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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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Defector

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Patrick Redford

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison speaks during the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on October 9, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)

US-ENTERTAINMENT-MEDIA-CONFERENCE

Capital

Paramount Is Trying To Bully Its Way Into Acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery

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Giri Nathan

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers attends the Allen &amp; Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every year, some of the world's wealthiest and most powerful figures from the media, finance, technology, and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive week-long conference hosted by boutique investment bank Allen &amp; Co. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Allen & Co Brings Together Media And Tech Titans In Sun Valley

Larry Summers Recedes From Public Life Due To His Gross Emails With Jeffrey Epstein

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 10: Daniel Lurie, San Francisco Mayor attends 36th Annual Macy's Great Tree celebration presented by Ripple Lighting Ceremony at Union Square on November 10, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Macy's)

36th Annual Macy’s Great Tree Presented By Ripple Lighting Ceremony At Union Square, San Francisco

Politics

Shocker: Appointing A 29-Year-Old Derelict Pet Store Owner With No Politics Experience To San Francisco Board Of Supervisors Not Actually A Masterstroke

Jasper Wang

Three men bend over a newspaper just off the printing press, January 7, 1947, assignments, The Netherlands, 20th century press agency photo, news to remember, documentary, historic photography 1945-1990, visual stories, human history of the Twentieth Century, capturing moments in time.

Three men bend over a newspaper just off the printing press

Announcements

Reflections On Five Years In Worker-Owned Media

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


Profile Pic

Chris Thompson

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Tom Ley

(L-R) Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein, and musician Michael Bolton pose for a portrait during a party at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000.

Party At Mar-A-Lago

Jeffrey Epstein’s Inbox Was A Place To Complain, Talk Shit, And Make Boomer-Grade Jokes

Jeffrey Epstein and Alan Dershowitz discuss something.

Jeffrey Epstein with Professor Alan Dershowitz

Jeffrey Epstein Was The Unofficial Advice Columnist For The Elites

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Red neon ‘On Air’ sign

The Bad News Is There’s No More Money, But That’s Also The Good News

Tech leaders, including Sam Altman (C), CEO of OpenAI, and Tim Cook (2nd L), CEO of Apple, attend a dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump with tech leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

An Evening With Sam Altman And Steve Kerr

A detailed view of a hand holding a Fanduel Sports Network–branded microphone during an interview after the Detroit Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics on February 26, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.

fanduel microphone

Gambling

The NBA Media Is Not Built To Cover A Gambling Scandal

Former Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao arrives at federal court in Seattle, Washington, on April 30, 2024. Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former chief executive of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, was sentenced today to four months in prison after he pleaded guilty to violating laws against money laundering. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP)

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Donald Trump’s Crypto Corruption Machine Is Whirring Along At A Stunning Pace

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Albert Burneko

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The Machines

Soon ChatGPT Will Be Able To Botch Math Problems And Encourage Self-Harm… In A Sexy Way

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Kelsey McKinney

Taylor Swift on the red carpet wearing a red dress with winged eyeliner and looking out of the corner of her eye at the camera

67th Annual GRAMMY Awards – Arrivals

Arts And Culture

No Good Art Comes From Greed

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: The Free Press' Honestly with Bari Weiss (pictured) hosts Senator Ted Cruz presented by Uber and X on January 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press)

The Free Press’ Honestly with Bari Weiss Hosts Senator Ted Cruz presented by Uber and X

Journalismism

Bari Weiss Signs Huge Deal To Usher CBS News Into Its Vichy Era

Donald Trump makes a face in the Oval Office.

President Trump Signs Executive Order In Oval Office

Treasury Department Has Plans To Mint Dollar Coin Featuring Donald Trump’s Likeness

<div dir="auto">
<div dir="auto">Corbin Smith is a writer and photographer from Vancouver, Washington. His work has appeared in Deadspin, The Daily Beast, and <em>Rolling Stone</em>. He is also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pacific-northwest-insurance-corporation-moviefilm/id1712416222"><em>The Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation Moviefilm Podcast,</em></a> a podcast about movies.</div>
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Corbin Smith

A booth at The Materials Show in Portland, Ore. in February of 2025. It's an empty couple of tables with a big banner behind it with the word BLOOM on it and some stuff about sustainability.

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The Future Of The Sneaker Business First Requires A Future


<p>Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.</p>


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Dan McQuade

Modell’s Sporting Goods, logo in Queens borough.

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SEC: This Ponzi Scheme Involved Buying Modell’s Out Of Bankruptcy

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks as he presents the new Meta Ray-Ban Display at the 2025 Meta Connect conference in Menlo Park, California, on September 17, 2025. (Photo by Benjamin LEGENDRE / AFP)

US-INTERNET-AI-META

Mark Zuckerberg Demonstrates That His AI Smart Glasses Suck And Don’t Work

Engraving shows interior of Leiden University library, Netherlands 1610 by Jan Cornelisz Woudanus, approximately 1570-1615.

Interior of Leiden University library.

If The Thieving AI Company Can Survive The Legal Settlement, Then It Is Not Big Enough

Aaron Timms

A view of the park from behind police barriers

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Tennis

The U.S. Open Could Be More Than A Fortress For Capital

An Airbus Helicopter H145M of the Hungarian Air Force uses an infrared trap over the Danube River in Budapest during an air show as part of the celebrations marking the Hungarian national day on August 20, 2025. Hungary marks the 1,025th anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian state, established by the first king of Hungary, Stephen I.

HUNGARY-POLITICS-HISTORY-HOLIDAY

22-Year-Old Has It All Figured Out

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Kathryn Xu

(L-R) Lisa, Jisoo, Rosé and Jennie of BLACKPINK perform onstage at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

2023 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival – Weekend 2 – Day 2

Mods Asleep

Has The World’s Biggest K-Pop Group Already Come And Gone?

San Antonio Spurs French forward-centre Victor Wembanyama (C) reacts as he attends his event named "Hoop Gambit", a chess and basketball tournament that takes place in his birth town of Le Chesnay, south-west of Paris, on July 20, 2025.

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Funbag

OK But What If The Billionaire Is A Cool Guy?