Hello, hello, hello everybody! I hope everyone had a lovely winter holiday and that we are all rested for semester two! I know I am excited for my history modules and looking forward to what we have planned for this semester. Please keep your eyes and ears open for any events we hold (and follow us on instagram for more information: themagdalenmag).
On another note, we sincerely apologise for the lateness of this issue, everyone who contributes to this magazine is also a student and end-of-semester submissions and exams got on top of us.
Hi everyone!
This is the final issue we’ll be working on as creative directors and we can’t believe how fast it has flown by! Working on The Magdalen has been such a highlight for us and we want to thank everyone who has been involved, including all our designers, illustrators, photographers, editors, and writers for making this such a great experience and for all your hard work!
We’re super proud to have left our mark and super excited to see what’s next for The Magdalen! Thank you for reading and wishing you all the best!
feature culture creative what’s inside?
Apricity: What Love Means to Me Are 'White Boys of the Month' Ruining Media Literacy? Snap, Crackle and PopGod I Love the Sound of Vinyl Do You Love Drag or Drag Race? The Observation of a Local Drag Artist March 28th 2024
Words: Molly Wilson
Apricity: What Love Means to Me
One of the benefits that comes with being the Editor in Chief of the Magdalen is being able to choose the themes for each issue. For this issue, I chose the word ‘apricity’. This is one of my most favourite words and it means the warmth and light of the winter sun. It is a mostly obsolete word that derives from the Latin meaning ‘warmth of the sun’. This word is one of my favourites because, coincidentally, a warm sun juxtaposed with the freezing Scottish winter is my favourite weather. A crisp, cold January morning is all I need to feel rejuvenated.
What does the sun during winter have to do with love? Everything! The definition of love is not a static theory; it will change for every different person you ask. To me, love is something constant and ever-growing, its familiar warmth pops up whenever I see a baby smile or whenever I see the sun twinkling over the Tay. Seeing the sun pouring into my room when I wake up for early morning classes, I cannot help but think, ‘Hey! There’s my friend’.
There are many different types of love I experience on the day-to-day. There is love I feel for my family, love I feel for my friends and love that I experience for people I no longer know.
1 My Family
Now, I am not the most sentimental person when it comes to my family. They often piss me off in ways I cannot articulate and being around people your whole life will definitely highlight their flaws, but it also shows you why you keep going around for cups of tea, ‘just because’. I could wax poetic about my immediate family, my mum, my dad and my two brothers and how they get on my nerves, but they also happen to be some of the most generous people I know and have had the pleasure of living with.
My mum, a secondary school English teacher, is one of the wackiest people I know with a penchant for over-sharing but offers to drive two and a half hours up to Dundee when I’ve had a particularly rough day. She once brought home a family that stayed with us for six months because their accommodation fell through and had nowhere else to stay, her unquestioning kindness is something I want to emulate.
My dad, a fantastic cook and horrible dancer, is a very reserved person with a low tolerance for poor table manners but drove up from Dumfries and Galloway to buy me groceries when I was too sick with flu to leave my flat. On occasion, we argue in a way that would put a Punch & Judy show to shame, but I know that he would do anything for my brothers and me.
My brothers, John and George, are one and two years younger than me, respectively. We all have a habit of pushing each other’s buttons, especially if we are in an enclosed space like a car, growing up alongside someone means that you know their greatest strengths and definetly their deepest insecurities. I hate to share food with them but if they needed a kidney I wouldn’t think twice. Even though I would never say it to their faces, but I am incredibly proud of the adults they are becoming.
My two grandmothers, both incredibly generous women who were born during the latter years of World War Two have given me a lifetime of memories and share my love of books. They both exemplify what it means to be kind; I am lucky to be their granddaughter.
2 My Friends
I did not enjoy secondary school. Partially because I was undiagnosed autistic and did not understand what the f*ck was wrong with me but also due to the fact I was really f*cking lonely. I never seemed to click with any of my peers in my school and always seemed really out of place and falling behind my friends who were drinking and going out with their boyfriends. I didn’t understand what was wrong with them, ‘why on Earth would you want to go out drinking when you could be reading the Shadowhunter books instead?!’ (safe to say, I was called a ‘sweat’ more times than I can count).
I thought that my whole life was going to be a variation of this feeling, being acquaintances but never friends. Thankfully, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I have so many friends and people I love to see when I’m walking around campus. People I met at the very start of my time in university and people I met this past year, they all mean so much to me.
Mia and Sage are two of the closest friends I have ever had. They are funny, odd and exactly who I was missing when I was sixteen and staying in classrooms at lunch, so I didn’t have to feel like a nomad in my own school. I remember, with full clarity, when I had gotten a really bad case of glue ear my first year of univeristy and I was crying on the floor with pain, I asked Mia if she would come to the out-of-hours clinic at three in the morning. She did not hesitate in saying yes. We took taxis there and back and she propped me up when
I was about to fall over in the waiting room. She also took selfies with me when I had received my glorious antibiotics. Even though I was clutching my head in agony, I think of it as a fond memory.
I have not known Sage as long as I have known Mia. Mia is the person who introduced us and now I like to think of the three of us as a solid trio. The deer and bunny to my cat, if you will. After I had sent a rather snarky and rude text to Sage, they showed up at my door and asked if I was okay. They then proceeded to listen to me rant in-between sobs of how much I missed a friend I had lost and how sh*t the semester was going and how I was unmedicated and how I felt I could not do anything. You get the picture. The patience they held for me that day does not go unnoticed. They are such a bright and wonderful human being that I am lucky to know.
Mia and Sage both mean so much to me and I love them both very much.
3 People I No Longer Know
I would say I have a very good long-term memory. I often think about everyone I have ever cared for and loved, I think about past friends and the joy they have brought me, no matter how brief. I smile when I think about these people, because they are all good people and thank them that they spent their time with me. I often think about how we cuddled up next to each other on large pleather couches and giggled about a funny meme that reminded us of each other. Or the time we spent walking in and around a small river
by my house, looking for fairies. I miss the people I was friends with, no matter if we ended our friendship in a good way or bad. I am only a vast tapestry of the people I have met and cared for, they have made me who I am, and I thank them for that.
I particularly thank a friend who I loved so much it probably hurt us both. If you are reading this now, you know who you are. I miss what we were to each other, and I am so very angry and heartbroken at you for the part you played in ending that. Part of me wants to express all my grievances to you but this article is supposed to be about love... and I do love you still. I remember when you went out of your way to cook and bring me meal-prepped dinner because I was too sick to get out of bed and eat. And that time when I met your parents and understood why you were so inward looking. Those are the times I choose to remember, instead of the ones where we hurt each other. I hope you are happy and feel love.
