Issue 100 - Summer 2023

When I took up the post of Editor-in-Chief, and was told I’d be bringing the Mag to it’s 100th issue, it felt like a far-off prospect – something that, yeah, in the back of my mind, that’s my responsibility... but it’s a bit surreal writing this now and thinking, my God, it’s actually here.

Thank you to every single person who has contributed to the Mag over the past 15 years. To think that so many students have committed their time to this publication for this long, and it’s never dwindled, is incredible. The Mag has only grown over this time, and it shows no sign of stopping, which is an absolute delight to see. I hope to see it carry on many years into the future, long after all of us who made this issue have graduated.

Thank you, especially, to our Mag Team of 22/23. Whether you contributed to one issue, or have contributed to all six, you’re a valued part of this team. Especially special thanks must go to the two pairs of Creative Directors who have been alongside me – Phoebe, Livvie, Katy, and Fiona. It’s been incredible to work with you all and see your immense talent not just in designing but in leadership.

When I took up this post and was told I’d do Issue 100, I think it felt so surreal because it wasn’t true. I didn’t, but we did. So cheers to us, and to you, reader, and to this whole rodeo we call The Magdalen.

- Dani ✨

Messages from the Senior Team

It's 100!! We are so proud and delighted to be publishing this issue, we hope that all our creatives have handed in their work and are now relaxing after this academic year. We also wanted to say a special thank you to all our creatives for this issue, and a big thanks to Dani who will sadly be leaving us after this issue it has been really fun working with you.

We hope that everyone enjoys their summer and has a stunning holiday. And we are both excited to see all of you lovely people in the next issue after the redesign. xxx

- Katy & Fiona ❤

On/Off Campus

The Magdalen Magazine:

A History, An Appeal, and A Declaration of Love

It’s absolutely crazy that our little magazine officially has one-hundred issues! Being Editor-in-Chief this year has been such a great experience and has really allowed me to appreciate the history of the Mag and all of the writers, editors, designers and contributors before me. For our Feature this issue, I wanted to share some of that history with you.

The Magdalen’s first issue was published in 2007 during Freshers Week. It featured articles by six writers and three designers across twenty pages, and its cover has a photograph of, and leading article about, the band Snow Patrol and their origins in Dundee. You can still read this issue online on our Issuu profile.

Over the years, we’ve covered all sorts of major moments. From Miley Cyrus’s transformation, to how COVID-19 changed the world, to the fight for staff pensions (which, years later, is still ongoing as we know). Not to forget, of course, the vast display of creative writing from hundreds of contributors over the years – myself included! Every single issue of the Magdalen over the last sixteen years (yes, sixteen) has been filled to the brim with masses of talent.

We also began expanding our online presence, by posting some of our news online, covering elections, current events on campus, and debunking fake news (thanks to Dunfess for that one). We’re still relatively early in our online journey, but just to really drive home

that point from earlier, you can read all our past and current issues on our Issuu profile! Get stuck in!

I want now to appeal directly to you, reader, to get involved. The Mag is a truly incredible experience, and if you’ve enjoyed reading this year, I’m sure there is going to be a space for you next year. Whether it’s writing, editing, designing, doing admin or behind the scenes work, there are boundless opportunities here. If the next Editor-in-Chief is anything like me, there’ll even be a job for tidying the office –something I haven’t got round to in the year I’ve been in this role.

This is only my second year of the Mag, and in my first year, I had little to no experience. I applied for a Section Editor position on a bit of a whim, really keen to get involved but not quite sure I had the chops to edit on this kind of level – I’d never done any ‘proper’ editing before, just some proof-reading. But it was my lucky day, as I got the job, had such an incredible year, and then was chosen for this Editor-in-Chief position after only a year. This could be you! As I say, the opportunities are limitless and the Mag is a perfect place to foster your creative talent. So, for those of you who I’ve successfully persuaded, or those who were probably thinking of applying anyway, since you’ve loved the Mag sooooo much this year, please keep a look out for the launch of the 2023/24 round of applications on our social media.

to this whole operation.

I’ve been putting off writing this, because how was I going to condense everything I have to say into… *checks word count* the few hundred words I have left? This role, this magazine, has completely shaped my university experience. I’ve practically lived in the DUSA Media Office, even to do my normal course work, because it just feels so much like home. I’ve worked, eaten, cried, even had a little power nap in here. Being surrounded by the huge legacy of the Mag felt overwhelming, even scary at first, but now it feels just like my desk at home.

The role of Editor-in-Chief is so much more than just a nice addition to your CV or LinkedIn profile. The opportunities you have, the connections you make, the skills you learn, are truly like no other. When I took on this role, it felt almost insurmountable – how would I handle all this Mag stuff? But the sense of pride completely usurps all the anxiety. Ask anyone who knows me outside of uni – I never shut up about how I’m the big dog of the uni magazine.

Before I finally, officially, sign off, I want to thank this incredible team. You have been a dream to work with this year. Every single one of you is a credit to the Mag, the university, and more importantly to yourselves. When I talk about how proud I am of the Mag, it’s you I’m talking about. I have so much love for each and every one of you, and I truly do mean that. Thank you so much for making this year incredible.

The Magdalen Magazine is a life changing experience, and when I look back at my university experience after I graduate, the Mag will be a hugely important part of it. Challenging, fulfilling, sometimes stressful, but absolutely worth it. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Now I’ll pass you over to the rest of the team. This is Dani McFawns, Editor-in-Chief, signing off.

Sign-Offs from our Mag Team 22/23

Catriona Pritchard (Section Editor, Creative Writing): I loved editing for the Mag this year! My team were amazing and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. It’s so exciting to be a part of the magazine’s 100th issue, I hope we continue to print many many more.

Bronte Chalmers (Managing Editor): Being part of the Mag is such a rewarding

I love hearing from other students about what’s important to them.

Daisy Pryke (Designer): Designing for the Mag this year has been an amazing experience! Despite the extra work, I have learnt so much about layouts and submissions and it has provided amazing practice for future work. Plus, seeing your work in print every month alongside everyone else’s is so exciting!

Rebecca Raddatz (Staff Writer): Writing for the Magdalen Magazine has been inspiring and challenging – every issue provides new and interesting perspectives and opportunities. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a part of a talented and kind team – and for providing space for growth, both on a personal and creative level.

Mihaela Denkovska (Staff Writer): The Magdalen never lets me forget how fulfilling writing can be. It’s a reminder to re-engage with a beloved hobby and to indulge in other people’s work. As such it has been a wonderful source of motivation for both reading and creativity outside of my comfort zone.

Mariya Georgieva (Managing Editor): Editing for the Magdalen this year was an amazing experience. It’s exciting to take part in the process of creating each issue and rewarding to see your name amongst others who contributed to the magazine.

Emma Sturrock (Section Editor, On/Off Campus): Being involved in the Magdalen process has changed my university experience. I have loved working with other students creating amazing ideas and being involved with a community of people. I am glad to leave the Magdalen at its 100th issue as I begin my post-graduate life.

Angus Coleman (Staff Writer): Writing for The Magdalen this year has been a fantastic experience once again, and I’m honoured to have been able to contribute to the student community in this way while also developing my writing and research skills, and meeting new people. Here’s to 100 more issues!

Roshni Baillie (Section Editor, Lifestyle): Being an editor for The Magdalen this year has been so amazing! It’s been such a pleasure to produce brilliant work with a brilliant team, I can’t wait to see where the Mag goes next!

Aditi Atmashidha: Another year with the Mag has been phenomenal for me! Every issue was a great experience including the wonderful milestone of its 100th issue! I can’t wait to see what comes next for the Mag!

Liam McClurg (Staff Writer): The Mag has been great to write for, all the editorial staff have been helpful and it has improved my writing, helped my confidence and has been a welcome escape from coursework.

Rachel Goodman (Senior Feature Editor): I have loved being part of the Magdalen’s editorial team this year! It has really allowed me to unlock and develop my passion for editing and it’s so rewarding to contribute to the university community in this way. The feature writers I’ve worked with have been truly incredible and I can’t wait to see what the Magdalen and its amazing team do next!

Reneé Dumenil (Staff Writer): It has been brilliant writing for The Mag, from the challenging and pride sparkling work to the community I have been invited into. I’m so grateful that I got this experience and cannot wait to see how The Mag continues to grow.

Orla Davey (Staff Writer): Writing for The Magdalen has been a brilliant experience! Seeing your own work get published, alongside many other talented writers and designers, is an incredibly rewarding moment that you’ll never forget. The Magdalen has provided valuable opportunities for creative growth, and an inspiring, supportive writing community. It feels very fitting to finish my time as a writer with Issue 100, and I look forward to seeing how The Magdalen continues to grow!

Hannah Hamilton (Staff Writer): The Mag Team have been as wonderful as ever and I’ve found a lot of inspiration and joy in this years content. Seeing my work beside so many amazing pieces fills me with joy and excitement at what is to come next. Here’s to another great year at the Mag!

James McLeish (Section Editor, Science and Technology): Joining the Mag as an editor has been awesome, and my team have been great to work with throughout the year. That I could be involved with the Mag’s 100th issue has been amazing, and I hope to continue with the Mag for as much as I can!

Annabel Duff (Staff Writer): It’s been such a rewarding experience writing for the Mag this year! Everyone included in the team has been so warm and helpful and I have learnt so much through joining. I look forward to seeing what the future holds after the 100th Issue!

Georgi Zhechev (Section Editor, Arts & Entertainment): Being a section editor for the Mag has given me a lot of unsuspected creative opportunities. Giving suggestions for making one’s work better, witnessing the improvement of my writers, supporting and encouraging them... To put it succinctly, it was a priceless experience and I would indeed like to thank all my writers for their invaluable effort.

The Loss of Independent Cinema

The Loss of Independent Cinema

In October 2022 the Centre for the Moving Image (CMI), a charity that supported the independent film industry in Scotland, was forced into administration. This came as a result of soaring costs due to, among other factors, the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis. The charity faced energy prices increasing by £200,000, and the economic crisis meant that people had less money to spend on cinema tickets, hurting the business. This meant that the charity was unable to cover its costs, resulting in it being placed under the administration of insolvency practitioners, and being required to immediately cease all activity.

The charity’s work to share and promote independent filmmaking constituted an integral part of the Scottish cultural landscape. The CMI ran the Filmhouse cinemas in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, as well as the Edinburgh International Film Festival – the world’s longest running film festival which had attracted filmmakers, actors and film-lovers to the city since 1947. As well as the obvious loss of cultural capital with the

disappearance of these institutions, the closures have also resulted in the redundancy of over one hundred staff members across both cinemas and the festival.

It becomes easier to appreciate the scale of t he hardship faced by the charity when it is taken in the context of the attempts at support. Most notably, the Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas. This was a support package for independent cinemas all over Scotland that amounted to £3.19 million, as part of a larger initiative by Screen Scotland, a national body supporting the Scottish film and television industries, and the Scottish Government of £8.72 million. That the CMI’s share of the support amounting to £354,052 was not sufficient to keep the organisation going, helps one to understand the magnitude of the problem.

Attempts at rallying public support were equally unsuccessful. When the Edinburgh and Aberdeen Filmhouses were put up for sale in order to help pay the CMI’s debts after

the charity went into administration, a public fundraiser was established in an attempt to raise enough money to buy the cinema so it was not lost. Either that, or at least to show that there was enough appetite for the cinema staying open that it remained a commercially viable enterprise, in order to encourage someone else to buy it. Unfortunately, the fundraiser failed to raise the required £2 million, and while there were reports of negotiations with potential buyers, as of March 2023, no one has come forward.

Furthermore, the general lack of care and foresight surrounding the CMI’s hardship has worsened the situation considerably. The Ferret, a Scottish investigative journalism collective, acquired documents indicating that there had been financial concerns surrounding the CMI for six years prior to its entry into administration. However, it seems little action was taken. Additionally, members of staff were not told about the charity’s struggles until the 6th of October, by which time it had already gone into administration, leaving them with no time to prepare for redundancy. The current administrators have also turned down bids from those intending to keep the Edinburgh Filmhouse as a cinema and arts centre.

The importance of these establishments, and the impact of their loss, cannot be overstated. The Edinburgh International Film Festival played a vital role in putting Edinburgh on the map in the film world since its establishment in 1947, at a time when the most important film festivals were those at Cannes and Venice. As well as providing another outlet for small independent narrative and documentary filmmaking and music videos, the Festival was instrumental in diversifying the British film industry, with the 1972 Festival featuring the Women’s Event: the first event in Europe to exclusively exhibit the work of female filmmakers.

The Filmhouses in Edinburgh and Aberdeen have also played essential roles in their respective areas. The work of both cinemas did much not just to promote independent filmmaking, but also to democratise cinema and make it more equal. From hosting screenings with captions and BSL i nterpreters as well as audio description to

make films more accessible, to LGBTQ+ film screenings which provided a place for people who may not have felt welcome elsewhere to enjoy films, and also access important social and mental health resources. These places were not just cinemas, they were the cornerstones of communities.

Of course, this problem is not unique to Scotland, with similar establishments in Cardiff and Wolverhampton closing their doors due to rising costs. Other cultural institutions are under threat too. In October, the director general of the National Galleries of Scotland, John Leighton, said that museums also faced a crisis “more serious than the pandemic.” Clearly, Scottish cultural venues face unprecedented challenges and both policymakers and the general public must rally to protect these vital institutions.

Design: Fiona Howard

GILBERT & SULLIVAN: A Partnership for the Ages W W

The story of the complicated collaboration between the renowned librettist W. S. Gilbert and the equally well-known composer Arthur Sullivan is one that indeed deserves to be told. It deserves to be told because it is a story that has a lesson attached to it; it is a story of success, failure, hopes, despair, aspirations, reality, individual and collective creative labour. Not one or two books have been written about it and even within these large studies and publications dedicated to the famous comic opera duo, there are still aspects dealing with their oeuvre that have been either overlooked or completely left out. Thus, my purpose will not be to attempt to cover all the nuances and complexities of the pair’s achievements and legacy. Rather, my aim will be to analyse a few of the duo’s operettas through which I can then make the case for its cultural importance and its lasting relevance.

The first comic opera which I am looking at is the so-called first Savoy opera produced by Gilbert and Sullivan. Patience; or, Bunthorne’s Bride opened in 1881 and was a commercial success. Here it is necessary to point out the fact that the Savoy theatre, which was opened that same year on the initiative of the impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte who employed the pair, is the first public building in the world to be entirely lit by electricity.

The system of queueing that we are now familiar with, the free checking of coats, etc. are all innovations devised by that same man. In many different senses, the Savoy theatre was groundbreaking, the first of its kind. Vis-à-vis the content of the opera itself, affectation is the principal satirical target. In fact, what W. S. Gilbert was aiming at was to make a social commentary about the fast-growing popularity of the Aestheticism movement in the then contemporary British society. For instance, Reginald Bunthorne, the main protagonist playing the role of the fleshly poet in the story, is a caricature of the painter Whistler, incorporating his monocle and his hairstyle, Oscar Wilde’s mannerisms and knee breaches and Walter Crane’s velvet coat. As mentioned above, this operetta is a quite overt attack against the “overly affected and trendy figureheads and fashions of the time”. Furthermore, the main tension proposed by Gilbert is between those so-called aesthetes and the militant social strata in British society represented by the Dragoons. The aesthetes’ preoccupation with Medievalism, their foppishness, their archaic rhyme preferences are all mocked on the stage, however, the criticism of Gilbert and Sullivan is not pointed at Aestheticism per se. It is, rather, targeted at those aesthetes who are fascinated by corruption, decay, etc. and who try to make virtues out of those vices.

The second comic opera which I am taking into consideration is arguably the best known and most profitable of all the Savoy operas, The Mikado. The success of that particular operetta can hardly be described conventionally. The mere fact that it was the first opera to be recorded on disk in 1917 and also the first Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera to be filmed by a Hollywood studio (in 1938) speaks volumes in that regard. The theme of the operetta as the title itself suggests is Japan and the Far East craze which obsessed London in the mid-1880s. Less than thirty years after Japan opened itself to the world, a Japanese exhibition opened up in Knightsbridge, London. The sharp and astute eye of Gilbert could not have missed the opportunity to exploit that particular fascination with everything Japanese for his own purposes and benefit. Thus, he came up with the text of the libretto by keeping in mind the actors with whom he collaborated

at the Savoy, especially his actresses who eventually played the ”three little maids from school”. Although on the surface the plot and the fable are about Japanese locales, customs, mores, society, etc., under that veil of innocence, it is all about British society, prudishness, corruption, etc. However, quite ironically, Gilbert’s meticulous attention to detail and his use of real Japanese people whom he met at the Knightsbridge exhibition, made sure that the behaviour and the attire of the actors would be as authentic as possible. The notorious katana that allegedly inspired him to write the libretto, the famous Japanese lady known as Ms. ‘Sixpence please’ all add up perfectly to the high quality of Gilbert’s writing and Sullivan’s violin compositions.

