Word by Georgina HookwayImage courtesy of WWF With this yearÔÇÖs Spotify Wrapped recently being released, all the focus has been on streaming services. An app which can store and download all your music onto your phone, as well as give you statistics to share on your Instagram story at the end of the year may seem ideal, but streaming services may not be the ideal … Continue reading The Environmental Impact of Streaming
by Suraya Kazzuz The racist backlash in response to a SainsburyÔÇÖs advert that was recently released has become the topic of conversation around Britain for the past few weeks. The advert, which is the first of three parts, focuses on a Black family and their Christmas traditions ÔÇô displaying photos and home videos of the familyÔÇÖs Christmas dinner while a phone call plays over the scenes … Continue reading Retail Against Racism: The Racist Responses to the Sainsbury’s Christmas Advert
By Hanna Pluck As life gets more and more online, book lovers are getting creative to show their appreciation and build a community around their hobby. While plenty of book-specific fandoms have popped up, for those wishing to engage with book lovers as a whole there presents a pretty unusual challenge – how do you connect with people who love books when thereÔÇÖs such a … Continue reading Consumerism in the Book Community
Essex County by Jeff Lemire By Chahat Awasthi Sophisticated black-and-white graphic novelÔÇÖ set, the trilogy of Essex County is close to what is called a story prose. The intertwining collection of stories empathetically traces membersÔÇÖ life at various points in an isolated community. Set in a rural Canadian county, the novels have a striking characterization and will blow your mind in terms of clear-sightedness ÔÇô … Continue reading Graphic Novels to Read if YouÔÇÖve Never Read a Graphic Novel
By Shannon Bowes-Cavanagh 2020 has been a strange year for everyone with many people being put on furlough for most of it. This can make the prospect of graduating into the new world Covid-19 has created, very daunting. A study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests that graduates should expect to earn less because of the struggling economy based on data from past … Continue reading How has the Pandemic Impacted Gen ZÔÇÖs Employability?
Image by Lyndon Li Words by Ella Harper Summer holidays are pretty much the go to for the British public, but is the summer really the best time to travel? If I told you to imagine autumn, your mind probably goes straight to crisp, cold weather, leaves falling off the trees and warm, cosy clothes. But what if I told you that autumn is an … Continue reading Why Autumn is the Best Time to Travel
By Luke Hinton ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿà┬¢ Any adaptation of Charles DickensÔÇÖ A Christmas Carol needs to do something very different to get noticed. Aside from the original 1843 novel, countless retellings of the classic story have found incredible success, with The Muppet Christmas Carol and Robert ZemeckisÔÇÖ 2009 animation springing to mind, making it almost impossible to find a niche in telling a story thatÔÇÖs been done … Continue reading Review: A Christmas Carol (2020)
By Lewis Empson and Marcus Yeatman-Crouch Tech and gaming gifts aren’t always the easiest to buy; different platforms, compatibility and specs can cause confusion and result in a more messy than merry christmas. So here at Download weÔÇÖve hand picked some of our favourite suggestions to make the already stressful task of Christmas shopping a little easier by highlighting some good picks for the gamers … Continue reading Download’s Holiday Gift Guide
by Soyal Khedkar Martial arts is a combination of various sports all used as a form of self-defence or attack, and are often associated with East Asia. One might even think of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan when they hear of martial arts. Kung Fu, Jujutsu, Judo, Karate, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, and many more are all forms of martial arts. Its in-depth spiritual and … Continue reading The Asian Silver Screen: Martial Arts Edition
Image via Edge PublicityWords by Joshua Allen Emo pop-rocker Yungblud is back with his new album ÔÇÿWeird!ÔÇÖ. Having gone through delays due to the pandemic, the 13-track album finally released on December 4th, bringing some light to the end of 2020. ÔÇÿWeird!ÔÇÖ shows a clear progression from YungbludÔÇÖs last LP ÔÇÿ21st Century LiabilityÔÇÖ, shedding off some of the feisty angst and angriness from the last … Continue reading Album Review: ‘Weird!’ by Yungblud
