Sloshed socialising: rite or myth of passage?
University is to alcohol what an essay is to an all-nighter: undoubtedly at some point in your student life the two will come together, and no one will be able to stop it from getting messy. Even for...
View ArticleCocktails: bootleg bartending
Bored with Basics and too broke for Bollinger? Jessica Sinyor runs you through some budget blues to beat those fifth week blues About midway through a Union debate on patriotism, I realised that I had...
View ArticleWine and punishment: raiding Sainsbury’s
The Sainsbury’s Basics range is a marvellous thing. It provides an unmatched selection of bargains, ideal for the impoverished but morally enlightened Oxford student; ten fish fingers for 60p, eighty...
View ArticleScrumptious scavenging on Little Clarendon
Little Clarendon Street and the adjacent Woodstock Road are on the periphery of the trendy district of Jericho. Most modern languages students and those in the nearby colleges will be familiar with...
View Article“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”: but if it is, please do
The College attitude towards the safety of its students and the maintenance of its properties is a very confusing one. Paving slabs which weren’t broken have been totally replaced outside my building....
View ArticleThe inanity of casual rowing: just don’t do it
Way back in the autumn of 2010, I went for my first proper rowing outing. I was excited to be in Oxford, and rowing was one of the first activities on my list of ‘must tries’. (To reassure my regular...
View ArticleCreating a buzz as the prince of procrastination
Last week Luke Lewis, editor of Buzzfeed, came to talk to some of his most avid users; Oxford students. For those of you who don’t spend all your time procrastinating on this great website, Buzzfeed is...
View ArticleWoody Allen’s case, his felony, and his fidelity
“What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?” asks Dylan Farrow in her recently published open letter. Annie Hall, Manhattan or maybe Sleeper? Instead of offering her choice or an analysis of his...
View ArticleInterview with Simon Blackburn: The People’s Philosopher
“Of course – I’d be delighted to give an interview. But could we do it over some wine? There’s nothing like a drink after the adrenaline rush of giving a talk.” Seeing him perk up at the suggestion...
View ArticleThe highs and lows of the manic experience
Last summer, between my first and second years at Oxford, I had a manic episode. Before this, my only real exposure to bipolar disorder was Season 1 of 90210, where Silver becomes manic. Now, coping...
View ArticleOrder and disorder: recovering from anorexia
Last week something miraculous happened. For most women, the arrival of your period isn’t really a jumping-for-joy occasion, despite what tampon manufacturers would have us believe. Aside for a lucky...
View ArticleHierarchy, competition and the psychology of success
“Sooo…. what did you get?” Cue my fellow course mate, whose burning curiosity about my Prelims performance proved too much for more than two and a half days of tactful discretion on Facebook chat....
View ArticleDepression: beyond stigmatisation and stereotyping
My first up-close view of depression was from the plastic seat of my sixth-form classroom. Psychology IB offered me a bullet-point guide to what this mental illness involved: mood, sleep, appetite...
View Article“I’m never getting a McMuffin again”: Review, Gee’s weekend brunch
Food: An elegant take on traditional breakfasts. Experience: Airy, friendly, greenhousely . Value: Absurdly good. Change for a tenner. Luton, 2004. A tubby 11-year-old takes his first crunching,...
View ArticlePringle, Publishing, Partying and Potter
Alexandra Pringle, Editor-in-Chief of Bloomsbury Publishing, the company that brought us Harry Potter as well as the likes of Margaret Atwood and Howard Jacobson, begins her talk by explaining, “I was...
View ArticleWomen’s magazines “the root of all evil”?
So I chatted to the managing editor of Glamour magazine the other day and she was great. Helen Placito, comfortably dressed, easy to talk to and totally down to earth was not necessarily what you’d...
View ArticleHappiness is a warm, brown study
At Oxford I sometimes feel as though there are things that have to be “ticked off”. You have to go out twice a week, pull more ergs than anyone else and obviously obtain a First, Blue or Spouse....
View ArticleSelfie harm: a dangerous trend?
Karl Lagerfeld’s new shop opened in Regent Street last week. Inside the changing rooms customers would find something new. State of the art iPads were installed into the mirrors, allowing shoppers to...
View ArticleInterview: Richard Ayoade
‘Never meet your heroes’ is a phrase often thrown around, and often difficult to ignore. Sitting in a small hotel room in the centre of London, listening to Richard Ayoade with his corduroy suit,...
View ArticleCareers special: meet the librarian scholar
Trinity beckons, and while April showers bring May flowers, this sort of proverbial frivolity won’t mask the less cheery fact that it’s also Finals season, which for all current third-years basically...
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