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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

Barry Petchesky

SHAOYANG, CHINA - FEBRUARY 16: People read books at Songpo bookstore during the Spring Festival holiday on February 16, 2021 in Shaoyang, Hunan Province of China. (Photo by Teng Zhizhong/VCG via Getty Images)

Life Lessons

Buy Yourself A Gift Card

Kelsey McKinney

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

Anne Hatahway cries in her Subaru in a scene from The Idea of You

Arts And Culture

The Ideas Of ‘The Idea Of You,’ According To Us

Paramount Plus Is Ruining My Life, And It Is Time For Jeff Probst To Do Something About It

Israel Daramola

John Mulaney Made A Perfect Late-Night Show For Just One Week

Pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Israel's participation in the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) demonstrate in Malmo, Sweden, on May 11, 2024, with a poster saying : NEJ TILL FOLKMORD, Welcome to the Genocide Song Contest

The Myth Of An Apolitical Eurovision

David Roth

Steve Albini performs with his band Shellac at the FYF Fest in Los Angeles in 2016.

Everyone Has A Steve Albini Album

Alex Sujong Laughlin

South African singer and songwriter Tyla arrives for the 2024 Met Gala in a Balmain gown meant to evoke sand in an hourglass. She is being helped by a procession of men in tuxedos who are holding the train of her gown in order for her to walk.

How Do You Compartmentalize The Spectacle?

What’s In A Frame?

Kendrick Lamar performing on stage at the Glastonbury music festival in England in June 2022.

Kendrick Lamar And Drake Battle For The Lowest Blow

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Cindy Lee’s ‘Diamond Jubilee’ Is A Gift Worth Savoring

Soraya Roberts

Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O'Connor sitting on a bed in a scene from Challengers

You Can’t Not Surrender To The ‘Challengers’ Soundtrack

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: Drake appears via video during the Recording Academy Honors presented by The Black Music Collective during the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 02, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (

Everybody Hates Drake: A Guide To Millennial Rap’s Midlife Beef Crisis

Corey Atad is a freelancer writer based in Toronto with an unhealthy Air Bud obsession.

Corey Atad

Ethan Hawke and Maya Hawke attend a screening of "Wildcat" at Angelika Film Center on April 11, 2024 in New York City.

Ethan Hawke Wants To Make Movies That Begin At The End

This Is So Stupid

Unlike All The Archeologists, I Know What This Thingy Is For

‘Ripley’ Turns Black And White To Color

Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.

Asher Elbein

An illustration of Magneto placing a yarmulke atop his head.

History

The Judgment Of Magneto

I Am Obsessed With This Clay Pot

Singer JoJo Siwa on the red carpet entering the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Hollywood, wearing a black and silver sequins outfit reminiscent of Gene Simmons from the band Kiss.

When You Eat Poison Long Enough, It Starts To Taste Good

Lauren Theisen

PEN America Chooses The Most Cowardly Words

Organized Noize members, Raymond Murray (L), Rico Wade (C), and Sleepy Brown (R)

Rico Wade And Organized Noize Were The Architects Of Southern Rap

several of Toshiko Takaezu's moon-shaped ceramics on black sand

The Forbidden Worlds Of Toshiko Takaezu

‘The Sympathizer’ Is In Good Hands With Park Chan-Wook

‘Shōgun’ Is The Best And Most Human Show On TV

A photo from the set of The Kid Detective

‘The Kid Detective’ Is Too Good To Be Forgotten

Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

A promotional poster for the James Bond film "No Time To Die" starring Daniel Craig at a cineplex in Shanghai showing all six actors who have played the character James Bond.