Unwitnessed Extinction
One December afternoon in 2017, Hernán Bedoya was riding his horse to the vet in Chocó, Colombia when two men on motorcycles rode up to him and shot him fifteen times. Bedoya, who was a life-long community leader and land rights activist, was allegedly assassinated by a far-right paramilitary grou
A Feast for the Eyes
Still Life with Fruit, Jacob van Walscapelle, c. 1675 1. Against a tastefully dark background, colours look richer. The edge of a crystal wine glass stands out more sharply, a pomegranate seems redder, the bloom on the midnight-purple skin of a grape looks softer. This is what food is in
Little Moments
Score the big moments. Score the euphoria and the bereavement. Score triumph, total fury, big wins, bigger losses. Score the little moments, too. Score the unknown and the sensual and the middle of the night. Score lost keys and pocket change. Score 2020 and uncertainty. Put your headphones in. Foll
In Conversation with R.F. Kuang
“I describe it as Avatar: The Last Airbender if Azula was the main character and everyone was on drugs.” Blending Song dynasty culture with 20th century themes, grounded by grittiness and muddy morality, The Poppy War immediately became one of my favourite novels of 2018. Talking to author Rebec
On Kobe Bryant
Just over a week ago, Kobe Bryant died in a horrific helicopter accident. The world at large seems to shake and social media ‘in memoriams’ are plentiful. Justin Bieber recalls how Kobe ‘always encouraged’ him. Trump calls him ‘truly great’. Kendall Jenner’s grief ‘makes [her] feel m
Bruly Bouabré’s ways of seeing
Seven disembodied heads float in a circle, cheek-to-cheek, their chins pointing to a face in the middle. They look like old men: wrinkled foreheads, receding hairlines, long, drawn-out faces, and empty eyes staring out ahead. The shapes of their eyes, noses, mouths are crude and repetitive. This mig
Oxford joins the UCU strikes
Large crowds gather outside the Clarendon building on a cold Broad Street, sporting heavy coats and bold slogans. These are protesters, clustered in the rain to kick off eight days of strike action over the pay and teaching conditions of academic staff. Nationwide, sixty universities are participati
Frenzy Playlist
To be in a state of frenzy is to experience an extreme sense of disorientation, to struggle with a confused whirlwind of emotions, or simply to feel the unadulterated joy that can come with the unknown. This playlist hopes to capture these feelings alongside this term’s edition of The Isis. Fr