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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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The Machines

Politics

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Gimlet Media co-founder Alex Blumberg speaks at the Ignition: Future of Media conference in New York City, in 2017.

Gimlet Media’s Story Was Always Going To End Like This

Alex Pareene

Reddit logo is seen on an android mobile device with an ascent growth chart in the background.

The Last Page Of The Internet

<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

Patrick Redford

BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 14 : Fans cheering to game stage during the 2018 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational Groups Stage at the EU LCS Studio on May 14, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Wojciech Wandzel/Riot Games via Getty Images)

The ‘League Of Legends’ Walkout Is A Warning

Ray Ratto

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Fans sit behind signs referencing plans for the Oakland Athletics to move to Las Vegas during a game against the Atlanta Braves at RingCentral Coliseum on May 29, 2023 in Oakland, California.

Oakland A’s: Thousands Of Fans Across The Country Will Flock To Las Vegas To Watch Us Play Awful Baseball

David Roth

Duke wing player Brian Davis seen on the team's bench in 1991.

In Praise Of Brian Davis’s Very Possibly Fake $7 Billion Bid For The Washington Commanders

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

Steph Curry carves a Bored Ape ice sculpture.

The NBA’s New Social Justice Champion Has A Few Demerits

Albert Burneko

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who sucks at his job

Media Meltdowns

How Not To Interview A Transportation Secretary

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

Dan McQuade

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)

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Aerial view of urban sprawl, Las Vegas, Nevada

What Comes After Meeting The Neighbors?

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

Burning Down The House

SAN JOSE, CA - MARCH 17: Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes moves through security while on her way to court on March 17, 2023 in San Jose, California. Holmes is appearing in court for a restitution hearing. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images)

Everyone Who Knows What Elizabeth Holmes Did Wrong, Step Forward (Not So Fast, The New York Times)

Dan Berger teaches at the University of Washington Bothell and writes about activism, Black Power, and the carceral state. His latest book is Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family’s Journey.

Dan Berger

In The Fight For Justice, The Police Can Only Be On One Side

An NYC subway car with an MTA badge by the door

Jordan Neely Just Needed Some Help

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

A BuzzFeed News logo adorns a wall inside BuzzFeed headquarters, December 11, 2018 in New York City.

Journalismism

Greed Is Still The Problem

Laura Wagner

Elder Wisdom

What Can A Hoop Do?

Jen Ramos Eisen is a Central California- and Las Vegas-based baseball labor and economics reporter.

Jen Ramos Eisen

An image of the baseball field at Stockton Ballpark in Stockton, California. There's a baseball field, and rows of plastic chairs for fans to sit in.

Minor League Baseball’s New CBA Still Won’t Solve All Its Transportation Woes

Lisbon , Portugal - 1 November 2022; Changpeng Zhao, Co-founder &amp; CEO, Binance at Centre Stage during the opening night of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty Images)

Binance Crackdown Reveals How Rigged The Crypto Game Is

Striking Los Angeles Unified School District employees and their supporters, including teachers, rally outside LAUSD headquarters in Los Angeles on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 during the first day of a three-day strike. At the center of the photo, a person is holding up a sign. It reads: "Mortgage: $$$$ Food: $$$$$ Utilities: $$$$$ My pay: ¢¢¢¢¢¢"

Why L.A.’s Education Workers Had No Choice But To Strike

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: A Brinks armored truck sits parked in front of the shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) headquarters on March 10, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. Silicon Valley Bank was shut down on Friday morning by California regulators and was put in control of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Prior to being shut down by regulators, shares of SVB were halted Friday morning after falling more than 60% in premarket trading following a 60% declined on Thursday when the bank sold off a portfolio of US Treasuries and $1.75 billion in shares to cover declining customer deposits. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Collapse Of Silicon Valley Bank Is Testing Tech’s Loudest Evangelists

<a href="https://twitter.com/johnwilmeswords">John Wilmes</a> is a writer and professor in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Ringer, GQ, Chicago Reader, and The New Republic, among other places. He is the author of the novella Jad&#8217;s Dad Milo.

John Wilmes

A Compass Group employee works the hot dog concession at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

A Fight Is Brewing In Chicago Between A Multinational Concessions Business And Its Workers

Micah Herskind is an organizer, policy advocate, and writer based in Atlanta, GA.

Micah Herskind

A police car near the site of Atlanta's proposed Cop City

Abolition Requires Struggle

Stuffed rabbits copulating are on display at the Palais de la Decouverte (scientific museum) in Paris on October 23, 2012 as part of an exhibition.

How To Have More Sex

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19