I am who I am because of the people I know and who know me. These people have taught me invaluable lessons that I will take with me wherever I go.
Knowing you has made me better, knowing you has filled me with love.
Are ‘White Boys of the Month’ Ruining Media Literacy?
Since the dawn of time, prominent female characters from mainstream shows such as: ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Succession’ have been torn down and hated with vitrail by fans in what was assumed to be misogyny. Why is this still a prominent problem in fandom culture today? And what are we supposed to do about a ‘male centred’ audience?
To use a recent example that conveys the severity of the issue we must turn to medical drama beginning last year ‘The Pitt’. A show with one of the most diverse and celebrated casts in a long time. One of the notoriously hated lead characters is Trinity Santos, often described as brash, impulsive, and overall, irritating. Her male counterpart Frank Langdon is also all of these things and more, with their rivalry in the show is partly built on the parallels between them as characters. Trinity and Frank are depicted as two sides of the same coin, however they are not treated that way by fans of the show.
Many fans actively hate Trinity, all while extending empathy forwards Frank and his struggles. The actress who plays Trinity stated in an interview that:
‘I’ve been struck by how many people mention how great it feels to watch a truly complicated female character. And how many peoples biased against Santos in regard to Langdon (Frank) made them think about their own internalised sexism.’
However, the show doesn’t necessarily push people far enough in considering why we find it so much easier to extend empathy towards men than women, especially in professional settings. This male centred perspective downplays the other prominent female characters that are given proper screentime and development.
Similarly, NBC’s 8 season long drama ‘911’ has garnered and sustained popularity in fandom spaces because of the slow-burn ship between the two leading male characters Buck and Eddie. While for a lot of fans this will-they-won’t-they relationship elevates the material of the show, it also shirks attention from other queer relationships and minorities depicted in the show. For example, queer long-term couple, Hen and Karen, who are rarely given prominent storylines and are ignored by fans in favour of the argument that queer rep is needed through Buck and Eddie.
Another issue is highlighted by Buck and Eddie’s revolving door of shallow female love interests, reminiscent of 2010s ‘Teen Wolf’. This highlights a problem with replacing one love interest with another, without consideration for how the women were different outside of their shared gender, an issue not seen in male recasts. Since the early 2000s there has always been fandom bias towards men, especially when it comes to women that get in the way of MLM relationships, but why is this an issue that hasn’t been resolved since the 2010s? This furthers the
argument that women on these shows are in a way interchangeable, or that they only serve the purpose of fulfilling a romantic subplot.
Adrian Chase from the recent hit DC show ‘Peacemaker’ is another example of a character loved by fans, when he isn’t granted much substance as a character beyond his comedic timing and fandom appeal. On the other hand, we are given female characters like Adebayo and Harcourt, who are granted much more screentime and complexity, but largely not nearly as remembered and celebrated as a character like Adrian.
Even when we are given well written women, in the online space they go underappreciated. This leads to a phenomenon of equal opportunity without equal treatment, setting a bad precedent for what we need in media representation right now.
With most mainstream shows being written and directed by men it’s easy to see how this leads to more empathy for male characters. However, with recent shows such as ‘The Pitt’ or ‘House of The Dragon’, where the female characters are abundant
and if anything prioritised in the writing and marketing, the fact that we still lean towards sensationalised male characters, who are often used as bait for the fandom, shows a disturbing disparity in a culture that still champions men and male relationships.
In the article ‘The Heart of the Pitt: A Study in Casual Sexism’, author Frankie Marie states that:
In short, I will equally love complex women like Trinity Santos and will value them just as much as characters like Frank Langdon. But as a whole we must try to widen our perspectives in terms of sympathy and understanding, check our own double standards but also others, don’t let your boyfriend shit talk anyone’s supportive wife when you watch TV together! Continue to champion complex female characters even when they are widely hated and always consider if online rhetoric is treating the material with the complexity it deserves.
Words: Drew Steel, Design: Harriet Lyons
Snap, Crackle and PopGod, I Love the Sound of Vinyl
Quick question. Would you rather listen to your favourite album on a streaming service or on a vinyl record?
You probably said the record, right? Yeah, I would too. But why is that?
In the modern, fast-paced world, convenience is king. That’s what brought us streaming services- millions of songs sitting right at your fingertips, only a few taps away. Very handy. Compared to streaming, the process of playing a physical record is almost arduous. Just think of all the steps that come before even hearing the first track! And having to flip the record halfway through? How ludicrous! Heaven forbid it’s a dreaded 2-LP. For all your efforts, you’re thanked by an uninvited chorus of hisses, crackles and pops all through your favourite album. Sounds like a rough deal.
Despite its flaws, an increasing number of us favour listening to records. There are a few reasons: the first, and most obvious, is nostalgia.
We’re all suckers for nostalgia. It’s human nature. The word literally means “apaintoreturnhome”- like an escape to some comfortable corner of the mind that lets us remember “simpler times”. The tactile experience of handling a “dated” medium connects us to the past, even if it’s a modern release, and even if we never experienced the medium in its prime. By picking up the record jacket, sliding out the inner sleeve, and delicately taking hold of the disc
itself, you are fostering a connection with themusic before you’ve even heard the first track, developing huge potential for future nostalgia when hearing that same album again.
The crackles and pops of a record may be the sound of technical failure, but ultimately, the “imperfections” of any medium soon become its signature. Those flaws come to represent the wonders of what simply could not be contained within the medium. They show where we humans have pushed the limits just a hair beyond the breaking point. The same can be said for other media and formats: the jittery video on a CRT TV, the dust and grain in a film photograph, the static snow on a tape- the list goes on.
Really, it should be no surprise that people want to slow down and connect with the music they listen to. After all, I think we all need a little escape, and finding comfort in the crackles of a record or poring over a lyric sheet sounds like a beautiful way of doing that.
Addicted by Design: The Illusion of Control
Do we control our phones, or do they control us? Like most people, I’m addicted.
Before bed, I watch video essays; when I wake up, I check notifications.
During the day, I am constantly hyperconscious of where my phone is. I instantly imagine that I’ve left it in silent study and my phone is blasting CMAT.
If I don’t know where it is (like my vape) I enter a state of utter panic, thinking of all the potential scenarios.
I know it’s bad for me, I shouldn’t be so tied to a tiny wee device.
But I am.
And I think that I do have a somewhat healthy-ish relationship with my phone. I banish my phone to another room when I am studying or reading. Not out of great passion but to escape its grip.
