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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

D.C.: Meet Defector At The Ballpark

Vintage Baseball Stadium Postcard

Defector at the Ballpark

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David Roth

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller depart Union Station after meeting with federal law enforcement officers on August 20, 2025.

VP Vance And Defense Secretary Hegseth Visit Federal Law Enforcement Officers Patrolling At D.C.’s Union Station

Politics

The United States Of Snitches

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.09

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Chris Thompson

Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, in his trademark yellow suit and top-hat.

Jesse Cole

Life's Rich Pageant

The Official Charity Of The Savannah Bananas Has A Hard Time Explaining How Its Money Is Spent

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Samer Kalaf

The scene after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.

Political Activist Charlie Kirk Shot Dead At Utah Valley University

This Is Who Charlie Kirk Was

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Kelsey McKinney

Engraving shows interior of Leiden University library, Netherlands 1610 by Jan Cornelisz Woudanus, approximately 1570-1615.

Interior of Leiden University library.

The Machines

If The Thieving AI Company Can Survive The Legal Settlement, Then It Is Not Big Enough

Aaron Timms

A view of the park from behind police barriers

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Tennis

The U.S. Open Could Be More Than A Fortress For Capital

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Albert Burneko

A man faces the realistic artist" robot "Ai-Da" using artificial intelligence at a stand during the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva on May 30, 2024.

cyborg

Butlerian Jihad Now

Mitch Therieau is a writer living in Virginia.

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Mitch Therieau

Marcus Mumford and Alex Ebert and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes perform as part of the Railroad Revival Tour at San Pedro Port of Call on April 22, 2011 in San Pedro, California.

Railroad Revival Tour In Concert – San Pedro, CA

Arts And Culture

The Tragedy Of “Stomp Clap Hey”

Dave McKenna

The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) agents walk on patrol near Nationals Park on August 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. An increased presence of law enforcement has been seen throughout the nation's capital since U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the U.S. National Guard.

Trump Increases Federal Law Enforcement Presence, Deploys National Guard In Nation’s Capital

Notes From The D.C. Clampdown

James Dobson poses for a portrait in 2011 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

dobson

James Dobson Is Dead, Was A Monster

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Barry Petchesky

Kwakho Madikwain, associate of former gang member Nicholas Mnguni, fills out a spreadsheet of purchase orders in Khayelitsha on March 13, 2025. Former gang member Nicholas Mnguni, known as Zwe in his township, left the 20 Men gang in 2017 to start his own business, producing and selling perfumes, cleaning products, and insect repellent. His business, ML Scents, has enabled him to employ 4 seasonal workers, with the hope of keeping them off the streets, and away from gang recruitment. As a former gangster, Nicholas is exempt from paying the protection fee demanded by local gangs. “Luckily, they know me, so they leave me alone, plus, I don’t want to be aggressive anymore,” he says. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)

SAFRICA-ECONOMY-SOCIAL

It Took Many Years And Billions Of Dollars, But Microsoft Finally Invented A Calculator That Is Wrong Sometimes

Starving Palestinians including women and children holding pots wait to receive food distributed by a charity organization as Israel continue to block humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip on August 10, 2025.

famine in gaza

The Free Press Reports Gaza’s Starving Children Have Pre-Existing Condition Of Being Bombed By Israel

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Patrick Redford

Screenshot 2025-08-18 at 9.13.48 AM

Michael Porter Jr. Is The Incredibly Dumb Man For An Incredibly Dumb Moment

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

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Corey Atad

Zohran Mamdani smiling with a megaphone in the park

New York Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Campaigns In Brooklyn

Selling Zohran

Tommy Craggs is an editor and writer, late of Game Theory With Bomani Jones on HBO, Mother Jones (no relation), HuffPost, Slate, Gawker Media, and Deadspin. He&#8217;s part of the Flaming Hydra cooperative of independent writers and artists. <a href="https://flaminghydra.com/#/portal/signup" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://flaminghydra.com/%23/portal/signup&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1720555755229000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0dYzV3TRg8TTAptAnFcs6h">Subscribe to the newsletter here</a>.

Tommy Craggs

An orchestra rehearsal, c

Mods Asleep

Are We Playing It All Wrong?

