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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

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

A yellowish lizard called the Jamaican giant galliwasp curled up in a jar of preservative

Creaturefector

How A 170-Year-Old Lizard Finally Came Home To Jamaica

David Roth

Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen J.D. Vance (R-OH) speaks during a press conference at the Shelby Township Police Department on August 7, 2024 in Shelby Township, Michigan.

Politics

Men On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown

A neopet dragon broods over its hoard of gold.

Capital

Is It Ethical To Be A Billionaire In Neopets?

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

Simone Biles of Team United States competes in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Floor Exercise Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. Her arms are up in the air, and she is smiling.

Olympics

Simone Biles’s Greatness Is About More Than Medals

Rose Eveleth is the host of the podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flash Forward</a>, and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/book/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the book by the same name</a>.&nbsp;

Rose Eveleth

An illustration of a skeleton with running shoes on sliding into an MRI machine

What Can We Learn From The Biology Of Dead Athletes?

Kathryn Xu

Zhang Boheng of China stands ready to participate in the pommel horse event.

What’s In An Olympian’s Name?

Heather Chen is a former Defector intern and the managing editor at the Columbia Daily Spectator. She loves hockey, photography, and the good ol’ state of Michigan.

Heather Wei-Xi Chen

A surfer in a blue wetsuit carries a light blue surfboard with him as he walks into the ocean. He is holding a Palestinian flag in his right hand and wearing a keffiyeh around his head.

The Great Outdoors

Surfers Show Solidarity At A Paddle-Out For Palestine

Maitreyi Anantharaman

A collage of Detroit Tigers in-game parlays on Bally Sports

Gambling

How Often Would You Lose On 81 Tigers Same-Game Parlays Pushed By Bally Sports Detroit?

150-million-year-old fossil of Stegosaurus specimen is on display at Sotheby's in New York on July 10, 2024.

No One Person Should Be Able To Own A Dinosaur

Wings Week

How I Learned To Moth And Embrace The Dark

Hamilton Nolan is a journalist based in New York City. Subscribe to his work at <a href="https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1687350200913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0naFbUVOe-5ZgtPDtIM3gz">HamiltonNolan.com</a>.

Hamilton Nolan

Welterweight contender Jaron Ennis trains during a media workout for his upcoming fight against Custio Clayton at Churchill Boxing Club on May 11, 2022 in Santa Monica, California.

The Fights

Philly Has A Hero Named Boots

Billy Haisley

Players of Spain celebrate on the bench as Lamine Yamal of Spain celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA EURO 2024 Semi-Final match between Spain and France at Munich Football Arena on July 09, 2024 in Munich, Germany.

Soccer

The Legend Of Lamine Yamal Has Its First Chapter

Albert Burneko

George Clooney, as Michael Clayton, talks into a cell phone while walking down a city street at night.

This Is So Stupid

There Are Three Essential Lawyer Movies

Samer Kalaf

Klay Thompson #11, Andrew Wiggins #22, Jonathan Kuminga #00, and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors look on from the bench during the game against the Sacramento Kings during the 2024 Play-In Tournament

An Attempt To Draw This Overstuffed Sentence About Klay Thompson Leaving The Warriors

Arts And Culture

The City Lives In The Earth Room

Kenny Moll rips through an impromptu finish line to mark the end of his seventh marathon. Michael-Luca is running to his right, with a crowd of runners behind them. There are trees in the background, and the area is both shaded and sunny.

If You Run Seven Marathons In Seven Days In Central Park, Does It Make A Difference?

Angel Reese #5 of the Chicago Sky grabs the rebound during he first half of a WNBA game against the Connecticut Sun

WNBA

Angel Reese Has Genius In Her Fingertips

Dave McKenna

Maryland State Police troopers bowing their heads on stage during a graduation ceremony in 2019.

Policing

How Qualified Immunity Protects Cops Who Kill

The United States Women's National team celebrate their victory during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

Basketball Isn’t A Popularity Contest, Except When It Is

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, The Other Olympians, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.

Michael Waters

Helen Stephens running in the 1936 Olympics

Olympian Helen Stephens Suffered Through An Anti-Queer Panic That Still Reverberates

Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and has written for The Guardian, The Second Serve, The Athletic, n+1, Texas Monthly, Air Mail, and other publications.

Owen Lewis

Tennis

Suffering Pigeons All Over At Roland-Garros

Ray Ratto

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 7: Jontay Porter #34 of the Toronto Raptors arrives to the arena before the game against the Phoenix Suns on March 7, 2024 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images)

How The Fix Gets In

A photo of the baseball field and the scoreboard at Meji Jingu Baseball Stadium stadium in Tokyo. The night sky is a dark blue and, despite the rain, the outfield seats still hold a good number of fans. There's also a runner on second base.

The Key To Having Fun At A Baseball Game Is Flying To The Other Side Of The World

Giri Nathan

Rafael Nadal is playing against Alexander Zverev in the first round of the men's singles at the Roland Garros French Open tennis tournament in Paris, France, on May 27, 2024.

There Are No Tidy Endings In Rafael Nadal’s Clay Temple

B.D. McClay is an essayist and critic.

B.D. McClay

11 February 2020, Berlin: Bottles of the brand "Coca Cola" are lined up in the cinema Zoo Palast.