Latest Stories from Olivia
Opinion – Women shouldn’t solely be responsible for their safety
After the deaths of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard rang alarm bells across the UK, women have found themselves questioning why it’s still all on us to keep safe at night. The day I first moved to London when I was 17, I remember how excited I felt about finally getting to live independently. My granddad offered to help and brought a small gift with him on moving day. It wasn’t...
Understanding the highs and lows of au pair life
After 18 years of education, many young people want to travel the world. Becoming an au pair is the best way to see the wonders of Earth while maintaining a living — but is it the solution it’s made itself out to be? Feeling the pressure from the American education system, 19-year-old Edwina Koch set off to become an au pair for a family in Paris. ‘Moving to France seemed...
Is it time for small artists to quit big music?
Sony Music's attempted purchase of up-and-coming rival label AWAL has signalled a dangerous time for musicians’ rights. Are UK artists doomed? ‘I know it seems like I’m very loud about this,’ Taylor Swift said in an interview with Billboard. ‘But it’s because someone has to be.’ Swift, who signed her first label at the age of 15, has been re-recording her own music since December 2019 — when media titan...
Italy’s rising radical right and the quest to end immigration
In Italy, a country once home to Benito Mussolini, a leader who radicalised society between 1919 and 1945, history is on the verge of repeating itself. On 10 September, police officers arrested a 26-year-old Somali asylum seeker for allegedly stabbing four women and a six-year-old boy in Italy’s north-eastern town of Rimini. While Luciana Lamorgese, the country’s interior minister, called the incident a ‘very grave episode’, it didn’t take long for...
You decide — should our dietary choices dictate who we date?
New research has highlighted that dietary preferences are influencing our dating choices more than ever before. But why is this and should we be filtering our dating choices based on our food preferences? Everybody has a different notion on what makes up a perfect date and ultimately, the optimal companion. From keeping up with a conversation, to maintaining personal hygiene — what do you look for in your ideal partner? Lately,...
Is Italy’s Catholic-led society hampering its LGBTQ rights?
Italy’s dependency on religion and tradition has stood in the way of LGBTQ rights, even after the country’s legislation was on the brink of being revolutionised last autumn. ‘I never thought that liking other guys was a “real thing”,’ says Luca Lacerenza, a 22-year-old actor from Milan. ‘It didn’t hit me until I fell in love with a man, which is when I realised: there’s nothing wrong with me being...
Opinion – We need more human empathy in our national policies
This week is Humanitarian Day, and the best way to preserve our humanity is by economising our frontline workers, not our wallets. Ahead of the UK’s ‘Freedom Day’ on 19 July, polls revealed that most people weren’t ready for lockdown restrictions to be lifted. With Boris Johnson claiming this day would lead to an ‘inevitable’ third wave of infections and deaths, the pandemic has highlighted humanity takes a distant second...
You decide — can Gen Z afford to celebrate youth?
The IPCC’s ‘code red for humanity’ and the pandemic have left us wondering: can we spare any time to be young? ‘Even though I’ve just entered my 20s, I look back and miss being young,’ says Vidushi Samarasinghe, a student based in Italy. Samarasinghe is just one of the hundreds of thousands of Gen Zers who feel that their time to be spontaneous and carefree has run out. After this week’s...
How plants could save the dairy industry
Environmental and financial pressure is piling up on British dairy farmers. Could the use of soil and organic crops ensure that dairy production has a sustainable way forward? The Wildes have been farming and raising cattle on Bradley Nook Farm in Ashbourne, England, for 40 years. Relying on EU subsidies meant their support was withdrawn after Brexit. Though they did the work and achieved their goals, they are stuck with...
Opinion — Lockdown didn’t hinder my eating disorder, it helped it
Recent research shows lockdown didn’t affect people’s mental health in the way we thought it would. As restrictions lift, so will the obsession with body image. Trigger Warning: this article contains mention of eating disorders. Living with an eating disorder means constantly competing. Competing with yourself, competing with the people around you, and competing with the media. If you’re addicted to exercise like me, it means running that one extra mile every...