All in all, Gilbert and Sullivan are two artists who have been unfairly underappreciated throughout the years. I do hope that with the help of articles such as this one and films such as Mike Leigh’s biopic TopsyTurvy, the legacy and the contributions made by those two geniuses, would finally be acknowledged and taken seriously.

Gilbert and Sullivan are two artists who have been unfairly underappreciated throughout the years

Reclaiming George rwell

I was in a Dundee pub, The George Orwell, recently chatting to a friend from out of town. He asked if I’d ever read the titular author. He mockingly said that we live in 1984 now: a common refrain. This gave me a cause to wonder what is the view of George Orwell’s politics today; a classical liberal? A MAGA Republican, an anti-communist? To me, a fan, his fiction evokes deep cringe. American conspiracy theorists bemoaning their bans from Twitter or comedian Robert Webb telling Russell Brand – “Choosing to vote is the most British kind of revolution.”, encouraging him to “read some f**king Orwell”.

That his writing is a stick-cum-arm-extension for punching left is not entirely surprising. He occupied a controversial position in the British Labour movement; an opponent of Stalinism in a time when the USSR was generally viewed positively. It was out of this opposition to Soviet repression that his 1945 allegorical novella Animal Farm was born. The fable tells of animals overthrowing an oppressive farmer, led by the pigs, who themselves become corrupted by power. They end up no better than their former master.

A popular retelling of this specific critique takes a subtly different form. Following Orwell’s death in 1950, the rights were sold

by his widow Sonia Orwell to film executives Carleton Alsop and Farris Farr. Unbeknownst to Mrs Orwell, these ‘film executives’ were undercover CIA agents working for Howard E. Hunt’s Psychological Warfare Workshop. Through this medium, the intra-leftist critique was transformed into Cold War propaganda.

The sympathetic revolutionary Old Major - a stand-in for Vladimir Lenin - became a bumbling old fool. The Leon Trotsky-based character Snowball, a betrayed egalitarian, became a fanatic intellectual no better than the Stalin-like figure Napoleon. The novella ends on a pessimistic note. The pigs become indistinguishable from their masters - not worse, the same. On the other hand, the film finishes with the farm animals enlisting some kind of local human farmers - think: Capitalists - to overthrow the pigs.

Even more widely referenced is Orwell’s 1948 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The book describes the totalitarian society, Orwell believed, towards which the world was heading. The text never serves as a critique of any ideology. Instead, it critiques the brutal accumulation and implementation of centralised power recognisable in dictatorships; be they Communist, Fascist or Theocratic. The only time Orwell’s ideology

Design: Joshua Harris

seeps through is in his portrayal of the proles. These poor citizens exist on the outskirts of society; Winston remarks that any revolution would come from them.

In Nineteen Eighty-Four, control is the point. When The Party decides something to be the truth, it becomes the truth. Any contradictory info is and always was false. There is no racial segregation in Orwell’s totalitarianism. The party’s error is not gender-based discrimination. Centralised control is their sin. This ambiguity is what lends the text its ability to be co-opted. Big Brother is faceless, defined only as omniscient and bureaucratic. A forcenot for evil - but for its own maintenance. For this purpose, it exacts evil on its subjects.

The missing critique of any existing ideology is why the text is so popular. But this broad appeal also means that it can apply to anything. It’s how a renowned author, the world’s richest man and millionaire talk show hosts can start accusing their enemies - be they “trans rights activists”, “the woke mind virus” or the Trump/Biden administrationsof being the Big Brother. They are under the boot; all Winston Smiths’ and those who seek to criticise them are The Party enacting their vicious mind control tactics.

Orwellian has become a libertarian catch-all to describe anyone attempting to stop one from doing precisely what they want, whenever. Big Brother is the American school board’s meeting chairperson, newspaper editors, even University Students’ Associations. The redefinition of Orwell’s surname is almost ... forget it.

Is Orwell worth salvaging? Those who coopt him for laughable means will never read anything else he published. I would argue that to cede Orwell to those who are either complacent about their belief in freedom or enemies of democratic freedom using his name opportunistically is a betrayal of his principles. To allow the Death of the Author to apply in the case of George Orwell is to not only lose a valid critique of totalitarianism, but to allow a repeat of the betrayal that was the 1952 Animal Farm film. What did the man himself think? Here is a quote from one of his great essays, Why I Write, published in 1946: “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism.”

What Art Movement Could Be Next?

Since the beginning of time people have made art, from the cave paintings to the Renaissance, art has always been a key part of the human experience and self-expression. Also, it has always had a significant relation to history, with different movements coming in and out of style and often having been influenced by their place in time. Most movements in art have lasted between 10 and 100 years with some of the most notable being Impressionism, Pop Art and Abstract. Every movement has had some relation to its time period, the most well-known being Pop Art emerging at the same time as pop culture which began in the 1950s, the art being influenced by what was happening at the time. This is shown in the iconic portraits of Marylin Monroe and Pop Art advertisements that are famous from the time. With the growth of social media, it seems as though with so much room for expression online and space for artists, that for the last few years there has not really been a specific art movement for the time we are currently living in. However, when looking closely some of the trends can be noticed and we can even predict what movement is to come next.

Focusing on more recent art movements we can seek to find out what movement we are in now. It is said we are in the Contemporary Art Movement which began in the mid to late 20th century with artists such as Keith Harring and Takashi Murakami creating abstract and experimental contemporary works. Although contemporary art is still around, it is much less booming than it was at its beginning. More recently we have had a huge increase in digital art and illustration due to the developments in technology that have happened over the 2000’s as well as the creation of software’s such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, making digital creation much easier. This could mean we are currently in a digital age of art or a digital art movement, identifying this could help us predict what movement is coming next.

Fortunately, we also have something art lovers in the past never had – social media – which means it is much easier to gain insight into what is becoming popular and trending, thus making it possible to predict what movement we may enter next. With the rise in digital art and illustration there has been a lot of simple

cutesy gaining popularity all over social media. Instagram is a hot spot for these cutesy illustrations. There have been many minimalist adorable illustrations circulating and thus spreading positive messages, they also often feature drawings of animals and landscapes, usually using a pastel colour pallet. This could be due to the rise of the ‘cottage core aesthetic’ that has been all over TikTok recently. Alternatively, this could be in response to the decline in mental health that has happened globally since the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. The World Health Organisation published in 2022 that the global estimate of people suffering from depression and anxiety has risen by a shocking 25%. This could be an explanation as to why so much art being seen and shared on social media today is incredibly positive and light-hearted.

Completely contrasting this, there has also been a rise in darker style art. On TikTok there has been a particular rise in horror based abstract art, with artists creating creepy paintings combining elements of surrealism with abstract and contemporary art. There has

also been an increase in the popularity in dark academia design and fashion, the combination of these things could suggest the beginning of a darker art movement focused on horror based surrealist artwork. This also ties in with the mental health impact, as people tend to express things differently and dark art can be used to express sombre feelings. This has happened all throughout history with artists such as Frida Kahlo and Zdzisław Beksiński using art to express their own personal struggles, history, and mental state.

It is clear how history, social media and technology have influenced art into what it is today. Looking into all these factors it becomes possible to predict what art movement could come next. Whether it is surrealist horror or positive illustration, there is a good chance social media will have a significant impact and that the time we are living in will be reflected in what is to come. Art will always be an incredible medium for expression. Until it is known what movement is to come, art lovers can enjoy what is out there and maybe even inspire a style of art that is completely unique.

Design: Jack Stamp

Whywelove RealityTV

While I was recently browsing through my Netflix account, I came across the category “Escapist Reality TV” consisting of shows that follow real people in their daily lives but with a high potential for possible drama to happen. To be honest, I am also guilty of indulging in shows like The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or dating shows like Too Hot to Handle. Now, when watching the first show I can pretty well distinguish it from my own reality, considering that I don’t own a million-dollar business, and I am not married to a rich real estate agent either. Having said that, with Too Hot to Handle, these people seem to have normal lives, they go to work or university, although they probably party a bit too much and break one too many hearts. So that realisation made me wonder why people watch the show in the first place and secondly, why it is deemed to be “escapist” by the provider.

Design & Illustration: Chloe Dickson

Nevertheless, the reality TV stars might not be completely guilt-free in that equation, considering they have closed themselves off completely, because they have been hurt, thus not enabling new possibilities for honest relationships.

Over the course of ten days or a month, these singles are supposed to learn to trust each other again and develop a connection on a purely emotional and platonic level, ignoring the physical attraction they would usually indulge in for a night. Having finished a season, I often wonder if those workshops and lessons they have been given will actually stick in the outside world where physicality and temptation reign.

Personally, I would say that the appeal of dating shows lies in the fact that love is a subject which is omnipresent, whether you see couples walking down the street, you’re in a relationship yourself, or you might just be a happy single. Therefore, the topic can hardly be avoided, the question if there is a boy-/girlfriend is the first one to be asked at family gatherings without a doubt. Since it is on people’s minds, someone might find it comforting to either see that others have bad luck with love too or they might find it amusing, with a slight sadistic tendency, to watch the reality TV “stars” fail at committing themselves to someone while simultaneously they claim to be looking for the “perfect match”. The other interesting observation I’ve made is that about 99% of the people who participate in the above-mentioned dating show talk about how they have been exploited by either men or women, so they have lost the ability to open up about their true feelings, let alone trust someone enough to commit to a relationship.

If dating shows were a microcosm of our society, it would be a sad and hopeless representation, since it would mean that genuine connections between people are impossible to find.

Keeping up with the life of the participants, a small number of them are still together with the person they formed a bond with in the series, yet the number of those who have broken up is greater. I suppose that is just what would happen in the real world too. Some relationships work out and some simply don’t, but whether this makes the singles return to their old player patterns is a question I consequently ask myself.

Admittedly, I watch a show like Too Hot to Handle precisely to “escape” my own reality, not necessarily because I have been unhappy with relationships. After a day of working on an essay, reading through literary criticism or other academic texts, my brain needs some light and funny entertainment which this show indeed grants. I believe that’s why most people watch it, to take their minds off their workday or, sadly, they might recognise their own dating patterns in what the contestants reveal, hence they feel understood and less alone.

Seriously though, after four seasons, who still believes that the people who sign up to the fake dating shows, pretending to be a show of wild amorous adventures, when they are actually Too Hot to Handle, don’t know what they are signing up for?

Orson Welles: A Lesson in ‘Guerrilla Filmmaking’

In the history of film, there are not many major directors who worked on shoestring budgets and in spite of that, or perhaps because of it, managed to produce masterpieces. Well, based on what I have seen and what I have read, there are a few directors of that quality; directors possessing the Midas touch. The first name that springs to my mind is precisely the name of an American director whose first feature film became arguably the best film ever made (Citizen Kane) – Orson Welles. A plethora of things can be said vis-à-vis Welles’s biography, his tumultuous personal life, the films that inspired him, etc. but my aim will be to concentrate on his lesser-known, rustier, unpolished gems whose charm derives from their inherent imperfection.

The first such film which I would like to discuss is Welles’s screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s play Othello. The story of this production is one of many hardships and sometimes even insurmountable obstacles which were somehow overcome and the end product was in fact successful against all the odds. A

clear evidence proving that point is the fact that Welles’s adaptation of Othello won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1952 alongside another film directed by Renato Castellani. However, Welles’s achievement is all the more impressive if we look at the film’s troubled shooting history. At first, an Italian producer approached Welles and offered him funding for the film which was to be shot in Italy where the Moor actually lived. Despite all those promises, in the end the Italian producer went into bankruptcy and Welles had to find another way of getting the money needed, so that he could still finish the shooting of the film and pay the actors he employed. Welles decided to shoot the Cyprus sequences (and ultimately most of the scenes in the film), in Morocco, at a coastal city then known as Mogador. The large citadel situated there perfectly suited the director’s vision of how the island of Cyprus would have looked in the 16th century. While staying there, Welles would occasionally run out of money and would thus have to work on other (acting) projects in order to be able to raise the money he needed. Some of his acting crew would need to do the same,

which means that they would not be available to him all the time. Furthermore, Welles had to somehow connect the shots he shot in Venice with the shots from Morocco and to make those transitions relatively smooth. With the help of his brilliant editing skills, Welles managed to stitch the pieces together. Obviously, that meant that he would have to be heavily reliant on the editing which made the film seem excessively artificial. Moreover, there were also sonic problems to do with the film’s post synchronised sound. In short, he had to dub the voices of some of the other actors himself due to their unavailability. Some cuts of the film did look quite disjointed too but overall Welles managed to finish the film and to even enter the Cannes Film festival whose main prize, subsequently, to his utter dismay, he won.

The second film which I am examining is another Shakespearean adaptation – Chimes at Midnight. Although its filming process was indeed not as troublesome as that of his Othello, Welles’s adaptation of the Henriad cycle of plays was not particularly well-funded either. With a budget of approximately $800,000 and having to shoot all the film in Spain of all places, Welles did once more encounter some difficulties. Some of his actors such as Jeanne Moreau (playing Doll Tearsheet) and John Gielgud (playing King Henry IV) were available for five and for ten days, respectively.

Due to the insufficient funding, Welles could not rely on a lot of extras for the battle scene, for instance, or for the coronation sequence. Thus, he had to be inventive once again. Using awkward cutting and some quite clunky visual and sonic effects allowed Welles to somehow create the illusion of having a much greater budget than the one he managed to acquire. Sound was also a problem due to the actors’ absences and the nature of the film’s sound synchronisation which was to take place after the shooting ended. Once again Welles had to dub some of the missing actors himself. In the end, however, that was the whole point. Welles did not want to create a technically immaculate movie; he has done that already with Citizen Kane. What he wanted most was creative liberty. In Europe, he more or less managed to find it, although at a certain cost – the lack of technical expertise of a lot of his European cinematographers, etc.

To sum up, Orson Welles is certainly one of the best directors ever not because he made one perfect film. Being able to finish and to distribute his ‘imperfect’ films is actually the greatest feat he ever achieved; their quality despite the setbacks is just the icing of the cake for one of cinema’s greatest auteurs.

Design: Megan Napier

Words: Caitlin Mathieson

How Limited Series Took over TV

The limited series, or once called the miniseries, used to be a format that sat on the sidelines of pop culture but in recent years, it has become central to popular television. Consisting of a predetermined run length and end date, the limited series manages to capture the beginning, middle and end of a story in one eight to ten-episode swoop. Their popularity has continued to grow over the last few years, with some of the biggest shows on television now only having a single season run. They most often appear as higher-budget, more prestigious projects, drawing in more established actors, writers, and directors. The number of stories being formatted into television instead of what would have once been a 2-hour feature length film is still on the rise, giving television another chance to shine.

The number of limited series has skyrocketed in order to meet the demand and has therefore produced some of the most watched television in years. That’s not to say the format is in any terms new to screens, with the first mini-series seen all the way back in the 1950’s on the BBC. In 1974, The Emmy’s introduced a category, ‘Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series’, to celebrate the rising success of the format. The category has since been renamed and redefined to accommodate the changing style of the limited series, with its current incarnation called simply, ‘Outstanding Limited Series’, with the requirements being limited series that are 2 or more episodes with total running time of at least 150 minutes.

The pandemic also helped boost the limited series into popularity due to the rise in binge-watching habits. With little to do over lockdowns, many viewers changed watching habits becoming more likely to binge a season in its entirety. This fit the 8-10 episode format to a tee. Finishing in total run time longer than a film but not requiring any near as much commitment as a 7-season show and limited series meant people could consume a whole story over the course of a single weekend. This combined with the accessibility of streaming platforms such as Netflix or Disney+ equalled nothing short of the perfect format. It made watching a whole show achievable, it created buzz, and people want to be a part of something.

From an industry perspective, limited series became more desirable due to the effects of the pandemic on the box office. Making it harder to produce a successful blockbuster due to budget restriction or accessibility, a limited series fit the gap left in the market perfectly. The expanded screen time was a draw to actors; the same roles but with more space to explore character and really sink their teeth into.

The new outlook on limited series therefore changed in recent years. The increased popularity meant both television networks and streaming services began producing higher budget, bigger named and better promoted shows, the battle for best recent limited series began and doesn’t show signs of slowing

down anytime soon. In previous years, most miniseries’ plotlines were based on books due to the ease of adaptation and then the trend of historical events fictionalised began to emerge. In the past couple of years, however, there is now a limited series in every genre imaginable; from historical, documentary, superhero to the classic novel adaptation, there’s one for every style of viewer. The continual popularity means we are seeing new limited series everywhere, with streaming services now selfproducing some of the most popular to hit the small screen.