As a philosophy student, my special topic is the relationship between man and his technologies; is it simply a tool we use to enhance our lives or am I dominated by it?
A recent essay I just handed in was about whether technology has replaced God, where I argued that the worship of tech doesn’t qualify as an organised religious practice but that within culture we do subtly submit to our devices.
I do believe that technology orders us, and has thus dehumanised us, that our existence fundamentally relies on it to a point where there would be a mass existential crisis if they were all to disappear.
Ultimately, the question isn’t whether we control our phones or they control us. It’s how we navigate a world were opting out feels impossible.
Big Tech has engineered these devices to be addictive, and our culture reinforces that dependency.
They built the trap and we walked in. But I’m learning that control isn’t a switch, but a habit built over time.
Every time I put my phone down, every time I choose presence over pings, I take back a wee bit of power. Maybe that’s the best we can do: not escape but negotiate.
And yes, I feel like my Mum. Whenever I was in a foul mood at fifteen, she would say:
“ITS THAT BLOODY PHONE!”
(which looking back it probably was, I just didn’t want to hear it)
‘Phones are bad’ is the easiest sermon to preach (usually from a phone). But they’re not villains, they’re just irresistible.
The solution? Not obliterating them with hammers (tempting though). It’s just about setting boundaries.
In 2026, rebellion isn’t deleting Instagram or having the privilege of getting a Nokia brick and disconnecting (as a journalist I physically cannot do that).
It’s turning off notifications and feeling like a 16th century recluse.
Do You Love Drag ...or Drag Race? The Observations of a Local Drag Artist
There is a difference between loving drag and loving Drag Race, and I would love to talk about it.
I often think about how I was introduced to the fabulous world of drag and how easily its significance in my life could have passed me by. It almost feels like yesterday that my friend enthusiastically shared her excitement for the Season 12 finale of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’. I had recently come out and my ‘baby gay’ self was slowly realising that I did not know nearly as much about my own community as I thought. My initial, crude, understanding was simply gay men dressing as women, lip-synching to and that was that... obviously, this could not be further from the truth.
Years have gone by since watching my first episode, and even then, it’s only in the past two that I can safely say there is more to drag than I could have imagined. After years of obsessively binging every season and subsequent spin-off of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’, I found myself entering university with a smug assumption that I knew everything there was to know about drag. I was proven wrong in the best possible way.
I had the pleasure of becoming good friends with a drag artist in my first-year studio, who, thankfully, had the patience and enthusiasm to tell me about Dundee’s wonderful queer community and drag scene. If I had known my blossoming friendship with this weirdly wonderful lady, who you may know better as Spacey Lacey, and
how her passion fuelled both intrigue and many questions, would change the trajectory of my interest in drag, I would do everything in my power for these events to happen as they did.
How was it that I had never considered that drag could be for anyone and everyone, and within that, that drag could be for me?
Thus, the seed was planted, and in my mind’s eye I could already see the melancholic white porcelain face that would be my own muse and pseudonym. I felt the intense motivation to join the local drag scene, to be on stage, to be known and appreciated as a performer. But how to get involved, and what abilities did I need to have? My only impression was that of Drag Race with their outstanding array of skills, all of which seemed suddenly unattainable and overwhelming.
I would have to be a perfected amalgamation; the makeup artist, the hair and wig stylist, the designer and seamstress, the choreographer, the DJ.
Frankly, my dream had withered as quickly as it had taken root, what with all the work it would require, the time, skills, and money I may need but not have. That, and the simple, crushing doubt that, even if I did commit to everything, I was not good enough.
Nevertheless, I decided to attend my first local show, ‘Cirque Du Corset’, and what I discovered there is almost beyond words. Almost. I can only describe the rush of emotion that flowed through me in that dingy basement, surrounded by fellow supporters and the air thick with hairspray and alcohol, must have been akin to the comfort of divinity in a church. I felt a sense of community I had a long yearned for from the queer community, a sense of belonging that was never present as a teenager.
From then on, I was enraptured by my own local drag scene. The expectations and biases present in the fans and participants of Drag Race were nowhere to be found. In their place there were a variety of alternative performances that had never been deemed perfect enough but held more power and grit than anything I had ever seen on TV. I have come to know drag as a home in my own body, an exaggeration of gender and the genderless amongst peers that is celebrated and encouraged.
However, despite all the love from consistent show goers and performers, the more I attend local shows, whether it be the watch or perform, I feel the shadow of Drag Race looming over us all. I have begun to notice a specific type of audience member, the type who turns up with certain expectations. It’s hard not to notice a lack of enthusiasm or support for different performances, and especially hard not to notice people blatantly interrupting, heckling or leaving out of boredom.
I will preface that I’m not referring to people who go out to support their friends or to see one specific performer and stay for the entire show. I mean people who determine the level of attention and respect a performer gets depending on if, in their eyes, they are polished enough or Drag Race Ready.
Since my first local drag show, I have emerged as a drag artist myself and had the privilege of performing at wellloved shows. I have made unforgettable friendships and learned so much from wa wonderful community.
This demographic, who set unreasonable expectations and project them onto the cast, seem to only want to see drag queens, and are not shy about making this known. It is rather obvious when a crowd holds an expectation that mirrors what they have seen on TV; drag queens who dance, do splits, death drops and reveals, performers that serve only a seductive, feminine illusion. If anyone messes up or simply does not do what they were expecting, they make it abundantly clear. There is no denying that this level of disrespect is, in part, Drag Race’s fault. The show has made people believe that drag is and should be one thing.
It’s so disappointing how quick people are to dismiss the weird and wonderfwul, even in the community that celebrates just that.
CONTENT WARNING: GRIEF/MOURNING
8:13am
My shreddies are bland this morning. The brown slop looks miserable in my bowl, making me wonder how I’ve managed to eat this almost every morning for the last twelve years of my life. The idea of toast is no more appealing. The rest of my family clearly have similar thoughts as they mechanically chew on their various shades of beige breakfast.
There is no chatter this morning.
8:46am
My Dad’s kilt is definitely too big for me. It falls past my knees, making me look a little like a child playing dress up, and the socks scratch at my legs. Somehow, it fits perfectly in the hips and- regardless of size- I feel smart once everything is on. If it wasn’t such a miserable occasion, I actually might enjoy wearing it.
11:40am
Thankfully, Dad isn’t as heavy as I thought he would be. Since I’m shorter than my other family members, I’m at the front of the coffin carrying his feet - the lightest part of his body.
We step slowly down the aisle, one painful step after the other. I see my old school friends sitting in the pews, but I cannot look at them. I try my hardest to stand tall; to look dead ahead; but my eyes are blurring, and I can’t pick anything out.