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Lauren Theisen

Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour"

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour – Toronto, ON

Taylor Swift Turned Me Straight

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Brandy Jensen

Shakira Austin #0 of the Washington Mystics shoots the ball against Maria Kliundikova #77 of the Minnesota Lynx in the first quarter at Target Center on August 08, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Washington Mystics v Minnesota Lynx

WNBA

Why A Bunch Of Real Dicks Keep Throwing Fake Ones

E.Y. Zhao is a writer and editor from St. Louis. Her debut novel, Underspin, set in the world of competitive table tennis, is forthcoming with Astra House in September 2025. She holds a BA in history from Harvard College and an MFA from the University of Michigan.

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E.Y. Zhao

Felix Lebrun of France competes in the Men's Singles Semifinal match against Wang Chuqin of China on day 7 of the United States Smash 2025 World Table Tennis at the Orleans Arena on July 12, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

United States Smash 2025 World Table Tennis – Day 7

Table Tennis

Sweating Through The Existential Angst Of A Las Vegas Table Tennis Tournament

A screengrab of Alan Dershowitz on his Dershow podcast's mailbag segment. He is literally saying the words "Jeffrey Epstein" at this moment.

DershowScreenshot

Are You Aware Of The Alan Dershowitz Martha’s Vineyard Pierogi Situation?

Maggie Mertens is a freelance journalist in Seattle, and the author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/better-faster-farther-how-running-changed-everything-we-know-about-women-maggie-mertens/20674936?ean=9781643753355" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bookshop.org/p/books/better-faster-farther-how-running-changed-everything-we-know-about-women-maggie-mertens/20674936?ean%3D9781643753355&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1754022936515000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1qsnDemLKZppvFS2kpVCTH">BETTER FASTER FARTHER: How Running Changed Everything We Know About Women</a>. She also sometimes writes and sends the newsletters <a href="https://maggiemertens.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://maggiemertens.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1754022936515000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0lAUeT18_qV95dy9jg9Sg0">My So-Called Feminist Life</a> and <a href="https://gilmorewomen.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://gilmorewomen.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1754022936515000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1hLBDLFWCAWpJsqvPzljRr">Gilmore Women</a>.
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Maggie Mertens

TITLEIX-lubchansky

High School Sports

Minnesota Softball Has A Title IX Problem

Eva Holland is a freelance writer and editor based in Whitehorse, Yukon. She&#8217;s a correspondent for Outside magazine and the author of the books Nerve and <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/no-sleep-til-fairbanks#/">No Sleep &#8216;Til Fairbanks</a>.

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Eva Holland

Kluane Up High

Science

Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist?

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Typing

Sabrina Imbler

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Creaturefector

Behold: A Surprisingly Beautiful Depiction Of Being Swallowed By A Toothy Penis Worm

Editorial intern
https://www.instagram.com/20grade

Capture

Lucy Bloom

Aini Anderson (left) and Livi Pappadopoulos rolling for the top prize at the Midwest Open, in Madison, Wisconsin.

logrolling-Midwest-Open

Earth’s Best Logroller Has Created Her Own Greatest Rival

Richard Staff is a <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardStaff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weapons-grade Twitter goblin</a> and hostage of the Mets. That is his real name.

Richard Staff

Marcus Walden of the Boston Red Sox throws during a summer camp workout before the start of the 2020 Major League Baseball season on July 15, 2020 at Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts. The season was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Boston Red Sox Summer Camp Workout

The Secret Brotherhood Of The Phantom Ballplayers

Hallie Lieberman is a historian and journalist. She’s the author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy, and is currently working on a book on the history of gigolos. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Vice, and BuzzFeed News, among other publications.

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Hallie Lieberman

President Donald Trump delivers remarks before signing the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room at the White House on February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. The executive order, which Trump signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, prohibits transgender women from competing in women’s sports and is the third order he has signed that targets transgender people.

President Trump Signs No Men In Women’s Sports Executive Order

How Trans Prisoners Are Dealing With The Trump Administration’s Attacks

2019-01-01 00:15:14.989

Maitreyi Anantharaman

Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Indiana Fever talks to the media during a press conference before the match-up against the Brazil National Team, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 4, 2025 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Brazil National Team v Indiana Fever

Christine Brennan’s Caitlin Clark Book Is More About Gripes Than Greatness

Blogs Of Note