Some of the most popular that were seen in 2022 alone include true crime thriller Under the Banner of Heaven with Andrew Garfield in the lead role, showing a grittier, darker side of his range. A new season in an anthology series, fitting cleverly into the limited series category, was the ever-popular White Lotus which set the entire internet talking. Playing with the idea

of how we consume true stories in an oversensationalised format, there was The Dropout and Pam and Tommy, showing how the limited series is a format not restricted by genre. Disney also contributed to the year’s wide variety, with Moon Knight and Obi-wan Kenobi being some of the year’s top watched shows.

Undoubtedly, the limited series is not slowing down in popularity anytime soon with some of this year’s most anticipated shows joining the race for most-watched show. Allowing viewers to be completely engaged in a story while fitting around busy lifestyles, limited series will undeniably be dominating screens for a long time to come.

Design: Lucas Ferguson

Words: Mihaela Denkovska

CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE, GRIEF

THE BEAR: A DELICATE ECOSYSTEM

Season one of The Bear premiered on June 23, 2022, but has hardly reached as many voices as it deserves. It deals with human, common, everyday issues. The events are not always exciting but merely stressful. The characters are not dark and twisted beyond recognition, but very much relatable and human. Despite the lack of gloss, and because of its human

heart, I believe The Bear can find an audience in anyone, but you must give it your full attention.

Life (Un)Interrupted by Grief

What you see most of the time on screen looks a lot like a real-life sandwich shop in Chicago called Mr. Beef. The creator of the show pays

homage to one of his favourite food spots in Chicago, a place owned by his friend’s father. This plays into the show’s most prominent motif of family and friends.

We are observing life unfold for a group of people intimately connected by blood and friendship through work, passion, and shared grief.

Michael Berzatti ends his life and leaves his shop The Beef to his younger brother Carmine. After fighting his way to the top of New York’s best chef lists, Carmine abandons that throne and comes back home to run The Beef, unearthing a lot of unresolved conflicts, trauma, and financial stress. He hires Sydney, a young and talented cook, who despite being overqualified for The Beef, seeks employment there because of her father’s love for the restaurant. The veteran staff, most notably Tina, Richard and Marcus, struggle to adapt to a new leader and a younger but intimidating co-worker. Carmine and Sydney in turn fight to establish their voice in the new environment, repeatedly disturbing what happens to be a “very delicate ecosystem” as Richard repeats in protest. But ecosystems are not constant loops in a vacuum.

Grief had already disrupted The Beef’s system. It takes each character a different length of time and different coping mechanisms to finally realise that things cannot go back to normal, and that a new system of functioning is needed.

Realism and Expressionism

Carmine: Is there a name for that thing where… you’re afraid of something good happening, ‘cause you think something bad’s gonna happen?

Richard: I don’t know… life?

Life goes on, whatever happens and whatever happens is life. That seems to be The Bear’s mantra as it tries to show this particular slice of life. It includes the good, the bad and the ugly, on repeat.

The actors are all incredibly talented but still relatively unknown faces. The show’s dialogues are not comprised of ridiculous Hollywood one liners or dramatic pauses but are conversations

that could just as well come from real life. It’s not stuffed with unnecessary sarcasm and wit, it doesn’t force romantic plotlines and it doesn’t caricature hard times or people’s flaws. Nobody’s perfect, but most of us are not monsters either. We apologise, we forgive, we try to act better.

The show feels real because it’s relevant, but it rarely throws it into your face. The COVID-19 pandemic is mentioned merely in passing, in the context of frustration and stress of the restaurant losing patrons. This allusion blends into the background and adds to the idea of the delicate ecosystem. Our society and ways of living were changed irrevocably during the pandemic. The Earth’s ecosystem is massively disrupted. These are relevant topics, yet they can be packaged into the evergreen setting of a restaurant, a workplace. Just like they are topics relevant to absolutely everyone, this show seems relevant to all of life.

The realism works together with an expressionistic approach to showing emotion. The chaotic and anxiety-inducing scenes use fast-paced editing, layers of sounds stacked on top of each other, the characters talking over one another, intense close-ups, unsteady hand-held camera shots… very much resembling the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems. The show relies on expressionism when showing Carmine’s mystical dreams and thus introduces the symbol of the bear, Carmine’s nickname, a play on his surname Berzatti, symbolising his inner struggles, and ultimately the new name and vision for the restaurant.

We are often given short but striking collaged shots of Chicago, its shops, its streets, the metro, close-ups of food cooking, food storage cabinets, kitchen utensils. It is showing us the ordinary and asking us to pay attention to it. There is magic to be found in our daily surroundings, our town, our habits, what we eat. While we are weathering challenges and striving for improvement, we can ground ourselves in the pleasures of the home and the pleasures of food.

We need to start paying attention to life. And you need to check out this show.

Design: Jack Stamp

From ABBA’s reunion to the resurgence of vinyl, the 21st century is starting to feel a bit retro. 80s trends became popular in the 2010s with the indie aesthetic taking over and in 2023, Y2K inspired fashion is inescapable. It is hard not to wonder why trends tend to go backwards.

In terms of music, nostalgia could be a contributing factor. Many people now who grew up with parents born in the 70’s and 80’s will have grown up with the vintage tracks their parents loved, with many parents sharing songs of their youth with their children. As a result, many young people now feel a sense of nostalgia when listening to older tracks. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling that can bring comfort and a sense of joy, which could be why classics are still popular today. This has had a knock-on effect with musicians now finding inspiration in older music and creating songs inspired by retro. This explains why a lot of modern music now has a retro feel, with indie particularly taking influence from the 80s.

In terms of fashion, it is a different case. Fashion more so than music relies on trends because what is not trendy is not as accessible to buy in shops and online. This means older generations cannot really be blamed for vintage fashions resurgence. With fashion there is a strange unexplainable cycle of trends reappearing after a decade or so. This could be due to the common drive to be unique; people could be leaning towards vintage fashion because to them it

is something a bit different from what is modern. However, when everyone starts doing the same, it becomes a trend. This could be one of the reasons why fashion seems to go back in time.

In 2023, the rise in vintage fashion could be blamed on our current social and economic state. In the last few years there has been a pandemic, mass redundancies, a cost-of-living crisis, and an ongoing environmental crisis. Because of these issues many people have been turning to thrifting, charity shopping and vintage fairs as they tend to be more affordable as well as sustainable. Because more people have been shopping second hand, there naturally has been a rise in older vintage clothes being seen. Vintage shopping has also become a trend, with many sharing their shopping trips on social media.

Even if it cannot be exactly pinpointed why vintage has made a comeback, it is a fun way of self-expression through music and fashion that can even show a love that has been passed on through generations.

“Nostalgia is a powerful feeling . . .”

ALT-J

‘An Awesome Wave’ by Alt-J is one of my favourite albums ever. With two viral tracks, a Mercury Award and widespread circulation, I’m sure everyone has heard at least one track from this album. It’s fun, even pop-y at times, but what sets it apart for me is the curious lyrics in the album. Side one has a brief overarching story about a murder, the track Matilda is in reference to the cult film Leon the Professional, Fitzpleasure is in reference to a graphic chapter from Last Exit to Brooklyn, a book from 1964, and if you wait in silence for 5 minutes after the final track, on vinyls and CDs, a hidden song about drugs and paranoia plays.

The most curious feature of An Awesome Wave is its climactic track, Taro. Taro is a well-known song, I was listening to for two years before I ever listened to the album in full, and yet I doubt most people have any idea what Joe Newman is singing about. I certainly didn’t until my third year of listening. His vocals are high pitched and slurred, and the names are abbreviated. Most notably, the song does not focus on the wider story or significance of the characters, rather, it focuses on very intimate, human moments.

and the War Photographer

Taro is a reference to Gerda Taro, an alias for Gerta Pohorylle. Capa, the primary character of the song, is in reference to Robert Capa, an alias for Endre Friedmann. Gerta was born in Germany in 1910. She was Jewish and was arrested during the early years of the Nazi regime for protesting against them. Shortly after this, she was forced to flee to France. Here, she met Endre. While the two never married, it is widely accepted that they were in love. Gerta allegedly refused a marriage proposal from Endre who never married thereafter.

The duo became journalists covering Parisian politics for several years before the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. The two travelled to Spain as amateur war photographers. The work produced by the two was widely published and is still celebrated today as ground-breaking in war photography.

While accounts differ, on the 26th of July 1937, Gerta suffered fatal injuries while moving to photograph a Republican General’s car which was transporting wounded soldiers. A tragic photograph was taken of Endre tending to Gerta on her deathbed. She died the following day.

Gerta would become a footnote in Endre’s story, but Endre would continue his career in photography for the remainder of the Spanish Civil War, the Chinese resistance to Japan, the Allied forces retaking France, post-war USSR and ultimately the Indochina war. Like Gerta 17 years before him, Endre was killed chasing a photograph. Thus, Taro opens:

Indochina,

Capa jumps Jeep and two feet creep up the road, to photo, to record, meat lumps and war. They advance as does his chance.

I am not a music student, so I cannot analyse the key or subtle techniques of the song, but it has a distance to it. Perhaps it is the slight oriental influence over the guitar, maybe the

vocals convey a sense of longing, maybe the slight delay between the guitar and keyboard in the intro – which ends then – suggests the guitar has lost its partner. The song is tinged with a feeling that something dear is far away from you but getting closer by the second.

The song makes no mention of Endre and Gerta’s tragic connection, it solely focuses on Endre’s final moments. While all historical accounts suggest Endre was killed instantly, seen by many other people, Alt-J envisioned him lying out of sight from ‘medic, friend, enemy, foe’, left to slowly die alone. The song makes very intimate suggestions about these final moments, drawing attention to painlessness, his breathing, a loss of limb and him holding a photograph which we can assume to be of Gerta.

‘Painless, with a great closeness

Reunited with his leg, And with you, Taro.’

The song, and album, ends with the melody, vocals and all other instruments fading away, leaving only two cellos to harmonise with each other, before they fade out too.

Alt-J is no stranger to strange lyrics, often in obscure reference to other art or trends. Yet, Taro finds perfect balance between vague allusions, and a touching tribute to two lovers. Endre was a celebrated war photographer, but Alt-J never once mentions his career, accomplishments, nor offers him any praise. Instead, they detail Endre’s final moments and his devotion to Gerta whom he had only known for 4 years, and who had died 17 years prior. The historical facts and focuses are changed to offer a very human connection to a wider story. This unassuming indie-pop song is in my opinion one of the most intimate and fascinating songs ever made.

THE KISS

She didn’t taste of roses, apple blossom, fresh strawberries, plums, the setting sun – how could anyone have a mouth-flavoured sunset? No silken lips either, soft flower petaled things. Hers were rough, chapped by Winter. Curled up, lopsided, when they rose.

And nothing about her touch created fire. Fingers tangled, lips brushed, but his skin didn’t burn beneath them. If it had, he would have worried about being feverish, getting her sick. Or sweating, grossing her out. He worried about that regardless. And if she actually caught fire? That wouldn’t happen… she’d probably end up on telly, studied by scientists, a shining miracle. He’d be the burnt body, obscured in the background. Maybe she would remember him…

But her fingers were cold, drifting paths that lingered like trails of rain drops dried by wind. The same wind that twirled her musty midbrown hair till it tickled his skin and caught on awkward places; his faded shirt buttons, her high-street jewellery. Strands flew into his eyes, which he didn’t close in bliss. Stared, wide eyed, watching without seeing, the curve of her cheek, line of his nose as it pressed into her skin. And then her eyes, catching his, watching, reflecting all his nerves and joy and panic. This wasn’t new to either of them, they had been with other people. Yet it felt, with her in this moment, as if he had never kissed in his life.

His tongue felt clumsy in her mouth, like a loose tooth or a foreign word. Fear flavoured it. Their heads locked, pressing, arms about each other. Movements unsure, this was a dance with no swooping music or helpful steps. At one point he felt like he was going to sneeze.

No dramatic rain fell. No sparkling spring spotlight adorned with twitters of baby birds. It was grey, overcast, 13.40 on a Wednesday, with muck on the side street and fat pigeons soiling the graffitied bus stop. The world didn’t clap or burst into joyous song of congratulation, monotonous people in varying shades of muted colour shoved past oblivious, the traffic wailed same as always.

And yet.

And yet when she, running late at the end of her lunchbreak, swirled round and breathlessly planted her lips against his, a tiny bit of sun forced its way through the clouds. And as she rushed off, with an embarrassed but mischievously delighted smile to those beautiful lips, he knew now that they tasted of the chocolate she had just eaten, and coffee, and hope.

The people, pigeons and traffic marched on with their ceaseless dull beats as he stood, lost, on the cracked pavement. His mouth, newly unfamiliar, struggled to settle. Lips twitched upward, struggling to contain his joy. Astonished and delighted, he sneezed.

Photography: Maria Touloupa, Design: Katy Blair

Words: Rebecca Raddatz, Photography: Ada Ung, Design: Luna Jezzard

Scraps

i live in dawns and dusks

i drown in half-drunk coffee cups and mugs of uncertain origin

i am a body stretched out by twilight hour of uncertainty spreading out beneath my paper skin along my veins of deep blue ink an ocean rushing down to meet the sky spread out inside my feet

i can’t breathe these days i drag reddish footprints through a land of borderlines these days i store it up inside build a warehouse labelling my mind

i write the life out of me.

i breathe in twilight hour of impossibility where bodies meet the sun descends into the gaping mouth of the hungry sea whose gnashing teeth rip into flesh until it bleeds out into night and day with the force of those who travel far and cannot stay clash between the butcher and the woods and you and i on the cusp of something some thing some magic trick below translucent stars some manual on how to

break a heart.

i need the shards to shred my parchment skin to thin confetti both of us need the ribbons of a used up love

so that the twilight caught inside my ribs the clouds clogging my lungs the weeds filling my mouth and the sound of sirens on a winter night come tumbling out like plastic toys that hid inside a kid’s surprise twilight hour of possibility.

take your scraps and i’ll take mine to scatter them like ash across the carpet of the wood to dissolve them in the floods and they’ll erase the cries for help you wrote on the inside of your skin and wash away those notes:

‘dear god, I’ll believe in you if you’ll just make me a bit thinner’

‘is someone there?’

‘is it normal to be so alone?’

‘won’t you, as last resort, answer my prayer?’

won’t someone somewhere love me a little bit?

and the pieces drift out towards the sea

and on the branch of a hawthorn tree a bluebird crushes berries underneath its feet.

Words: Orla Davey, Design: Ariane Legradi

Seed and Soil

Ultrasound dust distorts this unknown thingwithin me pollen-sugared, silent cries gone static transmit across every fibre of my being –you’re nothing, yet everything

Trodden into my womb pierced through my skin, crumbled into myself I have no choice but to watch you grow I grin and bear the roots, the teething

Squished. Shrivelled. You suck air from every crevice, a ballooning plumule outgrows your coat and scrambles for sun against a crisply taut curtain I keep closed – hidden, but always safe

Air thick with the blanket of dormancy you kick the walls, an amniotic war-cry germinates, stalking spindly arms upwards I’m left with the skeleton of you, skin shed as you slither away becoming radicle, roaming towards a world I cannot reach

And you are established. Your green head buds outwards, suddenly afraid of the coldness, the crispness frail lungs quiver under the weight of petrichor parturitional echoes fold backwards a door forever closed

Every screech of hawk, every thunder of deer, every yellowed moon of an owl’s eye I pray to heavens I cannot hold.

Whereareyounow?

Plucked by beaks, torn by teeth, flourished and floundering under a pollenated gaze?

Quivering under a bee’s brutish squat, or crying resin as the first white petal crumbles away?

Or uprooted altogether, shorn by shears in a green-tinted lab?

Pastel-pink, flower-patterned surgical gloves neuter what they cannot understand rewrite the truths engrained within re-carve with scalpels the stories they want to see, sap splattering their worktops.

Whatever happens whatever fate finalises your being crumble into my embrace so I can finally anchor you home.

Words: Kate Heggie, Design & Illustration: Gracie Whitehouse

Reverie

Reverie

the girl   lays peacefully  in a meadow of daisies,  her smile wider  than any i can fake.

songs drip   from the phone  wedged  between her and  the bench,  whose paint  chips away   under the  weight of the sun  allowing  green moss to seep  across splinters.  the fragile structure shifts  uneasily in the wind.

nearby plants  dance;  the breeze a puppeteer  of the  flecks of white   contorting to the sound,  their silhouettes;  freckles on her face.

the air seems to still  just for a moment  as petals  slip from her eye  into the   untouched soil.

clouds blush  a lilac orange   as they peacefully pass.  the sun kissed   heaven  falls to dark.

in the midnight sun  her hair

sprouts roots,  anchoring her   to the bliss.

