Arts – The Orbital

In Conversation With… Louise Parker and Insanity Radio: How Radio Is Shaping the Path For The Future of Media.

15Apr

By Ruby SharkieNo Comments

Music, News

In Conversation With… Louise Parker and Insanity Radio: How Radio Is Shaping the Path For The Future of Media.

By Ruby Sharkie, Associate News Editor With the rise of streaming services, on demand and AI, its easy to assume that radio is an old and dying industry… and that may also have been my opinion, before I found out what it really is when researching this article. I found that radio isn't dying, it's constantly evolving and adapting. From the 19th century to the 21st, radio has helped humans to wirelessly communicate - whether it be Morse Code, military messages, news, drama performances, music and so much more. So, whether it’s a shift from interior design to the BBC or student presenters finding their voices for the first time, the "magic" of the mic is as potent as ever. I went behind the scenes to speak with the producers and presenters who prove that radio’s heart is still beat...

The Battle For Your Attention – Paramount Reigns Over Netflix

3Mar

By Claudia BealNo Comments

Film & TV, News

The Battle For Your Attention – Paramount Reigns Over Netflix

By Claudia Beal, Staff Writer In December 2025, the battle for ownership of Warner Bros Discovery ‘ended’ in a £61 billion deal from Netflix. However, on February 27th, Netflix walked away from the deal. Paramount Skydance is set to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, having won its hostile takeover bid. In December, Paramount, despite the larger bid, seemed the smaller player. Netflix had almost conclusively won. The deal would have made the new conglomerate a giant in the entertainment landscape, which raised concerns of anti-competitive behaviour and awaits approval by associated authorities. The Writers Guild of America commented that the former Netflix merger “would eliminate jobs, push down wages, worsen conditions for all entertainment workers, raise prices for consumers, and r...

22Feb

By Marnie BakerNo Comments

Culture, Literature

Are All Great Writers Honest?

By Marnie Baker, Staff Writer Honesty is a fundamental part of life and growth. It enables us as human beings to connect not only with ourselves, but with others. It allows for whole, meaningful relationships and a fulfilling life rich with discovery and freedom. But is it integral for writers to be honest, and what is the purpose of honesty in literature? Whilst fiction may seem to be simply fabrication or invention, there are often always traces of truth, however small, within a writer’s work. For writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, honesty was a quality within his writing that he found inescapable. His goal was to be “an honest man and a good writer”, implying that the two are intrinsically interlinked. Alongside being a monumental figure in Black history, Baldwin rem...

‘Man’s greatness is determined by his heart, not by his caste’: Moving Towards Literature amidst Nepalese Disparity

12Feb

By Suhana LimbuNo Comments

Culture, Literature

‘Man’s greatness is determined by his heart, not by his caste’: Moving Towards Literature amidst Nepalese Disparity

By Suhana Limbu, Associate Culture Editor When I began planning this article, I asked my British-Nepalese peers a simple question: “What do you think of when I say ‘literature’?” They answered profusely. They recited writers, novels, and poems, but they were all Western-centred. Once I asked what comes to mind when I say “Nepalese literature”, I was met with a pause. After a moment of struggle, they admitted to their limited knowledge; many of their answers connoted ideas of ancient folklore, religion, and lost literature. The phrase "lost literature" particularly gripped me. In recent years, there’s been a clear rising interest in Asian culture. Although seeing this representation heartens me, I’ve noticed that there’s no presence of Nepalese literature––how have we com...

Every Monument Will Fall: Or, Why History Isn’t Just a Study of the Past

5Jan

By Ruby DayNo Comments

Culture

Every Monument Will Fall: Or, Why History Isn’t Just a Study of the Past

By Ruby Day, Deputy Editor-in-Chief In the spirit of honesty, I feel comfortable admitting that nothing boils my blood quite like being asked what the use of my history degree is. It’s been assumed countless times that the only feasible career I could pursue is that of a secondary school history teacher. Whilst I have endless admiration for the profession, without my own secondary school history teacher I would be a very different person today, the idea of regurgitating facts about Weimar Germany to a class of largely apathetic 14-year-olds leaves me cold. Whenever the presumption is made that a return to GCSE-level history is on the cards for my future, I often bite my tongue for fear of looking like a mega-nerd, holding back the extensive and shower-rehearsed monologue I could del...

