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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

Capital

Climate

Margin Of Error

Policing

The Machines

Politics

Albert Burneko

How To Quit Your Job, According To The Washington Post: Fuck You

David Roth

Investor Michael Milken at his own institute's annual event in 2017, back when he was still a convicted financial criminal.

Here Are The Seven Best Sentences From The Financial Times’ Story About Michael Milken’s High-Finance Jamboree

circa 1965: A woman lifts a cup of coffee off a saucer in a kitchen. (Photo by Leo Vals/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Boston Tech Startup Develops Worst Imaginable Way To Get A Cup Of Coffee

Life Lessons

Fake It Until You Make It (A Worse Planet For Everyone To Live On)

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


Dan McQuade

An ad for the Carlos Watson show. A quote calls him "Anderson Cooper Meets Oprah" on it.

Media Meltdowns

Ozy Media Is A Monumental Bummer

Patrick Redford

KIRKLAND, WA - OCTOBER 28: Google Engineering Director Chee Chew demonstrates using the climbing wall during the grand opening of Google Kirkland October 28, 2009 in Kirkland, Washington. More than 350 employees work in the Kirkland facility, which includes amenities such as a gym and soda fountain, consolidates several offices throughout Kirkland. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

Overexplained Lists

Tech Companies, Ranked By The Skill Of People Wearing Their T-Shirts At The Climbing Gym

Hungarian sculptors and creators Reka Gergely (L) and Tamas Gilly (R) pose next to the statue of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of the virtual currency bitcoin, after its unveiling at the Graphisoft Park in Budapest, on September 16, 2021. - Hungarian bitcoin enthusiasts unveiled a statue on September 16 in Budapest that they say is the first in the world to honour Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious inventor of the virtual currency. The bronze life-size sculpture depicts a hooded figure with stylised facial features, alluding to Nakamoto, a pseudonym credited as bitcoin's founder, but whose identity remains unknown. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP) (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)

This Is All Exactly What It Looks Like

Kelsey McKinney

What Do We Do With The Big Business Of Immersive Art?

Ray Ratto

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA - JULY 11: NBA athlete Steph Curry tees off from the second hole during the final round of the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe South golf course on July 11, 2020 in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Steph Curry, Crypto Cornball

Laura Wagner

WGA East Council Slate Edits Platform After Everyone Gets Mad At Them

Anonymous

An eviction notice is posted and the lock is changed on a residence in the unincorporated community of Galloway on March 3, 2021 west of Columbus, Ohio.

The U.S. Is Failing Tenants, And It’s About To Get Even Worse

NCAA president Mark Emmert listens during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on “NCAA Athlete NIL (name, image, and likeness) Rights” on Capitol Hill on June 9, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress hopes to pass legislation on NIL compensation at the federal level before it takes effect in several states across the country on July 1.

Death To The NCAA

NCAA Decides That Someone Else Can Pay Its Unpaid Athletes

Check Out The Drama At This Hip Cookware Company, And Then Confront The Sucking Void At The Heart Of The Global Economy


<p>Amy Pedulla is a writer and audio producer. She can be reached at pedullaa@gmail.com.</p>


Amy Pedulla

Inside The Fight To Unionize CorePower Yoga

It's Jamie Dimon, America's finance boss.

The Bosses Are At It Again

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/PykeA">Alan Pyke</a> is a former ThinkProgress Leftist Hack turned former Bernie Sanders 2020 Leftist Flack. His writing <em>has</em> appeared but it goes to another school, in Canada, you wouldn’t know it.</p>


Alan Pyke

A trading card commemorating Donald Trump's widely beloved nickname for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, which apparently was "Sneaky."

Finally, Trading Cards Commemorating The Dumbest Year In American History

Clubhouse Is Loud, Incoherent, And Packed With Suckers

<p>Lia Russell is a freelance labor journalist from San Francisco. More work can be found at <a href="https://liaruss.com/">liaruss.com</a> or on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/liaoffleash">@LiaOffLeash.</a></p>


Lia Russell

When Gig Workers Die On The Job, They Die Alone

Life's Rich Pageant

A CNBC Reporter Ruined My Lunch Plans: A Visit To The N.J. Deli Worth $100 Million

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


Chris Thompson

Interviews

A Cryptocurrency Expert Introduces Me To The Dystopian Nightmare Of Art As A Financial Instrument

A single Tesla sedan drives through a tunnel

Science

To Truly Appreciate The Elon Musk Tunnel Footage, You Must Hear It Set To Music

How A “Deeply Progressive” Coffee Chain Is Trying To Crush Its Workers’ Union

Amos Barshad

Inside The Chaotic, Quasi-Legal Marketplace For Personal Protective Equipment

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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

In The Future Of Collecting, Is Anyone Having Fun?

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 20: A Nike logo is seen at the Nike flagship store on 5th Ave. on December 20, 2019 in New York City. Revenue in the North American market, which accounts for the majority of Nikes sales, rose 5% from a year ago. The company said its Jordan brand had its first ever billion-dollar quarter. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)