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Molly Rian Beairsto

A recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh with experience in journalistic and editorial writing, photography, publishing, social media, and marketing.

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Music Is To Blame •

Sam Fender and Olivia Dean’s ‘Rein Me In’ Breaks at 73 Year UK Record For Longest Number One

Fender expressed gratitude for the recognition, stating he was “completely lost for words” and continued on to thank Dean and their fans for their support. As a re-recording with Dean, the lyrics to the ‘People Watching’ single become even more emotionally captivating: “We were doing so well, but you were scared to be held / Took the easiest way out / I see the tears of a man too proud to reach for a hand / Well, let my love keep you safe now”.This recognition has been a long time coming for bot...
Music is to Blame •

Harry In History: Is the Global Sensation Changing The Dynamics Of Male Pop Stardom?

Harry Styles has solidified himself as a household name since his 2010 audition on X Factor. His career launched alongside Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik in one of the most prominent boy bands in history: One Direction.From the group's inception, their fanbase grew exponentially over the years, with their hit single, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ laying the foundation for their global success. Following Malik’s departure from the band in 2015, the band announced their hiat...
Music is to Blame •

Five Acts Not To Miss At Latitude Festival 2026

Marking its 20th year as a festival, the event has gone from hosting the likes of Snow Patrol and Patti Smith at the first edition, to winning the Best Major Festival at the 2017 UK Festival Awards. This year, amassing as many as 135,000 attendees over the weekend, the festival's lineup is as stacked as ever. Here are five music acts that you can’t miss.Jalen NgondaHot off the heels of supporting Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving Tour and releasing his second studio album ‘Doctrine of Love’, Jalen...
The Student •

The Aftermath of Storm Éowyn

Storm Éowyn hit Edinburgh on Friday 24 January, after an Emergency Alert of “danger to life” was issued by the UK and Scottish Governments.


The rare “red alert” was issued by the Met Office for Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, including Edinburgh. The warning was in effect from 10:00 – 17:00 on 24 January.


On Thursday 23 January, the City of Edinburgh Council suspended non-essential services due to anticipated “widespread destruction and potential danger to life.” In a statement, Co...
The Student •

Scottish Water Says Marchmont Sewer Project to be Completed this Spring

Marchmont, specifically Marchmont Crescent, has been under sewage construction since September 2022, yet Scottish Water has recently reconfirmed their aim to complete the project by this upcoming spring.


The goal of the project is to “help reduce the risk of flooding to properties in the Marchmont area of Edinburgh by increasing the capacity of the sewer network,” according to the delivery page of Scottish Water. 


In an update given in February 2025, they reported that the works at Marchmo...
The Student •

The University of Edinburgh signs pledge to back local economic growth

On Tuesday 28 January, the University of Edinburgh announced a partnership with other Higher Education (HE) institutions to back local economic growth.


University of Edinburgh Principal Sir Peter Mathieson, in his capacity as Chair of Edinburgh and Southeast Scotland’s Higher Education/Further Education Strategy Group, signed the pledge to aid community wealth and sustainable development.


The agreement was created by the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal in 2022. The commi...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Ascension

With tears in my eyes, and a hole in my heart, I left Bedlam Theatre changed by a play about a man I had not heard of an hour prior.


Walking into the theatre, I had felt a sense of serenity at the calm crashing of waves and seagulls gently calling over the loudspeakers as a man lay motionless against a bench. In an instant, Leendert Hasenbosch comes alive on Ascension Island and captures the audience by the throat.


Written by Dan Hazelwood, who plays Leendert, or Lee for short, and directe...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Zainab Johnson — Toxically Optimistic

Zainab Johnson has a gun. And an opossum. And one hell of a show in Toxically Optimistic. 


The American comedian and actress takes her talents across the pond to debut at the Edinburgh Fringe. With shock factor, blunt expression, and a devotion to delivering her jokes, Johnson firms herself as a standout for comedy this year.


She had bought a house when one of her friends suggested her to buy a gun. From there, it’s almost as if the first half of the gig was a comedy sketch on firearm know...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Kate Dolan – The Critic

The woman standing in the queue to The Box Assembly Venue with a plant pot over her head appeared to not hold any shame. But when she stood up to the mic, her  own voice as the critic inside her head motivated Kate Dolan to begin her show with the energy and excitement that the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2025 Best Independent Show Winner is adapting into her signature style. 


The show began with the voice modulator warping her voice into the voice of the  critic – the narrator in...
The Student •

Edinburgh Bike Theft Rises 20% in 18 Months

Edinburgh police recorded 1,848 bikes stolen between July 2023 and December 2024. That number is 20 per cent higher than in the previous 18 months.


The data was released following a request from Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs after complaints from constituents.


Bike theft has long been a cause for concern, as Police Scotland estimates over 500,000 are stolen every year, with more than half taken from the owner’s property.


University students have not been exempt from the rising trend, wi...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: John Tothill – This Must Be Heaven

About ten minutes into the show, John Tothill turns to the audience and asks the question: “How obvious is the ADHD?” 


John Tothill’s return to the Fringe is nothing short of exceptional. His candour in relation to his ill health, bad luck, and opinions on the world intertwines comedy with the inexplicable twists of life, letting his show reveal to the audience how attitude can change outcome. After suffering a near death experience during last year’s festival and  funding his run by particip...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Trygve Wakenshaw and Barnie Duncan — Different Party

Different Party displays the excellence of Trygve Wakenshaw and Barnie Duncan’s physical comedy through the medium of the typical 9-5.


At Ruck’s Leather Interiors (which is also the name of their production company), the office job is anything but dull. Terrible coffee, briefcases that act like dogs, paper tornadoes, and more steep into the daily life of the workers making every minute a new adventure.


The dialogue is replaced with countless manoeuvres and expressions that enchant and bewi...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Matt Forde — Defying Calamity

It may come as no surprise to some that Matt Forde pulls no punches when it comes to politics. And even as prepared as you may be to see him rip into parliamentary and global figures, the execution’s flawlessness is stunning.


Personally, I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard his Donald Trump and Keir Starmer impressions. And the content of their hypothetical conversation, imagined by Forde, makes you laugh so hard it’s difficult to reclaim your breath.


Have you ever had the thought of...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Samia Rida — Kidnap

There is only so much an eight-year-old girl can do in times of crisis to mitigate the chaos caused by those meant to take care of her. Samia Rida shared her experience  in a powerful one-woman show that freezes you in your tracks. 


In a poetic testimony of her childhood, Rida recollects the tumultuous components that prompted her father kidnapping her and her two siblings to Saudi Arabia. Discussing themes of domestic violence, caring for her disabled brother, and  the failures of multicultu...
The Student •

Fringe 2025: Trygve Wakenshaw and Barnie Duncan — Hot Chips

Trygve Wakenshaw and Barnie Duncan throw everything they can think of at the wall to see what sticks with this one. And frankly, it is refreshing. And comical. 


Unlike their other joint performance, Different Party, this one is more similar to a testing lab of multiple sketches they seemed to have planned the night before. The brilliance of the show comes from the simplicity of it: just Wakenshaw, Duncan, a hard floor and a handful of props. It lets them shine on their own terms. 


What shi...
Music is to Blame •

Paris Paloma Engages The Female Gaze With ‘Pre-Raphaelite’

The title refers to the women in portraits by artists of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who were depicted as opposing “conventional” Victorian beauty standards. Paloma commemorates these women through her new song by referencing the paintings as well as their contributions to the movement while admiring them as important historical figures rather than simply muses.The song morphs a fairytale with a modern pop cadence to bring praise to women while respecting them as the centre of the success of...

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