This afternoon we went for a ~10km walk...
This afternoon we went for a ~10km walk around Wytham Woods — our first visit in a few years. Very peaceful, very dry right now. We came upon the pretty well-preserved...
Adam Wood
Latest posts
New in the hopper this morning is this...
New in the hopper this morning is this offering from Edinburgh-based roasters Carter. I didn’t get the ‘forest fruit cake’ in my first cup (as filter), but it was clean...
York / Northumberland
Last week we headed north to spend some time in a part of the country I’ve never been to before. On the way up we stayed overnight in York, where we spent some time walking around, dropping in for a look at Thin Ice Press, good coffee from Another Brother and out-of-this-world pizza at Dough Eyed. On the way out of the city we stopped in at Beningborough Hall for a walk around the gardens and the…
Sipped Ink vol 11
It’s that time of year again: the season for enjoying a long(-ish) novel in the company of an unknown number of like-minded fellow readers. Friends, if you prefer—only friends you’ve...
Sigur Rós: Ára
This afternoon we attended a musical event with a difference. Sigur Rós: Ára is billed as ‘a fully immersive listening experience, expanding the sonic universe of Sigur Rós to new...
Ali Smith — Gliff (2024) / Glyph (2026)
A couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to be in the audience at the Sheldonian to see Ali Smith awarded the Bodley Medal. On that occasion she read a passage from what would later become the opening section of her next novel: Gliff (2024). I published some notes on that novel about a year later, when I finished listening to Eliot Sumner’s audiobook version. Recently, I re-read Gliff—this…
This week I received a card from an...
This week I received a card from an acquaintance in Brooklyn, artist Shawn Liu. I don’t get post all that often, and seldom is it so exciting. You see, this...
Gratitude Without Subject
Something I’ve been pondering recently is whether statements of gratitude need always contain subjects as well as objects. Which is to say, when we express ‘I am grateful for x’, does...
We were just in Bristol for a little...
We were just in Bristol for a little over 24 hours at the start of this week. The main event was a chance to see Ben Kweller play at The...
Vice-Chancellor’s Awards 2026
This week I was back at the Schwarzman Centre, but this time in a work capacity. The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards is an annual celebration of some of the amazing work being done by people all around Oxford University. My team was nominated for a project we delivered last autumn, which meant we got to take part in the showcase event on Tuesday and attend the awards ceremony itself on Thursday. The…
Happy Birthday Switch 2
Today marks one year since the global release of the Nintendo Switch 2, and I thought I would mark the occasion with a quick rundown of how I thought the console’s first twelve months shook out, at least in terms of the games I’ve played. Things got started with a bona fide gem, tailor-made to be a launch title: Mario Kart World. Not only one of the Nintendo franchises with the widest appeal,…
Last week’s #newmusicfriday had a neat diptych: The...
Last week’s #newmusicfriday had a neat diptych: The Field released an album titled Now You Exist and Martyn released one titled Music for Existing. This week has something similar: Aja...
Really impressed with this recent pick-up from Round...
Really impressed with this recent pick-up from Round Hill Roastery of Somerset: smooth, clean and pleasantly sweet. This first cup was made using the Fellow Stagg Pour-Over Dripper which works...
Yesterday was the open-house launch of the cultural...
Yesterday was the open-house launch of the cultural programme at the University’s new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities. I’ve stopped by the building for coffee a couple of times since...
There is a thesis to be written on...
There is a thesis to be written on the ways in which social media has impacted literary fiction. Perhaps most obviously the way novels are marketed, and to whom they’re...
In Bloom @ Ashmolean
A new major exhibition just opened at the Ashmolean Museum, titled In Bloom: How Plants Changed Our World. I’d not read much about it before visiting, but I think I...
🌕 016 — I Didn’t Accidentally Tell You That
Hi, hello, how are you? I’m writing to you a few hours after the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission. And they picked a good time, because… it’s a full moon....
Madeline Cash — Lost Lambs (2026)
This month I read one of the buzziest books of the year so far: Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs (2026). I didn’t know quite what to expect going in, but this...
Placebo & Garbage @ RAH
With thanks to my friend JG, I was fortunate enough to be offered the chance to attend a show at the Royal Albert Hall last night. It was part of...
Oscars 2026
For the first time in a long time (and possibly ever) I’ve seen all 10 of the Best Picture nominees for tonight’s 98th Academy Awards before the ceremony takes place. So, here are my brief thoughts on each of the films, followed by my picks for some of the other categories. I’m going to do this in my own personal order of preference: F1 (2025) dir Joseph Kosinski A really well-made popcorn movie.…
A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading...
A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading W David Marx’s latest: Blank Space — A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century (2025). It’s a tough read, presenting both a recap of the last quarter-century’s relatively dire cultural landscape and a reasoned argument for how this came to be. Marx is cogent on the prevailing winds (social media, rampant egoism etc) that have eroded culture down to…
Back once again with another offering from Routes,...
Back once again with another offering from Routes, because the east Oxford lot know what they’re doing. I think the Ethiopian that I had from them last year still tops...
🌕 015 — It Hears What The People Whisper
Hi, hello, how are you? Once more I sit at this keyboard whilst the full moon commands the sky above us. I hope you’re all well and (hemisphere dependent) are...
MacGregor Man
This week I attended a lecture at the Ashmolean Museum, on early Egyptian statuettes. Actually—to be precise—it was focussed primarily on the topic of one piece, of contested origin. Liam McNamara, Keeper of the Department of Antiquities, led the audience through a mystery that has perpetuated for more than 125 years, surrounding the item bearing the acquisition number 1922.70 in the museum’s…
Last week I attended a guided mindfulness session...
Last week I attended a guided mindfulness session at which the guy leading the class started by admitting that he once left his home before realising he was wearing watches...