OxPods

In eighteenth-century England, while famous writers such as Alexander Pope and Jonathon Swift were making a living through their published works, a small but growing number of women also started to l…

The modern British welfare state can trace its roots back to the reign of Elizabeth I. But how did the state assist the poor in the Tudor period compared to now? Was the Victorian workhouse all that …

Street art strays far away from traditional art in a number of ways. However, its recent recognition as an art form leaves us wondering what is it that makes art art? What are the roles of art? And h…

When infectious diseases sweep through human populations, they can often bring detrimental effects to the health and functioning of society. But why do the pathogens that underpin these diseases requ…

Have you ever wondered about the origin of Romance? Maybe your mind turns to Austen and Bronte? Really it's lineage is far longer, spreading back to the High Middle Ages and stories of King Arthur an…

In the 6th century BCE, coins were first minted in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Despite over 2500 years of human history, coins have continued to be a part of everyday life. Why were they invented…

Obesity and increasing rates of overweight pose a growing issue in global health today. Why are more people gaining more weight, when its health burden seems so clear? 

Miya McFarlane, a Human Scienc…

Marriage is an evolving concept: legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales was only passed in the United Kingdom 2013 and took effect in 2014. It’s evolving nature prompts some impo…

The microbiome refers to the community of microorganisms living inside a host. But why are they there? What benefits can these microbes provide to their hosts? And could they enable their hosts to co…

Have you ever heard the term ‘women’s writing’ and wondered what it actually means - writing by women, writing for women, writing about women? While this term is increasingly prevalent in both popula…

Industrialisation in the 19th century prompted a ‘chromo revolution’, as the development of new artificially-produced paints provided new ways to experience and depict colour. Paul Gauguin used this …

As result of global Covid lockdowns and satisfying videos on TikTok, pottery has experienced a new revival. With thousands of years of history behind the practice, what benefits might it have in stor…

Common to Christianity, Judaism and Islam is the concept of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent God. Surely, then, this God knows everything you have done and everything you will do in your …

Across the globe, biologists have set up a series of long-term study populations, where all individuals within an animal population are monitored both across their own lifespan and also over many gen…

According to recent polls, the most well-known Shakespeare plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, all of which are tragedies. Although Shakespeare wrote just as many comedies as he did trag…

Over the past few decades, US politics has become increasingly polarised, resulting in the emergence of a highly fractured political landscape, exemplified by the storming of the Capitol in January 2…

When the world was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals all over the world stepped up to the job of saving lives and ‘bringing normal back again’. In Oxford, Dr Adam Ritchie was on…

Last summer, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reigniting a fifty-year abortion debate once thought settled in the Western world. Though disguised by coverage of judges and commentators al…