Sounds of the Forest

Winter Forest –A Stream Trickles

Words: Andrew Young, Design & Photography: Lucas Ferguson

A lone TravellerThe crack Of Twigs

River Time

Fisher heaved a sigh at the river. It was a gentle day and the water, ever the loquacious presence, babbled pleasantly: Blub glub blub. No doubt it shared some great secret or an extraordinary story, but Fisher did not speak River so he listened in ignorance.

It had been long since the last catch and his line now quivered with impatience. The time had not yet come to pack up, though. Fisher always waited until the very last of the light, no matter how frustrating the day was. When the water began smouldering and night draped itself over the valley, only then would he begin to spool his line and pack away his lunchbox and catch.

He would heave his kit up the hill and bring it into the cottage where Annabel sat waiting. This was his favourite part of the day; the catch would be emptied on their scarred wooden table and they would sort through it together. Anything beautiful he would put aside for her beforehand and surprise her with after, all else found its way into their home and their life.

There were many things in the river and the catch always varied: odd socks, hobbyist equipment, unsent letters, and all manner else. In their home they had a whole mantelpiece constructed of ‘World’s greatest …’ mugs. Everything they found they gave a purpose.

Fisher felt a tug upon the line. He braced himself- expecting a stubborn surfacingbut it came easily, landing with a splat before him. The catch was a soft, sagging toy rabbit. It was a shade of grey that suggested it might initially have been blue, with the nose clinging to its snout by a single tendril of thread. Fisher felt his heart grow heavy looking at the sad creature and, picking up its water-leaden body, he wondered at its’ name. Feeling suddenly water-logged and frayed himself, he decided to stop for lunch.

The rabbit was propped against his cooler as an impromptu guest to the meal and, guessing that the former owner was likely a child, Fisher addressed it as ‘Bunny’. He had always found a child’s world to be wonderfully simple and thus observed that they rarely felt the need to call something by other than what it was.

Bunny was a stoic companion to the sandwiches and tea that Annabel had packed for him that morning.

Fisher used to scold her this effort and tried to circumvent it to no avail. Annabel had a preternatural ability to awaken before him. The remnants of a biological sensitivity long since passed its intended use let her awaken, always, just before him. ‘It’s in her body to care for people,’ Fisher told Bunny, ‘and her soul’.

Words: Hannah Hamilton

He had accepted that Annabel’s lunches were non-negotiable and, in conceding his pride on the matter, had ever since had the pleasure of enjoying them. A treasured reprieve.

He explained as much to his guest, who listened soberly as their head lilted to one side by the weight of sodden ears.

After the sandwiches were done and Fisher’s stomach warmed by the tea, he cast his line again into the river. The sky was a gauzy blue and the sun dipped closer to the horizon, a sight abstracted on the face of the water. Always, these two expanses passed portraits of each other between them like love notes. Fisher wondered if they weren’t connected. He imagined his hook sinking below the flashing surface and dropping into the sky. should wear a helmet’

After a while, the pain that had become common in recent years began to bloom along his back. His companion, however, eased the onset of the usual gruff mood. He was

reminded, achingly, of a time long ago when a different small presence would toddle round his legs at the riverside. Those had been louder days than these and long since past. There were moments, though, when the babbling of the river sounded almost like a familiar giggle in his ear.

Soon, the water began blushing and he knew it was time to make the journey home. He packed up his catch for the day, turning each piece over and imagining its use. A boot, a left sock, a sourdough starter jar, and then Bunny. Fisher pressed the soft, small body to his chest and imagined a phantom warmth. Flooded by remembrance, he sent the little thing back into the river as carefully as anyone could.

He did this, from time to time, though he knew not what was downstream or on the riverbed. He tried his best to find a new life for all the lost things in the river, but Fisher also harboured a secret belief. Some lost things, if set free, can indeed be found again.

Design: Morgan Palmer

Split

Despite living together, I never see the owners of the Split Flat going anywhere as a couple. A middle-aged man and woman, I assume they are married, or at least were, given their age and the fact that they live together. Their apartment is located at the opposite end of the hall from mine, meaning that the layout of the interior should mirror my own; a master bedroom with an ensuite, a smaller second bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen-living space. One apartment, with two separate lives inside; two separate beds, separate cutlery, separate bathrooms, separate chairs… everything about their lives designed so concisely that they might never cross one another. I imagine their living space, the only room they would be forced to share, divided into two halves, each half marked by a different rug, his one patterned by a geometrically abstract brown, and hers a circular-shaped ivory floor mat.

He sits in a simple tan leather chair, while she reclines on a sophisticated indoor deckchair, metal framed with black faux-leather padding. I can even picture their chairs facing opposite directions, allowing them to watch two different shows on their two different televisions, before grudgingly sitting down for a meal at their long, dark wood dining table, sawed neatly in half down the middle. The owners of the Split Flat truly live in two perfectly parallel existences. All the way down to their separate lovers.

During the week, he leaves for work thirty minutes after she does, and he usually returns home about an hour later. If he does at all.

I can only imagine what his life is like, what secrets he keeps that he thinks his wife doesn’t know about.

Flat

Maybe he has a gambling addiction. Perhaps a drinking problem. Maybe he has both. I can see him, sauntering down to the bar after a long day at work, knocking back several tequila shots before making his way to the twentyfour-hour casino downtown.

Maybe that’s what he does, or maybe he has a secret lover. I have seen him leaving the apartment building, always alone and having the anxious look of a man who is no doubt burdened down by the weight of his conscience.

Where he goes, I am unsure, but I am certain it is somewhere he should not be going.

The woman who lives in the flat seems to be much more tied to her home than her husband. Unlike him, she always returns home in the evening, even if only for an hour or two, before leaving again. On the occasions that she does head out for the evening, with her prematurely greying hair curled into elegant waves, she always returns home later. Oftentimes with company.

Sometimes the owners of the split flat will head out on the same night.

Once he is ready, he will leave, making whatever excuse and likely telling her not to expect him back that night, to which she will smile, with this being exactly what she had hoped to hear.

The owners of the split flat live two separate lives, yet for some peculiar reason, they always find their way back to one another. They grudgingly share their apartment as if it were a sort of penance for their secret lives, caught in an endless cycle of marital unhappiness, and mutual infidelity.

Two players in an infinitely dangerous game.

Design: Connor Wharton

Self-Governance Advocacy in Place of Radicalism

In the modern history section of Dundee’s McManus Gallery, you can see paraphernalia from an alien activist past. Dundee is given the nomenclature “Radical City”, punctuated with photographs from the Poll Tax protests and the final great industrial clash of the late 20th century, the 1993 Dundee Timex Strike. Striking women faced down Tayside Police and tried to block strike-breakers sent by the Timex Corporation to replace them. Following a political tide change over the next twenty years, a new name for Dundee emerged; we became the “Yes City” - a pattern we can see all over Scotland.

Did the Scottish nationalist movement co-opt Scotland’s radicalism? In a sense, the

Scottish National Party developed their positions alongside what Scots deemed anti-establishment. Take the SNP’s 79’ Group, the most notable member being former First Minister Alex Salmond. The group’s core thesis was that there was a class divide in support of devolution and that they could capitalise on the opposition to the Poll Tax. They aimed to establish a “socialist and republican Scotland”.

The group got suspended from the SNP in 1982. Within a decade, Alex Salmond won the leadership. He brought his left-wing politics to the role: Emphasising the party’s anti-NATO stance by, in 1999, attacking intervention in Kosovo. Questionable foreign

policy interventions aside, Salmond made the SNP a progressive alternative and campaigning force while Labour drifted to the right under Tony Blair. Salmond resigned in 2000.

It wasn’t until after Salmond’s 2004 return that the nationalists switched tact. Realising to defeat Labour, they would have to emulate them. Salmond and his new deputy Nicola Sturgeon chucked the grievances with Westminster for an ambiguity-laden positivity. They reversed their position on the nationalisation of public services, vowed to lower corporation tax and banned the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement – a grouping not dissimilar to

the one that got Salmond himself expelled – from association with the SNP.

While it may feel like a betrayal of principles - it worked. The SNP were elected in 2007 and has remained dominant. First Minister Alex Salmond once claimed Scots didn’t mind Margaret Thatcher’s economic policies. Long gone were the days of the anti-Poll Tax protests. While Salmond never apologised, the party did reverse its position on NATO in 2012. The ideals of the SNP had become those of the Scottish left. However, 2007 was also the start of the global financial crisis. The crash’s aftermath would politicise a generation not yet old enough to vote. Necessitating the party to, rhetorically at least, veer left once more under Salmond’s replacement Nicola Sturgeon.

Sturgeon’s media profile as activist First Minister emerged alongside a renewed radicalism. Opposition to austerity measures in Westminster had radicalised a new generation. It was this influx of progressive politics that saw the surprise election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. Labour saw no notable influx of young supporters

north of the border in a comparable period; energy coalesced around the Scottish government. Praise poured in from English liberal outlets for the SNP’s pro-EU, anti-Tory stance.

Sturgeon’s confidence in the role made it easy to accept contradictions: Her vocal support of the LGBTQ+ community masked the reactionary views of those in government. Social democratic posturing papered over the millionaire with business interests in the City of London who represented them at Westminster from 2017-2022. Aided by a right-wing Westminster government that allowed Scots to feel progressive while defending slashing local government budgets, Sturgeon performed an impressive balancing act. This fact lays bare for all to see that all that unites the SNP is a belief in self-governance.

With presumed successor Angus Robertson and stalwart John Swinney both refusing to stand, our next First Minister will be from a younger generation of nationalists. The party is now preparing for a reckoning about who it represents. The frontrunners

are MSP for Glasgow Pollock Humza Yousaf, running as a Sturgeon continuity candidate and Skye Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes. Finance Minister since 2020, Forbes has made headlines for her socially conservative views around gay marriage, abortion and sex out of wedlock. Her candidacy appears to be capitalising on a moral panic around LGBTQ+ people – particularly in opposition to trans rightsthat has manifested within the SNP.

Criticisms aside, Sturgeon is arguably one of Scottish history’s great political leaders. Her nationalism is one of togetherness and optimism. This fact goes some way to explain why her electoral successes outweigh that of her predecessors. However, in politics, you are judged by the company you keep, and the SNP’s shift to the right may have put them in government: But a position rooted in class analysis and anti-fascism may have prevented the party from descending into the most deranged forms of bigotry and conspiracy theorising. To secure a bright egalitarian future, we must look to our past.

Newly established democracies are often fragile. A fact proved by the reestablishment of the military junta in Myanmar in 2021 following a brief period of liberalisation. Under the administration of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, political reforms from 2011 to 2021 saw elections taking place, the establishment of commissions to investigate human rights abuses, the formation of labour unions and the liberalisation of the press. After so many years under the authoritarian regime of the previous military government, many believed that things were finally starting to change, and that a process of long-term democratisation was taking place.

However, it did not last. The general election held in November of 2020 saw a landslide victory for National League for Democracy (NLD). The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a party affiliated with the military, claimed that the NLDs triumph was the result of electoral fraud. Following the announcement that State Counsellor Suu Kyi would retain her position in the new government, the military acted. Suu Kyi and other senior members of the incumbent administration were detained, power was handed to General Min Aung Hlaing, and a state of emergency was declared, restricting travel and communication.

After the military junta regained power, a crackdown on media in the country immediately took place. According to Reporters Sans Frontières, nearly 100 journalists were arrested in the first six months of the new regime. The junta used a deliberately vague legal framework that enabled them to arrest journalists for “causing fear” or “spreading false news.” Of course, it was the regime itself that decided what constituted these crimes, meaning that journalists could be arrested on a whim, for reporting anything deemed detrimental to the interests of the junta. As well as arrests, police raids were carried out on the homes of journalists.

Independent media outlets that did not conform to the narrative of the regime had their licences suspended, leaving other outlets that were not directly affiliated to the state to walk a fine line as they juggled the production of valuable journalism with avoiding reporting anything that would result in them meeting the same fate. State media outlets became little more than propaganda machines, disregarded for the most part by the general populace. The junta also tightened its grip on the narrative by banning Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, limiting the development of public discourse.

Fast forward to today, and the outlook for the media landscape in Myanmar is similarly depressing. The number of arrested journalists has risen to 130, with 50 currently in prison. Media outlets that criticise the junta have been forced to go into exile in other countries in order to keep reporting. For example, the founder of the independent media outlet Frontier Myanmar , Sonny Swe, fled to Thailand following the coup along with writers for the publication and many other journalists. However this is nothing new. For example, the Democratic Voice of Burma has been advocating for democracy and press freedom in Myanmar from Norway since the 90s.

Furthermore, there have been safety concerns for the exiled journalists in Thailand due to links between the Thai and Burmese military forces. Various mechanisms have been created to enable cooperation between the two armies, such as the High-Level Committee, which has enabled them to take joint action against drug dealing and the illegal arms trade in Thailand. With this elevated level of integration between the two countries’ militaries, it is easy to see how journalists reporting on Myanmar from exile in Thailand could still be targeted by the authorities. Despite this, they have continued to critique the actions of the junta.

For example, FrontierMyanmarreported on the state of journalism in the country in March of 2023. The journalists granted access to government offices and press conferences are carefully vetted by the Information Department of the regime, in order to ensure that they adopt pro-junta stances in their work. And even then, when journalists that make the mistake of asking the wrong questions or are suspected of dissent face arrest. Vendors in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw are only able to sell publications directly connected to either the military or the USDP, now regarded as merely a proxy party for the military.

Myanmar’s case tells a gloomy story of how even when progress is being made in the right direction, an unstable political climate can be taken advantage of by bad actors in order to consolidate power.

As a consequence, the vital organ of democratic society that is a free and independent press has been wiped out, in turn negatively impacting public discourse. It will likely require the toppling of the junta for this to change.

The Undoing of Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage

A nation’s literature binds its community together, quite literally. A nation’s record of its history contains its discoveries, traditions and understanding of the world around it. To erase a country’s past affects it’s ability to selfidentify in the future. War crimes such as book burning, and destruction of culturally significant material undermine national identity and even its ‘Founding Myth’. This is used as a powerful weapon, often applied in aggressive military tactics. The nature of this tool can be subtle or more pronounced.

Recently this trend has reappeared in the case of the Ukrainian invasion. Of course, national, and regional histories are deeply embedded in Ukrainian-Russian relations. The role of conflicting discourses of national or regional history, is often the very reason for the eruption of conflict, perhaps aptly seen with Palestine and Israel. In a sense this dichotomy is created when nations adopt their own narrative despite the objective reality of the given situation. Through this phenomenon, comes

not only the ability to justify condemnation of Ukraine, but within this the deep and heavily set ideological assumption of Russian authority. This presumption about truth and fiction, right and wrong, ultimately can be seen to condone the oppression and attack of the Ukrainian citizens. Russian national myth and ideology centres so heavily around the idea of the ‘Motherland’ and entitlement surrounding post-soviet states, such as Ukraine, as a territorial right. Interestingly, the act of book burning in the Ukrainian invasion has been exercised in a slightly more embedded and less pronounced fashion. This falls back on an assumption of a rightful domination over Ukraine that is widespread, as opposed to the need for a more staged and publicised performance in adopting new ideas.

For this reason, the Russian government perhaps operates acts of terror like this in a slightly less theatrical and more clinical fashion than that of Nazi Germany. This is due to the foundations of Russian

historical self-identity and educational understanding of the surrounding region, as mentioned, acting in his favour. Ideological dissemination through education, harbours a more widespread acceptance of the situation at hand with Ukraine by Russian citizenry.

Original reports of Ukrainian literature being set alight came in tandem with descriptions of the detention and torture of hostages, as well as raids of libraries especially targeting children’s literature and replacing these with Russian texts. Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur on cultural rights stated the acts were “A violation of Ukrainians’ right to self-determination”. Some book-burnings were reportedly done in unison with other interrogation or detention techniques where hostages were forced to recite and learn Russian traditional literature. Aside from the horrific human rights abuses at play, the additional style of psychological conditioning illustrates the danger of this type of learned xenophobia, displaying the wish to not only oppress, but

completely transform the Ukrainians on an individual level. These techniques didn’t simply reinforce the Russian historical narrative, or function as propaganda, but were utilised as a tool of ‘re-education’ brainwashing Ukrainian citizens. As would be expected, this psychological warfare has left a deep scar on the people of Ukraine. One detainee bleakly described their experience, stating “Besides torture, they forced us to learn the Russian anthem, read pro-Russian books.” Despite this method being used within a wider crusade of terror tactics, it perhaps is the most sinister

fact, involving eroding the sense of identity one by one, book by book.

