oxford
Far-right activist Tommy Robinson says he is “coming” to debate Islam at Oxford Union
Christine Savino reports on far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s alleged invitation to debate at the Oxford Union. Image credit to Shayan Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn, image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
In Conversation with Lord Neuberger: The Rule of Law, Judicial Power, and the Art of Judgement
On 9 March, Oxford Law Society and Oxford Speaks hosted a talk with Lord Neuberger, the former President of the UK Supreme Court and Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He reflected on the rule of law and its vulnerabilities, the evolving constitutional role of the Supreme Court, and the art…
First Business Magazine Launched in Oxford
There are a multitude of societies and student publications at Oxford, but, until recently, there has not been a business-focused magazine. This term, The Radcliffe, a new business magazine, released its first issue. Nathaniel Read, the magazine’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, spoke to The Oxford Blue about his vision for the publication. Read’s passion…
opinion
New Media: Have We Evolved to Think Less Deeply?
When we think of evolution, our minds tend to spring to the Darwinian theories of ‘survival of the fittest’, or the transition from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens. Yet, technological advancements have provided us with a much more subtle mode of evolution: media. In the 21st century, ‘new media’ operates as a cultural feedback loop, taking…
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The Sabotage of Modernity
In recent times, we seem to be intoxicated by the heady spirits of progress and modernity. A climate of optimism saturates the air as we continuously blaze untrodden paths in science, technology, and all the rest of it. So dramatic are these headways being made that there is a deep sense in which we are…
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Bombings destroy, not build: the radical uncertainty of Iranian democracy
On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched a comprehensive air campaign against Iran. Striking over 1,250 targets in the first 48 hours, they claim to have killed 49 members of the Iranian senior leadership, including the former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump described Khamenei’s…
Keep readingGlobal Affairs
Outside OX1 Week 1: UAE and North Korea
This term’s first edition of Outside OX1 explores two contrasting topics. Lewis Haynes explores the announcement that the UAE have withdrawn from OPEC, and the economic consequences for the UAE and globally of the decision. Noah Allerton takes a look at a new report published by the TJWG on the use of executions…
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Outside OX1 Week 8: Chile, Nepal and Mandelson
Welcome back to this term’s final issue of Outside OX1! Hilary has flown by and Trinity with its blossoming flowers and sunnier days awaits. What a journey this has been. I want to extend a warm thank you to all of our regular readers, we hope to see you back with us in…
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Locking Horns: Past Conflicts Threaten to Re-emerge in the Horn of Africa
Six years after Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing an end to a lengthy military standoff with Eritrea, and four years after a ceasefire was declared in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, the Horn of Africa is on edge again. Landlocked Ethiopia has expressed its desire to have a…
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COLUMNS
Risk Appetite: On Trying British Classics as an American
Valerie Wu explores what it is like to try British food classics as an American in Oxford, and how one way of understanding a culture is through its cuisine.
InterMEDIAte: The wonders of not understanding a language
“As this is the last column of InterMEDIAte, I hope that it pushes at least one reader to watch something in an unfamiliar language, or to ask a friend about the shows they grew up with, or to search up the translation for a song that spoke to their heart and soul before it did…
Lady Grinning Soul: An Interview with Chris Barker
“I’ve been very lucky to be around people who are really nice and understanding and conscientious. I tend to see those kinds of people do really well, so getting rid of the ego is a big one for me, I would say.” In her latest column, Julia Blackmon interviews Oxford music scene staple Chris Barker.
CULTURES
The Anti-Gone at Helwys Hall, Regent’s Park College: Reviewed
[cw: suicide] Have you ever laughed at Antigone? No, probably not—you’re probably a good person who doesn’t find tragic deaths funny. I was too until I saw The Anti-Gone, the…
David Mamet’s Oleanna at New College, Oxford: Reviewed
David Mamet’s Oleanna is a difficult play. Difficult in that it raises hard questions about how we respond to claims of sexual harassment and imbalances of power. (Questions which a…
So Bad, It’s Good: John Cage’s 4’33”
Music is ubiquitous in our lives. From the playlists we make for every imaginable activity to the constant drone of mundane pop at restaurants and shopping malls, music is distilled…
LIfestyle
Ranking Every Coffee Shop in Oxford
“At the beginning of Hilary, I set myself two goals: turn all my essays in on time and visit every coffee shop in Oxford. Although I didn’t quite achieve the…
Resistance: Food That Refuses to Be Instagrammable
On social media, food seems to belong to a very particular visual world — bone china, ceramic bowls, wooden boards, linen napkins, candle-lit tables. Steel plates, tainted pressure cookers, slightly…
The Lifestyle Lowdown: Day Trips
If you’ve got some free time as week 8 draws to a close, why not use it to explore Oxford and its surroundings? Here are some of our favourite spots.…
Identity
Excess and Essays: A Visiting Student’s Reflection
“This would be my third university in three years, and I was well-practised in the ritual of formulating one’s persona. Feigning the aloof disinterest one associates with the higher order…
The Motherhood Mandate: Fascism’s War on Bodily Autonomy
Katrina Roach discusses the connection between fascism and the restriction of women’s bodily autonomy through past and present cases of female oppression. Image credit to Conatw95, used under the Creative…
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