Greetings from a grown-up
It is summer, still. I can tell because it is warmer outside than it was last summer. I can tell because sudden hot rainfall is welcome: it makes people laugh and leaves behind an earthly dirt smell like it did in Khartoum, where I spent all my summers as a child. Now, with Khartoum desolate, [&hell
Smoking. Hot?
The slim tube of paper rests elegantly between my fingers—I can almost inhale a swirl of smoke emerging from it. ‘Are you going to eat that lollipop?’ my mother asks. I gingerly turn the sweet the right way round and suck on sugar instead of fictional nicotine (not that I am awa
Greetings from Cotonou, Benin
Editor’s Note: the author has used a number of French words throughout the text. These are denoted by an asterisk, which corresponds to an explanatory footnote at the bottom of the page. Like all language students, I began my second year at Oxford by attending an informational sessio
Ballad of a bad bisexual woman
Every time over the last few years that I’ve found myself smitten or stressed or exasperated with a man, it’s occurred to me that I have, in some ways, been doing my sexuality backwards. Traditionally, a woman at university might find in her time there what posh boys for most of history ha
Greetings from Tibet
At the time of writing, the Tibet Autonomous Region remains inaccessible to independent travelers who do not hold P.R.C. passports. Foreign tourists are required to apply for the Tibet Travel Permit in advance of their trips, during which they stay in groups separated from Chinese nationals.
The just will live by faith: Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror #2’
Clint Eastwood’s final film pits a self-incriminating juror against a justice system that confuses verdicts for virtue. Witches can be right, Giants can be good. You decide what’s right You decide what’s good. Just remember: Someone is on your side Someone else is not. -Stephen S
Secularism isn’t ready for He Jiankui
In November 2018, He Jiankui broke the mould. Two days before he was scheduled to speak at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, the MIT Technology Review announced that He had been responsible for editing the genomes of two twin girls born a few weeks prior. Although his p
Parody Personal Statement
Here commences the Personal Statement of the Right Honourable Patricia Eustacia Dalton-Ward, intended for the study of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, college irrelevant. As the scintillating sun reached its zenith on a warm summer’s day, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
GUILLOTINE: Dog ownership is creepy
Dogs are eroding the fabric of modern society. Well, not intentionally. But they are everywhere. You’ll bump into an acquaintance in the bar, make small talk, get chatting. You’ll assume that you are enjoying the company of another ordinary, right-minded in