interview – Page 2 of 3

4Mar

By Madeline BreedNo Comments

Elections

VP Education

In a joint venture with Insanity Radio, we have interviewed all the candidates for VP Education and created a podcast with questions that delve deeper into their individual manifesto points. Our ongoing Sabbatical Officer coverage and involvement with the elections has been exceptional this year, with the media outlets chairing Candidate Question Time, and we will continue with this by interviewing all winning candidates on elections night so keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are our brief summaries of each candidate and their manifestos: George White - 0:00.30-0:10.30 George White is aiming to increase study spaces across campus, oversee a smooth transition when it comes to the academic restructure on campus, eliminate paper hand-ins and provide further engagement with academic...

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 ...

Interview: Labour Society President, Maliha Reza

8Oct

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Interview: Labour Society President, Maliha Reza

To start, could you sum up the aims that are at the heart of your society? As a political society, our main aim is to unite socialist voices across Royal Holloway to inspire positive change, both on campus and beyond. It’s important for there to be student representatives of the Labour Party on campus as it is students who can go on to inspire many policies and changes. Is there anything your society is planning for the coming year that you are particularly excited about? On campus, we are planning to run guest speaker events featuring MPs to Political Journalists, these are always exciting and insightful. For off-campus trips, we are planning to attend events at the Houses of Parliament and panelled discussions held there- it’s a good way to feel more involved with the party and a g...

30Jul

By AnonymousNo Comments

Features

Debrief: Abby King

I first met Abby in a café on campus many months ago during winter term. Naturally, after exchanging pleasantries, our conversation jumped to Labour Party politics and our mutual interests. It’s a similar scenario that plays out today, as we sit in the same café and discuss the next phase of our activism and catch up with life. The weather is brighter this time, and the drinks are much colder. Actually, this is not strictly true- they ran out of ice, so we are stuck with lukewarm coffees. A lot can change in a few months, though. Abby is running to be a Labour Party Councillor of Englefield Green West. A Councillor is elected to represent a party (or independent) in a local council - it’s a good way to be involved in local politics and engage with issues that impact your immediate communi...

7Jul

By Louisa WicksNo Comments

Sports & Socs

An Interview with Pole Dancing

Pole fitness is a hugely up-and-coming activity around the world, and Royal Holloway recently added it to its lengthy list of societies. I spoke to the president of the society, Marta Barton-Navarro, to find out why she joined and why pole fitness is becoming such a popular club. Why did you join the society? I decided to join the society because it was so different and exotic compared to any other society and club. It seemed like a challenge, and once I tried it I got hooked and didn’t want to stop! What does the society do? This academic year not only have we provided Pole Fitness lessons, but we have also added aerial hoop lessons as part of the society. Also new to this year, we have competed in a competition called Inter Uni Pole Dance Competition (IUPDC), where we went to Imperia...

22Mar

By Bryony LockNo Comments

Features

An Audience with Example

Elliot Gleave, better known by his stage name ‘Example’, graduated Royal Holloway in 2003 with a BA Media Arts degree. University is a strange and wonderful time where we meet lots of different people. Everyone has so much potential, yet so little knowledge of what the future holds. Example is a perfect illustration of the amazing accomplishments that we can all obtain after studying at this university. I was lucky enough to speak to him about his experiences at Royal Holloway. Why Royal Holloway? I fell in love with RHUL for many reasons. The grounds, the halls, the Union. I remember going to the open day, it was beautiful day, Founders was there looking like Hogwarts’ distant cousin. Then I visited the Media department and the facilities and staff just inspired me. Did you go to...

12Mar

By Martha LochheadNo Comments

Lifestyle

The Real Fur Debate

Those of you who have seen videos of fur farming will have, no doubt, been appalled by the gruesome and bloody images, and quite naturally will have proclaimed yourself anti-fur. Yet, on the runways of Paris, New York, London and Milan when the new winter season comes, fur is still prominently featured. There seems to be a gap between the average customer and the world of real fur. This is an opportune moment in which to shed a little light on the subject, exploring both viewpoints and possibly seeing if there is a middle way. My partner in this Martha Lochhead, an anti-fur voice, who has joined me in an open-minded discussion on the matter, to attempt to find a way through the heated voices on both sides and reach a place where fashion and compassion can coexist. Tom: So Martha, I d...

10Mar

By Abbie CheesemanNo Comments

Features

Debrief: Sophie Christiansen

It seems extraordinary that someone who has been through such hardship could instantly fill a room with energy. She’s sassy, cheeky and has the kind of determination that makes you want to go out and conquer the world. Sophie Christiansen is an eight-time Paralympic equestrian champion. She was born two months premature with cerebral palsy. She had jaundice, a collapsed lung and a heart attack – to say that she came out the other side a fighter would be an incredible understatement. As a lover of horses and once-rider myself I am overwhelmed with the amount of things that I want to talk to Sophie about – there are bound to be a million inspiring things that I can write a debrief on her about. What we stumble across, however, was entirely unexpected. I remember seeing Sophie hit th...

26Feb

By Mollie CarlyleNo Comments

Features

In conversation with: Alex Horne

Hello Alex! First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us ahead of the Horne Section’s tour and the release of Taskmaster Champion of Champions. You studied Classics at Cambridge University, did you know straight away that comedy was what you wanted to do, or did you have an alternative career path in mind? I’m still not sure it’s what I want to do – I’m going on a wood carving course next year - in fact, I don’t think you ever really need to be sure. After Cambridge I did a postgraduate Broadcast Journalism course at Goldsmiths. At that point I was pretty sure I wanted to be a journalist… Comedy should happen by accident, I think, not a career decision. How did you get onto the comedy scene? I always liked comedy and thought there was a chance I might be...

5Feb

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

The Hockey Club: An Insight

Lizzy Blackett is the President of the highly esteemed mixed sports club here at Royal Holloway, Hockey. She agreed to speak to Orbital Magazine about her role as President and the intricacies surrounding running a mixed sports club rather than a single-sex one, as so many others are. When asked what her favourite thing about Hockey is, she tells us that “it’s just so fun” while laughing. She worries that her answer is “ridiculous” or too “obvious” but hearing her talk about the sport and how much she “love[s]” it, it doesn’t seem ridiculous at all. Her love for the sport itself fuels her passion towards the club, its members and her presidency as a whole. Blackett “started playing Hockey” when she was just six years old, and both her parents “are Hockey players” as well. The club “p...