“ My Dad’s kilt is definitely too big for me. ”
his weight.
I’m only carrying his feet. The feet are the lightest part of the body.
12:02pm
The hearse is a suffocating shield. We sit, huddled, on the cold leather seats as Dad is wheeled in the back. Everyone else watches; I see them not so subtly peering through the windows at us. Examining us. All falls silent as we pull away from the church and the bagpipes grow distant. I squeeze my Mum’s hand.
I can’t stop thinking back to all the weight he lost in the hospice and how pale he looked, how frail he looked...
He must be so light because my cousins are carrying his shoulders at the top end of the coffinthey’re bearing the brunt of
I wish I was back in the hospice, clinging to his cold, slimy body as my Mum gently tells me it’s time to let go. I wish we were back in the hospital together, playing card games whilst he’s high as a kite off morphine. I wish I was walking the dog in the park with him, hearing him decide if I’ve got ‘goodchat’ or ‘shit-chat’ today.
How am I supposed to look at a bag of dust and think, ‘this is my Dad’?
“ The feet are the lightest part of the body. ”
2:17pm
People have helped themselves to the best of the food and drink whilst we were gone. The table is littered with soggy grey snacks that do not fill me with joy. What does it take to get a fucking sausage roll at my own Dad’s funeral.
At least my old school friends are putting up with each other. I half listen to them make small talk about college and work, trying to figure out how long is a polite amount of time to stick around for before I can leave. I wouldn’t blame them for thinking the same thing. 7:51pm
I’ve had. We’ve somehow ended up in Spoons for dinner. We’re the loudest, most drunk group in the pub by far. We share memories of Dad, most of them causing me pain with how much I’m laughing. I send a ridiculous amount of unintelligible voice notes to my university friends, who seem to be having a great time deciphering what I’m trying to say. Inevitably, someone orders shots. They taste foul, making my face twist and scrunch, bringing another burst of hilarity to the table.
“ How am I supposed to look at a bag of dust and think, ‘ this is my Dad’? ”
swing around lampposts, making the most of the desolate streets, much to the despair of the far more sober person trying to get me into bed.
10:48pm
I find my mum in the living room. We sit in the dark, clinging to each other. My spine is twisted in a way that makes my hip protrude uncomfortably. I don’t move.
10:06pm
Funerals apparently can have some perks: I’ve only paid for two of the ten pints
The walk home is beautiful. Most people stayed at the pub, but it’s been a tiring day and getting to sleep before eleven sounds magnificent. I sing and
My first thought when we found out his cancer was terminal was, ‘He’ll never see me get married’.
He won’t see me buy my first home or see me graduate. He won’t see any of my siblings’ big milestones. He won’t even see my younger sister pass her Highers.
Mum tells me he would be proud of us today. I know that she’s right, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. It doesn’t make the house feel any less empty. It doesn’t make me look forward to tomorrow.
Words: Sage Cormack, Design: Ellen Kao
CONTENT
WARNING: GRIEF/ MOURNING
The sun was shining too brightly the day after, almost mockingly.
How could the air be so crisp, the sky so blue, when she didn’t exist anymore?
How much of her had I even known before she was gone?
Regardless, the warmth on my face and sting of cold numbness in my fingertips and chest could not disguise the vacuum that has opened in her absence.
A sinking pit, pulling me under. and it felt so unfair, my body and mind so distant from the person she once was. I couldn’t help but feel guilt, for not knowing her as well as I could have.
I was told on a Monday, pulled into a windowless room, feeling shock and dismay. With no way to soothe your absence in my mind, let it consume. Oh, fuck it.
I have never been good at emotions, (or rhyming). We were never close, but you were always kind to me.
Always speaking clearly, candidly, calmy.
Which was necessary for my never-ending neuroses.
Now you live on, permanent, immortalized in what seems infinite.
Words: Molly Wilson, Design:Anna
You are gone but your virtual self still remains, forever in my view.
A digital shrine for who you were, what you found amusing and how
You perceived this precarious premonition. It is bittersweet when I see your smiling face look up from the corner of my phone.
Knowing you will never smile like that again.
Yet, that smile is immortal in this indefinite landscape.
I am glad to know you smile at silly cat videos.
The Human Form
Man has heart and lungs and stomach, Grit, zeal, and a will to crack For man must live and breathe and eat And walk to the drums of life that beats.
But the heart of man shivers and quakes, Neglected by the heat of passion and ache, Gorged by money, conquest, and greed, Plagued by painful jealousies.
And the lungs of man are withered and black Infected with the smog of death, or lack Thereof; cursed with the torment of a perpetual existence, Of sluggishly inhaling in lazy subsistence.
The stomach of man is seldom fed, Hunger and bile rising unto his head, A gastric despondency burning a hole, With bottomless desire and gluttonous soul.
For the world renders man utterly subdued Turned to stone and left idly to brood Thrown to the elements and abandoned supine Huffing miserably at his defective design
But man has heart and lungs and stomach And muscle to wipe his brow, And fervent spirit to dance and play And voice to sing and laugh and pray.
For man has a sturdy back to bear The ills that life despairs, And mind to think and ponder — So many a thing that man could wonder!
For the heart of man loves well and true, Beseeching from him passion anew, And the visage of man; made of clay and sand, Crafted by nature’s erring hand.
So, in the next troubling hour that man is resigned Uninhibited and hedonistically inclined, He must sit upright and fix his spine And remember his human form is made in image divine.
eternal sunshine by Ariana Grande: A Track Breakdown
Ariana Grande released her album ‘eternal sunshine’last year, it being her seventh album since her arrival to the music industry in 2013. It is a vulnerable album, with many suggesting it was inspired by Grande’s divorce that happened in 2023. Grande sings about the journey she goes through, bravely singing about her heartbreak and how she simultaneously tries to deal with the spotlight on her.
Grande opens her album asking the big question of ‘HowcanItellifI’mintheright relationship?’with the track ‘intro(endof theworld)’.Strings accompany Grande as she sings, questioning the certainty of relationships as her song also makes listeners reflect on their own experiences with love as Grande highlights the complexities that come with it.
Next is ‘bye’, which offers a contrast to the opening of the album both lyrically and musically. Grande is certain that a toxic relationship is over, saying bye to her partner as she knows this is better than going back and trying again, often repeating the words ‘it’sover’to solidify this decision. The track is one you can’t help but dance to, as it has an upbeat tempo with trumpets and synthesisers that support Grande’s vocals.
