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Ryan Coogan

@theothercoogan

Ryan Coogan is a columnist and commissioning editor for the Independent’s voices desk, specialising in UK and US politics, class, pop culture, art and literature. His work has appeared in national newspapers and magazines including The Independent, i Paper, Metro UK, and Radio Times.

<p>As the faces of this new series, these kids are going to have to deal with every parasocial interaction that comes their way </p>
Voices

The Harry Potter reboot is doomed from the start

<p>Noel and Liam Gallagher pose in reunion photos ahead of their 2025 tour</p>
Voices

How the race for Oasis reunion tickets became 2024’s Thunderdome

<p>The world has become so bland, online and sexless, it’s good to know that some people out there are making an effort</p>
Voices

Why we need to start looking for love in the local supermarket

<p>The best part of going to the pub is abandoning your friends at some point, going into the beer garden and chatting up some random person </p>
Voices

Smoking outside pubs is the best thing about Britain

<p>The tube is bad enough as it is – try not to make it even worse</p>
Voices

I’m new to London and can’t believe what you guys do on the Tube

<p>Will the Harris campaign prove them wrong? And more importantly, should it?</p>
Voices

Trump fans say ‘the left can’t meme’ – but do they really need to?

<p>Singer Lily Allen admitted to giving away her rescue dog after it ate her children’s passports </p>
Voices

Lily Allen has committed the cardinal sin of pet ownership

<p>Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention</p>
Voices

Tim Walz’s hokey VP speech was Patriotism For Dummies

<p>Former prime minister Liz Truss, as a banner featuring a picture of a lettuce unfurled behind her on the stage at an event in Suffolk</p>
Voices

Have conservatives lost the ability to laugh at themselves?

<p>Students across the country receive their results today </p>
Voices

This A-level results day, it’s time to apologise to young people

<p>‘You know what this screening of Deadpool and Wolverine really needs? The sound of me chowing down on some Parmigiano Reggiano’ </p>
Voices

Why was the person sitting next to me at Deadpool eating cheese?

<p>One of the most effective things that Walz has already accomplished is highlighting just how unfunny Trump is as a person</p>
Voices

How Tim Walz’s sense of humour could win Kamala Harris the election

<p>A real ‘Succession’ vibe: Shane McMahon arguing with his father Vince </p>
Voices

Is Vince McMahon’s son about to betray WWE on SummerSlam weekend?

Voices

Is Vince McMahon’s son about to betray WWE on SummerSlam weekend?

<p>A real ‘Succession’ vibe: Shane McMahon arguing with his father Vince </p>
<p>There is something to be said for the symbolic value of removing a facility that can only be used by half of the population – specifically, the half that have exclusively dominated the role for the past millennium </p>
Voices

Rachel Reeves’ urinal problem is about much more than a toilet...

<p>‘Trad wives’ have taken over social media with their picture-perfect impression of domesticity </p>
Voices

The ‘trad wife’ lifestyle is a dangerous fantasy

<p>The film came under fire after backstage footage surfaced which revealed that a scene was filmed, but not used, featuring leads Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell sharing a kiss</p>
Voices

Cutting the kissing from Twisters is a symptom of a bigger problem

<p>Biden’s two great acts of service to the US during the course of his presidency came at its very beginning, and last night, towards its end</p>
Voices

Biden’s speech was about choosing between democracy – and a dictator

<p>Biden’s two great acts of service to the US during the course of his presidency came at its very beginning, and last night, towards its end</p>
Voices

Biden’s speech was about choosing between democracy – and a dictator

<p>Rishi Sunak joked that, ahead of the Paris Olympics, Team GB won’t be taking winning tips from him </p>
Voices

Sunak’s self-deprecating joke was a reminder that he was popular once

<p>Hogan ended his speech by tearing his shirt off, only to reveal a second Trump/Vance 2024 shirt underneath </p>
Voices

Of course Hulk Hogan opened for Trump at the RNC

<p>‘I’ve just realised that I’m the only person in the office who wears a tie, and I’m furious about it’ </p>
Voices

Why am I the only one wearing a tie in my office?

<p>Musk’s preoccupation with transgender issues is well documented</p>
Voices

The real reason Elon Musk is moving SpaceX out of ‘woke’ California

<p>Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on ‘The Grand Tour’</p>
Voices

I’m no fan of Clarkson, May and Hammond, but I’m sad to see them go

<p>Jacob Rees-Mogg with his wife, Helena de Chair, and three of their six children, Thomas, Mary and Peter</p>
Voices

Meet the Rees-Moggs on reality TV? Don’t mind if I do…

<p>A still from the Simpsons episode ‘Homerpalooza’ </p>
Voices

The Cypress Hill/Simpsons collab is a sad attempt to relive the 1990s

<p>Not being famous almost drove Kevin Bacon mad, and it only lasted five minutes</p>
Voices

Why are we so obsessed with celebrities pretending to be ‘normal’?

