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Defector

Giri Nathan

Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management, attends the 28th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 6, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Capital

Bill Ackman Gets To Play Pretend In Sanctioned Tennis Farce

Luis Paez-Pumar

Lauren James of England celebrates with teammate Ella Toone after scoring her team's third goal during the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group D match between England and Netherlands at Stadion Letzigrund on July 09, 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland.

Soccer

England Unleashed Hell On The Netherlands

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

Ten-year-old Eli Knauer takes a bite from a bacon cheeseburger twice wider than his face on May 27, 2011 at Morton's Steakhouse in Baltimore, Maryland.

Podcasts

Bullied For Bacon, With Michael Schur And Rohan Nadkarni

Former Defector intern, now freelancer.
For professional inquiries or tips please write lucybl00m@protonmail.com or yuck.20 on Signal.
&nbsp;

Lucy Bloom

Video Games

‘NORCO’ Should Be A Cult Classic

Lauren Theisen

Zach McKinstry #39 of the Detroit Tigers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run

30-Year-Old Man Hits Athletic Peak

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Adrian Houser pitches against the Blue Jays.

Impressive Blue Jays Win Streak Thwarted By Noted Barf Man

Staff Writer

Israel Daramola

Kelsey McKinney

Rachelle Hampton

Arts And Culture

Can We Pull You For A Chat?

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever talks to the media during a press conference before the match-up against the Brazil National Team, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 4, 2025 in Iowa City, Iowa.

WNBA

Christine Brennan’s Caitlin Clark Book Is More About Gripes Than Greatness

Jule Brand and Klara Buehl (L-R) of Germany celebrate after her team's first goal during the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 Group C match between Germany and Denmark at St. Jakob-Park on July 08, 2025 in Basel, Switzerland.

Germany Has Been Good Enough, For Now

Albert Burneko

Elon Musk account on X displayed on a phone screen with a Grok header

The Machines

Elon Musk’s Idiot Chatbot Turns Into An Explicit Nazi

Tom Ley

Michael Kay Constitutionally Incapable Of Enjoying An Extended Gaze At Cal Raleigh’s Huge Ass

Kathryn Xu

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing walks in the Paddock prior to practice.

Racing

Red Bull Belatedly Fires Team Principal Christian Horner

jackson merril leaps up over the outfield fence to grab a ball

The Robbin’ Padres Are At It Again

Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.

Asher Elbein

Politics

Why Do Fascists Dream Of Alligators?

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

A bird's-eye view of the Love Island basketball court, which resembles a huge blue H on a yellow background. It lacks baselines, and the right half of the court lacks a three-point line. Other than that, it's great

This Is So Stupid

The Basketball Court On ‘Love Island’ Is All Fucked Up

Jonas Valanciunas #17 of the Sacramento Kings looks on against Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets during the second quarter at Ball Arena on March 5, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

The Nuggets Are In A Standoff With Jonas Valanciunas And It Somehow Matters

Samer Kalaf

Journalismism

The New York Times Had To Work With A Eugenicist So They Didn’t Get Scooped By A Bigot

Patrick Redford

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the fourth stage of the 2025 Tour de France cycling, Amien Metropole - Rouen (173 km), on Tuesday 08 July 2025 in France. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, France, and will finish in Paris, France on the 27th of July. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)

Cycling

Tadej Pogacar Strikes The First Blow With Some “Pure Racing”

Billy Haisley

Spain's Alexia Putellas scores their side's first goal during the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 Group D match at the Arena Thun in Thun, Switzerland.

Spain Is Untouchable When Alexia Is Feeling It

Dave Martinez looks bummed shortly before being fired.

The Nationals Should Quit Pretending

Aryna Sabalenka reacts to a break of serve during her victory against Laura Siegemund of Germany in the Quarter-Finals of the Ladies' Singles Competition on Centre Court during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on July 8th, 2025, in London, England. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka Could Round Out Her Game By Hiring Some Elderly Training Partners

A gallery assistant looks at a vintage horn gramophone belonging to John Peel during a photo call for highlights from Bonhams Live In Session: Property From The John Peel Archive sale which takes place on Tuesday June 14 at Bonhams in London. Picture date: Friday June 10, 2022.

Funbag

I Listen To Music Wrong

John Saward

Outfielder Dave Parker #39 of the Pittsburgh Pirates swings and watches the flight of his ball against the Chicago Cubs during a circa 1970's Major League Baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Parker played for the Pirates from 1973-83.

Dave Parker’s Great Bounty

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria gets an injury in the Gentlemen's Singles Fourth Round match against Jannik Sinner of Italy on day eight of The Championships Wimbledon 2025 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 07, 2025 in London, England.