The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas has been announced as a guest at the prestigious Oxford Union debate society.
The organisation is run by students primarily from the University of Oxford and since 1823, it has been hosting an array of the world’s leading figures from politics, academia and popular culture.
Casablancas will become the latest guest of the society tomorrow (May 28) at 4:30pm, and the event will be available for non-members of the union to attend as the guest of a member, for a fee of £12.50. There will also be a meet and greet with Casablancas for members.
Countless world leaders have spoken at the Oxford Union over the years, and Casablancas also follows on from the likes of Elton John, Shakira, Michael Jackson, Tom Hanks and Emma Watson at the institution.
Casablancas is not shy about speaking his mind and sharing his political perspectives. Last month, he appeared on SubwayTakes and called out the “white privilege” of “American Zionists”, who he claimed enjoy the benefits but talk “like they are Black people during slavery”.
He went on to say: “I mean, just for the people that are gonna be like, ‘Hamas, October 7th’, yes, bad, but you know, Native American rebellions didn’t mean it was ok to do what we did. Slave rebellions that were violent didn’t mean that slavery is not bad.”
That came just days after The Strokes closed out their set at Coachella weekend two with a politically-charged visual montage drawing attention to international leaders that the band said had been overthrown by the CIA, as well as Martin Luther King Jr., who appeared alongside the statement, “US Govt found guilty of his murder in civil trial”.
They also showed footage of rubble in Iran, alongside the text “over 30 universities destroyed in Iran,” and a clip of the “last university in Gaza” being blown up by an air missile.
Casablancas also spoke to NME in 2024 about his view on the billionaire class. “The main weapon of these ‘bad guy’ people – billionaires trying to pay no taxes – is distraction,” he said. “And it’s a long, complicated, indirect chain of exploitation, so it’s not really easy to pinpoint who’s doing what damage.”
“What bums me out is people love to talk on a daily basis about the distractions that are being fed to us and I’m just so over it and so fed up with it. I don’t know if it’s the convenience or the cosiness and the professional fonts of a nice newspaper, or the magical Superman lights of CNN, but the fact we can’t unchain ourselves from this song or [stop being] hypnotised by this nonsense is the biggest challenge and biggest confusion I have.”
The Strokes are preparing to release their new album ‘Reality Awaits‘, their first album in six years. The record will arrive June 26 and is available to pre-order here.
They have also announced a whopping world tour visiting the UK, North America, Europe and Japan. It will be their first full tour in the UK and Ireland in over 20 years, and will see them stop by London’s O2, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, Manchester’s Co-op Live and Dublin’s 3Arena in October.
Guitarist Nick Valensi will not be joining them on the tour, however, with the band confirming this month that he was taking a “temporary break”.
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