culture
By Maliha Shoaib, BA English and World Philosophies A year into the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s clear that the entertainment industry and the arts have taken a real hit. No more cinemas, no more exhibitions, no more premiers, no more gigs. While many have managed to adapt to our new
culture
By Lara Gibbs, BA Chinese (Modern and Classical) Despite having written, acted in, produced, and co-directed the groundbreaking show, I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel has been snubbed in the Golden Globe nominations this year, while series such as Emily in Paris received multiple nominations. This has highlighted ongoing questions
culture
By Joe Greaney, MA Music in Development Rishi Sunak has made a big decision. Following public pressure and predicting a backlash from his own MPs, the Chancellor has reluctantly decided to keep the £20 uplift to Universal Credit until September. Although the uplift is set to end abruptly in the
culture
By Louisa Johnson, MA Global Creative and Cultural Industries It’s a Sin, Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 hit is a heartbreaking tale of the global HIV and AIDS epidemic and its devastating effects on gay urban life from 1981 to 1991. Originally rejected by BBC One, ITV, and even
Opinion
By Eliza Bacon, MA Global Media and Communications 2021 really has been the year of Facebook; the year of reckoning with the role it plays in our lives, and what little we can do about it. Why ‘year’ when we’re only in the early months of 2021? Because I
Opinion
By Rehman Khokhar, BA Chinese and Korean A recent report by the BBC found that in the first half of 2020 more people were killed as a result of police violence in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro than in all of the United States put together. 75% of
Opinion
By Aaron Chen, BA Law and Chinese The model minority myth is the stereotype that ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) diaspora are, amongst other attributes, the hardest working, most successfully assimilated and least threatening minority group. Yet given the rise of anti-ESEA hate crimes occurring all over the world, the
Opinion
By Abdul Basit, BA International Relations and Economics Universal accountability or faceless justice has long constituted the utopian daydreams of philosophers and international theorists alike. Plato talked about it and so did More. The closest we have come to realise such an aspiration is undoubtedly the founding of the International
Opinion
By Fakhriya M. Suleiman, MA Global Media and Postnational Communication In 1996 The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order was published. Therein, Samuel P. Huntington foresaw collective religious identity and culture as being the locus of future conflict to come. According to Huntington, ‘Western Civilisation’ would encompass
Opinion
By Zahra Jawad, BA Politics and Economics *Content warning: surgical procedures and medical negligence* If 2021 has shown us anything, it is the incredible capacity for clinical innovations at the heart of modern medicine. Several Covid-19 vaccines, developed with cutting-edge technology, have been approved and widely manufactured in just a
Opinion
By Zaynab Mufti, BA International Relations and History We Brits are known for our pride in our values and freedoms. No matter the stake and no matter whose neck is stepped on, all is fair as long as our freedoms are upheld – right? It seems our government thinks so too.
Opinion
By Sophie Zwick, BA Politics and International Relations As vaccine rollouts begin in earnest all over the world, Thai authorities and hotel chains have called for quarantine exemptions for vaccinated travellers. However, the devastating consequences of the shuttered tourist industry have been most painfully felt among its most vulnerable workers