<p>Jacob Rees-Mogg with his wife, Helena de Chair, and three of their six children, Thomas, Mary and Peter</p>
Voices

Meet the Rees-Moggs on reality TV? Don’t mind if I do…

<p>A still from the Simpsons episode ‘Homerpalooza’ </p>
Voices

The Cypress Hill/Simpsons collab is a sad attempt to relive the 1990s

<p>Not being famous almost drove Kevin Bacon mad, and it only lasted five minutes</p>
Voices

Why are we so obsessed with celebrities pretending to be ‘normal’?

<p>Nadine Dorries is putting on an absolute masterclass in Being Nadine Dorries</p>
Voices

Why do our politicians insist on humiliating themselves live on TV?

Voices

Why do our politicians insist on humiliating themselves live on TV?

<p>Nadine Dorries is putting on an absolute masterclass in Being Nadine Dorries</p>
<p>Rishi Sunak waited in the background – behind ‘Britain's most tattooed mum’ – before his appearance on ‘This Morning’ </p>
Voices

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Rishi Sunak...

<p>Rock band IDLES led attendees to chant ‘F*** the King’ </p>
Voices

Did Banksy and Idles miss the mark with their Glastonbury protests?

<p>Nigel Farage has been accused of being a Putin apologist</p>
Voices

With his Putin comments, Nigel Farage has reminded us who he really is

<p>Scientists estimate that, thanks mostly to food packaging, the average person ingests five grams of microplastics a week</p>
Voices

If microplastics can lodge in the penis, I’m sticking to bottled water

<p>Scientists estimate that, thanks mostly to food packaging, the average person ingests five grams of microplastics a week</p>
Voices

If microplastics can lodge in the penis, I’m sticking to bottled water

<p>Dawn Butler raps in the style of ‘21 Seconds’ by So Solid Crew</p>
Voices

What TikTok can tell us about this election

<p>Today mark’s the 120th anniversary of Bloomsday – the day on which Irish author James Joyce’s famously difficult novel Ulysses is set</p>
Voices

If you’re a book nerd, today is the most important day of the year

<p>It’s a mystery to me why Elon Musk, a man who regularly interacts with far right and other incredibly problematic accounts, would be in favour of hiding a person’s likes</p>
Voices

Why is Elon Musk taking away our ability to snoop on our exes?

<p>If any party promises to bring in legislation that will let me take a sick day when the pollen count is this high, I’ll vote for them, no questions asked</p>
Voices

My hay fever is ruining my life – surely I should get time off work?

<p>You can never be 100 per cent sure that your accounts won’t be traced back to you </p>
Voices

My family found my anonymous account – here’s how I survived

<p>We joke about phone and internet ‘addiction’, but maybe we need to stop joking and start actually examining how much it actually functions like real addiction</p>
Voices

The internet is ruining your life – and I can prove it

<p>The phenomenon was mostly visible in the north of the country, so if you lived in London you were out of luck</p>
Voices

Quick! Tonight’s a chance to fix your Fomo over the Northern Lights

<p>University challenged: Education secretary Gillian Keegan has promised to ‘outlaw ripoff degree courses’ – but has failed to name any </p>
Voices

I got a Mickey Mouse degree, minister – and what’s wrong with that?

<p>‘I think you’re entering the realms of fantasy there, prime minister’ </p>
Voices

Compulsory national service? Who do you think you’re kidding Mr Sunak?

<p>Jenny Nicholson’s YouTube video essay ‘The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel’ became the talk of Twitter this week</p>
Voices

Why a four-hour YouTube video about a failed hotel has gripped Gen Z

<p>The latest ONS figures show that 900,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 are classified as ‘NEET’ – not in education, employment or training </p>
Voices

Are porn and video games responsible for our joblessness epidemic?

Voices

Are porn and video games responsible for our joblessness epidemic?

<p>The latest ONS figures show that 900,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 are classified as ‘NEET’ – not in education, employment or training </p>
<p>The prime minister has announced that the general election will take place on 4 July </p>
Voices

All the ways the election will be like nothing we’ve seen before

<p>‘By being cancelled, “Rein” may end up making a bolder statement about sexuality and freedom of expression than it ever could have had it been performed’</p>
Voices

Why shouldn’t public money be spent on art shows featuring ‘real sex’?

