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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

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

Boxing

Look On The Bright Side

Israel Daramola

Photos of Nicole Good (L) and Alex Pretti are placed among flowers at a makeshift memorial in the area where Pretti was shot and killed by Federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Politics

How Much Longer Can The Politics Of Grievance Sustain Itself?

Leland Nally is a writer living in Los Angeles.

Leland Nally

Lisbon , Portugal - 3 November 2021; Tarek Mansour, Co-founder, Kalshi on Centre Stage during day two of Web Summit 2021 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Capital

Prediction Markets Are Betting On A Grim Future

Alex Pareene

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Gregory Bovino with his security team while a group of citizens opposed to the country's immigration policies protested him in Minnesota on January 21, 2026.

I Have A Great Idea For Retraining ICE Agents

Elon Green is the author of The Man Nobody Killed and Last Call.

Elon Green

Arts And Culture

Michael Connelly Should Stick To Fake Crime

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

A statue representing an iceman named Oetzi, discovered on 1991 in the Italian Schnal Valley glacier, is displayed at the Archaeological Museu of Bolzano

Science

Let The Record Show That Ötzi Fucked

Danny Funt

Journalismism

How Bill Simmons Went All In

<a href="https://zachgozlan.info/">Zach Gozlan</a> is a data scientist, trivia ringer, and internet user based in Washington, D.C.

Zach Gozlan

Athletes stand at the Jeopardy podiums in full sports gear.

Are ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants Really That Bad At Questions About Sports? 

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 08: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveils the department's new dietary guidelines food chart during a policy announcement event at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on January 8, 2026 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration announced new dietary guidelines on Wednesday including an emphasis on proteins and full-fat dairy, and limits on processed foods. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Food

In The War On Protein, We Have Been Humiliatingly Defeated By Protein

David Roth

Federal Agents arrest a man during an Immigration Enforcement Operation in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, U.S., January 13, 2026.

Fascists Are Pathetic

Patrick Redford

Let Your Buyers Become Your Criers When You Pull The Rug Out From Beneath The Table Of Success

Giri Nathan

US Vice President JD Vance speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC on January 8, 2026. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP)

JD Vance Is A Hog That’ll Eat Any Slop

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 <a href="https://flaminghydra.com/">Flaming Hydra</a> cooperative of independent writers and artists, and one of the many founders of the <a href="https://www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/">Oakland Review of Books</a>.

Tommy Craggs

Bari Weiss seated onstage at a Free Press event in 2024.

Bari Weiss Is The Symptom

Ray Ratto

Bill Kennedy explaining, to the NBC cameras, that a play was called correctly. He is making "the Bill Kennedy face."

Everybody Loves Bill Kennedy

Justin Ellis

Protestors stare down federal officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a federal building near Minneapolis following the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.

When Everyday Life Becomes Domestic Terrorism

A self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci in which he looks displeased, perhaps making the face he would make if he learned that scientists were trying to grind up some ancient hair to unlock a supervision gene

Leonardo da Vinci’s Legacy Won’t Be Found In His DNA

Samer Kalaf

ICE agents stand at the scene where ICE agents fatally shot a woman earlier in the day in Minneapolis.

ICE Is Modeling Its Brutality After The IDF

Albert Burneko

US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota

How Hard Is It To Oppose Murder?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Which Lives Are Worthy Of The Media’s Protection?

'Grok' logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a picture of Elon Musk in Ankara, Turkiye on July 17, 2025.

The Machines

Who’s Responsible For Elon Musk’s Idiot Chatbot Producing On-Demand Child Sexual Abuse Material?

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.

Sean T. Collins

Dadfector

This Is Awesome

flat-headed cat, small wild cat, camera trap, southeast Asia, Thailand

Creaturefector

What Would You Name This Cat?

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>.

Eva Holland

‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Bringing Me Back To Hockey

Brandy Jensen

American Cant

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.

Blogs Of Note