In ‘don’twannabreakupagain’, Grande sings about her past relationship, highlighting how it is failing but not certain she wants to give it up. She has described it as the hangover version of ‘bye’, purposefully putting the songs next to each other to show the layers of feelings that come with the aftermaths of breakups.
‘SaturnReturnsInterlude’comes next, which features a monologue by astrologer Diana Garland. Garland discusses how every 29 years, Saturn returns to the same place it was 29 years ago. This astrological event often signifies new beginnings and time to reflect on oneself, as the monologue ends with ‘Its timeforyoutogetrealaboutlifeandsort outwhoyoureallyare/Wakeup/Getreal.’
This transitions into the title track ‘eternal sunshine’, where Grande gets real and shares the pain of her past relationship. This song mirrors the film ‘EternalSunshineofthe SpotlessMind’as Grande sings about wanting to erase her mind and feel painless when it comes to the memories of her ex. She acknowledges her past lover as her eternal sunshine; someone she wishes to forget.
‘supernatural’is a track that discusses this love, it being so strong that Grande sings about how she doesn’t mind if it possesses her. Grande’s vocals are highlighted on this track, as this song grants the album with one of Grande’s famous belts, as new feelings of love take over.
The seventh track ‘truestory’, and eighth track ‘theboyismine’are Grande’s untrue versions of untrue events as they serve as RnB songs where Grande addresses press rumours. She plays into being the villain, showing how no one really knows what happened during the relationship, but she will give the public what they want. ‘the boy is mine’ is an impressive rendition of the original 90s version by singers Brandy & Monica, which goes perfectly with ‘true story’as they serve as the albums first ‘badgirl’anthems.
In ‘yes,and?’Grande continues addressing the press and public. It is a dance track that sounds similar to Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, as Grande calls out how everyone is going through their own challenges and that she will not be hurt by opinions of her. She sings, ‘NowI’msodonewithcaring/What youthink,no,Iwon’thide/Underneath yourownprojections/Orchangemymost authenticlife.’.
Although, Grande proves to only be human in ‘wecan’tbefriends(waitforyourlove)’, where she sings about how she can’t be friends with those who critique her, but would like to try. Her mixed feelings towards the press and public are shown as she sings, ‘Knowthatyoumademe/Idon’t likehowyoupaintme,/yetI’mstillhere hanging.’. This, in my opinion, is the first vulnerable song in recent years aimed at the public that Grande has released. It tells listeners that deep down she cares about what critics say about her.
‘iwishihatedyou’is the eleventh track and serves as insight into Grande’s last thoughts about her past relationship. Grande exposes her feelings over a dreamy pop rhythm, revealing she can’t seem to get her ex partner out of her mind and wishes she can hate him to stop thinking about him.
The second last track, ‘imperfectforyou’is about Grande’s new relationship as she embraces her imperfections. She has healed not only from her past relationship, but from herself as she knows she doesn’t need to hide her flaws. An acoustic guitar accompanies Grande’s vocals, emphasising this stripped-down version of her.
The album ends with ‘ordinarythings(feat. Nonna)’. This track emphasises the beauty of everyday life when in love, as Grande sings over drums and trumpets that serve as a triumph to this new relationship. The last thing listeners hear is Grande’s laugh, which is a lovely way to show she no longer has questions about love, now ready to open her heart once more.
SURVIVING FAMILY HOLIDAYS
As a child of divorced parents, where alcoholism runs on one side and passive-aggressive on the other, family holidays can be an.... interesting time. Learning how to cope while your dad makes sly comments about your tattoos and facial piercings is a skill that takes time to hone. Luckily, you have me, an experienced verbal berate-er who can give as good as she gets.
Here are my five tips to survive
an elderly grandparent and a partridge in a pear tree celebrating Chrismukkah all in the one house you will never be alone. he one house you will never be alone. That only means one thing: NOISE. Buzzing, incessant and tiresome noise. God! Will you free me from this prison! Noise-cancelling headphones will save your sanity and your familial relationships by making sure you do not pounce on your younger cousin for singing Annoying Orange at full volume.
you’re eating a roast dinner.... ‘pass the tatties please!’ If you do not have comrades of similar age you can complain to, have your university friends on speed dial just in case things go south.
2. The Great Outdoors! There is nothing worse than being stuck in an enclosed space for more than two days, make sure you go outside and walk away from the madness of cooking a Hogmanay lunch. Nothing says ‘take a breather’ like your mum side-eyeing you over chopped brussel sprouts. Some fresh air can make anyone start feeling human again and refrain from strangling someone over poorly chopped carrots.
3. Noise-cancelling headphones. If you, like me, have seven cousins, three uncles,
4. Remember that you really do love your family. As much as this list might dissuade you otherwise, I really love my family. I do not get to see them nearly as much as I would like to with them living 4,000 miles away. I truly do enjoy creating ‘cousin dances’ and baiting my uncles with a ‘do-it-yourself stick and poke’ tattoo kit. My extended family lives too far away to be able to pop over for a wee chat so I recognise I must cherish every moment I spend with them.
5. A bedside bottle of WKD. Enough said.
I hope you find use of this list and this holiday season does not end with any familicide.
From Ghosts and to Santa and Sleighs: What’s the Rush?
Christmas is here and yet another year has flown by. Between the bustle of university, work, and leisure, the months sweep past and before you know it, you’re trimming the tree again. However, there seems to be an increasing sense of urgency surrounding the holidays in recent years. Particularly in the second half of the year that’s packed with celebrations. There’s a chaotic rush to move on from Halloween to the ever-favoured Christmas season. And after? January, a new year! New opportunities, goals and accomplishments. Yet, the new year is consistently met with joy swiftly followed by a mental crash. This familiar feeling has been branded Seasonal Depression and it appears to be more prominent now than ever before.
Seasonal Depression is commonly triggered by the ending of the holiday season and the looming return to everyday life. Another factor is anxiety surrounding financial troubles after a particularly expensive holiday. So this begs the question; What’s the rush? Is this quickness to reach the holiday season contributing to the growing rates of Seasonal Depression?
One reason for this rush is simply excitement. Who doesn’t love the holidays? Having an event to look forward to is often the boost we need in our daily lives. Then there’s our yearning for a break. Our need to rest. The result?
But this rush is even more draining than daily life and it’ll make that post-holiday crash more powerful.
There is also pressure from corporations to hit Christmas early. Enter any shop in September and you’re guaranteed to find a Christmas display. It’s a visual technique that throws Christmas clichés in your face, forcing you to face the holiday season months early. Being met with this constant reminder daily, has us frantically and subconsciously speeding towards December. When January hits, all those same displays will disappear as quickly as they appeared, serving us another, less joyful reminder; the holidays are over.
