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This blog is free to read.

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

Sohini Desai

Colombia's singer Shakira holds the Jo'bulani football that will be used for the final of the tournament during a press conference on July 10, 2010 at Soccer City Stadium in Soweto, South Africa.

Soccer

A Brief History Of The World Cup Song

Corley Miller

Arts And Culture

Left In The Dungeon

Defector Staff

two hot people kiss while a dozen hot men sit on bean bags in the background and clap

What Do We Think About This Season Of ‘Love Island USA’?

Emily C. Hughes

Diabolical Motherhood

Sarah Borus

Summer Is For Baseball, Hot Dogs, And Watching A Bunch Of Horny Teens Get Murdered In The Woods

Eight Years Of Rituals With Rosalía

Bekah Waalkes

Five Self-Obsessed Danes Make For A Surprisingly Fun And Sexy Summer Read

Megan C. Reynolds

Looking For A Job Has Become An Alienating Humiliation Ritual

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


Nicholas Russell

Interviews

John Early’s Secret Is Total Commitment

<p>Grace Byron is a critic, reporter, and novelist based in Queens. Her writing has appeared in <em>The New Yorker</em>, <em>Granta</em>, <em>Bookforum</em>, and elsewhere. Her debut novel <em>Herculine</em> is out now.</p>


Grace Byron

Neatly Arranged Scalpels Repetition Pattern on Purple Background Directly Above View.

‘New Skin’ Offers A Fresh Take On Body Horror

Kelsey McKinney

two van gogh paintings on a dark background

Misery And Memory In Two Van Goghs

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Justin Ellis TELLS ALL About Minneapolis Life In This EXCLUSIVE Interview

Observing And Breathing At Calder Gardens

<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

‘Off Campus’ Can’t Sell The Hockey Player Fantasy

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


Sabrina Imbler

Cat Fitzpatrick On Writing Transsexuals Into Iambic Pentameter

host Ariana Maddux, in a gold dress, leans inside a heart shaped sculpture

I Finally Understand Why I’m Obsessed With ‘Love Island’

Israel Daramola

RIP To ‘Euphoria,’ HBO’s Dumbest Show

‘Backrooms’ Doesn’t Quite Capture The Weirdness Of The Originals

<p>Joshua C. Kendall was born in New York City. An award-winning freelance journalist, he has written on history,<br />
politics, biography, health care, and neuroscience for many national magazines and newspapers. He is currently an associate fellow of Yale’s Trumbull College. His previous books include <em>First Dads</em>, <em>The Man Who Made Lists</em>, and <em>The Forgotten Founding Father</em>.</p>


Joshua Kendall

Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

“Awfulness For Decades”: A Short History Of Trump And Doonesbury

A photo of a bunch of old-timey green barstools with the cover of the NYRB Classics edition of Robert Coover's Universal Baseball Association in the middle and the Defector Reads A Book logo at left.

Defector Reads A Book

There Is A Whole World In ‘The Universal Baseball Association, Inc. J. Henry Waugh, Prop.’

James Webster

‘The Vivisectors’ Is A Brilliant Novel In Any Reality

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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

‘Blue Heron’ Is A Revelation

Luis Paez-Pumar

Jenna Lewis Dougherty, Kyle Fraser, Savannah Louie, Q Burdette, Angelina Keeley, Charlie Davis, Kamilla Karthigesu, Genevieve Mushaluk, Colby Donaldson, Dee Valladares, Chrissy Hofbeck, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Christian Hubicki, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Emily Flippen, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens, Cirie Fields, Tiffany Ervin, Rizo Velovic, Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young, and Aubry Bracco attend and Jeff Probst hosts the Survivor 50 Live Finale at the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles, California on May 20, 2026.

The ‘Survivor 50’ Finale Was A Dark Omen For The Future

Listening Habits

The Passion Of The Drake: A (Mostly) Objective Review Of His Three New Albums

<p>Sean T. Collins has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Decider, Pitchfork, and many others. He lives with his family on Long Island.</p>


Sean T. Collins

Kill Grogu