The Independent Variable
The Independent Variable
Kevin Humdrum
Welcome to The Independent Variable, the official linkblog of the interwebs covering culture, politics, sports, and tech since 2012.
Latest Posts
PitchforkKing Gizzard frontperson Stu Mackenzie said in a statement to the Music that he was “trying to see the irony in this situation.” He added, “But seriously wtf we are truly doomed.”Continuing the conversation about “ethical...
VogueBut this strangeness is always a stylish statement, unlike, say, Supreme’s infamous brick. “A24 chooses objects and ideas that are too strange or too narrow for a normal marketing department, and turns them into talismans,” says...
Letters from an AmericanThe final document began with a preamble explaining that a UDHR was necessary because “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the...
BandcampH/t to Crucial Tracks for this incredible find. So much fun listening through the demos that led to the creation of the best album of the year.
I'm not really supposed to do self-promotion here... but I was featured on What's in my NOW? if you care to give it a gander.
Sticky comicsIn fashion language, white suggests luxury, like, you don’t have to work, because if you worked, you’d wear a more practical color that won’t get stained within 5 minutes. Staying clean is a privilege — the aristocracy keeps...
Crucial TracksI don’t think it’s ethical to use Apple Music, but I DO think it’s unethical to use Spotify. I don’t think the “How to quit Spotify” article made any point other than finding a more ethical alternative to Spotify, which...
WSJOver the next six months, Van der Velden toiled with her 15-person team to nail down the look of her leading lady, creating 2,000 iterations of an actress unbound by the limits of physical ability, age or talent.In recent weeks, she...
New YorkerIn the months since Geese released its third studio album, “Getting Killed,” the band has been rhapsodically heralded as the redeemer of a certain kind of noisy, lawless rock and roll.Spoiler alert: Getting Killed is making my...
BirchtreeSo I’ll ask again, would you rather have had your music listened to by more people and you earned more money, or would you like to have had fewer people listen and make less money?I’m sorry, but this is nonsense. The whole point...
YouTubeSami is a favorite to win the Turner Award for 2025, featuring the best in new developments in contemporary art in Britain. Getting to see Sami in his element, talking about his art, was wondrous. There is power and reckoning in...
pkethWhen that happens, companies (especially the VC-backed kind) now need to contrive new and increasingly stick-like reasons for customers to pay again. From made-for-marketing ‘features’ that suck to use IRL, to breaking compatibility...
Winter is ComingAnyone can start a literary journal, but it takes dedication and care for one to prosper and grow into something with potential. Foofaraw Press is an independent zine of surreal storytelling and worldly observations....
The EconomistMany of the new lawyers installed in senior posts over recent months “don’t care what the right answer is”, bemoans the former senior JAG. “They spend all their time trying to figure out what the administration wants and...
Mac AppSo this is a genius app/extension to Apple Notes that works on top of Apple Notes to give you better formatting tools, markdown, slash commands, backlinks, and templates. It has me rethinking where I keep my notes—currently in iA...