The Academic Gig Economy
It isn’t obvious that Uber drivers and other ‘gig economy’ workers have much in common with Oxford dons. The gig economy business model is simple yet exploitative: companies like Uber extract the maximum labour while offering the minimum employment rights in return – something they manage vi
My Mother, After
When my mother’s hair came back slightly thicker, she decided she wanted to dye it bright blue. My dad put on the colour as she sat with a towel wrapped around her shoulders in front of the bathroom mirror. I remember that when she turned to look at me: the frantic smudges around her hair [&hellip
The Isis Podcasts: In Conversation with Rachel Cusk
Join us for a conversation with author and memoirist Rachel Cusk. A prolific writer, Cusk has written ten novels and four works of non-fiction during her career. We discuss the role of the narrator, the idea of ‘autofiction’, and the effects of isolation on the creative process. Hosted by Lucy T
Pest Control
Around mid-March, my mother developed an obsession with killing wasps. The weather was still cold and grey when I arrived home, the threat of the pandemic having driven me from my university accommodation, but as it began to brighten and grow warmer, a few sluggish and lazy queens found their
Two women
are wearing high necked jumpers, wrapped up to their chins like coffee cup sleeves. Their spines taut trunks, […]
The Isis Podcasts: In Conversation with Oobah Butler
The Isis is back with a new season of podcasts with a new jingle! Join us for a conversation with filmmaker and writer Oobah Butler, best known for creating ‘The Shed at Dulwich’, a fake restaurant that got to #1 in London on TripAdvisor. We talk about going viral, his fascination with
Vaslav Nijinsky
I often pretend to be in love with Nijinsky. It’s easier that way, I tell myself. Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) was a Polish-Russian ballerino and choreographer who is often credited with the modernisation of dance. His most famous piece, The Rite of Spring, was so radical in its time that the audie
Amber Means Wait
The sparrows had nested in a traffic light. They selected the orange filter, periodically warming themselves against the bulb whenever the light changed from green to red, or back again. When I first noticed them, crossing the road on my commute home, they looked like the end scene of a Looney Tunes
Under His Skin
I don’t think he knows I’m here, embedded in his dermis. We ended things in a typical rage: “God, you get under my skin!” And I said what now seems to me the line which sealed my fate: “You’d be so lucky!” And, the next morning, I came to, and there I was. Don’t get […]