Voices

Have the great British public forgotten how to queue in pubs?

<p>I’m sure the game will do well – it’s almost guaranteed to sell a trillion copies on its first day and break every obscure video game record</p>
Voices

There’s one big reason to be worried about Grand Theft Auto 6

<p>I’m sure the game will do well – it’s almost guaranteed to sell a trillion copies on its first day and break every obscure video game record</p>
Voices

There’s one big reason to be worried about Grand Theft Auto 6

<p>The best way to ‘tackle antisocial behaviour’ is to lift people like the ones I grew up with out of poverty</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer is about to repeat one of Blair’s biggest mistakes

<p>Piers Morgan has promised to satiate fans’ desires by airing an interview with Fiona Harvey, the 58-year-old Scottish lawyer on whom Martha is allegedly based</p>
Voices

Piers Morgan isn’t the problem with the Baby Reindeer interview

<p>As far as I am concerned the name ‘Piers Morgan’ is a byword for mindless sensationalism, but even for him this is a low point</p>
Voices

Piers Morgan’s Baby Reindeer interview was as bad as you’d expect

<p>I wish them luck as they are marched off to fight for a country that has done so much for them</p>
Voices

Dud’s army: How on earth will Gen Z cope with conscription?

<p>Irish artist Bambie Thug, a favourite to win the competition, missed their dress rehearsal earlier today, and has suggested they may not perform at this evening’s event</p>
Voices

Is this the most chaotic Eurovision Song Contest ever?

<p>Kendrick Lamar and also-a-rapper Drake have been at each other’s throats for over a decade now</p>
Voices

Drake and Kendrick Lamar are right to settle things through poetry

<p>Celebrity chef James Martin ended his relationship with Broccoli in 2008 </p>
Voices

Like James Martin, my ex committed the ultimate sin

<p>Jeremy Clarkson </p>
Voices

If Clarkson’s public persona was an act – he has some explaining to do

<p>Paul’s response to a Prime lawsuit – over its alleged use of ‘forever chemicals’ – was a reminder of just how far the social media star has come since his early Vine days</p>
Voices

Logan Paul proves it – you CAN come back from being cancelled

<p>One streaming service has put a ‘discriminatory language’ alert on ‘Terry and June’ </p>
Voices

Trigger warnings turn a harmless old TV show into a Gen Z hate-watch

<p>Smoking is another small pleasure that we’re being denied by people who’ve decided they know better than we do</p>
Voices

A ban on cigarettes is the last thing we need right now

Voices

A ban on cigarettes is the last thing we need right now

<p>Smoking is another small pleasure that we’re being denied by people who’ve decided they know better than we do</p>
<p>Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns had already taken place the previous year, but because Cody didn’t win in that encounter, fans demanded a rematch</p>
Voices

WrestleMania 40 is proof that WWE needs to stop listening to fans

<p>Quizzed about his ill-fitting clothes, Rishi Sunak said: ‘Well, I don’t think they are that short’ </p>
Voices

Answer the big one, prime minister: Why are your trousers so short?

<p>‘As an Irish-English-Catholic-Protestant-Jew, I find it’s easier to just stay out of the whole thing. Christmas is for presents, Easter is for chocolate, and lent is just Dry January 2.0,’ writes Ryan Coogan </p>
Voices

What it’s like when ‘culture wars’ affect your relationship

<p>I’m mostly into Easter for the chocolate and pastries, so the idea of even more snacking options being made available sounds like a win-win</p>
Voices

Hot cross bun-flavoured cheese is not an ‘insult to Christianity’

<p>I’m mostly into Easter for the chocolate and pastries, so the idea of even more snacking options being made available sounds like a win-win</p>
Voices

Hot cross bun-flavoured cheese is not an ‘insult to Christianity’

<p>Who in their right mind would pick yoghurt as the main bit of a lunchtime meal deal?</p>
Voices

The meal-deal change that’s a damning indictment of modern Britain

<p>Who is your boss more likely to give a big project to: the guy he sees every day and knows by name, or the guy who only exists conceptually?</p>
Voices

Why I’ve had enough of ‘WFH’ and can’t wait to get back to the office

<p>King’s Cross departures board is no place for a ‘hadith of the day’ – but simply wishing everyone a happy Ramadan probably would have sufficed </p>
Voices

Why am I being told I’m a ‘sinner’ on my way to work?

