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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

Giri Nathan

Fans take in some Wimbledon matches at Murray Mound.

Tennis

The Wimbledon Experience Is Diligence, Dampness, And Cream

Lauren Theisen

A hand holding a cracked Autostraddle logo reaches out of a pink whirlpool

Capital

Autostraddle Is Spiraling Toward A Shutdown Or A Sale

David Roth

Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav attends the premiere of The Flash in Hollywood.

They Don’t Want Us And We Don’t Need Them

Ray Ratto

&lt;&gt; on December 7, 2009 in New York, New York.

Journalismism

The Slow Hemorrhage Of The American Sports Desk

Lucas Hubbard is a North Carolina-based writer whose work has appeared in Microfiction Monday Magazine, INDY Week, Paste, and other outlets.

Lucas Hubbard

A card with a bunch of love items about Rafael Nadal. There's one of him picking his wedge, one of him screaming after a point and him, in a heart, smiling. Also there are drawings of tennis balls and tennis rackets.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Nadal

Keith Paradise is a freelance writer who somehow won a Keystone Press Award during his 
decade spent as a newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania, where he covered sports, education, and 
the murder of a neighborhood turkey. Originally from Pittsburgh, he is a senior writer for 
Billiards Digest magazine and his name has appeared twice in the notable section of The Year’s 
Best Sports Writing anthology—including in 2024 for his Defector article on the rise and fall of 
sports clothing icon Starter.

Keith Paradise

A rack of Starter jackets, satin and pullover and polyester. Colorado Rockies is in the front.

Arts And Culture

The Rise And Fall Of Starter, The Coolest Company On Earth

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

Shots

He Said He Was Going To Save A Century Of Priceless Sports Photos. He Ended Up The Madoff Of Memorabilia.

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

Michael Hermosillo of the Angels makes a catch in foul territory during the 2020 MLB season, while a bunch of creepy stuffed teddy bears look on.

“I Almost Wished There Was Someone There To Curse At Me”: Isolation And Triumph In MLB’s Plague Season

A. Frog is a freelance writer living in Japan.

A. Frog

Creaturefector

I Messed Up Again

Patrick Redford

JERSEY CITY, NJ - JUNE 8: The sun is shrouded as it rises in a smokey sky behind the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt in New York City on June 8, 2023, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Climate

It’s All The Same Fire

I Could Stare At The Roland Garros Clay All Day

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

Tik Tok screenshots of "Livvy Rizzed Baby Gronk"

This Is So Stupid

Livvy Rizzing Up Baby Gronk, Explained

<div class="gmail_default">Timothy Faust is a healthcare writer and author of the book <a href="http://www.healthjusticenow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.healthjusticenow.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1685593699820000&amp;usg=AOvVaw24V19Y2HTPgYkH_EpZ_lgj">Health Justice Now</a>. He and his long little dog, Ume, move around a lot.</div>
<div class="gmail_default"></div>

Timothy Faust

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 16: Zander Bathory steps on the back of the European Assassin during the AWF Wrestling Dojo Wrestling night July 16, 2004 in Sydney, Australia. For this group of die-hard sports professionals who spend most Saturdays training and wrestling in a small dojo in Sydney's South West. It's a ritual that goes way beyond dedication reaching into the realm of obsession. Founded in 1999, the AWF has now grown to over fifty professional wrestlers Australia wide. Hosting regular bout nights across the country, means these guys get a chance to do things they don't normally get to do, the blood is real and injuries happen, often. After starting a school for wrestling six years ago, AWF founder Greg Bowden has trained more than fifty pro wrestlers, in a bid to help promote the sport and build a substantial fan base. Unlike America's WWE group, which is broadcast regularly around the world via cable television, the AWF, despite numerous attempts, have been unable to secure television broadcast support, which constantly hampers the sport's promotion, keeping crowd numbers down and the group confined to low cost venues and shows. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Pro Wrestling

In American Indie Wrestling, Bodies Are Cheap And Healthcare Is Not

Katharine Trendacosta writes about tech policy, the entertainment industry, pop culture, and where those things intersect. In her day job, she&#8217;s the Associate Director of Policy and Activism for the digital civil liberties nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Her writing here reflects her views alone and not those of EFF.) In her spare time, she writes things like this.

A photo of the author, Katharine Trendacosta

Katharine Trendacosta

Actor and writer Daheli Hall, left, joins WGA members as they cheer on the first day of their strike in front of Paramount Studios in Hollywood on May 2, 2023.

The Writers Are Striking For The Future Of Entertainment

Split image: Dan McQuade (left) wearing an American Dream EST. 2019 hoodie standing next to a cardboard cutout of Shrek at the DreamWorks Water Park inside a mall. David Roth (right) pointing up at the "WINNERS CIRCLE" entrance at the old Meadowlands Arena.

Life's Rich Pageant

Dan And Dave Explore The American Dream (Mall)

Dave McKenna

A story in the Wright State Daily Guardian about Robert Pollard's no-hitter for Wright State University on March 11, 1978.

Music

Celebrating Robert Pollard’s No-Hitter And The Rock-Jock Nexus

Elon Musk and his mom doing some uncanny shit in costume at Heidi Klum's Halloween party.

Burning Down The House

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

A model of a brown grain weevil resting on a grain.

Going Against The Grain Weevils

Three Oakland Roots Supporters

Amedspor supporters march to the stadium before a match against Sanlıurfaspor in 2015.

Soccer

The Scorpions Behind The Barricade

Tom Ley

Infinite Replay

The Lightning Strike That Rewired My Brain

<a href="https://twitter.com/robertfoconnell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert O’Connell</a> is a writer from Kansas living in New York. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and elsewhere.

Robert O’Connell

Michael Dickson #4 of the Seattle Seahawks punts the ball in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field on December 30, 2018 in Seattle, Washington.

Prokick Australia Changed Punting, And Football, By Doing What Comes Naturally

Kalyn Kahler

Football’s Fight Over Analytics Doesn’t Have To Be So Exhausting

The Urban Meyer Experience Was An Unforgettable Failure

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.