If marriage is a construct, I don’t want to be a construction worker
Marriage is steadily on the decline. While many articles have lamented the breakdown of this ancient establishment, there are a lot of practical factors behind the fall in marriages in…
Vince Cable’s speech has revealed his anti-democratic bigotry
The Liberal Democrats are currently polling at 7%. They have been languishing around this level for some time and, despite rebranding themselves as some sort of Remain resistance, have yet…
Are millennials hypersensitive puritans?
Generation Y. Snowflakes. Millennials. Call them what you want. Our generation is quickly becoming the largest focus of debate and analysis in contemporary discussion since the Free Love generation of…
Borders underpin international order
Last week my fellow columnist Lucy Hodgeon wrote a piece on whether borders have been made redundant by globalisation. It was original, thought-provoking and brilliantly written. I categorically disagree with it….
Parkland: No longer ignoring the price of easy gun access
When my phone buzzed with an alert about the shooting in Parkland, I wasn’t shocked. I was heartbroken and angry, but not shocked. Appalling mass shootings in the US don’t…
Borders suffocate international progress
Trump and Mexico. Britain and Brexit. Whilst states across the world seem to be reaffirming their borders, there exists a counter movement asking: do we even need borders? The World…
Picket lines and priorities
I never thought I’d say this but I actually miss stumbling to 9ams. For me, the combination of the immaculately timed Beast From The East and the University and College…
It’s International Women’s Day and pink beer ‘for girls’ feels inauthentic
It is no secret that we live in a society where marketing is often as important, if not more so, than the product on offer. Campaigns and strategies are tailor-made…
In a world without equal opportunity, no one wins
The Oscars, as always, bring a semi-climactic end to awards season. I’m personally a sucker for red carpet pics, for no reason other than I live vicariously through those lucky…
The World’s Most Dangerous War
Even with ISIS gone, Syria has never been a more dangerous theatre of war. ISIS was, until recently, the most lethal threat to international security in the Middle East. A…
Don’t burn your idols, but look at them closely
The study of art and its history is a sticky, dripping collage of ugly realities and uncomfortable realisations. Paintings are not only material constructions belched out under a certain set…
How I stopped worrying and learned to love Corbyn
British politics has seen better days. Take one look at Theresa May’s cabinet, and you’ll see a crew arguing which way to sail a beached ship. Then feast your eyes…
Why Slavery should be a mandatory part of the British history curriculum …
As a country, we have done as much as we can to distance ourselves from our colonial past. Sure, we regret it – but only quietly. We have statues denouncing…
Our Education on Trial: For Students and Lecturers
Education is a right and it is society’s duty to make it an accessible one. This right, however, is also a business and a business with a price tag. A…
On the upcoming lecturer strikes
The upcoming lecturer strikes are a hard to pass an opinion on. On the one hand, as a strident lefty, I believe in pension rights and protection. Pay inequalities within…
Brexit, the worst mistake made by the UK since the First World War?
If the UK leaves the European Union, politicians can run the country how they want; Corbyn can try out his Stalinist policies or Mogg can take us back to the…
The real threat to democracy? Millennials
The Baby Boomers will be remembered as the luckiest generation in history. But the millennials will be remembered as the most spoiled. Previous generations perceived democracy as the moral antithesis…
Don’t forget about men like Roy Moore
The whirlwind of the patriarchy moves at such a dizzying pace these days that its hard to find time to be upset about something before some new famous man you…
Game shooting is as age-old as it is cruel and outdated
We are all, in some capacity, aware of the tradition that is game shooting. The phenomenon described by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds as ‘wanton destruction’, which…
Does the MeToo movement mark the death of flirting? Absolutely not
Catherine Deneuve seems to seriously believe (or believed, given her hasty apology) that sensuality is under siege. Her argument against the MeToo movement seems to focus on the joys of…
LIVE: The Trump Show is a farce not a tragedy
The anti-Trump church has a large congregation these days. The mainstream media, having recently moved on from denial, is now at the second stage of grief, anger. I do not…
The UK’s political future should be decided by educated voters
In modern day society it is almost unanimously believed that democracy is the best way to govern a country. Democracy seems to be synonymous with fairness, creating a government which…
Saying ‘three cheers for a century of female suffrage’ is not enough
True irony: the fact that the female suffrage centenary is currently sharing column space with the revelation that Tesco, one of UK’s largest supermarkets and employers, could be sued up…
Capitalism has found a way to commodify mental health
Self care is everywhere. It’s the new trending hashtag, and marketing ploy. You can hardly open Instagram without being accosted with images of pamper evenings with conspicuously placed products, emblazoned…
Student debt isn’t that big or that bad
In all of the furore surrounding the university tuition fees and student loans system, there has been relatively little discussion over perhaps the most consequential element of the system: the…
A Note from the Managing Director
Welcome to The Broad - a tabula rasa for student journalism.
For many of us, myself included, we’re half-starved for well-written opinion among the swathes of online commentary among universities. Trashy, often unedited writing is published minute by minute. It seems where there is wifi, opinion is broadcast. So, here at The Broad we’ve decided to take a step back, a deep breath and focus. We have talent spotted and welcomed writers to the team, who have found a new home in the very collaborative environment created by our editors. Between writer and editor, we are hoping to challenge the current view of what it is to be a student journalist. We’re putting the way we feel about the world into words with a fresh take. Our entirely free online content is by students for students. We want to publish unbridled and beautifully written opinion. I hope the journalism on The Broad has the power to inspire, aggravate and sometimes silence. Essentially, if the girls, the boys, the lefties, the righties and everyone in between find something to shout about we’re doing our job right.
Felix Pawlyn, Managing Director
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