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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

Defector's 2025 Tip Jar Sweepstakes: Join Chris and Kelsey in the Great Blogger Bake Shop

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Tip jar sweepstakes

<div class="author-header-content">
<p>Charles P. Pierce is a writer at <em>Esquire</em> and the author of four books, most recently <em>Idiot America</em>, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston with his wife but no longer his three children.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Charles P. Pierce

Worcester, MA - May 11: Opening Day at the new Polar Park for the Worcester Red Sox in Worcester on May 11, 2021. Spectators watch from above home plate as Syracuse Mets and the WooSox line the field. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Worcester Red Sox Vs. Syracuse Mets at Polar Park

A Million Lives Lead Back To Worcester

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Rachelle Hampton

A young woman at home, feeling sick. She is, appropriately, holding her lower back.

Young woman feeling sick

Life Lessons

I Hurt My Back

<div>
<p>Sebastian Stockman is a Teaching Professor in English at Northeastern University, a writer whose work has appeared in the <em>Washington Post </em>and the <em>Boston Globe</em> among many other places, and a guy who publishes <a href="https://sebastianstockman.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://sebastianstockman.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1748539688609000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0eIUYaj1h-eA1-XIa8i0L7">A Saturday Letter,</a> a very occasional free thing. Follow him on Bluesky @<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/substockman.bsky.social">substockman.bsky.social</a>.</p>
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Sebastian Stockman

Florida, Miami, Arscht Performing Arts Center, The Miami Herald Spelling Bee, test, competition, stage, overview, contestants, judges, moderator, sit, chair, elimination, opera house,

An overview of contestants at The Miami Herald Spelling Bee.

Life's Rich Pageant

Confessions Of A Spelling Bee Pronouncer

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Luis Paez-Pumar

Four-year-old Antonia Salmon with one of her birthday presents,a computer which used to belong to her father.

Typing Tot

The Machines

Restart Your Computer!

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Albert Burneko

bbq chicken

Chefector

I Have Been Defeated And Humbled By A Shortage Of Ketchup

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Kathryn Xu

A little girl completes a jigsaw puzzle delivered to her by Santa Claus, 24th December 1938.

Christmas Puzzle

It’s Puzzling Time


<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

Split image of Magic Johnson rubbing his hands in front of the AOL logo. Other side is David Hasselhoff, as Mitch Buchannon in Baywatch, pointing while in an America Online NASCAR racing suit

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“You’ve Got Mail” Reminds Me Of A Specific Time And Place

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Screenprinted black and white image of a woman looking at an older version of herself in fear.

Woman In Youth And Old Age

Under The Influence

My Favorite Influencer Is In Her 60s

Large bags of Halloween candy for sale in Walgreens pharmacy, Queens, New York.

variety bags of candy

Elder Wisdom

Bring Back Weird Halloween Candies

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Ray Ratto

A black and white photo of people around a craps table gambling in Las Vegas in 1963

Las Vegas, Craps Gambling Table In 1963

Risk Week

If You Must Gamble, Gamble In Person, Like An Adult

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Barry Petchesky

CLEVELAND, OH - OCTOBER 17: David Fry #6 of the Cleveland Guardians gets doused with water after hitting a walk off two-run home run to beat the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS presented by loanDepot at Progressive Field on Thursday, October 17, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Championship Series – New York Yankees v. Cleveland Guardians – Game Three

Point/Counterpoint: Friday Night Playoff Games

A toilet, viewed from above, mid-flush but thankfully with nothing but clear water in it.

Toilet

When The Toilet Rings, You Must Answer The Call