As the conflict continues, the amassing set of issues: economic, humanitarian and security, become harder to manage. The international help so far has come from regional and international bodies such as the EU, offering arms contributions as well as making use of aggressive sanctions. Alongside this the US, UK and other western actors including NATO, which Ukraine has been hoping to join, have been offering their support. However, with the international community centrally focussed on matters of global security, the landscape is increasingly complex. Security concerns such as the Russia’s

hypersonic missiles and developing economic policies, such as unprecedented EU sanctions to destabilise the country are central focusses for international actors. However, human rights violations are to an extent side-lined and far harder to approach in a strategic framework. Many Ukrainians who have gone missing are believed to be detained or dead. In these circumstances individual war crimes have built up in the background of the overall focus of aid.

The specific case of book burning acts as an illustration of the cultural and national damage done by the Russian invasion and occupation. In its blatant erasure of the past, it puts the Ukrainian future in a state of struggle to rebuild the history dismantled and to manage the pain caused, leaving behind a dark legacy of this war in the years to come. Russia’s invasion not only attempted to tear down the walls of buildings but the very social fabric that has woven together the history of the Ukrainian people.

Design: Fiona Howard

Photographers

Applications Open

What is it?

Next semester The Magdalen will need a new team of Photographers to take photos for articles! This would look amazing on a CV and is a great chance for anyone looking to go into editorial design.

What do I need?

A portfolio which showcases your photogrpahy, proficiency with cameras and if possible Adobe Photoshop, a sense of style & a can-do attitude! If this describes you we would love to hear from you!

How do I apply?

To apply send your portfolio to: 2418373@dundee.ac.uk & 2459209@dundee.ac.uk. Informal interviews will take place on Teams or in person during the summer.

Deadline: 01/06

Deadline: 01/06

What is it?

Next semester The Magdalen will need a new team of Illustrators to design articles and/or design for the front cover! This would look amazing on a CV for future employers, and is a great chance for anyone interested in publication design.

What do I need?

A portfolio which shows off your illustration work proficiency with designing digitally via Procreate or Adobe, and if possible some experience with Adobe InDesign, a sense of style & a can-do attitude! If this describes you we would love to hear from you!

How do I apply?

To apply send your portfolio to: 2418373@dundee.ac.uk & 2459209@dundee.ac.uk. Informal interviews will take place on Teams or in person during the summer.

Dundee Film

Society

the society is never the most obvious or the most mainstream. It does not need to be. What the society is all about is to promote deeper understanding of film aesthetic, film culture, film history and to invite all participants to share their views, to give their opinions, to enrich the others with their insights. Every single person who has shared those experiences, knows that we first start with a short presentation of the film given by Brian himself in his usual style, then we head on to watching the movie itself and after its end, we discuss it. Anyone who has any fleeting interest in film or who can call himself a cineaste or a cinephile is welcome. One could only benefit from being a part of this society whose main aim is to enrich its members and to provoke an honest and lively conversation about film and all its varied features. The last reason I can name for you to join this particular society is the current season which we all enjoy so much – it is titled the G.O.A.T. season and features a selection of films from the masters of cinema who have left their impressive signatures on the seventh art as we know it today.

The Film Society or Film Soc, as we usually refer to it, is a unique society among the vast array of student-led societies affiliated with the University of Dundee. Unlike most other societies run by students, Film Soc is in fact founded by a lecturer and is run by that same senior staff member. He is the one who picks the themes which serve as a sort of framework for each respective season, i.e., semester, and it is also he who selects the films which he deems most relevant to those themes. It would not be an exaggeration or an overstatement to claim that without that man, the University’s Film department which is already so negatively impacted and handicapped will lose its beating heart and soul, its engine, its most devoted and passionate lead. That lecturer’s name is indeed Dr Brian Hoyle. All of you who have already met him, know by now what kind of a person he is. For those who have not yet been acquainted with him, I will simply write that his passion is contagious, his knowledge is vast and his opinions are strong and sometimes quite radical. His society captures really well his beliefs and his tenets. What is shown in

Mycology Society

Hello! We are the Mycology Society, a group of mushroom enthusiasts hoping to nurture an appreciation for the mycelial wonders transpiring from beneath the forest floor. During mushroom season, we venture out into the woodlands every Sunday to forage and identify mushrooms with the help of local experts, and exchange recipes or facts pertaining to various species! Through the seasons where edible mushrooms are scarce, we host more talks, workshops, creative activities, and socials. With members ranging in Mycological knowledge and interests, our society provides a good excuse to embrace a frequently overlooked kingdom of life.

Our first mushroom growing workshop hosted by Fit the Fungus in March was an enlightening experience, and we are anticipating the first signs of King Oyster fruiting bodies from the grow bags we made. We hope to host more growing workshops in the future, perhaps growing Blue Oysters or using a mushroom log method to grow Shiitakes!

Despite the seasonal prevalence of many foraged species, the persistent growth of mushrooms such as Jelly Ears and Turkey Tails have enabled us to continue our walks through the winter. Our members’ interests range from foraging and rewilding to photography and aesthetics, making our meetups very captivating and hands-on. Through joining the Mycology Society, you can satisfy any desire you have to become more grounded to the natural world or learn more about the diversity of the Mycological realm!

“How do we see the world as sacred again?

By radical noticing.”

Lucy Jones, in Creatures that Don’t Conform, Emergence Magazine.

Tea and Sausages

I’ve been working in a dog grooming salon for almost five years now. I have had aggressive dogs, dogs that poo all over the place, dogs that cry until my ears ring, dogs that lick my face until I feel like I’m suffocating: I’ve met lots of interesting characters. Nothing, however, makes me wince more than Miniature Dachshunds.

Stereotypically, they are barky, stubborn and, most scarily, can slip a disc in their back with one slight movement. I distinctly remember the moment I said ‘I would never have one of those dogs. They’re just not my cup of tea.’ Do you see where this is going yet? Of course, despite my rejection of them, I sleep with one of them by my feet every night. Well, he’s meant to be by my feet, but he’s more often inside my pyjamas with me. In December 2021, I had just gone through my first break up, and what does every girl in that situation do? Blow her savings. To be fair, I wasn’t looking to buy a dog, I was merely, innocently looking at pictures of them. But then I came across a litter of Miniature Dachshunds, with an advertising picture that I initially thought was a baby seal.

He had velvety grey fur, deep black whiskers, and big green eyes that were accentuated by little brown eyebrows. When I clicked on the ad, I saw that he was the last one left, ‘awww, no one wants him.’ My heart strings had been tugged.

So that was it. A few short hours later, I was a mum. Clearly, I’m a decisive person, so after thinking about it for approximately 24 seconds it was decided; this was Slinky. ‘What on God’s green earth? Why have you got that?’ my friends asked, though I don’t think they were surprised. Plus, how can you not fall in love with a dog that has eyebrows? The months that followed broke every prejudiced idea I held about sausage dogs: he never barks, he can run for miles like any other dog –although, he is very stubborn.

The vet knows to ask me if he’s on hunger strike again every time they see me marching him towards the door. You know what’s good about having such a ‘basic’ dog? We have Slinky mugs, Slinky tea towels, Slinky flower pots, Slinky toothbrush holder, Slinky tote bags, Slinky crockery, and every Birthday,

Words: Ellie Munro

Valentine’s Day and Christmas, my boyfriend and I exchange a myriad of Sausage-dog themed gifts. But no, they’re not my cup of tea. Last summer he went on his first expedition to Edinburgh to meet up with 50 other sausages, though Slinky was the only one that made a bid for freedom, with a staff member carrying him back holding him with outstretched arms and demanding ‘is this your mum?’. My boyfriend often remarks that Slinky ‘wouldn’t last two minutes in the wild’, and I hate to admit that this is probably quite true, given that you can usually find Slinky clinging to my leg like a child on their first day of school.

Having a miniature dog has its perks too: he can be snuck into restaurants and shops in my bag and can be easily flung over my shoulder when he ‘forgets’ how to walk just as we start crossing the road. I take him into work with me, and I’m yet to meet a client who doesn’t gush over him as he hops towards them. His popularity is something that never ceases to surprise me – there aren’t many grey sausage dogs kicking about so I can often hear ‘Oh. My. Gawd. That’s Slinky!’ as I walk through town.

The best one though, was when I was approached in a pub and someone leaned over my shoulder and asked if I was Slinky’s mum. Of course with a face like that, you begin to amass a large following, meaning that he is also a social media influencer (@Slinky_sausage21, you know what to do), which doesn’t help when I’m in a hurry and men with their cameras on chase me telling me their girlfriend is a massive fan. At least he is someone’s cup of tea. He often gets me free coffees because baristas fall in love with him, so he gets the celebrity treatment: frequent Starbucks visits for puppaccinos, day trips to exciting new places, a different jumper for every day of the week. I think he deserves to be spoiled, because it can’t be easy being stuck in a perpetual plank.

You know, I always thought that I would use my English degree to write on more sophisticated matters, and while I could have used a hundred metaphors, I find myself continuously drawn back to writing in basic terms what I am passionate about - and when you meet him, you will understand why that is Slinky. He is very much my cup of tea.

Design: Morgan Palmer

When seeing a brightly coloured item of clothing you’ve wanted for so long, your eyes can’t help but light up. From seeing something on the rail or even on your Instagram feed to imagining wearing it; being dressed in something you love that makes you feel so happy and confident in who you are. This feeling has a name, the idea of getting joy from what we wear is called ‘Dopamine Dressing’.

The concept is built upon simple psychology at its base level. Dopamine, a type of neurotransmitter, when released in large amounts causes feelings of pleasure. It’s key in reward, motivation, and memory functions as due to the pleasure we feel at its release, the brain craves the pattern to be repeated. Now taking this and applying it to how we view clothes is simple; when we see a piece of brightly coloured clothing we love, we achieve the rush of dopamine. Our brain uses dopamine to let us know we would feel happy in this certain piece of clothing. This means when we wear an outfit consisting of all pieces which we feel happier while wearing, our brain tells us to be confident and motivates us to recreate that feeling again and again. In 2012, studies were carried out that proved this, showing how participants’ perceived confidence increased when wearing clothes that were symbolically meaningful to them. Wearing clothing that makes us feel good can trigger a ‘positive feedback loop’ where when you feel confident and receive compliments, you will feel even better next time allowing the process to be repeated. It benefits your mindset by training your brain to seek out the positive reward, introducing this healthy cycle of looking after your own emotional well-being.

One of the best elements of dopamine dressing is that it won’t look the same on any two people. As long it makes you feel happy, anything fits. Whether it’s the oldest t-shirt in your wardrobe paired with a pair of slippers or it’s a luxurious dress saved for a special occasion; as long as it makes you feel good, you are successfully dopamine dressing. We can use it to connect mindfulness to how we view clothes, elevating our mood through consideration of our own emotions.

However, it is most commonly considered alongside ideas of colour psychology due to colours’ ability to impact mood. Instinctively, we often link certain colours to certain emotions due to various reasons. Some of these links arise in a grander, more societal sense, such as we tend to universally link blues and greens with calmness or reds with passion. Cultural associations also play a role in this, with colours representing different meanings depending on where you are in the world.

In terms of dopamine dressing, however, it’s recommended to focus on your own personal interpretation of colours. The more often we wear a piece and associate it with feeling good, means as soon as we put it on, we begin to feel good. It’s why dopamine dressing is so great as a starting point for mindfulness. It allows us to understand what makes us happy and then how to take simple steps in ensuring we can prioritise our own joy. So whether that’s putting on a black jumper rather than a yellow one and still feeling that rush of happiness, you are still successfully dopamine dressing.

All in all, the fashion world has seen an influx of colour in a post-pandemic world, suggesting more people are finding joy in bright and bold wardrobes. After spending so long dressing for nobody but yourself, the fashion industry now celebrates personal joy and freedom in the clothes we choose. It’s a phenomenon seen often after mass events, such as how the roaring 20s championed flamboyant style after the end of WWI. We look to inject joy into our lives in accessible ways and dressing to make ourselves feel good is an easy first step.

It does come down to the easier concept of you will know yourself what clothes will make you feel good. Whether full of colour or devoid of any, it’s your own personal interpretation. Dopamine dressing represents what all fashion should be - something that makes you feel good regardless of anyone else’s style. It’s individual, it’s interesting, it’s exciting . So put on your favourite colour and dress in your favourite outfit and spark the joy you deserve.

Say Hello Say Hello

Moving into a new home in the twenty-first century is an exciting venture. You’ve got the enjoyment of designing the décor, scouting out the local cafes and making the place feel like home. One thing, however, which you likely won’t be adding to your to-do list, is the daunting task of meeting your neighbours. Student halls aside, most people I know in university would never dare introduce themselves to the ‘scary’ people across the hall. It’s a general consensus that neighbours are either alcoholics, drug dealers or serial killers. No exceptions. I felt the same. Four years spent living in flats and the height of my neighbourly interactions was the occasional awkward glancein the hallway.

Back in the day, you wouldn’t dare move into your new home without a friendly knock on the neighbour’s door. Even with the established ‘safe people’, socialising, dinner dates and coffee mornings were the daily norm. And now… most people are lucky to see their friends and family once a week.

Loneliness in the UK has become a serious epidemic with a scary 45% of people feeling lonely in England, and 54% of young adults feeling unable to speak about their emotions with others. Students and workers are spending more time in home offices, hobbies

are gradually moving online, and the elderly are limited to the occasional family drop in. The impact of this on our health is huge, with loneliness being a key factor for longevity and risk of disease.

People have studied the wonders of Blue Zones – areas where the residents have the highest life expectancies in the world – for many years. Food has been analysed, activity levels monitored, access to nature reported on – and whilst all these factors vary between place, one key component in all of them is access to a strong community. Studies show that having five close friends, who you know that you can rely on, is one of the best things you can do for your mental and physical health.

Whilst the world becomes more and more disconnected, it is up to us to make the changes we want to see. Take this as your sign to call your parents more often, schedule in that regular fitness class with your sibling, and go on that coffee date with your friends. Why not take advantage of the universities 250+ societies, and find a group of likeminded people? The world might be going through a loneliness epidemic, but you don’t have to join in. So, when you move into your next apartment, knock on your neighbour’s door and say hello.

Punk is dead, long live Punk.

Just one of the many subcultures birthed in the wake of the social and political dissent seen in the 70s, punk has made a name for itself as a subculture of outrage and social critique. Most people are familiar with the punk “look”; vibrant colours, dyed hair, an anti-establishment motif scrawled across leather jackets and combat boots. Far from just an aesthetic, however, punk has a rich history of self-expression and political action, giving a voice to the predominantly working-class people from which it came and turning that voice against the upper class in an era of increasing inequality and political frustration.

The punk movement emerged in 1970s Britain as a counterculture and opposition to the political and social norms of Thatcherite Britain, especially in an era of constant strikes and societal decay. Punk took all of the pentup societal anger and gave people an outlet to express their rage at the way the world was. Many of the most common symbols of “Britishness”, such as the union flag and Queen’s tartan, were incorporated into punk fashion as a symbol of protest.

The irony is, one can see more evidence of punk’s commodification in the simplification

of punk culture into an aesthetic rather than a movement. Brands such as Urban Outfitters and ASOS have taken the punk look and turned it into a trend. Walk into any one of these shops and you would be bombarded by predistressed jeans and kitschy political slogans draped across sweatshop made T shirts. The very essence of punk- the destruction, the individuality- has been gutted, giving way to a legion of fast-fashion knockoffs and massproduced schlock. The destruction of clothing by punks was representative of how the subculture broke down societal norms and the mainstream corporate narrativebleaching and ripping one’s clothes was a visual indicator of punk’s disdain for not just the upper class but the commodification that the upper class represented.

The commodification of punk is merely another acquisition that corporate capitalism has made, taking the very spirit of resistance, of rebellion, and turning it into a commercialized product to be marketed to the masses. While the punk of the past acted as an outlet for social change and the transformation of social norms, the gradual acclimation to the outrage and the disobedience turned punk from a vehicle of social dissent to an expected part of society.

Words: Harry Anderson, Design: Jack Stamp

Self-Help Books: The Pursuit of the Unattainable?

he adult world can present us with unprecedented challenges which destroy our pursuit of happiness. We have all been the unfortunate recipients of difficulties like work-related stresses or faced the painful demise of a relationship. Although these occurrences are fundamental to the lived experience, a narrative through which such hinderances are deemed pathological has been reinforced, and the selfhelp book has been placed on a pedestal offering the ‘cure’ to your numerous problems.

With the criteria for psychological disorders frequently too specific to constitute a diagnosis, in conjunction with the waiting lists and referrals required to be seen by the appropriate medical service, the mental health crisis truly is a crisis where by professional treatment can seem inaccessible. The availability of the self-help book in contrast is very appealing. Walk into any bookshop and you will be guaranteed to find at least one guidebook offering a vague answer to any predicament fuelling your distress. Even booking a GP appointment to review my antidepressant dosage takes approximately a month to arrange, so the commercial alternative to professional attention is undoubtedly appealing.