For most of my college life and the start of my university years, my dad stopped talking to me. At first, it took me a while to comprehend what was happening. It was like a switch had been flicked in our family dynamic, and before I knew it, I had spent four years living in a house of silence. Initially I was really angry, but … Continue reading Invisible Illnesses V: Living With a Depressed Parent
Words by Emily Haf Often, celebrities wear clothes that are not budget-friendly, and honestly, we all wish we could dress the way they do but the second we check the price-tag itÔÇÖs game over. What if we could dress like our celebrity style-icons? Simply by narrowing down the outfit and finding budget friendly clothing shops, or even thrift stores, you can style yourself in a … Continue reading GET THE LOOK SERIES: From Harry Styles, Bella Hadid To Zendaya
by Hope Docherty. Poetry itself can be collectively grouped as a genre of literature conveying an emotional response to an experience/ image personal to the poet. This emotional response is then intensified with the style and rhythm of the language chosen to show to the reader. Though is this academic grouping enough in 2020? Social media has created a new platform for poets to present … Continue reading Breaking the Norm: Poetry Outside the Pages
Words by Shannon Bowes-Cavanagh / Image by Ricky Singh The festival of Thanksgiving is commonly associated with a US holiday. It dates back to the first thanksgiving where the pilgrims and the Native Americans gathered together to enjoy a meal of all the crops they had grown the previous spring. It is a holiday celebrated by friends and family with lots and lots of food. … Continue reading Thanksgiving Around the World
Written by Caitlin Parr Illustration by Shafia Motaleb They say that first impressions count, but how are we meant to get a fair impression of our colleagues and classmates when all we know of them is an ever freezing Zoom or Teams video rectangle. Yes, the funny faces that their frames freeze on have provided great icebreakers and laughs in moments of the infamous Zoom … Continue reading Virtual Colleagues, Real Life Strangers
by Katie Chester Black Friday is a huge day for shoppers with access to amazing discounts perfect to treat yourself or others, especially with Christmas fast approaching. With access to so many deals, however, there is no doubt it can also be extremely stressful. To help combat any panic buying and ensure you really do get the best savings, I have put together some advice … Continue reading A Guide to Black Friday Shopping
Katie Waits on Friends to Lovers There are tropes we love, tropes we hate, those that are overused and others that we wish were appreciated more. There are many romantic tropes that frequently appear in literature, including the friends-to-lovers trope. Although often very unrealistic, with the power to ruin dating expectations, friends-to-lovers is, if well-written, a wonderful trope. Usually, I donÔÇÖt seek out romance novels, … Continue reading Our Favourite Literary Tropes
By Georgina Hookway *T/W// Mentions of R*pe and Assault For decades, Europe has been leading the global trend of moving towards more permissive abortion laws, and in 2018, with Ireland, a traditionally very Catholic country, voting by a landslide to legalise abortion, it seemed that this trend was continuing. Despite this, there still remain countries in Europe with very restrictive access to abortion. For example, … Continue reading European Abortion Laws
By Georgia Glenn ÔÿàÔÿàÔÿàÔÿà┬¢ The long awaited season 4 of The Crown has finally hit our screens, and my gosh was it a rollercoaster. We start in 1977 and end on Christmas Day, 1990. The problem with a historical show such as The Crown means that we know everything about every event because it is living history; bearing in mind, the timeline for this season … Continue reading Review: The Crown Season 4 (Netflix)
Photo by Udayaditya Barua Words by Niladri Singh Rajput Diwali, which is also known as the Indian festival of lights, is celebrated every year with great enthusiasm and zest around the country. It is celebrated exactly 20 days after the end of Durga Puja or Navratri. The festival has been part of the Indian sub-continent for years and is also mentioned in early Sanskrit texts … Continue reading Diwali: Bringing Some Light to 2020
