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The Louvre Heist: When Movement Shook the Stillness of Power

29Oct

By Liv Briens MonteroNo Comments

News

The Louvre Heist: When Movement Shook the Stillness of Power

By Liv Briens Montero, Staff Writer On the 19th of October, Sunday morning in Paris, the world’s most visited museum became a stage for an old fashioned heist. It truly sounds like something out of a mystery novel: a handful of men dressed as workers, a crane and a broken window- and the Louvre, the holy grail of French culture and history, robbed in broad daylight. In the age of elaborate technology, such as facial recognition and AI-driven surveillance, the burglars did not need high tech hackers or tools. They simply climbed, cut and left on their scooters. The world watched in disbelief. How could the most frequented museum on Earth, home to some of the most famous paintings, as well as the very symbols of France’s grandeur, be humiliated by an operation so simple it...

The Psychological Effects of Witnessing Cruelty to Animals on Social Media: An Interview with Dr Kieschnick and Dr Lawlor

17Feb

By Felix PoréeNo Comments

Lifestyle, News, Opinion

The Psychological Effects of Witnessing Cruelty to Animals on Social Media: An Interview with Dr Kieschnick and Dr Lawlor

By Felix Porée Royal Holloway graduate Felix Porée, who is studying for his MA in War Studies at Kings College London, recently collaborated with the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics to interview Dr Dustin Kieschnick and Dr Katie Lawlor. Dr Kieschnick holds a Doctorate of Psychology as a graduate of the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium as well as being a licensed clinical psychologist, and Dr Lawlor holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Stanford and specialises in the human-animal bond, grief, and pet loss. Felix specialises in the studies of 19th-century German philosophy, ethics, and terrorism. More information can be found via his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felixporee/ In a discussion centred around animal cruelty and its links with social media, Felix, Dus...

‘I Saw it on TikTok’: The Death of Print and Reliable Sources

16Nov

By Poppy JacksonNo Comments

Opinion

‘I Saw it on TikTok’: The Death of Print and Reliable Sources

By Poppy Jackson Podcast recommendations, the next viral recipe, or the serum that will finally rid me of my acne scars—TikTok has it all. Yet, when it comes to spreading global news, this short-form video content and its simple sharing and distribution methods are nothing short of dangerous. We’ve all fallen victim to the social media news circus, where celebrities propagate their own ignorance pertaining to politics, religion, and worldviews, often reaching a larger audience than traditional publications. When the Israel-Gaza conflict is at the forefront of public consciousness, TikTok is more than ever a necessary tool. So why does this form of media consumption prove so unreliable? Even before TikTok, it was difficult to find trustworthy, unfiltered news. A politi...

Healing Wounds and Fostering Hope in the City Of Joy: The Battle of Dr. Denis Mukwege

15Nov

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

News

Healing Wounds and Fostering Hope in the City Of Joy: The Battle of Dr. Denis Mukwege

By Olivia Taylor Trigger Warning: Discussions of rape and violence. Rape is the cheapest weapon in war. It has the power to destroy families, empty villages and rid victims of any sense of dignity. Finding a solution for a crime against humanity like this feels almost hopeless. Still, there is one man who has dedicated his life to changing the world’s perspective by saving the lives of thousands of Congolese women who have endured the harrowing weaponisation of rape in times of war. Dr. Denis Mukwege decided to study medicine after witnessing the complications that women in the Congo experience during childbirth due to their lack of specialist medical attention. As a result, Dr. Mukwege established Panzi Hospital to address his country’s alarming maternal mortality rates. It was ...

Some Things Never Change: Body Positivity or Toxicity?

10Oct

By Beth McCowenNo Comments

Lifestyle, Opinion

Some Things Never Change: Body Positivity or Toxicity?

By Beth McCowen As the weather gets hotter, and the events that have been in our diaries for months are finally rolling around, it’s time to switch up our wardrobes to include some summer attire after months and months of cosy jumpers and trendy scarves. As joyful as the sunshine, floral dresses, and holidays can feel, this transition in season, and therefore style, is easier for some than it is for others. Throughout the autumn, winter and even spring months, we often grow used to hiding away our bodies, our insecurities, under clothes in which we feel comfortable, usually on the basis that they show less of our skin than the alternatives that are more practical for the summer. For those who have struggled with eating disorders, other health problems, or difficult relatio...

31Jul

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Opinion

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

By Olivia Taylor We are led to believe that everything that starts eventually has to end. Last year as a part of my compulsory ‘Thinking as a Critic’ English module we briefly discussed teleology, specifically looking at its relation to literature. In a philosophical sense, teleology essentially describes the purpose of something by its finality rather than how it came to be, and so when this theory is applied to literature, often it becomes apparent that continuity cannot always be as rewarding as closure may be. The state of closure brings about a sense of completeness, it yields satisfaction. When it got to the point of writing our final assignment for this particular module, I was drawn back to our previous studies of closure with a question titled, ‘For what reason, if any, is clo...

14Jun

By Felix PoréeNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Literature, Opinion

How Did Life End Up With Us?

By Felix Poreé and Olivia Taylor Introduced as the first book of a quartet titled "The Secrets of Life: From Big Bang to Trump", SS O'Connor's How Did Life End Up With Us? presents itself as an attempt to answer the most pertinent of questions surrounding the laws of life, from the start of the Big Bang all the way to the ‘decisions’ that organisms make that ultimately determine their chances of survival. One anticipates that such questions would require substantial scientific research, and although O’Connor admits he is not a scientist, his undertaking, given to the reader in a conversational writing style, is divided into specific chapters that aim to cover such topics as natural selection, gene mutations, and evolutionary change, down to parasitism, mutualism, and altruism. O’Con...

24Apr

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Culture

Hopeless Romantic by Dolly Alderton

I have held myself back from discussing Dolly Alderton for quite some time now. I first read her debut memoir Everything I Know About Love three years ago, during lockdown, and I have not shut up about it since. I’ll admit, her fictional debut, Ghosts, did not impress me as much; I quickly realised it was her confessional tone that caught my attention, hence why her autobiographical work and her ‘Dear Dolly’ advice column have left such a lasting impression. Since reading Everything I Know About Love, I have continued to stay up to date with her work, but I only recently found an essay she wrote for The Pound Project in 2018 titled ‘Hopeless Romantic’. The Pound Project is an independent publishing company founded by JP Watson. Their message is to shout about ‘the value of readin...

24Apr

By Olivia TaylorNo Comments

Opinion

The Democratic Downfall of Journalism

Daniel Pearl was an American journalist. Near the time of his abduction and death, he had been working in Mumbai, India as the Southeast Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, but had travelled with his family to Karachi, Pakistan to report on the United States’ War on Terrorism following the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda in 2001. Pearl was recognised for his journalistic detail and his ability to empathise with how humanity - and our own human nature - is affected by international issues. Consequently, he was considerate of the reported portrayal of the Islamic world towards his Western readers. Nevertheless, during his time in Karachi in early 2002, Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by several Islamist jihadist groups working together, operating under the Lashkar-e-Omar umbrella. ...

Turkey and Syria Earthquake: “if one of us can’t breathe, none of us can breathe.”

1Mar

By Ilayda KaplankiranNo Comments

News

Turkey and Syria Earthquake: “if one of us can’t breathe, none of us can breathe.”

Turkey and Syria woke up to a 7.8 magnitude quake in the early hours of Monday (6th February) morning, killing more than 40,000 people in Turkey and a death toll of 5,800 in Syria. With numbers expecting to rise, and the situation becoming seriously unprecedented, it is important to demonstrate compassion for those suffering such a great loss. As the region awaits help, the emotional outburst from grieving survivors saddens nations already crippled by economic and political uncertainties. Enduring traumatic injuries and having to sleep outside in blistering conditions has become the norm for those living in the affected areas. Silence… After hours of hearing ominous cranes and smashed rubble, the rescue teams pause for the faintest noise. Anguished and fe...