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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

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

a tiger named Elena seemingly retching after she has just sampled elephant dung

Creaturefector

Normalize Eating Poop

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Ray Ratto

Kathryn Xu

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Black-and-white photo of a writer scrawling on paper.

Defector Reads A Book

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 3: Synchronicities And Faith

a hummingbird visiting a flower with itty-bitty white mites on its beak

A Mite’s Leap Of Electric Faith Into A Hummingbird Nostril

a gif of a little frog called a cricket frog leaping across the surface of the water, but becoming entirely submerged when it lands

This Frog Is In Its Belly Flop Era

a small brown shrew called the Mount Lyell shrew in a natural environment

Much Ado About Shrew

Spectators in a color television studio on an exhibition of the USA in Moscow.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 2: Roadblocks And Revelations

A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the Los Angeles fires, spread toward previously untouched neighborhoods January 11, forcing new evacuations and dimming hopes that the disaster was coming under control. Across the city, at least 11 people have died as multiple fires have ripped through residential areas since January 7, razing thousands of homes in destruction that US President Joe Biden likened to a "war scene." (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Climate

The Future Of West Coast Wildfire Is Whiplash

Arts And Culture

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 1: Our Hands Hurt

a silvery fish called a delta smelt in a litle cup

Politics

This Week In Maligned Little Fish

Tahlequah Grieves Again

Matchbook image of men in suits having drinks at a bar.

Life Lessons

My Fancy Little Mocktail Was Missing More Than Booze

Rachelle Hampton

Justin Ellis

chad michael murray and two other male revue dancers are shirtless in suspenders in front of a green fundraising chart

Defector At The Movies

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘The Merry Gentlemen’

A photo of a brown armored catfish that has been named the blob-headed catfish for its extremely sizable blob-shaped face/schnoz region

Blob-Headed Fish Sets New Standard Of Fishy Blobbiness

A still from a video capturing a red male cardinal staring menacingly at his reflection in the side-view mirror of a white car

Birdfector

It’s So Confusing Sometimes To Be A Bird

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Barry Petchesky

Lacey Chabert and her ex-husband in the movie The Christmas Quest, in an attic-like space shining a flashlight on something

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘The Christmas Quest’

Who Was The Fly Who Died In My House?

A clam known as a heart cockle, which is shaped like a heart with a red-and-white striped border, against a white background

There Are Clam Cathedrals Everywhere For Those With The Eyes To See

Luis Paez-Pumar

Lindsay Lohan sitting on a chair opening a book that reads "Construction Proposal Lifestyle Complex"

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘Our Little Secret’

A somewhat haunting magenta sphere with what appears to be a mouth and a series of spikes. this is a reconstruction of the ancient creature Saccorhytus

Was This Half-Billion-Year-Old Wrinkled Sack With No Anus, Previously Believed To Be Our Earliest Ancestor, Actually A Baby Penis Worm?

Germanic warrior taking stimulants imagined by Stanislav(Stanisław) Kontny,

History

Veni, Vidi, Snorti: I Came, I Saw, I Did A Bump

Life reconstruction of Ninumbeehan dookoodukah in a palaeoenvironment reconstruction depicting its life and burrowing across seasons. (a) Ninumbeehan is resting on the edge of a river with a low water table as the wet season ends. (b) A small community of Ninumbeehan are in their estivation burrows at the apex of the arid season. (c) The onset of the humid season brings rain, triggering a mass emergence of Ninumbeehan from their estivation burrows.

How A Sleepy Ancient Amphibian Became A Link To An Endangered Language

Dave McKenna

A still from a movie. a white woman in a red coat and a red beanie stands in front of a dilapidated house that needs fixing up.

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘’Tis The Season To Be Irish’

An Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) licks nectar from the Ethiopian red hot poker flower (Kniphofia foliosa). the wolf is really into it

These Beautiful Wolves Are Freaks For Nectar

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

Dan McQuade

Kelsey McKinney

Drew 'Gonzo' Gonville is at the bottom of the steps of a private jet, dressed in a Santa suit. The beard is pulled down. Bowyn Sykes is dressed in a sleeveless sweater top and a kilt-like skirt. She is on the top step of the airstairs into the private jet. They are looking at each other.

Defector Watches A Christmas Movie: ‘Christmas In The Spotlight’

A gif of a green fruit that looks like a cucumber shooting out many small wet seeds.