OUR TEAM
ALEXANDRA SHILSON
Executive Editor
Based in Edinburgh, I study English Literature and at the moment I’m specifically interested in literature about childhood. This year I wrote and directed with Bedlam Theatre. I also write music and have composed on several student plays. I like my tea brewed in a teapot but I am very embarrassed about this so I will take it however it comes.
GABRIELLE SHOWALTER
Assistant Editor
Originally from New York, I'm now going into my 4th year of studying English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. Hobbies include nursing a mild caffeine dependency, buying poetry collections I forget to read, and making a futile effort to keep houseplants alive (I always overwater them). Like every other English major, I want to go into the publishing industry. Before moving to the UK, I would have said my favourite tea was “no”, but now it’s Yorkshire with a splash of milk.
TIRENI ODUBIYI
Lagos Editor
Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, I currently study Liberal Arts at the University of Warwick. Studying liberal arts means that I have to explain my degree to everyone I meet but on the plus side, I get to combine modules across different departments and tailor-make my degree which I decided will be sociology focused. Although I’m not sure of the specific career I will have in the future, I know that my job will have to involve writing and content creation. I’m controversially not a fan of tea or coffee but I'm always up for a mug of hot chocolate.
LAUREN SIMKIN
London Editor
After graduating from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Biomedical Sciences, I am pursuing a master's in Clinical Neuroscience at the King's College London. My home is in London but I plan to settle down somewhere warmer and less cloudy. I'm not an avid tea drinker (very un-British of me) but if I had to name my favourite brand it would probably be Earl Grey.
CHARLOTTE JIANG
Hong Kong Editor
Born and raised in London, I’m currently entering my final year of studying English and Art History at the University of St Andrews. After graduating, I hope to read a Masters which will (hopefully) buy me some time before I figure out what it is I want to do! I love all things books, Cross-fit and food (a bit oxymoronic perhaps, but each compliments the other). My favourite tea is a good ol’ cup of builders breakfast brew: reliable, full-bodied and hearty.
JOHN TANGUAY
New York Editor
I was an undergrad in New York City where I studied Computer Science but currently attend Trinity Business School in Dublin where I focus on Operations and Supply Chain Management. I’m an avid reader, cyclist, and lover of Daft Punk. I also row occasionally. I’m a sucker for gas station coffee but will never refuse a fresh brew of rooibos.
LEO O'MAHONY
Photographer
I’m a Philosophy and Politics student at the University of Edinburgh, born and raised in London. I want to be the first man to walk on the Moon, working hard on that, so fingers crossed for me. My favourite tea would have to be the letter, I love the way it sits between the R and the Y on a QWERTY keyboard.
TOM GARDNER
Director
I study History at the University of Edinburgh and was on (quarantined) exchange at the University of Texas, at Austin. Funnily enough, I am interested in the overlap between sectors. I also like Space. My home is in London, heart in Edinburgh, head on Mars, and stomach in Prague, but most importantly, my tea is Twinings' Earl Grey.
CECELIA MELCHOR
Post-Production Specialist
As a film student at the University of Texas at Austin, I've spent a lot of time developing a multitude of talents throughout many aspects of film including things like, colour grading, visual effects, producing, and directing. As a sort of jack of all trades, I'm hoping to utilise what I know to watch my projects blossom from the conception of an idea to the realisation of its creation. I currently have several projects in development and plan to eventually own my own company. As it stands, My favourite tea would be Matcha!
ALICE JOHNSON
Volume Lead Editor
Originally from York and just finished studying American and Canadian Studies at the University of Birmingham. Spent a very fun year studying abroad in the US at Pitzer College and hope to get back over there and pursue further studying/writing soon. Obviously my choice of tea is Yorkshire tea, every time.
BEN NIMMO
Volume Editor/Producer
Originally from Birmingham, I currently study in Leeds working as a saxophonist, producer and video editor in the bustling jazz and hip hop scene there. In the future I will be continuing to grow my record label ‘Readymeal Sound’, working with the amazing talent the city has to offer. Got to be Yorkshire tea for my favourite brew!
GRACE CONNOLLY
Volume Editor/Producer
Born and raised in South West London, I’m a Politics and Social Anthropology student in her last year at the University of Edinburgh. I have always grown up around music and my niche is definitely low-fi jazz and hiphop. I specialised my dissertation on Grime, Race and Police relations in South West London. I am currently managing lo-fi jazz artists and am unsure about what the future holds, career wise - but excited to see what the world throws at me. Embarrassingly enough I’m 5ft and any amount of caffeine sends me off the walls like a 5 year old child - so I’ll stick with anything decaf… mainly as a courtesy to those around me.
2021
Editor Predictions
2020 led to worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression. One consequence is that London’s population is expected to shrink in 2021 for the first time since 1988, with over 700,000 residents leaving the city since the beginning of the pandemic. COVID-19 has stemmed the flow of graduates and migrants into the capital, whilst lockdowns have prompted city-dwellers to re-evaluate their living situations. Others fear the impacts of Brexit on the capital which some experts believe will lead to a long-term reduction in property demand. Whilst bad news for current homeowners, this could be beneficial for younger generations who may be able to take advantage of London’s unprecedented affordability. Boris Johnson’s one-vaccine approach will also be under spotlight in 2021...
Lauren Simkin
New York City will heal. It always does. After all the major events it’s faced — the Great Depression, the Harlem Race Riots, the September 11 attacks— the city always returns in a familiar, albeit different, form. The COVID-19-induced urban exodus (in spring) of those privileged enough to “flee” left many to wonder whether the virus would mark the death of NYC, while the protests in May and June in reaction to the killing of George Floyd confronted those remaining with the major inequalities that exist and persist in their beloved city.
2021 will see NYC coming to terms with the almighty year of 2020—a year which saw people forced to rethink space: home space, city space, social space, mental space. Some will be eager to return to the city, some will be so comfortable as to stay in their distant refuges. But people will return. And to those who do, NYC will markedly appear and feel different...
John Tanguay
2020 was a wild and draining year. A new coronavirus (a word many of us hadn’t heard before) hammered itself into our everyday conversations and interactions, ushering in endless conspiracy theories surrounding its origin, effect and remedies. Similarly, the pandemic brought to the forefront new and recycled debates on public welfare and government efficiency. Amongst this pandemonium, social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and #EndSARS, a campaign lead by young Nigerians, made racism and police brutality a global topic.
As people across the globe continued to feel the pandemic's effects in full force, days and months blended into a continuous blur, allowing for extended reflection. My own time reflecting has made me see 2021 not as the optimistic social and economic reset many hope it will be but, rather, the next term in a mathematical sequence; the type of progression and difference between the terms 2020 and 2021 still hanging in the balance...
Tireni Odubiyi
Hong Kong has had a challenging year both in terms of the Covid-19 pandemic and its political climate. The 30th June saw the passing of a new security law, which allowed China to establish a new security office in Hong Kong. The law has, again, questioned Hong Kong’s autonomy and indeed amplified the existing concerns voiced by the protests.
With its Legislative Council having passed a HK$6.4 billion Covid-19 subsidy package just before Christmas, existing financial strains are evident in Hong Kong’s economy too. This has been exacerbated by the administration’s failure to contain the pandemic: with cases rising, Hong Kong has just entered its fourth wave. Our focus is rightly centred upon its economy, its health crisis, and its relation to China...
Charlotte Jiang
