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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

Defector

Alex Sujong Laughlin

A photo showing an ear bud resting on the screen of a smartphone showing the Spotify music app.

Capital

If You Love Podcasts, Dump Spotify

A clothing rack at a flea market showing a row of vintage sweaters of various colors.

Life Lessons

How To Buy A Sweater That Doesn’t Suck

A woman stands in front of a Sol LeWitt wall drawing at the Venice Biennale in 1976.

Arts And Culture

Who Owns An Idea?

Various trinkets with a chain and padlock superimposed over them

Under The Influence

Trinket Box Purveyors Are Melting Down

The Bad News Is There’s No More Money, But That’s Also The Good News

A pregnant woman sitting on the couch typing on her laptop

Podcasts

What Will Happen To My Ambition After Children?

A box of colorful friendship bracelets outside a Taylor Swift concert, the Try Hard podcast show art sits ontop of the image.

There Is No Simple Trick To Making Friends As An Adult

ingrid nilsen sits behind a mic in a brown and white striped shirt. there is a flag and a plant behind her .

Why Star YouTube Influencer Ingrid Nilsen Quit Her Job

Bosnian players lift their coach, Sergej Barbarez, in celebration after they qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Soccer

The World Cup’s Most Interesting Newbie Is Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Poker-Playing Manager

‘Try Hard’ Is Back, Now In Video Form

Hudson Williams, Alyssa Liu, Megan Skiendiel and Lola Tung sit side-by-side in the sun looking at the camera in Laufey's music video for "Madwoman"

Wasia Can Be A Lot. It’s Fine.

Image of the cover of "Famesick" by Lena Dunham with cutouts of the pair of legs from the cover copied all around it.

Lena Dunham Can’t Help Herself

Close-up face shot of smooth trunkfish. Lactophrys triqueter.

They Don’t Have Lip Filler, They Just Have Lip Filler Accent

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,

Netflix Has Trapped Pete Davidson In His Garage

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leaves the Los Angeles Superior Court after testifying on February 18, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Meta’s Defense In Social Media Addiction Trial Is Basically A Shrug

Portrait of a beautiful young woman smiling and touching a lantern that illuminates her face.

White People Online Are Really Excited About Lunar New Year

An image of (left to right) Maddie Mastro, Breezy Johnson, and Maxime Germain with their knitted creations, taken from their respective Instagram accounts.

Olympics

Let’s Check In With The Knitting Olympians

They Publish Books By “Women And Weirdos” In Their Free Time

Italy's Verena Hofer competes in the luge women's singles run 1 at Cortina Sliding Centre during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)

Olympic Photographers: Stop Doing The Lugers Dirty


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Sabrina Imbler

Kelsey McKinney

a photo of a woman dressed in drag as Santa Claus holding a flaming shot glass looking at a blurry man

SPORTS

CULTURE

OTHER

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Latest

What Will Happen To My Ambition After Children?

There Is No Simple Trick To Making Friends As An Adult

Why Star YouTube Influencer Ingrid Nilsen Quit Her Job

The World Cup’s Most Interesting Newbie Is Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Poker-Playing Manager

‘Try Hard’ Is Back, Now In Video Form

Wasia Can Be A Lot. It’s Fine.

Lena Dunham Can’t Help Herself

They Don’t Have Lip Filler, They Just Have Lip Filler Accent

Netflix Has Trapped Pete Davidson In His Garage

Meta’s Defense In Social Media Addiction Trial Is Basically A Shrug

White People Online Are Really Excited About Lunar New Year

Let’s Check In With The Knitting Olympians

They Publish Books By “Women And Weirdos” In Their Free Time

Olympic Photographers: Stop Doing The Lugers Dirty

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘My Secret Santa’

Ronald Young Jr. Comes Clean

Falling Back In Love With Running

Zakiya Gibbons Goes Speed-Dating

Josh Plays Pickup Basketball

Rax King Plays The Banjo

Learning Is More Than Just Collecting Facts

Podcasts Are Not Television

Sabrina Goes Hunting

Ceara (Almost) Learns To Cartwheel

Defector Has Outlived These Things