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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

Kelsey McKinney

elyse myers in a yellow shirt smiles at the camera

Arts And Culture

How Normal Is A Celebrity Allowed To Be? 

Barry Petchesky

The Eyes Have It

Patrick Redford

Thomas Pynchon Is Laughing All The Way To The Brink

<p>Alex Shultz is a journalist based in Brooklyn. He&#8217;s a writer for <a href="https://www.hardresetmedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hardresetmedia.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1763581679564000&amp;usg=AOvVaw07bi0TNndgTXDN2QH72s3J">Hard Reset,</a> a newsletter about tech, labor, and power.</p>


Alex Shultz

US Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, looks at his cellphone in between Senate votes to reopen the government on day 41 of the government shutdown at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 10, 2025. The longest-ever US government shutdown appeared headed Monday to an eventual resolution, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in advancing a compromise deal -- sparking intra-party backlash.

Politics

John Fetterman’s Memoir Is As Low-Effort As His Senate Tenure

Joel Pinckney

‘The High Heaven’ Is A Beautifully Grounded Debut Novel

Mark Asch

‘Bugonia’ Makes A Crash Landing

<p><a href="http://www.ddavisla.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">David Davis </span></a>is the author of <i>Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans From World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation</i> and <i>Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku</i>. He lives in Los Angeles.</p>
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David Davis

Marty Reisman, holder of 18 International and US National table tennis titles, and author of the 1974 book "The Money Player" in which he described his life traveling the world, playing high-stakes matches. Reisman won the 1997 United States National Hardbat championship. Now at age 77, he is probably the oldest person ever to win an open US national title in a racquet sport. (Photo by Neville Elder/Corbis via Getty Images)

Table Tennis

The Real Marty Supreme

oscar isaac as frankenstein gazes up at his creature on a cross

Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ Is Flawed Because His Creature Is Not

Israel Daramola

In ‘Die My Love,’ Motherhood Is A Mad Mad Mad World

<p>Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in <i data-stringify-type="italic">The Normal School</i>, <i data-stringify-type="italic">New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review</i>, and elsewhere.</p>


Jae Towle Vieira

Here Is What Reading To My Child Has Done To My Brain

Dave McKenna

Don’t Watch ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere’ Unless You Want To Cry About Your Dad

<p>Cat Fitzpatrick is the Editrix at <a href="http://www.littlepuss.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.littlepuss.net&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw32JizYx318M3PPu4pk8ywT">LittlePuss Press</a> and teaches at Rutgers University—Newark. Her novel-in-rhyme<i> <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4458-the-call-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4458-the-call-out&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0x1xQpV0dOeP9rAfMJufQ_">The Call-Out</a> </i>won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Fiction. Her next book <i>The Dinner Party: A Book About Love</i> is due out in May 2026 and you can pre-order it <a href="https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4817-the-dinner-party" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4817-the-dinner-party&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1762370146099000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2GA0SB3SAFIWLj_EdeVhey">here</a>.</p>


Cat Fitzpatrick

Unearthing The Hidden History Of A Singular Trans Punk Zine

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<p>Robert Rubsam writes fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in the NYT Magazine, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Baffler, and Liberties. He is a contributing writer for Commonweal Magazine.</p>
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Robert Rubsam

Kelly Reichardt’s Labors Of Love

<p><a href="https://tomwhyman.com/">Tom Whyman</a> is a British philosopher.</p>


Tom Whyman

Werner Herzog’s New Book Tackles The Problem Of Truth

Jason England

Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another.

‘One Battle After Another’ Isn’t Up For The Fight

Lily Allen Takes The “Fuck It” Approach To A Breakup Album

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


Nicholas Russell

YONKERS, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: A view of autumn foliage at the Untermyer Park and Gardens over the Hudson Valley on November 11, 2021 near New York City.

Interviews

Erin Somers On The State Of Literary Fiction, Hudson Valley Life, And Reviving The Infidelity Novel

Vikram Murthi

Jafar Panahi Returns With The Masterful Revenge Drama ‘It Was Just An Accident’

Soraya Roberts

Diane Keaton’s Solo Act

What Even Is ‘After The Hunt’?

Defector Staff

Singer D'Angelo (born Michael Eugene Archer) performs on stage at the Aire Crown Theater, Chicago, Illinois, April 4, 2000.

The Defector D’Angelo Mixtape

Waiting On D’Angelo

The Robe Runner

Alex Sujong Laughlin

A black and white photo of a family gathered around a 1950s era television.

Media Meltdowns

Podcasts Are Not Television

American actress Diane Keaton during the filming of 'Love and Death', November 1974. The film was written and directed with Woody Allen, who also co-starred in it.