Self-help books are made even more alluring through their broad translatability to a general population. It seems anyone can feel seen or represented in some form by authors shining a light on a multitude of quandaries. Whilst this may attract a more substantial audience, readers are given the illusion of a guaranteed resolution to their issue, in addition to adopting the belief that they are somewhat deviant from

the norm if non-complicit to the script laid out in front of them. Just as we would not expect a doctor to prescribe antibiotics as a treatment for anaemia, or the same dosage regardless of tolerance and severity, there should not be an underlying expectation of a one-size-fits-all approach to mental health.

I do not wish to demonise self-help books in comparison to other mental health treatments, but rather highlight their possible limitations when unreliably sourced or used independently. Studies do support a benefit of trustworthy self-help books when used in conjunction with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) when treating depression. It is also not uncommon for those accessing outpatient eating disorder services to be given self-help resources to refer to in between appointments. It is worth bearing in mind however that such resources have been carefully selected, and readers are given the space to engage in a dialogue whereby more personal factors are addressed through talking therapies.

Meta-analyses of self-help literature have been conducted in an attempt to further understanding with regards to the potentially harmful content presented in the scope of their pages. Through such reviews, five recurring falsehoods have been identified:

The self-help book has been placed on a pedestal offering the ‘cure’ to your numerous problems.

1. Your anger will subside through venting.

Whilst the expression of emotions should certainly be encouraged, there is little evidence to support venting as a means of diminishing anger. Venting can be a useful process for many, but is unlikely to independently reduce anger. Voicing concerns and frustrations to trusted figures in conjunction with working to identify the source of these emotions is more likely to provide a sense of longer-term relief than concentrating solely on the effects.

4. Low self-esteem can be raised through the practice of selfaffirmation.

As much as we may hate to admit it, we feel good about ourselves when we receive external validation. Like self-affirmation, this alone cannot be utilised to raise self-esteem, but it is often a contributing factor. The overemphasis of one specific quality reiterated in the pages of these books seemingly fails to acknowledge the nuances surrounding human cognition.

2. Directing your thoughts onto the positives of a situation will promote feelings of happiness when you are miserable.

The empirical evidence pertaining to this actually supports an oppositional hypothesis, whereby taking the time to contemplate and accept negative emotions may be more beneficial than using positive ideologies to suppress them.

5. The key to a successful relationship is the ability to communicate through utilizing active listening.

3. Your goals can be achieved through visualisation and optimism.

Studies are generally supportive of the beneficial outcomes of visualisation, alongside a mindfulness to potential obstacles and barriers feasibly encountered. Self-help narratives tend to instigate an overreliance on visualisation, which may worsen the impact of failure.

Active listening is indeed a quality which should be encouraged through interacting with friends, family, and partners; however, the motivations behind active listening can sometimes present themselves as too forced to feel genuine. Studies have demonstrated that couples maintaining a healthy relationship often do not engage in active listening, but rather prioritise being earnest through communication.

Self-help books do serve a function as a guide to some and appear too impersonal to others. Regardless of your stance on their effectiveness, if your experiences or feelings are overwhelming, you will likely find the most benefit from seeking help beyond the self.

Recycling Revolution Recycling Revolution

I have always been worried about the clothes that I pick up having a bad impact for the environment. The image of landfills full to the brim with £3.50 leggings and once trendy nylon jumpers that will never decompose haunts me every time I think about clicking the TikTok shop link to get a hoodie with a goose holding a knife in its mouth printed on it. I recently talked to the founder of Tanzania based Wakawear, a small and sustainable clothing company focussed on unique beachwear,about what upcycling means to herand the difference that she wants to make in the world of fashion.

Q: How did you get into upcycling?

A: Previously I didn’t know anything about upcycling. I mainly got interested when I was visiting Tanzania and visited what are called mitumba markets. Mitumba markets are basically the Swahili word for anything that comes from the global north second-hand and gets kind of distributed to markets around East Africa. I think there’s also markets in West Africa but I know less about them. So, it can mean materials, such as bedsheets, clothes, shoes, anything that someone could wear or drape, but it also includes electronics.

It’s basically a way of other countries getting rid of their stuff [...] I realised that there was, a wealth of materials, loads and loads of different things, things that you wouldn’t expect, some vintage items, some really nice fabrics and, I got the idea to combine those with African prints. So that’s how it started.

She told me about an article that she read about the movement of an average item of clothing before it gets on the shop floor. It’ll make its way through six countries, and, in some cases, it will have gone through that entire process before it gets to markets in East Africa.

Q: What led you into this form of fashion as opposed to traditional designs with new fabrics?

A: The same reason, I would say, but also the depths of fabrics is different. Not that you can’t get loads of different things new, and there’s some kind of really innovative new fabrics, like eucalyptus and bamboo that you get less in second hand markets, but what you also get is really old materials which you couldn’t get now. So, for that reason it’s quite exciting. You get to play with different textures, you get to practice a lot more because you’re not having to make multiple items of one thing, so there’s positives and negatives to that as well because unique items can only fit one person. Whereas if you’re building to scale, it’s a bit different. It’s a really

This was a surprise to me; I was completely unaware of the freedom that second hand fabrics offered, in my head you could only come across these types of materials through taking a trusty seam ripper to a charity shop skirt.

Q: You come up with some really fun and unique designs as well, do you thinkthat clothes should be a fun extension of your personality?

A: It’s interesting that you ask that because, previously, I saw clothes as quite functional. I mean, like everyone else, I enjoy trying to look the best that I can, but it wasn’t really a focus for me [...] I would say that I didn’t consider it to be an extension of self, fun or otherwise. I’d say that now I definitely think that fun should be in fashion, I think that people’s personalities should be, but it’s a very personal choice, I wouldn’t want to dictate what someone else should or would want to wear. I do think that fashion’s a really interesting art form, and it is a reflection of where we are at as a society, and fast fashion, unfortunately, is part of that.

Q: So, what do you think sets upcycled fashion aside? What would you say to people who want to get out of the cycle of buying fast fashion?

A: I, like anyone else, have purchased fast fashion in the past, I didn’t do it with much thought so I wouldn’t really have any judgement call. I’ve recently started learning to sew, previously I was just doing the designs and giving them to tailors, and it’s not rocket science [...] I would say that you should consider making your own clothes, consider creation rather than consumption, because then you can have purpose-built stuff for your own self. There are more and more resources out there that people can access, and things like social media are facilitating creativity much more than they have done previously, so it’s not a closed art that only certain people can do. You can pick up second hand sewing machines really cheaply, you can buy second hand fabrics really cheaply, you can keep the process closer to you rather than having a product that’s gone through hundreds and hundreds of hands before it reaches you. So create, if you can.

Overall, upcycling seems like, not only a more ethical and environmentally friendly method of getting clothes, but also far more expressive and fun. Grab granny’s old sewing machine and the weird sheets that you swore you would use for something and get creative.

Vice President of Community Interview

The last semester of the year is a time for reflection for many people. Many students are looking forward to finishing off their studies. Meanwhile, final year students, like myself, are finishing up the final assessments for their degree and preparing their next steps. So, I decided to interview Jazmine, the Vice President of Community at DUSA to look back on university life.

How did you get into your role as Vice President of Community?

I ran for election in March last year and I was successfully voted in! It was a great week of campaigning before election results were announced.

You have been greatly involved and invested in the Community Action Forum. So, what have been the best moments of your involvement with the forum?

The greatest parts of the Community Action Forum have been when students have been empowered enough to do things of their own accord. For example, we’ve had a few members chair the meeting who have never done so before and others have gone on to organise their own actions or find groups of students out with the forum to engage with.

Has your role as Vice President of Community inspired you to make this kind of work a career after university?

Yes, absolutely! As I graduate in June, I’m now looking to go into the charity sector more broadly. My dream role would be in community engagement somewhere in Dundee so I can use my skills and talents to help the wider city.

Since you are in your final year of university, how do you want to leave your legacy?

I want to see DUSA facilitating permanent support for student-led campaigning. In the past, students like myself have tried to go to DUSA for help with this and received little response. This year, I have consciously been a person people can go to for help making change in their community and I hope this spirit and activity continues.

From our past articles, I know that you have done activist work before becoming Vice President of Community. So, did this work motivate you to run for this role?

Yes, definitely. Before I was VPC, I was on the committee of the Socialist Society, and I was involved in wider campaigns around housing and the cost of living. It was the lack of this kind of activity in DUSA which motivated me to run.

What would your goals be for the next Vice President of Community?

To be honest, it’s not really my place to set goals for the next VPC. Whoever it is will write their manifesto and it will be down to them to see it through. I hope they feel as empowered and motivated as I have to make real change on campus and beyond.

What advice would you give to a student who is considering running for Vice President of Community?

If you’ve got the passion for the role and time to give, then go for it! It’s a really great opportunity to make real change to the lives of others but also a great experience that will help you for life

Do you think that student experience has been improved through your role?

From your past activist work, what would you say was the highlight? And what have you learned from this?

Possibly my favourite moment was last year when I was involved in the sit in the Tower Building outside the Principal’s office. This was in support of the UCU strikes and some of our demands were met but it was actually the sense of community and comradery that we felt working and being together that I look back on most fondly.

I sure hope so! We’ve received really good feedback on the Community Action Forum and other projects as I’ve been a part of like LGBT+ History Month. Though, ultimately, it is the student body who can answer this question better than myself.

Do you have any other questions you want to include in the interview?

I just hope that my run as VPC has been a good one and I look forward to seeing who’ll be in the role next!

And neither was this academic year. I would describe it as more of a swirl; a whirlwind of first experiences and mixed feelings.

In September, the sun shone, doors opened, and the Freshers fair sparked the campus into life with an energy previously locked away. Now, as we approach the end of the year, the sunset begins slowly, not ready for the night to set in just yet. Social calendars brim at the seams, circles of people gather to stress over their final projects together, and the seemingly endless series of academic firsts and lasts continues. As first years’ experience their first exams, their first “last class of the year”, and their first parting with friends to embark on their summer plans, fourth years prepare for their last deadline, graduation, and post-undergraduate life.

i s n’t linear

The peak Covid days have faded to a distant memory for most of us now. Yet, I can’t help but reminisce on the contrast between past and present. Two years ago, I was sitting alone in my bedroom, wondering if my classmates would ever become familiar faces, or if this was it. One year ago, I was sitting in the library with a face mask on, furiously typing away at an essay and trying to keep my distance from other people. This year, I’m sitting with my classmates, sharing ideas and alleviating stress.

The pandemic was an unnatural time, and the effects of it have ricocheted throughout the year like sun rays through a glass prism -

creating rainbows and casting shadow. While normality has been a joy this past year, the memory of a different time always lurked in a hidden corner. Lecture halls were unknown territory for many of us. Social events were populated by classmates meeting in-person for the first time, and once connoisseurs of the ceilidh having to re-learn the steps. Societies were full of people excited to try something new after years of boredom - developing new skills, facing new challenges and getting to know new people.

Progre s s

All of this is a reminder that progress isn’t linear. Life is not a clear path; we are constantly adapting to change. We are not static but attached to strings which are ever probed by the chaotic instruments of chance and consequence, binding us to the rules of the universe. If light passed through us, the colours reflected would dance and obscure.

Whether you are restarting something you had to put on hold, pursuing a new adventure, or even just building on pre-existing skillsremember to make space for yourself to evolve, struggle and learn. You will have days where the string to which you are tethered is as light and flexible as elastic, and others where it becomes heavy and stiff as a steel rod - even when you are functioning at peak performance. Recognising this has enabled me to accept myself where I’m at - to approach with confidence no matter where my string leads me, or how much light shines through.

ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

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ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

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ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

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ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

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ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

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ART AND THE POWER OF THE VOICES

ARTANDTHEPOWEROFTHEVOICES

On February 16, 2023, it has come to the public attention that the Scottish Government were planning to decrease the arts and culture budgets. It could result in a number of cuts to regularly funded arts organisations by up to 50%. While most of the organisations have already struggled, a number of them have stopped their existence permanently. An independent charity organisation and alliance for the arts called The Campaign for the Arts stepped up and organized an urgent petition highlighting the importance of art funding. After 15,401 people signed it in just a few days, on the 21st of February the Scottish Government abandoned their plans for a £7 million cut. This victory shows the importance of speaking up and fighting for the right cause. But even with this success, artists and particularly art students still suffer from the rise in living costs.

Most artists admit that they struggle mostly due to the prices of art supplies. As art students report, they get the same amount of SAAS support but have to put in much more than the rest of the scholars. The cost of making art is high and the prices have raised lately. For example, to print a poster would be £10-£20, to use a 3D printer - £10-£50, depending on the size of the print. And don’t forget the basics: paints, brushes, sketchbooks, etc. For a single project, art students must pay up to £100 not to mention money spent if something goes wrong, breaks, or if they change their minds about the materials or the project itself. Most students adjust by using second hand supplies or choosing to use some waste materials which won’t cost them anything. The downside of such creativity is that many artists cannot afford to work with every material they want and have to stick to the cheapest options.

Unfortunately, there are a few programs to help students with the costs of art supplies, therefore so many people reacted to the news of defunding. Art has always held a crucial part in society, especially during hard times. For many people around the globe, art plays the role of a therapist, and it would be cruel to take that away from them now. There are some solutions: increasing funding on the Governmental level, encouraging universities to help students with supplies for their projects (giving them a toolbox with essentials for example), asking your fellow artists if they want any materials you no longer need (also donating them) or using local support. Some examples are the reuse hub in the DJCAD canteen, CassArt which has frequent sales and discounts for students, and the reclamation centre ScrapAntics. You have a few options there: use the store without a membership if spending less than £3 a day or get an annual student membership for £7 for unlimited use. These are small steps, but they can lead to a great victory.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: DUNDEE

International Women’s Day has been celebrated on the same day every year, March 8th, since the early 1900s. The purpose is ‘celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women,’ according to the International Women’s Day website (2023). International Women’s Day also acts as an opportunity to fight for equality, and many gather together to host events and fundraisers for charities like the Girl Scouts or those in need locally.

The strive of International Women’s Day is for a world of equal opportunity and treatment for all, and to commemorate those who have fought in previous generations for their right to exist and thrive how they see fit. In recent years, the day has strived to be more inclusive and open to all genders, as it can often be scary and intimidating to get involved in events which do not necessarily meet your identity.

International Women’s Day does celebrate the achievements of women through history, however, at the same time, on a basis for gender equality, inclusivity and intersectionality, a lot of events strive to include everyone to promote an equal and connected society. In Dundee in particular, the university has a few societies who are planning events for the day, which will

have passed by the time the article is published. This includes an event hosted by the LGBT society, a self-care event open to all, and the Feminist society who hosted a coffee event and a film screening, again open to all. There was also the Dundee Women’s festival full of events and discussions that was held between the 4th and 19th of March!

It’s important we have days as a society to reflect on our past, and to draw conclusions on how we can pave the way forward for an informed and inclusive approach for future events and celebrations. Events like this can be difficult to attend, as the past is not pretty, and being educated unfortunately includes acknowledging and learning from often horrific historical eras.

If you’re celebrating this year, take care of yourself, take the time to learn about the history of International Women’s Day and how it is celebrated within different cultures, and what it means to different people. Don’t be afraid to celebrate the achievements of others, but be willing to listen to their stories and pasts without judgement!

Therapy Doesn’t Treat Oppression

Mental illness is often a part of the human condition. According to the World Health Organization, about 970 million people suffer from mental disorders worldwide. While everyone experiences negative feelings throughout their lives, there are conditions that cause significant distress and difficulties with functioning in everyday life. Mental disorders are deemed as “abnormal” compared to the average normally functioning population. But what is abnormal and what is normal? Can we truly say that mental illness is an abnormal response to the way society, culture, politics, and the economy interacts in the world today? Considering the challenges of our modern world and the discrimination many of us face, I would argue the answer is no.

As a psychology student and someone who has been struggling with mental health issues for more than ten years, I believe that mental illnesses are treatable. Talking therapy and medication can be extremely effective and even lifesaving. However, I often wonder whether we pathologize conditions that are a natural response to the circumstances we live in. While modern medicine is becoming increasingly advanced and life expectancy is growing in Western countries, people in

the 21st century are facing problems that we as humans have never dealt with before.

Perhaps the most outstanding of these is climate change, a phenomenon that is already causing irreparable environmental damage and is having devastating effects on physical health. The fear of future consequences of climate change has even led to the creation of the term “climate grief”. Moreover, the internet and social media have forever changed human life and connection. The human brain is not designed to process the inexplicably rapid spread of information that we are dealing with today. While the ability to talk to anyone at any time brought humans closer in some ways, it also divided us, as problems such as cyberbullying emerged.

