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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.

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Defector

Buy a Defector Gift Subscription, Get A (Different) Gift Subscription

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2025 gift subs

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

Screenshot 2025-12-09 at 10.21.05 AM

I Shall Never Mess Up Again

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


Typing

Sabrina Imbler

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

nora rafaella open mouth

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

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Albert Burneko

louise

Animals

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.

image-for-story

Politics

Olivia Nuzzi Addresses The Worm

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

Screenshot 2025-11-13 at 9.37.35 AM

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

A pack of Nanotyrannus attacking a juvenile T. rex.

Nanotyrannus-Final-Art-800×0600-1

Let Us Now Celebrate Our Extinct Short King, Nanotyrannus

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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)

New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles – NFL 2025

Tom Brady Cloned His Dead Dog As A Brand Activation

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<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)

Close-up of a barred owl (Strix varia), also known as the

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.

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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

piattaforma 2

Why Do Some Spiders Make Web Art?

a photo of a brown basilisk lizard missing a forelimb sitting on a reed

Brown basilisk_Basiliscus vittatus_credit Brian Hillen_1

Fat AND Sassy? A Three-Legged Lizard Really Can Have It All

chunknpsfatbearweek

Chunk Overcomes Murder Rap, Broken Jaw To Win Fat Bear Week

a wild octopus americanus, arms unspooled and curling

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Unlike Our Stupid Human Arms, Octopus Arms Are All Equally Beautiful And Talented