Izzy Swanson, Author at The Orbital

Interview with Marshea Makosa, President of Comedy Society

12Oct

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Interview with Marshea Makosa, President of Comedy Society

How did you first get involved with Comedy Society? I got involved after performing at the Monkey’s Forehead (now The Packhorse) as a solo act and the then president, Ned Sanders, was in the crowd and invited me to come along, check out a workshop and maybe perform with the society. I went and it was a very chill way to challenge and compound my comedic tastes. You’ve just returned from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which the society attends annually, how was the experience? The fringe is really fun! It’s a whirlwind of flyering, talking to performers from all around the world, performing and working on your craft in real time, improving with your fellow comics, going to shows (and going to bars) and just feeling engaged with the mystery of the ‘comedy circuit’. It's intense and ...

7Jun

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

President Celebrity

At January’s Golden Globes, a new potential presidential candidate was born: Oprah Winfrey. In her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille award, she projected a message of solidarity and hope addressed to women across the world who have experienced sexual abuse and inequality. Raised by a single mother in poverty, Oprah’s rise from years of sexual abuse as a child to becoming the richest self-made woman in America, is a deeply inspirational story. Her influence on the American public, initially stemming from The Oprah Winfrey Show, which embedded topics such as racism, LGBT awareness and gun control into a national discourse, left Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois, to suggest that she was ‘the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president’. With her charitable dona...

Fox Hunting: A Thing of the Past or the Future?

13Jun

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

Fox Hunting: A Thing of the Past or the Future?

Izzy Swanson discusses why this activity is back on the political agenda. With the current political climate, I doubt that you were thinking about fox hunting a couple of weeks ago when you were deciding who to vote for in the general election. But now that Theresa May has revealed that she is continuing the Conservatives’ trend of putting the repeal of the fox hunting ban on the party’s manifesto, it has brought the debate into the foreground again. However, as a YouGov poll made known in 2015, the majority of the UK do not want to see a return of the ‘sport’ in its original form, which was outlawed in 2004, so why does the Prime Minister want to revive something so unpopular? One reason is Theresa May’s personal preference as, in her own words, she has “always been in favour of fox...

‘Warning Explicit Content’: Is Censorship Needed in the Music Industry?

9Jun

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

‘Warning Explicit Content’: Is Censorship Needed in the Music Industry?

Censorship is a hotly contested issue and one with a long history of misuse and authoritarian control, but does it still have a place in a 21st century society? Izzy Swanson and Natasha Phillips debate the need for censorship in music. Izzy: against censorship A quarter of the current top 40 singles on the official UK music chart contain explicit language. As a result, these songs are censored when played on the radio. According to Ofcom, the government-approved regulatory body for broadcasting, the reason for this censorship is to ensure that “under-eighteens are protected” from being exposed to “offensive and harmful material”. While the majority of listeners would argue that skipping out or replacing swear words is warranted on the radio, in a wider context, music censorship can ...

22Feb

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

Does Marching Make a Difference?

Isabel Swanson on why political activism of any scale, can make a difference. Since January, millions of people have taken part in protests centred around the new US president, a man who has come to represent a dangerous threat to human rights, equality and social justice, not just in his own country but across the world. As I was standing in the crowd of thousands awaiting the start of the Women’s March, I felt an immense feeling of unity, which I am sure was shared by everyone there. People of all genders, races, ages, sexual identities and backgrounds were marching together as advocators for change; passionate and determined to make their voices heard. But the positivity experienced, both at the demonstration itself and online, was infiltrated by comments such as ‘it won’t change ...

30Jan

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Bring It On MTS.

There is no doubt that the Musical Theatre Society had a busy 2016; last term's production of ‘Bring It On’ received rave reviews and this success was emulated by the success of their Christmas Concert, with a record number of participants and audience members. And this year, they’re showing no signs of slowing down. First up for the society is their production of ‘Marvel vs. DC: The Musical’, from the 18th-21st of February, a show written, produced and directed entirely by its first year members. The original plot will blend the popular comic book characters with existing musical theatre songs and is advertised as ‘a great, comedic show with many unexpected twists and turns, which promises to be fun for everyone.’ Their next big production will be ‘Spring Awakening’ from the 12th-15...

If You Didn’t Take a Picture, Did It Really Happen?

15Dec

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

If You Didn’t Take a Picture, Did It Really Happen?

Be honest. How many photos have you taken or posted online today? Did you upload a photo of you and your friends from last night on Facebook? Instagram a photo of your lunch? Post yet another photo of Founders on your Snapchat story? According to photographer Paul Strand, “your photography is a record of your living” and this idea summarises today’s social media age. We have the opportunity to broadcast every single aspect of our lives through photos and videos to the extent that we can ask the question ‘if you didn’t take a picture, did it really happen?’ I’m sure, like me, that whenever you do anything remotely exciting you take a picture and post it on Snapchat or another social media platform. But this action of actively posting a photo online can suggest that we are seeking vali...

What did the Conservative Party Conference tell us about our future?

5Nov

By Izzy SwansonNo Comments

Opinion

What did the Conservative Party Conference tell us about our future?

The question over who lives in the White House for the next four years is dominating the news, and the decision is firmly placed in the hands of American citizens. So it can feel odd for us here in the UK: we changed our Prime Minister three months ago, without the public casting a single vote. But, like it or not, that is the nature of our political system. So it’s now up to Theresa May to convince us that she is worthy of her new title. At the Conservative Party Conference this week in Birmingham, May outlined her party’s plans for the next four years and just like every other conference, the underlying theme was ‘change’. In fact, she said the word exactly 29 times when talking about the economy, worker’s rights and housing affordability. However, the biggest reference to c...