<p>Contrary to popular belief, St Patrick’s Day in Ireland isn’t a Dionysian free-for-all</p>
Voices

Don’t use St Patrick’s Day as an excuse for your binge drinking

<p>I’ll never be able to pay my mum back for everything she’s done for me</p>
Voices

There’s one huge problem with Mother’s Day – here’s how we can fix it

<p>Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed </p>
Voices

Discovering who Taylor Swift is secretly related to blew my mind

<p>Maybe once those older generations start dying off, and millennials get some real power, we’ll be able to undo some of the circumstances that put us here in the first place</p>
Voices

Are millennials really about to become the ‘richest generation ever’?

<p>A recent ‘Willy Wonka experience’ in Glasgow left parents angry and children in tears </p>
Voices

Black Nazis and Willy Wonka traumatising children: Google’s AI problem

<p>Rayner bought her council house in Stockport in 2007, benefitting from a 25 per cent discount under right-to-buy, and sold the property eight years later for a profit of £48,500</p>
Voices

In criticising Rayner, the Tories have exposed their own hypocrisy

<p>There’s something very insidious about the fact that we put so much stock in a series of exams that we force kids to sit before they’re legally old enough to buy fireworks</p>
Voices

GCSEs are a measure of success – that’s why we need to get rid of them

<p>OpenAI has acknowledged the issues on its official status page, but has not yet provided an explanation for them </p>
Voices

ChatGPT is having a ‘breakdown’ and it’s the most human it’s ever been

<p>I was struck by the idea that Steve was too ‘stoic’ to seek medical assistance when he needed it</p>
Voices

Why don’t working-class men like Steve Wright go to the doctor?

<p>Residents of Marlow in Buckinghamshire are incensed at the prospect of a Wetherspoons opening on the town’s posh high street</p>
Voices

The town that’s ‘too posh for Wetherspoons’ is kidding itself

<p>Anthony Albanese is the first Australian prime minister to get engaged while in office – on 14 February, unfortunately </p>
Voices

Who cares if you’re the Aussie PM? A Valentine’s proposal is not okay

<p>If you thought ‘person who makes TikToks for a living’ sounded a dystopian career path, how does ‘government-backed person who makes TikToks for a living’ sit?</p>
Voices

A TikTok army to stop the boats? It’s the Tories’ most crass idea yet

<p>Taylor Swift is far from broke – she’s a literal billionaire – and unfortunately, she does seem to be somewhat woke</p>
Voices

This year’s real Super Bowl clash is between Swifties and Republicans

<p>Anthony Albanese is the first Australian prime minister to get engaged while in office – on 14 February, unfortunately </p>
Voices

Who cares if you’re the Aussie PM? A Valentine’s proposal is not okay

<p>If you thought ‘person who makes TikToks for a living’ sounded a dystopian career path, how does ‘government-backed person who makes TikToks for a living’ sit?</p>
Voices

A TikTok army to stop the boats? It’s the Tories’ most crass idea yet

<p>Taylor Swift is far from broke – she’s a literal billionaire – and unfortunately, she does seem to be somewhat woke</p>
Voices

This year’s real Super Bowl clash is between Swifties and Republicans

<p>Carlson released a two-hour, seven-minute interview with the Russian president on his personal website and Twitter/X account</p>
Voices

Hillary is wrong – Tucker Carlson is worse than Putin’s ‘useful idiot’

<p>Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway returned to television following her husband Derek Draper’s funeral</p>
Voices

Kate Garraway may not be doing grief ‘right’ – but who does?

<p>Gregg on his face: In his <em>Daily Telegraph</em> diary, <em>MasterChef</em> presenter Wallace revealed that he prefers to breakfast in a Harvester than any other restaurant</p>
Voices

Gregg Wallace broke the cardinal rule of celebrity puff pieces

<p>I like Cody, but he’s a bleach blonde nepo baby with an American flag neck tattoo who dresses like Homelander</p>
Voices

Why have toxic fans ruined the Rock’s big wrestling return?

<p>There’s no way Mark Zuckerberg could have known what kind of havoc he was unleashing on the world when he first set TheFacebook.com live </p>
Voices

Sorry Facebook, but nobody ‘likes’ you anymore

Voices

The Royal Rumble was a hit – but Vince McMahon’s exit casts a shadow

<p>Palworld is an action-adventure game in which the player can catch and raise a wide variety of creatures</p>
Voices

Is Palworld a Pokémon rip-off? Who cares?

<p>Harry, the 22-year-old British Army engineer from Slough, plotted against Paul partly as an act of self-preservation</p>
Voices

Why ‘nice guy’ Harry now deserves to win The Traitors

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