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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 photo of Tara Kerin, an infectious disease epidemiologist who lost her job as a result of the DOGE layoffs

Interviews

An Interview With An Epidemiologist Who Lost Her Job Because Of The DOGE Layoffs

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Ray Ratto

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Kathryn Xu

Defector Reads A Book

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 12: Is Julia Cameron Wrong?

a photo of Veronica Correa, a fired EPA public affairs specialist, standing in snowy woods by a stream

An Interview With A Fired EPA Public Affairs Specialist

Skeleton seated at a table, holding an hourglass. Undated photograph.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 11: We Are Dying To Be Done

A photo of Sara Hugentobler, a USFWS fish biologist, in the lab extracting DNA

An Interview With A Fired USFWS Fish Biologist

a photo of Kate Wheeler, a former USDA farm to school specialist. Kate has short brown hair and is smiling in front of several painted planks

An Interview With A Fired USDA Specialist

a selfie of Sarah Cooley, the former director of NOAA's ocean acidification program, with an orange life vest on a river

An Interview With A Fired NOAA Director

Woman holding her hand over a crystal ball and gazing into the future. Seated 1/2 length photograph.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 10: Reflecting Near The End

1990s Single Male Anna Hummingbird Calypte Anna Western USA And Canada (Photo by T. Ulrich/Classicstock/Getty Images)

Creaturefector

The Hummingbirds Brought Me Around

Providence-based band The Whelks, which is composed of at least two Defector subscribers.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 9: We Are Annoyed

a photo of Sabrina Valenti, formerly a budget analyst for NOAA. Sabrina has brown curly hair and is standing against a floral background.

An Interview With A Fired NOAA Budget Analyst

Do Not Be Bamboozled By The New Fluffy Mouse

Kelsey McKinney

Tate McRae kicking her leg up into the splits like a Barbie.

Music

Two Tate McRae Fans Explain Everything They Know About Tate McRae

A gamer wears a gem head decoration that was handed out at the SIMS exhibit in the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 16, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 8: We Are Burnt-Out Sims

a photo of Kaesee Bourne, a former fish and wildlife biologist at the USFWS, holding a shovel in front of a wetland

An Interview With A Fired USFWS Biologist

Clark's anemonefish​ Amphiprion clarkii in a bubble-tip anemone Entacmaea quadricolor

Clownfish Fatten Up Their Best Buddies To Upgrade Their Homes

I Tried A Cockatoo’s Innovative New Snack

Mercury astronauts in simulated weightless flight in C-131 aircraft flying trajectory at Wright Air Development Center, Ohio, 1959.

‘The Artist’s Way’ Week 7: The Third-Quarter Slump

op down image of a pile of dirty dishes and saucepans sitting on a countertop in a kitchen

Life Lessons

The Year Of No Dishwasher

This Is The Last Thing You See Before You Die (If You Are A Crab)

A screenshot of a graphic including a photo of Sam Nordquist, a Black transgender man with a moustache, wearing a backwards cap and staring at the camera. The top of the graphic says "Gone But Not Forgotten" with two doves on either side. And the rest of the image states: Sam Nordquist. Canandaigua, NY. Last seen: January 1, 2025. Age: 24