Born With Teeth: Education at the Theatre

5Jan

By Ruby DayNo Comments

Culture, Theatre & Performance

Born With Teeth: Education at the Theatre

By Ruby Day, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Some experiences are electric. Watching legendary playwrights Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe and William Shakespeare prowl around, pine for, and pounce on one another is undeniably worthy of such categorisation. Running for a limited 11-week season on the West End (13th August to 1st November 2025), Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth combines historical fact, scholarly speculation, and poetic license into an exceptional play that stands testament to the idea that a night at the theatre can be just as educational as attending a lecture. I admit, I was principally drawn to this production because of the undeniable crush I have on Edward Bluemel, who takes up the role of Shakespeare alongside his forcefully dynamic co-star, Ncuti Gatwa’s Marlowe. Attending ...

We Should All Care More About The Curtains: Media Literacy in the Age of AI

7Dec

By Mica DunleavyNo Comments

Opinion

We Should All Care More About The Curtains: Media Literacy in the Age of AI

By Mica Dunleavy, Staff Writer A few weeks ago, I saw Born With Teeth on the West End. Given the play’s middling reviews and single-room setting, I was unexpectedly riveted for its full 90-minute runtime. A few lines, just into the first part, struck me strongly enough that I paid for a copy of the script on the way out of the theatre, and then for a ticket to its closing show on the train home. In the winter of 1591, a mostly imagined Shakespeare complains to a fictitiously raunchy Marlowe that he ‘just wants to write’. Marlowe, entrenched in sixteenth-century political intrigue and spying, snaps his response: ‘no one gets to just write [...] We give ourselves away in every line.’ As a current screenwriting student, whose most repressed feelings have been accidentally dredged up an...

4Dec

By Aspen IronsideNo Comments

Culture

Edie Sedgwick: Redefining the Muse

By Aspen Ironside, Staff Writer Recently, I watched the 2006 film Factory Girl – a biopic about Edie Sedgwick that followsher move from California to New York, and subsequent status as one of Andy Warhol’smuses (aka ‘superstars’). Previously, I was only vaguely familiar with Edie Sedgwick,usually through the form of referential make-up worn by models in Vogue. But uponwatching Factory Girl, I found myself totally enamoured by her, and wanted to learn moreabout her life. This experience made me question why some people are so naturally magneticto us as human beings. Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick represent what one typically imagines an artist-muserelationship to be. The muse (Sedgwick) quickly becomes the subject of many works ofart–for Warhol that was often films–and becomes synonym...

Elitism in the Metal Industry: Are Bands Becoming Pop-ified?

17Nov

By Ruby SaggersNo Comments

Opinion

Elitism in the Metal Industry: Are Bands Becoming Pop-ified?

Written by Ruby Saggers, Editor-in-Chief I love metal; it is, peculiarly, the only genre I have listened to for around ten years. The consequence of this is that I am far too wrapped up in the drama of it all, and the elitism that inevitably formed as a result of old and new fans mixing in a relatively small community (compared to genres like pop, at least). With an increase in TikTok popularity came bands being gatekept and, suddenly, the metal community became dreadfully sour. I can admit, finding one of my favourite songs amidst a TikTok scrolling session often has me feeling confused. Having grown up bullied and being classed as ‘different’ for liking vocalists that scream, I couldn’t quite grasp the sudden growth in popularity. In recent years many of the bands older metal fans...

Brooding, Gothic, and Celestial: Ethel Cain Live in London

13Oct

By Jess SmithNo Comments

Culture

Brooding, Gothic, and Celestial: Ethel Cain Live in London

By Jessica L. Smith, Senior Opinion Editor To say that attending an Ethel Cain concert is a religious experience seems cliché. Cain, or, to use her real name Hayden Anhedönia, has constructed a musical career under the pseudonym of a character facing religious trauma, questions of faith and a loss of innocence. It would be ludicrous for Anhedönia’s live shows not to feel sacred. There’s something celestial about a congregation of concertgoers, wearing a multitude of camouflage, white vintage dresses, and rosaries that align with Anhedönia’s carefully curated aesthetic, who are simply honoured to be in her presence. Anhedönia’s stint of five shows at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo brings the anticipated ‘The Willoughby Tucker Forever Tour’ to London. After the success of Anhedöni...