Futile Reflections
“If I write what I feel, it’s to reduce the fever of feeling. What I confess is unimportant, because everything is unimportant.” Ideas are futile unless articulated. Ideas are like water, with a transparent nothingness that only solidifies after finding form in the contours of words. But if id
Trinity Term ’24 Best Before: Unarchived
It’s not speaking ill of the dead if it’s honest TW: Mentions of domestic abuse. The family of OJ Simpson have asked for “privacy and grace” at the time of his death. The announcement was made on X, formerly known as twitter, on Thursday April 11th, a day after his dea
“Starmer is unremarkable, in every sense of the word”: Your verdict on the general election
On the day the 2024 general election result was announced, The Isis released a poll. We wanted to know how you voted, why you voted, and how you felt about the state of UK politics going forwards. The results are in. First, let me remind you of what went down on July 4th. […]
Why should we assimilate?
‘You don’t belong here.’ The painfully familiar words seem to apply even more to Eastern European students than your average imposter syndrome sufferer. But why would that be the case when first generation families have been present in the UK since the 1920s, running away from war, socialism,
In Conversation with the Naked Diplomat, Tom Fletcher CMG, Principal of Hertford
There are rumours that he is being courted by the Labour party to rejoin the world of government, that he will be the next ambassador to the US. Slightly more exciting than the news coverage of your average Head of House at Oxford, many of whom we dismiss as excessively wealthy reminders of old Oxfo
Maybe I’m an anti-intellectual
A year ago, a friend from home visiting Oxford took a deep breath after my new friends left the room. She said “you all speak really fast.” That “I’m on the last thing, and you’re onto the next. It’s all going over my head.” I was embarrassed. I realised only lat
Equus: Talking to director Marianne Nossair
Bestiality. Making out with horses. Sweaty, sexual intercourse fantasies atop their backs. Dreams, nightmares, and the sacred deification of them. Not exactly what I was expecting from my Saturday afternoon; but instead of being horrified or repulsed, I came out of Equus strangely sympathetic toward
BEST BEFORE: Your guide to the Indian general election’s surprise result
“How many seats do you think Modi will get? 300 for sure?” At a dinner-table conversation a few weeks ago, two friends and I were placing our bets on how many seats in the Lok Sabha the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – the right wing, Hindu-focused party led by Narendra Modi – alone
Jake Bugg in Oxford: A bad review of an okay show
It’s about 10.15pm, and Jake Bugg is about three-quarters of the way through his setlist. He swaps out one of his many electric guitars (needlessly many for a series of songs with the same tunings and same guitar tones) for an acoustic. It’s that moment in the night where the tipsy ‘6 M