As if that wasn’t enough, politics and the economy are hugely influential on people’s well-being. It is practically impossible to make a living with minimum wage, as the price of food, commodities, and rent is skyrocketing. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor is exponentially growing. Laws targeting minority groups are being passed every single day, all over the world. Fascism is on the rise in the US and several European countries. Not to mention the Covid-19

pandemic and its long-lasting consequences. All of these factors contribute massively to the poor mental health of privileged people, but they affect marginalized communities disproportionately. The uncertainty of poverty and discrimination is a major cause of stress, and chronic exposure to stress can lead to a rapid decline in mental and physical health.

When it comes to the mental health treatment of disadvantaged groups, it is important to mention that therapy is often inaccessible. Just based on how long the waiting times are for the NHS mental health services, it isn’t surprising that many people don’t even try to get help. The other option would be private healthcare, which is so expensive that working-class people could hardly ever afford it. However, the accessibility of mental health care is not the only problem. I question the effectiveness of certain types of therapy as well. Nowadays, the golden standard, the most frequently administered type of therapy is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT is based on the concept that negative thoughts lead to negative feelings and behaviours, and by breaking the pattern of negative thoughts, one can cure, or at least manage symptoms of mental illnesses. While CBT can be very effective for a multitude

of disorders and symptom management, I argue that it can only treat a specific group of people. Those who deal with irrational thoughts, and those whose thought patterns can be changed. For people who deal with systematic oppression and discrimination every day, the thoughts that may be the root of anxiety or depression are often rational. When someone is being persecuted for their very being, their existence, it is nearly impossible to not be anxious and depressed as a natural response to the environment. I will use myself as an example. I suffer from medical anxiety despite being perfectly physically healthy. That is an irrational fear, one that can be changed through therapy. On the other hand, my anxiety pertaining to the discrimination I face as an LBTQ+ person is rational and cannot be changed.

This is where politics and psychology intersect. Until the social and systematic liberation of marginalized groups is achieved, until steps are being taken against the disasters of climate change, until we are living in late-stage capitalism; mental illness will remain a normal response to being human.

A Defence

A recent article in The New Yorker has expressed concern for the decline of humanities by way of falling English major admission rates. This is not a new phenomenon. As the article states, the humanities have long been losing their employability appeal in favour of STEM subjects whose skillset is more tangible to a new generation of young people in need of a career. The author suggests that this is also evident in a lack of interest in studying those classically formatted, complex texts which have long been the backbone of the format; he cites a professor’s testimony in finding students incapable of identifying the subject and the verb whilst teaching The Scarlet Letter. Certainly, the Classics are no longer taught as they once were. Gone are the days of Ulysses being a subject standard in Secondary teaching. But does this mean that the fate of the humanities really lies in the gutter?

What the author of this article has overlooked is the enduring necessity of the arts and humanities beyond scholarly endeavours. The decline is not of the humanities but of the academic world failing to understand or appreciate the role it holds in the proliferation of the arts.

Humans will always tell stories; these are the skeletal fibre of culture and morals. It is as

close to magic as humankind has come, the transformation of words into images in the mind of another, calling upon the lightning rod that is imagination and animating the mind in consequence.

This will not be stopped simply because academia removes itself from support of the arts. It will, however, remove the benefits of the arts and humanities from those at the helms of such institutions. By failing to update teaching methods or place any kind of passion into the education of young minds, the government is failing themselves. A recent study by Stirling University showed that the Scottish Curriculum For Excellence (the curriculum Scotland has used since 2010) is creating a “culture of performativity” and narrowing the scope of our young people. This study speaks in terms of career development and denotes an important issue within our modern culture: the need for attainment.

It is this need that both destroys and funds academia. I venture it is also this need that both funds and destroys humans. In an article entitled ‘The U-Shape of Happiness in Scotland’, the authors describe a peak in mortality and suicide rates in middle-aged persons despite high overall reports of happiness in Scotland. We are burning out and

Design: Megan Napier

this culture of achievement-based value is not helping.

What academia fails to understand is the importance of celebrating and supporting cultural advancements like those studied in the Arts and Humanities. By encouraging exploration and interest in these subjects, the fruit of their presence can benefit a wider population.

Expressing oneself through art and literature is one of the most effective ways to connect with our fellows in this life. Great art is described as ‘touching’ for good reason. It is an access to the soul, not necessarily in a religious sense but in the way that all of us have that innate human nature that transcends the sum of our nerves and neurons. This ‘soul’ is the spark of creation.

Ideas are passed from generation to generation in art and stories, planting the seeds of progress in a mind potentially millennia and miles apart from the origin. The fundamentals of Greek philosophy and engineering are accessible to every child with internet access, is this not magic?

More than that, it is alchemy. In the act or experience of art, we are translating those incorporeal and essential parts of ourselves

into something new. Something that carries the ability to light the imagination in others.

We are destabilizing the known world so it might be reconfigured in a way that is new, this is how progress is possible. Only by admitting that things may not be as we thought they were that we can pursue the truth of what they are. The earth is not the centre of the universe, nor is it flat, what else might we discover of its nature if we only allow our minds to change?

This is creative thinking; this is an effort of the humanities. It will not stop, but many will be worse for the denial of its value because it is essential to the survival of the species. Thus, it is far too deeply a part of humanity to be extinguished by lack of attention. Ideas will grow even on fallow ground; morals and culture will continue to be written, spoken, sung, painted, and expressed in all manner of methods. It is only those who choose not to tend the garden that forsake themselves from sharing its’ fruit.

The Bottom of The Murky Pond

In the last issue, I criticised the growing presence of AI in creative industries and vented my concerns about how it may impact my career as a writer. This article is basically a sequel to that one, and going into it you and I will effectively have what is archaically referred to as a ‘gentleman’s agreement’. I’m going to reveal the face of capitalist realism to you, and you’re not going to tell my boss that it’s him.

I work as a copywriter for a well-known international keynote speaker, self-described futurist and trendwatcher. Now, now, hold your horses—there’s quite a lot of money in this racket, it seems. He’s the guy who shows up at your annual work summit and tries to inflict you with a sense of ‘inspiration’ about... well, whatever industry-relevant pablum he can riff on. I helped fix his PowerPoint on the future of camping last week. Biometric tents. Robot groundskeepers. The final page was blank white, and asked the audience a momentous question: “are you feeling inspirired?” There’s a lot of clean-up in this job.

Yes, my guy is hopeless — he hangs up on himself in the majority of video calls he participates in. Nevertheless, he is the guy your company pays to show up and staple a grin to your face about things like automation or workplace surveillance. Me, I’m the one who makes the staples. Thanks, I hate my job too.

Every so often, he becomes overcome with excitement about a new thing he has discovered in an article. This would be charming—childlike, even—if he didn’t endeavour to jam these new things sideways down our throats. In most cases, he will give up and move on, quietly ceding defeat and hoping you will forget. Not last week.

he finds his words: he has just discovered generative AI and expects us to double our workload by using it. Several days later, we have the inevitable meeting. My guy kicks it off with a lengthy and oblivious free-

As the only staff member who has, thus far, attempted to use it for our content, I ask to share my screen. Voicing my concerns, I drag my pointer across numerous fake statistics the app cited, and which I had to spend an excessive length of time trying to source. He butts in. For a moment, we got to peer behind the veneer and listen to my boss crudely chide me that my enthusiasm for change was lacking. The new double-workload is here to stay. No further questions. Get to work.

Get To Work...”

Cue an entire week of hopelessly scrambling and failing to meet deadlines.

This semester, we have been reading Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher, and it has been a uniquely raw and frustrating experience for me. On virtually every page I see the gormless face of my boss staring back at me, telling me to ‘be more enthusiastic’. More enthusiastic about the lack of stability in my life, more enthusiastic about the treadmill getting ever-faster, more enthusiastic about my craft being made obsolete by He insincere neo-liberal face slapped onto the inescapable machine that seeks to use me up and throw me aside. If I quit this job, his avatar will be waiting to greet me at the next one, too.

Hence, I seek to escape this ‘profession’ before obsolescence comes for me and move back towards pursuing academia. It’s already being suffocated under capitalist realism, but the threat appears less immediate.

Rest assured, it is there—go ahead and ask your tutor how they feel about the Humanities merger. Or ask me. The degree I’m currently sitting will vanish next year. It was my second choice — the one I wanted vanished last summer.

Anyway, thanks for reading. My next article will be about how to make a really great banana on toast.

(This article was written 12/03/23. On 14/03/23, we all got fired.

“I’m afraid our time for collaboration is over.”

Our contracts specifying thirty days’ paid notice were ignored—he apparently “can’t afford it.” I have not even seen pay for days worked this month, and I’m not very that confident I will. My longer-

Turns Out Life After Uni Exists —

“

As I’m approaching my fourth year, the reality that my undergraduate years are coming to an end slowly settles in. Countless adults had warned me that these years would fly by, but I only now begin to feel it for myself. In addition to all the coursework that comes with being a third year, I need to start thinking about things like dissertations and, god forbid, the future I’ve heard that dreaded question countless times by now: “So, what are your plans for after Uni?” The first few times it’s easy enough to laugh off with an oh, absolutely no clue, but eventually, it becomes harder to dismiss. At a certain point, people expect an actual answer from you, and I don’t have one. I have some options in mind, sure, but nothing even close to a plan. Uncertainty hides around every corner, and with every choice comes a myriad of other decisions I’ll have to make. At times, I even get bouts of regret as I start to wonder if any of the choices I’ve made so far were the right ones. Maybe I should’ve studied something different, something that would quickly land

me a job; maybe the smart thing to do is to work for a year rather than immediately continue my studies; maybe I shouldn’t be continuing my studies in the UK at all, and instead look for a good European University somewhere closer to home. I know when I’m not too busy overthinking, that I’m happy with where I am in life and that I do want to keep studying here, but stress can make me doubt anything.

My biggest comfort is one that has probably crossed your mind as well: that at least, we’re all in this together. Sure, some students might have more concrete plans as to what they want to do after graduation, but even knowing what you’re working towards won’t save you from every little anxiety that comes with this point in life. Every student eventually ends up in a similar position. So, if you feel like you’re getting overwhelmed, talk about it with your friends or classmates. Even if they can’t provide you with answers, you’ll be able to find some peace in your solidarity. Or if all else fails, you can loudly complain about your troubles together. There’s really no use in getting stuck on regrets – the should’ves and could’ves, the other routes you could have chosen that, at least in your head, would’ve resulted in an easier or better future. If you refuse to let yourself enjoy the path you did

... at least we’re all in this together.

Now What?

choose, then a couple years from now, that will end up being your biggest regret.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to ease some of those worries. If it’s your final year you’re anxious about, the best solution is to talk to students who have already survived it (or are close to doing so). They can offer advice on exactly what to expect. The scariest part in all of this is the uncertainty, the endless questions. Once you know what you’ll be dealing with, you can consider your options and tentatively make some plans. There’s no need to rush it, but you’ll be saving yourself a lot of stress by getting the information you need as soon as possible. Arranging a meeting with your study advisor is a good idea for those same reasons. They’re here to help you and since they’re aware of how your studies have gone so far, they might be able to give you more personalised insights. You can also talk with your study advisor about your options after graduation; they may not be able to make decisions for you, but they can tell you more about the possibilities that come with your degree.

Both the University and the internet provide plenty of resources to guide you towards the

“right” decision as to what to do once you’ve graduated, in as far as such a thing exists. If you’re still looking into your options, or you’re unsure about the details regarding the process of applying for postgraduate degrees or jobs, your first stop should be the Careers Service. You can easily book a 30-minute appointment either in person or online, and talking to a member of the team might give you some reassurance and make you feel like you actually know what your next steps are. If there are specific things you’re anxious about, like your CV or any potential interviews you’ll need to take, they can help you out through advice and practice interviews. Another useful resource are societies that spread awareness about the different employment opportunities that are out there, like Claiming our Futures for Humanities students and Route2 for Law students who want a career outside of the legal sector. These societies allow you to meet and speak to alumni and potential employers, which in my experience can be very helpful. However, in the end most of the research will be your own responsibility. It’s a lot of pressure to bear, but as long as you give yourself the time to explore and keep talking about it to others, I trust that you (and yes, me too) will figure things out eventually.

A Fear of Frying

It’s embarrassing to admit that at 19 – the age I was when I started university - I couldn’t make an omelette. I loved food, but I knew nothing about cooking.

My excuse: I worked in an Italian restaurant with generous chefs who loved fattening up the waiting staff. I survived on carbonara, endless amounts of bruschetta, and slightly out-of-date cheesecake. If I wasn’t working, I was spoilt at home with parents who saw cooking as a hobby.

One of my friends went to uni before me. He didn’t know that you cooked pasta in water. He set his kitchen on fire. I knew water was involved in cooking pasta; with a wee bit of practice over the summer I’d be fine.

I did not think about uni all summer. This laidback approach resulted in an intense fear of my kitchen.

On my first night, I cut myself removing knives from their packaging. For the majority of the first semester, I ate alone in my room with a film for company. I spent hours planning my shopping lists only to eat pizza and baked potatoes on rotation. I went home on weekends to experience vegetables.

One night, my flatmate was in the kitchen producing smells that transported me back to the Italian restaurant. As I took my pizza from the microwave, she pulled out a homemade pizza. This compared to my cardboard soaked in grease was too much. It made me hungry, and desperate for variety and I envied the satisfaction of making something from scratch. This moment, and slight malnutrition, forced me into cooking.

When I finally admitted to my flatmates that I couldn’t cook, they offered up their favourite, cheap and easy recipes. Quickly, I realised that with a trusted recipe, cooking could be straightforward. I liked the meditative quality of following steps and having an instant outcome. It became a relaxing break in my day – rather than a necessary task to avoid starvation.

Now, as my first year ends, mealtimes are sacred. I go into the kitchen hungry for food and discussion. I end up in the kitchen for hours, learning about my flatmates’ lives. Every week we drive to Asda, dance through the aisles, and inspect the discount section. I’ve invited strangers over for dinner and used Bolognese to spark friendships.

I still haven’t mastered omelettes, but I’m not scared to try.

A Question of Taste

As a society, we celebrate music. Nothing beats going to the concert of your favourite artist, spending the night dancing and screaming your lungs out to your favourite songs, it’s an unbeatable experience. Everyone has different tastes, be it you listen to Taylor Swift religiously, or maybe you’re more for artists like Sam Fender day and night. With our music taste often comes an unintentional bias and judgement towards what someone else is listening to, if we dislike the song, artist, or don’t understand the appeal of an album. A lot of people can be opinionated towards particular artists, disliking them for a handful of reasons, some valid, some questionable. The important part is how to approach our distaste for something or someone without bashing someone who enjoys it. There are limits to this, obviously supporting problematic artists who hurt people is very harmful, as is condoning the actions of an artist just because we like them, but if there’s no moral issue with listening to an artist or band, shouldn’t we just let people do what they want?

Besides the valid reasons to criticise someone’s music taste, there can be a superiority felt in listening to some artists over others. For example, listening to indie music as opposed to ‘basic’ pop. Although some of it does stem from genuinely not liking pop music, there is an element based on judgement, whether it’s internalised misogyny against big female artists or the want to be different from the crowd.

Maybe it’s about time we let people listen to whatever they want (within reason) and appreciate artists (even if we aren’t personally a fan of their work) if they make people happy. The potential of music to heal is known and it’s important to remember music means a lot to people and might put into words thoughts and feelings that are indescribable to them. Songs can exhibit experiences in a way we might not be able to describe in words of our own, and to hear someone sing of things we’ve experienced and have no option but to live through and grow from can be comforting and help in the process of healing if we feel understood. This is your permission to scream Taylor Swift as loud as you want, put on Olly Mars in your car and listen to whatever makes you feel safe.

Words: Holly Higgins, Design: Jenny Thomson

Mature Students We Are All

Who are mature students?

I would like to propose that we all are, and that if you are not, you should be. In a world of CPD and SMART goals; there is a lingering feeling we could just be one restructure from redundancy. Therefore, surely it is as important as ever to ensure not just that we are learning, but that we have evidence of it, for any prospective employer?

The days of a job for life are gone, we’re seeing GPs balloting to take strike action, with nurses and teachers already on the picket line. These are people who, when starting their training, believed their vocation guaranteed a career for life, in which they would be respected; and we

might argue more importantly, appropriately renumerated. It would appear they now feel differently, and I wonder how many of them are noting their numerable transferable skills, for employment in another industry?

For those in full-time employment who believe their school days are a distant memory, I believe they are missing the bigger picture. I remember being excited about the Spice Girls launching a fifth T.V. channel and a day when nobody had mobile phones. Surely if the world we live in has changed so greatly, why wouldn’t the way of work? It may be possible if in your sixties, with the guarantee of retirement, to stick it out in the same role for your remaining work life, making plans to

take up golf or sign up for that bread-making class. It may not be in the work environment but with a newfound amount of leisure time, surely this is a return to education, albeit one with no dusty used textbooks or detentions?

