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Defector

Kathryn Xu

Vinnie Pasquantino #9 of Team Italy is showered with ice water by Jakob Marsee.

Nobody’s Having More Fun Than The Italians

Ray Ratto

Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs kneels on the ice after being kneed by Radko Gudas of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on March 12, 2026 in Toronto.

Auston Matthews Is Hurt And The Maple Leafs Are Burnt Toast

Dave McKenna

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MARCH 11: A general view of a glass LED floor during the second round game of the Men's 2026 Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center on March 11, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

College Basketball

Big 12 Pulls Glass Court Following Conference Tournament Fiasco


<p>Investigations Editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


Diana Moskovitz

ames Pearce Jr. #27 of the Atlanta Falcons walks toward the locker room at halftime of a NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers on October 19, 2025 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

Rickea Jackson Told Court James Pearce Jr. “Will Kill Me”

Israel Daramola

Listening Habits

R&B Wants To Make Pop Music Fun Again

Barry Petchesky

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - MARCH 12: Tage Thompson #72 of the Buffalo Sabres follows through on his shot during an NHL game against the Washington Capitals on March 12, 2026 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

That Puck Must Have Said Something About Tage Thompson’s Mother

<p>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 <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

Vikings Attempt To Replicate Sam Darnold Experiment By Signing Shorter, Moodier Sam Darnold


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Sabrina Imbler

Logo for the AI text editing company Grammarly at the Grammarly AI Hub in Austin, Texas, March 11, 2023. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

The Machines

Vindicated At Last In My Years-Long Loathing Of Grammarly

David Roth

A kebab is prepared in the Elbis-Döner restaurant at Berliner Straße 2 in Wilmersdorf. It looks good as hell.

Podcasts

Kebab Juice On The Windowpane, With Rohan Nadkarni

Patrick Redford

The Ticketmaster logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in this photo illustration. Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, currently faces a major antitrust trial in the United States, where regulators accuse the live-events giant of monopolizing the concert ticketing and promotion market, allegations the company denies, in Brussels, Belgium, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto)

Capital

Live Nation Gets To Keep Its Monopoly Thanks To Trump’s Department Of Justice

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<div><a href="https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bystefanfatsis.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mlCW5_XUY56jklGr11a_z">Stefan Fatsis</a> is the author of four books: <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://groveatlantic.com/book/unabridged/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0jbw5ZscOBp6w-1um3R6yu"><i>Unabridged</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-few-seconds-of-panic-a-sportswriter-plays-in-the-nfl-stefan-fatsis/7891278&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0MpNNngIOKaj-715hSNVZD"><i>A Few Seconds of Panic</i></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/word-freak-heartbreak-triumph-genius-and-obsession-in-the-world-of-competitive-scrabblep-layers-stefan-fatsis/11648962&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw02LL51Wrka0A0lLkwOxYUj"><i>Word Freak</i></a>, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Outside-Renegade-Baseball-Heartland/dp/0802712975&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759235100786000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1YzbrZGW2KCbIttDDLhkPn"><i>Wild and Outside</i></a>. He&#8217;s also a former cohost of “Hang Up and Listen,” commentator on NPR&#8217;s &#8220;All Things Considered,&#8221; and reporter for <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>.</div>
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Stefan Fatsis

A player reacts to a word being ruled invalid

Games

Competitive Scrabble Is A Lexical Shitshow

Samer Kalaf

Politics

UFC And FBI Announce Two Days Of Activities For Kash Patel

Albert Burneko

A bunch of fascist blackshirt kids and teens in 1929 Italy running and smiling and looking happy.

A List Of Better Ways To Experience The Frisson Of Transgression Than Becoming A Fascist

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Pete Davidson sits in a garage on an armchair. There's a giant TV on a second armchair with an image of Jon Stewart calling in remotely,

Arts And Culture

Netflix Has Trapped Pete Davidson In His Garage

a bright pink insect called a katydid against a dark background

Creaturefector

This Pink Bug Is Not A “Rare Freak Mutant” After All

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<p>Robert Rubsam writes fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in the NYT Magazine, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Baffler, and Liberties. He is a contributing writer for Commonweal Magazine.</p>
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Robert Rubsam

Lewis Pullman and Danielle Brooks announce the nominees for Original Score

The Academy Missed Some Of 2025’s Best Film Scores

Celtics' Bill Russell (rear) pins Warriors' Wilt Chamberlain's right arm, and holds him, during wild 4th quarter in which both sides fought on April 1, 1962.

There’s Always A Way To Deny The Undeniable

Billy Haisley

U.S. President Donald Trump places the FIFA Peace Prize around his neck after receiving it from FIFA President Gianni Infantino (R) at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts December 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Soccer

Iran Plans To Boycott World Cup Due To FIFA Peace Prize Winner’s Murderous, Unprovoked War

Rodman and TOni Braxton at the MTV Music Awards

Associated “Association Update” Update, With Will Anderson Of Hotline TNT

Giri Nathan

Joao Fonseca of Brazil serves against Jannik Sinner of Italy in their fourth round match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 10, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Tennis

Joao Fonseca Takes Jannik Sinner To The Limit, And Justifies The Hype

I Will Never Forgive Trae Young For Surpassing Kobe Bryant’s Career High For Assists In A Game Eight Times

Tom Ley

Report: Unflattering Pictures Of Pete Hegseth Got Photographers Banned From Pentagon Briefings

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

The Wizards Deserve This Humiliation

I Am Standing By For News

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 11: FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Owner Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots react on the sideline prior to an NFL wild card playoff game between the Los Angeles Chargers and New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on January 11, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

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