Distant Voice – California dreamin’
What sort of place do you imagine California to be? Golden beaches, palm trees, movie stars walking along Hollywood Boulevard… and perhaps, if you listen to Katy Perry, a place where perfectly tanned...
View ArticleA guide to RAG blind dates
Finding a partner is much less effort than getting a Blue or a First, and with the RAG Blind Date you don’t even have to pluck up the courage to ask someone out. Even if you’re already happily loved...
View ArticleThought for Food
My feelings towards Quod have always been ones of unshakeable ambivalence. Previous experiences include a cheese soufflé that melts your heart, a chickpea tagine Heinz could have canned better, a...
View ArticleOxford etiquette
Lectures are, in their own way, a perfect encapsulation of the experience of studying at Oxford. Specifically, they embody the academic entropy of the super-intense, highly-involved, sanity-destroying...
View ArticleBreaking language barriers
“Oh…right…languages were never really my thing.” There cannot be a Modern Languages student anywhere in Britain who has not heard these words after being asked which subject they read at university....
View ArticleDistant Voice: Land of de’ Medici
Late last January, I found myself dragging a battered suitcase, filled with too many books and not enough clothes, across the uneven cobbled streets of the Oltrarno – the humble and underappreciated...
View ArticleThe staple of modern living
Facebook’s online community of monthly active users (1.39 billion by the end of 2014) is expected to overtake the present population of China (1.4 billion) in the next quarter of 2015, but is this a...
View ArticleThought for food
This week, Will and I ventured to a hidden slice of Thailand, unbeknownst to many students behind the enchanted gardens of Worcester: Bangkok House. The whitewashed exterior seems unassuming, but once...
View ArticleOxford etiquette
Libraries are an inescapable fact of student life, especially at Oxford. Indeed, the amount of time the average Oxford student is required to spend in one of the city’s many libraries is roughly...
View ArticleNatalie Bennett is stepping up her game
The Green Party is having something of a ‘moment’. Bizarrely, the proposal for leadership debates which excluded the Greens seems to have given them an opportunity to garner more media attention....
View ArticleOxford Etiquette: Formal Hall
Formal hall is terrific fun, but there’s an awful lot of archaic nonsense which goes along with it. (He said, inadvertently summing up his entire student life). They provide excellent food and good...
View ArticleDistant voice: Mardi Gras in New Orleans
Last week the UK celebrated Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as Pancake Day, but in the United States, the day of feasts is known as Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is all about family, friends,...
View ArticleWhat I’ve learned from Oxford Jailbreak
Nobody really expects success on Jailbreak, do they? Only teams who have been lucky enough to wangle some sponsored flights in advance are guaranteed to make it out of the country; for those who start...
View ArticleBeyond Clicktivism
It appears easier that ever to do one’s bit to better the world. Buying Fairtrade, signing online petitions or paying for someone else’s coffee takes a minute out of our day and gives us a boost of...
View ArticleAdrian Hill: fighting Ebola in Oxford
Professor Adrian Hill opened with the assertion that had his talk taken place just a year earlier even the front row was unlikely to have been filled. Yet the Professor’s talk, given in Magdalen...
View ArticleThought for Food: Gee’s
Rarely can a conservatory showcase such sophistication. Somehow, Gee’s manages to transform the otherwise humble into a rather cosy, refined and tranquil setting, almost as if we were dining in a...
View ArticleEmily Brothers: get stuck into politics
Emily Brothers is not just another boring politician. Her background is in the public sector: she was a former Head of Policy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), where she was...
View ArticleTeaching in the Balkans
Voenna Rampa wasn’t how you might imagine a refugee camp to be – rather than the tented variety often shown on television, the camp was based in an abandoned school, run by a Bulgarian Government...
View ArticleDistant Voice: from Russia with love
As I stepped off the bus in -40 degree snow boots, a down-feather jacket, thermals, and as much of my remaining wardrobe as would fit underneath, into the 19 degree heat of a glorious September day, to...
View ArticleSeparating Oxford facts from myth
One only has to walk down Broad Street and listen to the packs of dubiously qualified tour guides to understand the public’s perception of Oxford as a hub of mysterious and magical activity. As...
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