This is your reminder to slow down this holiday season. As a student, the speed of the holidays is underlined by the desire to click submit and end the semester. In all this chaos, it’s important to return to what the holiday season is truly about (however cheesy that may sound). Spend time with family, friends, and anyone and anything else you hold dear. If you do find yourself struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone. Take a breath and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.
Dundee Bred Brass Band Blow the City Away with Festive Gigs
With a rich history dating back to the late 19th century, the Dundee Instrumental Brass Band has spent generations bringing its music to the city and surrounding communities. Previously known as the St Margaret’s band, the group play at community events all over Dundee. For example, they have developed a strong link with the HMS Unicorn, and play on board the
Throughout the band’s history, this Dundee-bred band has seen huge changes in both the city of Dundee and the traditions of brass banding as a whole. With the ever-changing musical style trends and challenges faced by many community arts and music groups, the band has consistently thrived and encouraged the passing down of traditions.
The players rehearse every Wednesday and are a close-knit group, with many of them having played together for years. The
band has become such a diverse group to perform in, comprising individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and ages; there are musicians who have been involved in performing for decades, students, and retirees too. Despite the diversity throughout the band, it has created such a positive and friendly atmosphere to rehearse in, with talent being developed each week, and players helping their peers
The group love playing in and around the community, especially during the festive period as often it can be a difficult time for many, but the band are eager to ignite a positive feeling across the city. Speaking about the upcoming engagements, the band’s secretary, Lainy McLean, said, “We have our busiest Christmas lineup ever this year. We have kindly been invited to play at many new engagements, which we are extremely excited about.”
The band recently performed at the switch-on of the Dundee Christmas Lights in City Square, delivering a festive program of seasonal hymns and beloved favourites. Such engagements are vital for continuing to showcase the arts in public spaces as a community-driven band. These performances often provide accessible and affordable entertainment for residents, visitors, and families alike.
For many members, weekly rehearsals offer a welcoming space to unwind and step away from the pressures of daily life.
“Playing in a band or any musical ensemble is a really rewarding experience. You get to socialize with a group of like-minded people, making music together, which means you’re always listening, supporting each other and building a strong sense of belonging. You also get the chance to step away from your day job or uni work and focus on something completely different, so it’s good for combating stress and giving your mental health a boost. I’m particularly lucky as the band’s drummer - I get to batter a drum kit at least once a week, which is VERY stress-relieving!”
The Dundee Instrumental Band is a cherished part of the community, known for their energy and strong community spirit, and its music-making shows no signs of slowing down. During the festive period, the band participated in over ten engagements, enjoying the opportunity to share their music in Dundee and the surrounding areas. They performed at various locations, including the V&A’s Winter Music Moments program, where they held two mini-gigs to help get visitors in the festive spirit. Another notable performance this winter was at the Abernethy village Christmas light switch-on, as well as a fundraising event at Asda Myrekirk.
You can keep up to date with the band’s busy schedule by visiting their website https://www.dundeeinstrumental.com/#hark or by keeping an eye on their social
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Despite the challenges of a 34% cut, your students association is standing for you. We’re blown away at the activity of societies, sports clubs. The city and university of Dundee are blessed to have you here �� These are short summaries of our individual work. If you are interested in learning more there is an entire semester 1 report that will be published with an extensive breakdown of what we have achieved in our term so far.
President, Tánaiste:
My role is to encourage you – yes you, reading I’ve been fighting to ensure students aren’t left out of the future of the university. I am very glad that the government has now issued a directive to force the university to engage in consultation with us. I will be spending the next 6 months making space for your voice to be heard. I’m here to represent you, not management.
I was proud to attend the strike picket line and speak at the union’s rally. I am also proud to have welcome Maggie Chapman as our new Rector. She is a fantastic ally for students.
VPA, Ramya:
This month has been very busy and productive, with several initiatives successfully delivered. I led Academic Skills Week and Employability Week, both of which saw excellent engagement and participation from students across various programmes. In addition, I collaborated with Disability Services to provide guidance on study skills and Generative AI, helping students enhance their learning strategies. I also worked closely with the EIS Team, providing targeted English
support for international students. Overall, these activities have strengthened students’ academic and employability skills, fostered meaningful interactions, and contributed to a supportive and engaging learning environment.
VPR, Kyle:
The biggest part of my work for the month was orchestrating and carrying out class representative training, it is going well and the feedback I’ve received is glowing. Further, the co-options are finally (mostly) done at the SRC and I’m proud to say this year we have had the most people put themselves forward than ever before, over 50 now in total, and that’s just for the deputies. This is not yet proof of the restructure succeeding, but I feel it’s certainly a step in the right direction and a good sign of the future. Finally, winter graduations took place this month and went well. Next month will be busy however as I will be working with senior officials to improve AI policy, key for accessibility.
VPSW, Ruby:
Over October and November, I focused on wellbeing, inclusion, and community engagement across campus. I represented students at Senate, the Financial Aid Panel, and multiple school boards while continuing volunteering at the Campus Pantry and Food Stop. I led campaigns for ADHD Awareness, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia Awareness, and shared an interview on consent, which saw strong engagement. We launched the fortnightly Wellbeing Café with the Advice and Support Team, providing a relaxed drop-in space for students. I also delivered Welfare
the execs:
Officer Training for societies, supported a final-year project on student loneliness, and participated in the football match Show Racism the Red Card, Movember, and the Sixteen Days of Activism against genderbased violence. Finally, I hosted a successful Pumpkin Carving event and supported university Open Day activities.
VPSA, Tom:
This role continues to be both a rollercoaster and a joy! As you may have seen - or heard - I’ve launched a new project with students called Annasach Audio, and I’d love for you to get involved. I’ve also been working alongside Dani to support societies, build new relationships, and get involved in fun, fresh projects, all while balancing DUSA work with my studies.
One of the major milestones this semester was the launch of MyDUSA, which went extremely well. There were a few teething issues, of course, but I’m delighted to say the feedback has been fantastic and our societies are thriving.
Stay tuned for what’s next!
VPC, Ivy:
The start of term has been amazingly busy with Freshers week and Open Days, I have thoroughly enjoyed connecting with new and returning students. I have started a new initiative predominantly on social media called ‘Spaces Spotlight’ to highlight underrepresented study or social spaces for students. This has been well engaged with which is lovely to see. Another focus has been
the Student Representative council (SRC), seeing the restructure I worked on in action is great and all main councillor roles have now been filled I am looking forward to the amazing work I’m sure the new SRC will do!