If those old enough to be in full-time employment or retirement could be classed as mature students, then how is an 18-yearold a mature student I hear you ask? In their final teenage years, they have been studying for two-thirds of their life. If they make the decision to continue into Higher Education after securing the necessary grades, why would we not consider them experts in studying? Knowing how and what to revise to pass the exams they have sat. Plus, they have observed the generation before, who are only just reclaiming their life/work balance, and so wisely understand that jumping into full-time employment should be done with caution.

Interestingly the Higher Education Statistics Agency class undergraduate mature students as 21 years or older and young students as those under 21, so by their standards

Design: Connor Wharton

we are either young or mature, there is no middle ground! However, eligibility for a SAAS student loan is based on the age of 25, although if an undergraduate has a dependent, or supported themselves from earnings or has lived with a partner, they are now a mature student. Why are we so keen to put a numerical label on mature students, what is the benefit of this? It does not guarantee any better understanding of an individual’s circumstances or from my own experience the ability of those that may be classed as mature to identify as so.

UCAS believe that ‘mature students’ are usually those entering tertiary education after a gap from secondary education, by including usually it supports my view that the term should be widened to be inclusive. I endorse this definition, as it moves away from age being the definer but instead to mindset, as anyone that is choosing to continue to learn is indeed a mature student.

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate, in both our personal and work lives. This is more than adaptation, as new skills are becoming prominent that didn’t exist a generation ago, to thrive and not just survive we need to keep our minds fresh and our CVs fresher, which is why I believe we should all be classed as mature students.

Continuation of ‘A chilling revolution: The age of Cryo-EM!’ from Issue 99

Our journey of Protein Structure determination began with X-ray crystallography, following which we explored Cryo-EM. But as is with every technique, it too possessed shortcomings. As such, another journey began for structural biologists, resulting in a collaboration that utilised AI in the quest for structure determination. But before discussing this, let us look at a brief history of protein structure determination.

If one wanted to understand the structure of a miniature building, looking at Legos might be a good way to start. Anfinsen chose a similar path, postulating that a proteins structure could be determined purely by the sequence of amino acids that coded them. This dogma did have some firm grounding, as the chemical structures of these amino acids affected how a protein folded.

And yet it did not work with certain proteins; considerations weren’t made regarding other cellular processes that played a role in the folding process. Eventually, these missing gaps of understanding lead to the compilation of the protein folding problem. The issue drew from the fact that chemical structures that would come to be identified as proteins were ultimately made of atomic and sub-atomic particles , hence governed by the laws of thermodynamics, biochemistry and a bit of quantum physics.

However, the theoretical landscape was not the only thing that shaped structural biology.

With experimentation, the efforts of researchers had given rise to the powerful Cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography techniques. Moreover, these techniques had begun percolating in research labs, with the ever-growing number of results being entered into a central database - The Protein Data Bank. As such, structural biologists found themselves amidst a partially filled database with a growing theoretical understanding of

the laws that enable chemical interactions which shape their field.

Parallelly, the computational potential was on a logarithmic curve, with the understanding and capacity of computer programming blooming exponentially, utilising optimized programmes to receive complex outputs. Many tech companies had started expanding into the biological landscapes, with one such example being Google’s company DeepMind. Their own project saw them developing an algorithm for predicting protein structure using AI.

I have written about DeepMind and AlphaFold in Issue 92 of The Magdalen, but here I want to present a broad outline of the process of AI-based structure determination.

When a protein sequence for an unknown protein is obtained, it is compared with preexisting sequences to check for similarities, and hence their structure. For this article, let us assume that one such sample has a partial match with a pre-existing sequence.

The matched part is corrected and personalised – i.e. the unsimilar parts within the aligned sequence are marked for consideration during structure construction – upon a match for the unresolved protein. Once this is done, specific rules, including geometry and biochemical interactions, are used to draw a skeleton of the structure. Eventually, after multiple rounds of correction and optimisation, a part of the unresolved protein is readyconstructed in silico.

But along with this resolved part constructed from the aligned and matched sequence of the protein, the unmatched sequence is also given a construction attempt – but with a disclaimer known as the model confidence. But that is a topic perhaps for some other time. So is that it? Is the toolkit for structural biology complete?

Painstakingly, and patiently, structural biologists have picked apart the final protein structures one by one, and in doing so, pushed the development of the various techniques. But the journey of inventing new techniques does not end here; considering this series so far I am sure you know that. Perhaps, a new technique is slowly taking shape somewhere, awaiting to find its place in the world of structural biology!

The End of the Structural Biology Series of articles.

Winners and Losers: who survives climate change?

As the effects of man-made climate change become increasingly erratic, species across the planet grasp tenuously at survival. Current estimations show that roughly 20% of all known species face extinction if the effects of global warming are not combatted, with the Anthropocene (the current geological era of humanity) often being described as the beginning of the Earth’s next mass extinction. Whilst the danger of unmitigated climate change is a very real fear, much of it arises from uncertainty: we don’t know what’s going to happen, and this unknown future is terrifying. We can make some educated guesses, one being that life will indeed survive the climate crisis - perhaps just without humanity.

One of the most prominent fears is that the Earth will become completely uninhabitable, with only a barren wasteland as the remainder of a formerly lush world. Such an apocalyptic scenario is unlikely, however; humans may go extinct, but life has managed (and continues) to thrive in areas that most people can’t even fathom. Take the bottom of the ocean for example. With crushing pressures and a complete lack of light, any human would find themselves a red stain dissipating in the abyss before they even realized it. However, the inhospitality of such an environment has not prevented life from surviving and even flourishing at such depths , with crabs, octopuses and other bottom feeders eking out a quiet and somewhat bare-bones existence on the seafloor. Such life is so remote, so alien to the surface world that many of these creatures

will undoubtedly persevere through the climate crisis. On the other side of the spectrum, the harshest deserts contain a wealth of animals perfectly adapted to the parched landscape. In the Sahara Desert, temperatures can fluctuate from 40 degrees Celsius during the day to below freezing at night, forcing the local flora and fauna to adapt to this everchanging environment. These animals, predominantly small mammals, reptiles, and insects are perhaps some of the best equipped to deal with climate change, as the already harsh environment they call home has shaped them into remarkable survivalists. Whilst there is a plethora of sturdier animals that will undoubtedly persevere through the climate crisis, some species will be hit harder than others. Ectothermic (cold-blooded) animals such as frogs and lizards have been some of the most vulnerable groups to climate change, with amphibians often being severely impacted when they can’t adjust quickly enough to their changing environment.

Yet, some species might flourish in the changing climates; One such example, that has been thriving amidst global warming, is the humble jellyfish. Despite their name, jellyfish are not really fish: most fish are in fact more related to humans than to jellyfish. Found in every ocean across the world, jellyfish have remained virtually unchanged in their 700 million years upon this planet and are amongst the oldest of animal groups. While the warming of the oceans has led to phenomena like coral bleaching and ocean acidification, jellyfish have remained

relatively untouched by such phenomena, and their populations have exploded in size when many other marine animals have suffered, mostly due to the low ecological needs of jellyfish. When one part of the food chain grows exponentially, the consequences can be dire. Overabundant jellyfish populations outcompete more vulnerable species, and the rising water temperatures brings jellyfish into areas that they’re not native to, turning them into an invasive species. Furthermore, while most species are harmless to people, several species, such as the Box Jellyfish, possess potentially lethal stings, and like all other Jellyfish species, their numbers are growing, and they are being seen near populated areas in increasing frequency. Whilst emblematic of their resilience, the climate change which has brought them success will undoubtedly have repercussions for marine life everywhere.

Another likely survivor is the cockroach. Scorned as vermin, the life of a cockroach is not a glamorous one, yet they have survived and thrived when countless other species have gone extinct. Capable of surviving radiation levels several times over what’s lethal for humans, cockroaches’ sheer resilience can be seen in their ability to survive for weeks without a head, thanks to a secondary nerve cluster in their thorax. Combined with their ability for consuming a huge variety of materials - including human waste - and their uncanny ability to infiltrate and multiply in human settlements, their survival amidst climate change shouldn’t come as a surprise, and it’s safe to say that whatever world we create in the next century, cockroaches will be a part of it.

Regardless of the world we create through anthropogenic climate change, the question is not whether we will destroy life on Earth, but which life will survive in the world we make.

THE CULT OF PERSONALITY

‘Personality’ in psychological terms is a set of organised psychological traits and mechanisms that influence our interactions in the world. However, as people we consider personality as the traits that make up our “selves.” Categorising, disassembling, and understanding personalities has been a centuries long endeavour, across many different cultures and efforts. One famous example are the zodiac signs, with each possessing certain personality traits, which supposedly apply to those born under each respective sign.

More recently, psychology has been used to organise individuals’ personalities into set types. For example, ‘type A’ personalities, who are more impatient, fast paced and achievement orientated, in comparison to ‘type B’s’ who are relaxed and easy going. While this was specifically oriented to stress responses, there are other classification methods which focus on one’s personality.

Most famous is that of the Myers-Briggs test, also known as the ‘16 personalities’ test, one of the world’s most popular tests, being used by 2 million people annually. Originally developed in World War II, but having since evolved and changed, it draws from the ideas of the famous psychologist Carl Jung. It works by taking one’s answers on a test and placing them into one of two extremes across four different characteristics, sorting them into 1 of 16 personality types.

Specifically, these are:

Extroversion vs. Introversion

Sensing vs. Intuition

Thinking vs. Feeling

Judging vs. Perceiving

However, it’s not the only personality test of its type; others, such as Enneagram works in a similar way by taking one’s test answers and sorting them into 1 of 9 personality types. There’s also the ‘Big 5’ test that measures 5 major personality characteristics on a scale, such as agreeableness or extroversion. However, this test doesn’t assign a personality type, instead just indicating as to what characteristics are stronger in one’s personality.

The problem is that these tests are largely meaningless. Despite its popularity, the Myers-Briggs test has little to no scientific evidence supporting its claims, with Carl Jung’s work, which it draws from, possessing no scientific proof either. To add to that, 58% of people receive a different personality type upon retaking the test makes this painfully obvious. The test itself is flawed, as its selfreported meaning is only as truthful as those taking it. Whether due to individuals not wanting to answer honestly or just not fully understanding oneself, it means that the test’s results may not even be accurate depictions of who one is.

That’s only the beginning of its problems, with its biggest criticism being its assignment of people as to 1 of 2 opposing characteristics when most individuals exist somewhere in the middle. Carl Jung even said that “there is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovertsuch a man would be in a lunatic asylum.” The questions also lack context; for example, some people’s attitudes change depending on circumstance, which the test doesn’t account for. These criticisms also apply to Enneagram, with it having little to no scientific evidence, yet forcing people into personality types that do not accurately describe who that individual is or what they want. Overall, personalities vary by degree, not kind, and sorting people into types forces them into boxes that don’t fit.

If these tests have no evidence behind them, and go against what we know about ourselves, then why do we believe, and even enjoy, doing them?

To start, many of these tests utilise the Barnum effect; by using vague descriptions that could apply to anyone but portraying it as a personalised test result makes the receiving individual believe the test has worked and is accurate to them specifically. As people wish to learn about themselves and others, these tests, despite their flaws, can be utilised in this endeavour, to better explore and uncover

aspects of ourselves that may not have been realised or known.

More than that, we use these tests to fit in. Growing up involves constant confusing changes in our lives, with our personality following suit. These tests provide a comforting idea to hold on to, telling us who we are, what we are like, and making us feel like we belong. This is also what makes it more difficult when we learn that these tests do not work the way they claim they do.

Personalities don’t work the way the Enneagram or Myers-Briggs tests claim they do. We cannot fit ourselves into boxes that don’t exist, or force one characteristic over another. While these tests may not work, others such as the Big 5 are far less flawed, offering scales as opposed to absolutes. But even then, it does not consider how we change every day, and in every situation across our life. Personality is not a set measurement but changing with everything we do, far from being defined by simple measurements and tests.

Seeing the “Zebras” Among the Horses

With rare diseases, their designation suggests a scarcity in the human population. In reality, this couldn’t be more misleading. Although they affect seemingly small groups of people, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are around 10,000 rare diseases in the United States alone, with over 30 million affected people. That’s only accounting for those that have been identified and diagnosed. For many of these diseases causes remain unidentified, but the majority are thought to be caused by genetic mutations.

One of the genes involved in rare disease manifestations is PIK3CA, responsible for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) production, with the collective term describing

this group of disorders as PIK3CA-related overgrowth syndromes (PROS). To understand the mechanism a bit better, let’s go back to the basics - cellular signaling. Signal transduction inbetween cells is facilitated by receptors activated upon a signal, passing the message further along to other receptors. Receptors and messengers downstream can be thought of as the post delivery service - passing the message along so that, ultimately, a cell will receive its long-awaited parcel and react! With the PIK3CA gene, what happens when it mutates and the product it gives is not exactly what we want it to be? Due to it’s involvement in many cellular processes, including growth and survival, it has many detrimental effects.

As CLOVES Syndrome Community describes it, CLOVES, one of the disorders belonging to the PROS group, can be explained as:

• Congenital - trait you are born with

• Lipomatous - concerned with soft fatty tissue, often seen in patients

• Overgrowth - showcasing accelerated tissue growth

• Vascular Malformationsaffecting the circulatory system

• Epidermal Neuvs - skin lesions

• Spinal/Skeletal Anomalies or Scoliosis - affecting skeleton formation

This acronym showcases well just how varied the symptoms can be and how many systems the PIK3A gene regulates, be it directly or indirectly.

What about treatment? When it comes to finding a cure, treatments where the PIK3CA gene is targeted are available and there is keen interest in developing therapies like this, not only for PROS but also cancer. The problem with this approach is that shutting off the entire gene will ultimately lead to losing the beneficial “signals” it’s producing as well. While this may work well for some, for the majority it will cause a plethora of undesirable side effects, not fixing the issue entirely. That is why the current research focus is on mapping the PIK3CA signal pathways and understanding how they interact. This will allow for understanding discrete interactions while also looking at the bigger picture. The reason why this is key is due to the aforementioned diversity when it comes to gene mutations.

In the long run, the answer to not only PROS, but possibly most rare diseases is the personalized healthcare model. No one person is the same, but for people living with rare conditions especially, this could open a door of possibilities in terms of management or

even curing their conditions. Good understanding of biology, supplemented by other disciplines such as mathematics and physics, will undoubtedly be of great benefit when designing strategies suitable for each patient’s treatment. What is crucial for this approach is the individual assessment and tailoring of treatments. Although seemingly futuristic, many companies today are already introducing a personalized approach, and there is no shortage of research and development in this area. In fact, the School of Medicine at the University of Dundee is already involved in tailored therapeutic approaches catered to individuals sharing similar characteristics by implementing bioinformatics - focusing particularly on genome-wide association studies (GWAS), as well as proteomics and RNAseq analysis, which has the potential to further tailor healthcare.

But what has led to many breakthroughs in this research has been the unwavering support and contributions of PIK3CA-related conditions communities worldwide.

When raising awareness of rare diseases, such as these, it’s important to highlight the amazing people involved in making it happen.

CLOVES Syndrome Community and GoPI3Ks are both charities that are great examples of that. Another community, CaRAVAN, advocating for vascular anomaly research has also contributed greatly to the cause. These are not only great spaces to go for seeking support and help for individuals and their families but also for taking action and seeking improved healthcare for those affected. The most effective way to find a cure for PROS remains to invest in research and understand the underlying pathways to target. Therefore, raising awareness and contributing to these collective efforts are greatly appreciated and could be life-changing to many. And finally, this article would not be possible without the guidance of Dr Ralitsa Madsen, a researcher and advocate for open science and public engagement, who has made a massive impact within the PROS community and tirelessly continues to contribute her time and expertise towards this cause.

Senior Team

Editor-in-Chief Creative Directors

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Senior Editorial Team

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Ada Ung

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Photography Team Social Media

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Section Editors & Publishing

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Arrowyn Williams

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James McLeish

The Magdalen is published by Dundee University Student Association (DUSA).

Cover Illustration Credits

Phoebe Wilman & Livvie Baird

Issue #100 Cover is by our previous Creative Directors: Phoebe

Wilman & Livvie Baird. Thank you both so much for all the work you've done this year and good luck for after Uni!! ❤

❤ ✨

Goodbye all, Thank you for being such loyal readers, and we hope you enjoy your hoildays.

Goodbye all, Thank you for being such loyal readers, and we hope you enjoy your hoildays.

We'll see you in September with another issue of . . . The Magdalen!

We'll see you in September with another issue of . . . The Magdalen!

19 May

Final SRC Meeting

22/23

Upcoming Events

2028 May

Your last chance to make your voice heard in the SRC this academic year!

DJCAD Degree Show

Come along and enjoy the amazing projects of our graduating DJCAD students!