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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

Enter Our Raffle To Win A Visit And Home-Cooked Meal From Drew Magary

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tip jar sweepstakes

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Rachelle Hampton

Firefighters take a break from battling a series of brush fires on November 9, 2024 outside of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey.

Wildfires In New Jersey Bring Smokey Haze To New York City

Climate

It Was Too Warm This Week

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Typing

Sabrina Imbler

In this aerial view, a person walks through flood waters that inundated a neighborhood after Hurricane Milton came ashore on October 10, 2024, in Punta Gorda, Florida. The storm made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in the Siesta Key area of Florida, causing damage and flooding throughout Central Florida.

Hurricane Milton Barrels Into Florida

What Can We Learn From Back-To-Back Monster Hurricanes Helene And Milton?

Northern lights are seen across a night sky; in the foreground, there's a telephone tower

Science

It’s Totally Cool That I Didn’t Get To See The Northern Lights. Seriously! I Promise!!

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Justin Ellis

Bad Bunny performing on stage in Philadelphia in 2022, wearing an outfit with red shorts while sitting on a beach chair while enjoying a beverage.

2022 Made In America – Day 2

Life Lessons

Fellas, Our Horrible Climate Future Demands You Wear Short Shorts

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

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Heather Wei-Xi Chen

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.

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The Great Outdoors

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

Kate Schapira sits at her climate anxiety booth in a public park in Providence, Rhode Island

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Interviews

What Do We Do With Our Climate Anxiety?

I am an independent writer/journalist based in New Delhi, India. I mainly work on long-form reportage on conflict, gender, climate, culture, intersection of technology and human agency. Published with the Al Jazeera Journalism Review, Aljazeera Digital, Defector, C S Monitor.

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Meher Qadri

Two divers jump into the foamy Yamuna River

Divers

The Yamuna River’s Treasure Divers Fight More Than Poverty To Survive

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David Roth

A group trying to rescue animals from the massive forest fire around Fort McMurray in Alberta wait at a roadblock on May 6, 2016. The Distraction logo is at top left.

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Podcasts

To Live And Die In Petroleum Products, With John Vaillant

Ben Orbison is a writer living in Los Angeles

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Ben Orbison

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 15: Tommy Fleetwood of England plays a second shot on the first hole during the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club on June 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

123rd U.S. Open Championship – Round One

Golf

The Los Angeles Country Club Owes L.A. More Than Just A Good U.S. Open

<a href="https://abshippy.com/">Abdullah Shihipar</a> is a writer and public health researcher based at Brown University.

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Abdullah Shihipar

L-R Kyla Bennett, PhD, JD Director, New England PEER and a local resident Tracy Stewart of Medway look over old astroturf piled up in a forested area, where it's apparently leaching PFAS chemicals into nearby water sources.

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The Case Against Turf Fields

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Patrick Redford

JERSEY CITY, NJ - JUNE 8: The sun is shrouded as it rises in a smokey sky behind the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and One Vanderbilt in New York City on June 8, 2023, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Smokey Sunrise in New York City

It’s All The Same Fire

Malcolm Harris is the author of Kids These Days: Human Capital And The Making Of Millennials, Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit: History Since The End Of History, and the forthcoming Palo Alto: A History Of California, Capitalism, And The World.

Malcolm Harris

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Capital

Growth For What: The Shaky Promise Of Green Capitalism

NEUSTIFT IM STUBAITAL, AUSTRIA - AUGUST 25: The Innsbrucker Hütte mountain hut stands in the Stubai Alps (Stubaier Alpen) mountain range on August 25, 2022 near Neustift im Stubaital, Austria. The hut lies on the Stubaier Höhenweg in Tyrol, a challenging alpine hiking trail that is among the most popular in Austria. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Travel Destination: Stubai Mountains In Austria

Alpine Mountaineering Is Melting Away

<a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://demause.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://demause.net/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">Neil deMause</a> has covered sports economics for more publications than even he can shake a stick at. He’s co-author of the book <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://www.amazon.com/Field-Schemes-Stadium-Swindle-Private/dp/1567511384?ascsubtag=c9dca64cfbbd6c35085d286f4423ee39b8350b2f&amp;rawdata=%5Br%7Chttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F%5Bks%7Cgoogle%5Bt%7Clink%5Bp%7C1800657108%5Ba%7C1567511384%5Bau%7C5722120546910826704%5Bb%7Cdeadspinascsubtag%3D4eba2da0f6cc83fe1f221e8d8ca5894cd93bf2a7ascsubtag%3D33f4f2a16c1eda72859c34ee8aa577410b04a0d8&amp;tag=deadspinamzn-20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga="[[&quot;Commerce&quot;,&quot;deadspin - Baseball Doesn't Need Collusion To Turn Off The Hot Stove&quot;,&quot;1567511384&quot;]]" data-amazonasin="1567511384" data-amazontag="deadspinamzn-20" data-amazonsubtag="[r|https://www.google.com/[ks|google[t|link[p|1831644811[a|1567511384[au|5722120546910826704[b|deadspin[lt|text" data-commerceready="true">Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit</a>, and runs <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://fieldofschemes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://fieldofschemes.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">the website of the same name</a>.

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Neil deMause

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 01: Construction continues at Allegiant Stadium, the USD 2 billion, glass-domed future home of the Las Vegas Raiders on July 1, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders and the UNLV Rebels football teams are scheduled to begin play at the 65,000-seat facility in their 2020 seasons. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Allegiant Stadium Under Construction

Which Teams Will Be The First Lost To Climate Change?