VPF, Caitlin:
The past months have been incredibly busy! I’ve been working heavily on restarting the RAG Instagram, restructuring the RAG committee. Alongside this, I’ve continued with my trustee responsibilities and make sure to fulfil my role as a student representative to the best of my abilities. I have attended PPR, senate, and my usual board meetings, as well as Winter Graduations, and I’ve also been volunteering at the Campus Pantry. It’s been quite a lot!I can’t pinpoint a single highlight of semester one, but it has been wonderful to constantly have opportunities to meet and work with the student body and the charity of the year: Deaflinks!
Do Check them and their community cafe out, it’s super close to campus and cozy spot to study and get a bite to eat!
The Winter Warmth of Sufjan Stevens
I believe we all feel a certain way about music; it makes us feel a certain way and evokes emotions in a unique way.
Sufjan Stevens will forever be one of my favourite musicians, his music feels similar to the sun breaking through the snow on a cold day. I find all his albums truly evoke this sense of warmth within. I first discovered his music back in 2019; I was in love with the game Life is Strange and I found one of his songs, ‘Death With Dignity’, on a playlist of music that matched the vibes of the games, which also featured on a prequel to Life is Strange 2 titled The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. It was the winter of 2019, the cold wind battering against my bedroom window whilst I remained cuddled up on my bed with the music playing, starting my second replay of Life is Strange. The music blasted through my phone and it all felt so warming even with the cold weather, the gentle sound of my candle cracking completed the winter ambience.
The music truly radiates the winter feeling through a matter of ways but I believe it is achieved so well through his use of delicate instrumentation.
The majority of his songs use a gentle piano combined with soft strings, the occasional sleigh bell (heard mostly in his Christmas album, Songs for Christmas but it also reappears in other albums as well) and the soft banjo that occurs every so often but ties it all together. The real cherry on top is his delicate voice. His music feels so still yet it still manages to move me. He creates a perfect atmosphere of melancholy in his albums, often tear inducing. They all feel like certain times of the year, two albums stand out as the most wintry.
The 2015 Sufjan Stevens album Carrie & Lowell feels like the cold serenity of a winter’s day, yet it also brings with it a warmth. The majority of the album feels like being sat in front of a fireplace with a warm mug of tea in hand, a candle burning and it’s wonderful.
This album opens with the song ‘Death by Dignity’. The instrumentals alone capture the picture of the sun setting over a snowy forest; the heat of the sun providing a warmth for the animals that find themselves tucked away within the trees, within the streams of the forest and then the song delivers them to us, allowing this image, this setting, to be felt by us as we listen. Even with the vocals gently drifting in and out, it feels so still. The whole song is calm, it helps to create this sensation of a winter’s day, the sun blessing the snow. It sets up the rest of the album through this; however, I won’t be discussing the whole album as I fear words will not be enough to encapsulate it in its entirety.
A song from later on in this album is titled ‘Fourth of July’, a song filled with so much grief bringing even more emotion due to the winter feeling within it. I feel as though winter is a period of joy, yet it does bring grief with it, the change in weather being a major factor alone. Long days become short, bright evenings with friends become darkened nights spent wrapped up battering out that last essay or maybe just simply feeling lost, especially after experiencing grief. There is more sorrow to this one, especially with the repeated line that is “We’re all gonna die”, expressing the overarching theme of grief that this album deals with. Maybe the links between grief and winter is one of the reasons behind this album feeling so perfect for snowy days with the brisk air tickling our bones.
The soft strings combined with gentle piano provide a stage for the vocals of Sufjan Stevens, encapsulating the snow and coldness and giving him the perfect setting for his haunting vocals that evoke so much emotion in all of his music. I would like to reflect upon one stand out song from the 2005 album Illinois, ‘John Wayne Gacy Jr’, an evocative song that reflects the ability of his vocals. I won’t dive into this song but please give it a listen on your own, it’s hauntingly beautiful.
Across all of his work, there’s a sense of emotion, a sense of a season. His album Carrie & Lowell effectively delivers a slice of winter without the holly jolly dressings that many albums rely too much upon. It was not meant to be a winter album yet to many it has blossomed into one. His vocals act as the warm sun upon the snowy landscape that is the instrumentals, the softly plucked guitar combined with gentle piano. A sensation of warmth in a cold period.
Everything I feel, returns to you somehow.
How Do We Engage in Criticism in an Era of an Outrage SlopMachine?
On June 11th, 2025, Sabrina Carpenter revealed the cover of her upcoming album Man’s Best Friend. What followed was weeks of heated internet discourse over whether or not the cover was empowering or offensive—if the image was actually a brilliant feminist satire or if it “set women back a decade”. While such reaction is nothing new, it illustrates the major problem in the culture of modern online discourse: we’ve really lost all sense about what’s important and what’s not. To be clear, I don’t like the cover of Man’s Best Friend. Carpenter said that her intentions with the cover was to present her as “clearly in control, even though I’m on all fours”, and I don’t think the cover achieved that. Carpenter’s pose
looks stiff, the hair pull feels harsher than intended, and I can see how without context such image can be perceived negatively. However, there is a problem with this line of thinking: this image does have context. Just before the album cover was revealed to the public, Carpenter released the album’s first single ‘Manchild’, a song with lyrics that call men “stupid” and “useless”. ‘Please Please Please’, a song from her previous album, has her singing “I beg you, don’t embarrass me, motherfucker” to her hypothetical boyfriend, while a body of a man stuffed in the back of Carpenter’s car is seen in a music video for a version of the song that guest stars Dolly Parton.
All these facts don’t make Man’s Best Friend’s cover a product of a misunderstood feminist
genius, but they do give it a context of being made by an artist who is deeply critical of men. The fact is, Carpenter’s work (even if unwittingly to her) provides a very strong illustration of the dichotomy patriarchy forces onto heterosexual women; the dichotomy between desiring men while resenting them for their mistreatment of women. That context can’t be discarded when discussing Man’s Best Friend’s cover because Carpenter’s overall body of work, and songs like ‘Manchild’ being part of the record, void most of the negative consequences a cover like this can have.
The problem with extreme discourse like this isn’t that people have strong opinions they aren’t willing to change; I am not here to argue in favour of universal unquestioning centrism. I think there are times where unbending convictions are needed. However, many cases such as this one aren’t black and white. When we allow the extreme rhetoric to rule the conversation, we are creating a perfect environment for an opposite extreme backlash that, this time around, is going to push out valid criticisms from the conversation.
