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<div dir="ltr">Dom Cosentino is a writer in Brooklyn who takes Pittsburgh sports way too seriously.</div>
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Dom Cosentino

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JANUARY 11: Head coach Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on prior to an NFL football wild card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&amp;T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

What’s Mike Tomlin’s Standard Now?


<p>Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, <em>The Other Olympians</em>, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.</p>


Michael Waters

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 20: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (C) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-VA) (L) raise their hands when asked if they know a transgender woman during an event to celebrate the House passing The Protection Of Women And Girls In Sports Act outside the U.S. Capitol on April 20, 2023 in Washington, DC. President Joe Biden has promised to veto the legislation, which defines sex as 'based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth' and would ban all transgender women and girls from competing in female school sports.

Politics

The Trans Sports Ban Portends Something Much Darker

Ray Ratto

Bob Uecker walks onto the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 1 of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.

Bob Uecker Was Just The Best

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


Sabrina Imbler

A fire fighting helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on January 11, 2025. The Palisades Fire, the largest of the Los Angeles fires, spread toward previously untouched neighborhoods January 11, forcing new evacuations and dimming hopes that the disaster was coming under control. Across the city, at least 11 people have died as multiple fires have ripped through residential areas since January 7, razing thousands of homes in destruction that US President Joe Biden likened to a "war scene." (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Climate

The Future Of West Coast Wildfire Is Whiplash

<p style="font-weight: 400">Antoine E. Davis is an incarcerated journalist in Washington State. He is a licensed pastor for Freedom Church of Seattle, and Inside Director of Organizing for Look2Justice, an organization that provides civic education to system-impacted communities and works to pass sentence and policy-reform legislation. His writing has been published by Christianity Today, The Guardian, Plough Magazine, The Appeal, and more. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://x.com/antoineedavis">@antoineedavis</a>.</p>


Antoine E. Davis

“I Dare Not Talk About Nico Collins”: Incarcerated Fantasy Football Managers Reflect On The Season

Giri Nathan

An illustration of a tennis player holding a skull-shaped ball

Tennis

Has The Tennis Ball Gotten Worse?

Patrick Redford

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 7: Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a home on January 7, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

The Future Of Fire Cannot Look Like Its Present

David Roth

Congestion pricing, or Congestion Relief Zone, car toll sign on the westbound Long Island Expressway approaching Van Dam Street in Queens, New York on Jan. 5, 2025.

Journalismism

Democracy Dies As Awful Man No Longer Able To Freely Drive 18 Blocks In Manhattan

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

Life's Rich Pageant

A Comprehensive And Maddening History Of Color Star, Would-Be Titans Of Just About Anything

Capital

The Logic Of Private Equity Explains The Park City Ski Patrol Strike

Multiple exposure of Oakland Athletics Rickey Henderson (24) in action, stealing base vs San Francisco Giants. Game 1. Oakland, CA 10/14/1989

Rickey Henderson Believed In Rickey Henderson

<p>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 <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

The 2024 Williams Sonoma Haters Guide title graphic, featuring a man in a blue apron holding a baking dish with Williams Sonoma digitally written on it. 'Embroidered' on the apron it says 2024 Williams Sonoma Haters Guide. He's in front of a marble background.

Hater's Guide

The 2024 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog

Year In Review

Presenting The 2024 Shams Charania Award For Excellence In Divulging Of Information Through Syntax Comprehended By Many

<p><span style="color: #000000">Julie Kliegman is a writer and editor in Queens, New York. They wrote <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/mind-game-9798216378051/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/mind-game-9798216378051/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1763134080975000&amp;usg=AOvVaw15Dx3xf4fCxIqYQnD4bF_R"><em>Mind Game: An Inside Look at the Mental Health Playbook of Elite Athletes</em></a>. Their next book, the biography <i>Finding Renée Richards</i>, is due out in August 2026. Kliegman’s work has also appeared in outlets including <em>The New York Times</em>,<em> Sports Illustrated</em>, <em>The Washington Post</em>, Bookforum, Slate, The Ringer, <em>Texas Monthly</em>, Vulture, BuzzFeed News, and The Verge.</span></p>


Julie Kliegman

a female golfer floats in space, looking down on a giant moon-like golf ball

Golf

Hailey Davidson Loves Golf, And Golf Wants To Get Rid Of Her

A small drone flies in front of the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building as the sun rises in New York City on August 11, 2023

It’s Time For A Little Recreational Mental Illness In New Jersey

Food

I Loved How Much Ugly Baby Hated Me

Welch, who might soon need to Talk Tuah lawyer

The Hawk Tuah Memecoin Rug Pull Is The Apotheosis Of Bag Culture


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 08: Xavier Legette #17 of the Carolina Panthers drops a pass while being guarded by C.J. Gardner-Johnson #8 of the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth quarter of a game at Lincoln Financial Field on December 08, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Gambling

Sports Gambling Thrives On Clicks, Not Community

Albert Burneko

Ronald McDonald and Hamburglar in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This Is So Stupid

I Would Not Take My Post-Assassination Meal At An Altoona McDonald’s, But I Guess I’m Built Different

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<div>Casey Taylor is a writer living and working in Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a book for St. Martin&#8217;s Press about cannabis religions, Haile Selassie I, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. He also writes a free newsletter called <a href="https://weedchurch.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weedchurch.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1709306863919000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mVH2xiID6S0zvlyj6yHco">Weed Church</a> covering foolish spiritual things that occur to him. His work has appeared in The New Republic, WIRED, New York Magazine, and a sports blog he can’t currently recall the name of. You can <a href="mailto:caseyt7@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email</a> him if you’d like.</div>
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Casey Taylor

The crowded work bench of New York tattooist Charlie Wagner in the 1940's. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

Arts And Culture

How Do You Preserve Tattoo History When Skin And Memory Fail?

Samer Kalaf

Joe Biden holds a copy of The Hundred Years' War On Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.

The Next History Book On Palestine Will Have Joe Biden In It

Barry Petchesky

Animals

I Have Created A Turkey Fiend

Germanic warrior taking stimulants imagined by Stanislav(Stanisław) Kontny,

History

Veni, Vidi, Snorti: I Came, I Saw, I Did A Bump

Kelsey McKinney

The Harvest Moon rises over the U.S. Capitol dome in 2022.

The American Nightmare Is A Rerun

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after the men's singles final match at the French Open.