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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

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


Sabrina Imbler

Baby monkey named 'Punch' is seen with a stuffed animal at a zoo on February 20, 2026, in north of Tokyo, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Abandoned by his mother at birth, the monkey found comfort with a stuffed animal.

The Mournful Ballad Of Punch The Monkey

the ancient fish Haikouichthys, which resembles a blue noodle with four eyes

Finally! An Ancient Fish That Understood Life’s Terrors

David Roth

A Pomeranian is groomed backstage during the Group Judging (Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding) at 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 2025.

Podcasts

Choosing Your Pomeranian, With Kathryn Xu

The President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, is welcoming the mascots Tina and Milo of the XXV Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 in Piazza Citta di Lombardia, in Milan, Italy, on February 27, 2024.

Olympics

Which Other Olympic Mascots Could Italian Stoats Tina And Milo Slaughter In Cold Blood?

<p>Heather Chen is a former Defector intern and the managing editor at the <em>Columbia Daily Spectator</em>. She loves hockey, photography, and the good ol’ state of Michigan.</p>


Heather Wei-Xi Chen

Animals

The Westminster Dog Show’s Youngest Handlers Don’t Know If They Want To Do This Forever

fake berries called bulbils of the black-bulb yam

This Week In Delicious Scams; Or, I Yam Not What You Think I Yam

Kathryn Xu

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 02: Aslan, a Pomeranian, 2nd place winner of Toy Group, competes during the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – Group Judging (Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, Herding) &amp; Westminster Legends Presentation at Madison Square Garden on February 02, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Westminster Kennel Club)

My Life Among The 33 Pomeranians (And A Few Thousand Other Dogs)

The Secrets Of Human And Canine Fashion At The Westminster Dog Show

Artist impression of what Prototaxites would have look like in life

Who The Hell Was This?

A Boston Terrier is examined in the judging area during day one of the 150th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City on February 2, 2026.

Interviews

A Westminster Dog Show Judge Tells Us What They’re Looking For

Veronika the cow resting while using a stick.

Veronika The Cow’s Record Scratch

jon allen holds a worm up in front of a class

This Worm Is A Millennial

a laboratory mouse pokes out of a brown paper cup in a field of grass

What A Week Of Freedom Can Do For A Lab Mouse

American crocodile basking on jet ski, Broward County, Florida, USA December 2023. This crocodile was being tracked with a satellite transmitter as a component of ongoing research.

If You Give A Crocodile A Kawasaki Ultra 310LX

flat-headed cat, small wild cat, camera trap, southeast Asia, Thailand

What Would You Name This Cat?

A screencap of a video showing the backside of a green frog and a hornet inside a plastic box

I Shall Never Mess Up Again

a mother leopard seal opens her mouth above the body of her dead pup

Why Won’t Nora The Leopard Seal Abandon Her Dead Pups?

Albert Burneko

Beware The Jingler

Split image. The lefthand side is Olivia Nuzzi attends the 2023 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 29, 2023 in Washington, DC. She's wearing a leopard longsleeve top and has long blonde hair and is smiling tightly at the camera. On the right side is an image of a purple blob of some sort.

Politics

Olivia Nuzzi Addresses The Worm

a female spider next to a funnel-shaped hole in a web

Drop Whatever You’re Doing Right This Instant, There’s Big Spider Web News

A pack of Nanotyrannus attacking a juvenile T. rex.

Let Us Now Celebrate Our Extinct Short King, Nanotyrannus

Barry Petchesky

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 26: Tom Brady looks on from the field during warmups prior to an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on October 26, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)

Tom Brady Cloned His Dead Dog As A Brand Activation

<div class="gmail_default">
<div class="gmail_default">Ryan Goldberg is an award-winning journalist and author who has written for <i>Texas Monthly</i>, The Intercept, <i>The</i> <i>New York Times</i>, <i>Popular Science</i>, and ProPublica, among many other publications. Some of his best stories ran in the old Deadspin. He lives in Brooklyn, and leads regular walks for the Brooklyn Bird Club. You can find more of his work at <a href="http://ryangoldberg.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://ryangoldberg.net&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1758917926877000&amp;usg=AOvVaw04lh06uBoaa598nfG5ro-G">ryangoldberg.net</a>.</div>
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Ryan Goldberg

UNITED STATES - 2023/05/31: Close-up of a barred owl (Strix varia), also known as the northern barred owl, or striped owl, in a park in Kirkland, Washington State, United States. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Owl Code Tearing Apart New York’s Birders

a photo of the microscopic flatworm Stenostomum simplex, which looks like a worm with green balls inside its body.

Exclusive! A Revealing And Not Made-Up Interview With A Two-Headed Worm

a spider with yellow stripes perched on a web decorated with stabilimenta