A good example of such backlash to the backlash is what happened with the discussion around the book series Twilight Twilight’s mega popularity from early 2000s to mid-2010s was followed in tandem with large backlash against the series. While the series has tons of issues such as racism, sexism, romanisation of suicidality and abusive dynamics, at the time of the original wave of the backlash, the criticism was focused how “silly” the story is and how “stupid” teenage girls who enjoyed it are. In the following years however, Twilight’s fans started to digest how misogynistic those criticisms were, which led to an effort to rehabilitate the series’ reputation. Whilst unpacking the problems within the original backlash and finding a place where Twilight can live as something that isn’t just an embarrassing “guilty pleasure” isn’t a bad thing, a lot of Twilight’s
fans started rejecting the idea of the series having any problems at all. This made already marginalised discussions such as Twilight’s racism against the Native American tribe of Quileute people and its appropriation of their culture impossible to have without Twilight’s fans feeling the need to bring up how unjust the original critiques were.
While this phenomenon has always existed, the recent culture of slop outrage bred by social medias’ algorithms made it thousand times more powerful. Those algorithms are deliberately programmed to reward the most upsetting and extreme content to prolong their user’s time on their platforms. This fact pushes creators to put out most outrageous and unnuanced takes and it trains the viewers to have the most visceral reactions possible.
The problem isn’t that this culture makes online discourse completely insufferable, it’s that we find ourselves missing the forest for the trees whilst said forest actively burns around us. Around the same time as serious online political commentators were having weeks long discussions about one album cover, ICE raids in Los Angeles triggered a month-long string of protests against ICE’s brutalisation of immigrants. As much as “we can hold space for both discussions” is a nice sentiment and a common rebuttal to people who point out the misplaced priorities of online discourse, reality proves time and time again that we really can’t. Not everything needs to be as high stakes as immigrant rights to be worthy of lengthy discussion, but sometimes things like an awkward album cover that failed at conveying its point is just an awkward album cover that failed at conveying it’s point, and nothing more.
Twin Peaks and the Daily Present
In times like these, specifically the cruel and unusual yearly punishment that is Scottish winter (why does it get dark at 4pm! WHY!), I enjoy looking back to my comfort media, as do a lot of people. Old Disney movies, Cartoon Network cartoons - Regular Show is a favourite of mine - the same game you’ve been playing since you were a mere teenager who didn’t have two essays due by the end of the week. I’ve met some folk with some… questionable choices in comfort media (Persona 5? Really? It’s a billion hours long!), but at the end of the day, whatever we can fall back on to keep going through dark and dreary times must be worth something. In Rubber Ring, one of The Smiths’ best songs, Morrissey (ew) sings;
‘But don’t forget the songs that made you cry
And the songs that saved your life
Yes, you’re older now and you’re a clever swine
But they were the only ones who ever stood by you’;
Of course, I shouldn’t cast judgement on people’s comfort media because I count the surreal mystery/horror drama series Twin Peaks among mine. The show, created by Mark Frost and the legendary David Lynch (R.I.P), charts the investigation of the murder of prom queen Laura Palmer, darling of the small (well, small by yank standards; 50 thousand is about the size of Inverness or Stirling which we call cities in bonnie Scotland) Washington state town of Twin Peaks, and how her death effects the colourful yet secretive characters in the town.
While from first blush, a show primarily about a dead teenage girl sounds quite dour, but Twin Peaks has a surprisingly homely vibe. Everyone is dressed in flannels or nice suits, the Washington wilderness is beautiful (and not filtered green like in Twilight) and most of the characters are very endearing; namely, the closest thing the soap opera-style ensemble cast of Twin Peaks has to a main character, Special Agent Dale Cooper.
Design: Beth Millar
Agent Cooper, or Coop as he’s often called in the show, is an absolute darling; he’s polite, has interests ranging from cherry pie to Tibetan mysticism, and throughout his investigation in the town he always makes time for a cup of black coffee (which, as much as I love him, I don’t get because I need sugar). He faces a lot of evil on the show, both more conventional corrupt businessmen/gangsters and actual otherworldly demonic forces from a mysterious plane called the Black Lodge, but even when brought low he maintains his kind manner towards those who treat him well. How can our man Coop do this? Well, he shares a little of his philosophy in an early episode to his friend, Sheriff Harry Truman, when they’re at the town’s best diner, the Double R.
“… every day, once a day, get yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just… let it happen. It could be a new shirt from the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.”
On a personal level, this quote is very important to me. I think that most people know it’s important to reward yourself, but I appreciate that Cooper doesn’t limit the idea of a present given to one’s self as just a material thing. The concept of a ‘little treat’ is good but often is thought of as something material. With Cooper’s way of thinking, he opens the field as to what a gift can be in our current world.
I try and follow Coop’s words as closely as possible, even though I don’t investigate murders in a surreal, noir-ish town (though that is definitely my backup plan if the whole getting a degree and being an author thing doesn’t work out in this economy). Sometimes the day’s present is a lie in, or a couple of hours of PC time to decompress
after Uni. Sometimes (not to seem like I’m above material things), I head down to Thirteen Records on Union Street and pick up a few CDs for my stereo, or treat myself to a fast-food pizza. Regardless of the present’s contents, it’s a gift, and a gift means something beautiful.
It’s important, now more than ever, to keep your morale up. The world is scary right now, even without considering the damnable weather. Cooper battled demons, but for normal folk’s there are other individuals, corporations, and organisations who have a financial and political interest in you (yes, you reading) being miserable; so they can sell you something that no one needs, so that you’ll step aside and they can replace you with an unfeeling, artificial, facsimile of you that they don’t have to pay or respect.
To help keep your head up and stick it to ‘em, think of the words of Coop. May they help you as they have helped me maintain my wellbeing in our world.
Peer Connections
We are looking for volunteers to help new arrival students get used to university life and provide peer support and information.
Meet the Team!
Senior Team
Editor-in-Chief
Molly Wilson
Creative Directors
Ayla Ahmed
Heidi Le
Section Editors
Dep. Editor-in-Chief
Eva Milne
Arts & Culture
Sage Cormack
Lifestyle
Creative
Subashini Thangadurai
Opinions
Holly Flynn Lucas McCall
Creative Team
Featured Artist
Fleur Pirie
Illustrators
Agne Irbe
Ellen Kao
Iman Cinjarevic
Mia Duffy
Quintana Beattie
Wen Xi Kong
Cover Design
Featured Photographer
Nyle Walker
Photographers
Jesslyn Lesmana
Nyle Walker
Mollie Hawkes
Issue 115's stunning cover was photographed by Nyle Walker and illustrated by Iman Cinjarevic!
Social Media
Layla El-Dah
Publishing
The Magdalen is published by Dundee University Student Association (DUSA).
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