Wenjiang
When I lived in Wenjiang District, Sichuan province, I used to walk home along the river. The reflections from the lamps lining the riverbank created golden pools of light, calling to mind the meaning of Wenjiang, ‘warm river’. Walking past groups of dancers, I would attract stares from old men
What are we waiting for?
It’s an odd experience, waiting, in a generation like ours. Silence, space and solitude can be agitating in the twenty-first century, where a successful life is often synonymous with bustle and activity. Do we no longer know how to be passive? Sure, the average city-dweller’s daily life is unde
North
North in search of a true-nature tribe the proper study of man became everything a hot hidden Africa, a colonial playground except bullet-proof like sugar spring and lips lined with logic and maps tasks, deadlines, gadgets, whole constellations tuned without a whisper of here and honey and wholy thi
‘Prophesy, Darkness, Play’: An Interview with Max Porter
“A is to B what C is to A plus B less C. Lovely.” This is the family dynamic of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter’s debut novel, a slim book ostensibly about the “grief” of its title. Yet things are not quite as they seem: a dead mum has been replaced by […]
Very tiny countries
Micronations are self-proclaimed states, sometimes partially—but almost never universally—recognised. There are as many as 200 known micronations in the world today, ranging from political protests to eccentric experiments. Many are permeated by a spirit of rebellion and subversion—from Akhziv
Niche Numbers: #1
Jake Kennedy and Jamie Tahsin bring you some of their favourite songs with < 50,000 views on YouTube in the first episode of their NicheNumbers podcast.
Antigone of Syria
“Our two brothers on a single day, A wretched pair, with hands aimed at each other, Killing themselves, have shared a doom in common. And now we two, the last ones left—consider How much worse death will be for us if we Defy the law and flout the rulers’ vote and power.” This passage could [
By hand: A Silversmith
The ISIS watches an Oxford-based Silversmith, Tony Thomson, at work. A film by Persis Love.
The ISIS meets Larry Sanders
Our broadcasting team met with Larry Sanders in Oxford to talk all things politics. Cover Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth