The Blue Spotlight

In this special episode of the Blue Spotlight Ben Blackburn, the Managing Director, and Guy Ward-Jackson, Editor-in-Chief, try to answer that elusive question: what actually is 'conservatism'. The Conservative Party have now been in power for 12 years; we've had five Prime Ministers in the last six. But arguably there has not been much continuity in ideology: from polarisation over Brexit, to austerity vs high spend, or even pragmatism vs populism -- the past 12 years of Conservative politics has felt ideologically jarred. So what is conservatism, if anything at all? Ben and Guy take a look at philosophy, history and contemporary politics to reach some conclusions.

The recent Tory leadership race saw final candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss make competing claims to apparent Iron Lady nostalgia. But as the Truss premiership begins, how will these Thatcherite promises materialise and are they the right response to a country reckoning with the fallout of a pandemic, Brexit and a government reckoning with its identity? The first episode of this season of the podcast will attempt to answer these questions and more, introducing a new cast and crew to an all new season of the Oxford Blue Spotlight!

The second part of a special episode with the Oxford University Drama Society giving a special insight on all levels of Drama in Oxford. If you want to get better and more precise at Oxloving actors this could give you an edge!

A deep dive into spaces for women in Oxford. In our first community spotlight we talk to Oluwakemi Agunbiade who is the current women’s VP at the SU. We then spoke to Caitlin and Rebecca from Oxford Women in Business about what the society has to offer. Finally, we spoke to Iseult about their Hilary Term column entitled ‘The Second Sex’.

This week's episode is dedicated to discussion of events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including responses by University of Oxford staff and students. Some of the themes alluded to in this podcast may be upsetting.

Link to University website: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/university-response-invasion-ukraine

Link to motion: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10bKD43AxTDnvZvDIQZtj3zUx0k-GzYWRzGhNn_dnqVQ/edit?fbclid=IwAR2Dv-r9c04P1yBDzXSQBsK15hAJuFHJ5mJvLvs4PEuEWEw6jIMj9K7qMSU

In the second episode of our new series for this term, Eva Hogan talks to OUDS President Georgie Dettmer and Access Diversity and Equity Rep Sam Spencer about their work behind the scenes, as well as student actor Poddy Wilson about what goes into an onstage production.

As we rattle towards the end of Hilary Term, Nikita Jain and Eva Hogan interview the people behind some of the most interesting articles from the past fortnight.

Nikita Jain and Tommy Turner discuss some of the biggest stories from Oxford and around the world on this week's episode marking the halfway point of term.

In the first of a series of episodes aiming to shine a spotlight on societies and groups across Oxford, Nikita Jain talks to Madeleine O'Connor, Outreach and Communications Manager at Oxford Hub, about the charity's journey and visions for the future.

To get in touch with Oxford Hub: [email protected]