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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

<p>Maya Goldberg-Safir writes about women’s basketball and splits her time between Chicago and Oakland, where she was born and raised. She is the creator of <a href="https://wnbaroughnotes.substack.com/">Rough Notes</a>, a newsletter chronicling women’s basketball from the court, the road, and the heart.</p>


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Maya Goldberg-Safir

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History

How The Japanese-American Basketball Leagues Built Natalie Nakase


<p>Investigations Editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


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Diana Moskovitz

A photo of three women's basketball players. They all stand with their backs to the camera. On the back of their shirts are the 37 words that make up Title IX, the law that gave women equal access to school sports

Title IX

Politics

Women’s Sports Happened By Accident, And Could Be Taken Apart On Purpose

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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

Casey Taylor

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The Last Living Bedwardite

<p>Chris Roberts is the political reporter at Marijuana Business Daily and has recent bylines in The Guardian, The New Republic, Alta Journal, and the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>


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Chris Roberts

A pari of radioactive green arms catching a football over other outstretched hands

Nuclear Football

The Naval Scientist Who Wanted To Know How Football Players Would Survive Nuclear War

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Barry Petchesky

10 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: American Football, NFL, Carolina Panthers - New York Giants, Matchday 10, Main Round at the Allianz Arena: Coach Brian Daboll of the New York Giants takes part in a press conference after the game. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Carolina Panthers – New York Giants

New York Giants: Season In Review

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Samer Kalaf

Joe Biden holds a copy of The Hundred Years' War On Palestine by Rashid Khalidi.

US-POLITICS-BIDEN

The Next History Book On Palestine Will Have Joe Biden In It


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


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Sabrina Imbler

Germanic warrior taking stimulants imagined by Stanislav(Stanisław) Kontny,

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Veni, Vidi, Snorti: I Came, I Saw, I Did A Bump

'With a Turned Thumb', (Pollice Verso), 1872. A victorious Roman gladiator awaiting the verdict of the Emperor. After the painting by Jean-Leon Gerome. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

‘With a Turned Thumb’, (Pollice Verso), 1872.

Overexplained Lists

Gladiators, Ranked


<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

Color print of late Victorian marketing for bathroom and sanitary equipment. It's for Twyford’s Improved Independent Canopy Bath combining plunge, shower, and spray. There is also a Cabinet Bath Enclosure that looks like a coffin (and also a cabinet, I guess)

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College Football

Showering After A Loss Is Just Too Self-Indulgent

<p>Dayna Evans is a baker and writer who got really into surfing recently. She runs Downtime Bakery in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia.</p>


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Dayna Evans

The Great Outdoors

East Coast Surfing’s Rich, Overlooked Legacy Gets Its Due

<p>Justin McHenry is an archivist and historian from West Virginia, and the author of <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/lemuria-the-true-story-of-a-fake-place/19663689">Lemuria: A True Story of a Fake Place</a> </i>and the upcoming book, <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/raising-philadelphia-the-making-of-america-s-first-great-city-1750-1775-justin-mchenry/20390701?ean=9781955041201">Raising Philadelphia: The Making of America&#8217;s First Great City</a>.</i></p>


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Justin McHenry

MILL CREEK, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 6: Smoke shrouds Mt. Shasta as the Park Fire burns on August 6, 2024 in Mill Creek, California. (Photo by Ethan Swope/Getty Images)

Park Fire Grows In Size Sparking New Evacuation Orders

How AI Copyright Law Is Being Guided By Spirits From Atlantis


<p>Rose Eveleth is the host of the podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flash Forward</a>, and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/book/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the book by the same name</a>.&nbsp;<br></p>


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Rose Eveleth

An illustration of a skeleton with running shoes on sliding into an MRI machine

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Olympics

What Can We Learn From The Biology Of Dead Athletes?

A basalt head portrait of Roman Emperor Nero is pictured at the exibition "Nero" in Rome on April 11, 2011. Nearly two hundred pieces, including sculptures, reliefs, frescoes, paintings and artifacts from recent excavations will be shown during the exhibition from April 12 to September 18. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Nero Was The Worst Best Olympian Ever


<p>Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, <em>The Other Olympians</em>, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.</p>


Michael Waters

Helen Stephens running in the 1936 Olympics

Olympische Spiele 1936 in Berlin – 2. Vorlauf 100-m Damen, Zieleinlauf

Olympian Helen Stephens Suffered Through An Anti-Queer Panic That Still Reverberates

<p>Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.</p>


Asher Elbein

An illustration of Magneto placing a yarmulke atop his head.

Magneto (1)

The Judgment Of Magneto

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.09</p>


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Chris Thompson

Sockdolager

Announcements

Sockdolager Is The New Dinger


<p>Richard Staff is a <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardStaff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weapons-grade Twitter goblin</a> and hostage of the Mets. That is his real name.</p>


Richard Staff

View from seats on the first-base side of Ebbets Field as the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers opened the 1939 baseball season, Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1939.

Ebbets Field Opening Day

The Last Of The Brooklyn Dodgers

Dave McKenna

8 Nov 2000: Rod Strickland #1 of the Washington Wizards dribbles the ball during the game against the New Jersey Nets at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Nets defeated the Wizards 102-86. NOTE TO USER: It is expressly understood that the only rights Allsport are offering to license in this Photograph are one-time, non-exclusive editorial rights. No advertising or commercial uses of any kind may be made of Allsport photos. User acknowledges that it is aware that Allsport is an editorial sports agency and that NO RELEASES OF ANY TYPE ARE OBTAINED from the subjects contained in the photographs.

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Farewell, TGI Fridays Where Rod Strickland And Chico DeBarge Threw Hands On 9/11

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<p class="sc-77igqf-0 bOfvBY">Vince Guerrieri is an award-winning journalist and author in the Cleveland area. He likes Lake Erie perch sandwiches, Jim Traficant and long walks on the field at League Park. His website is <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://vinceguerrieri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://vinceguerrieri.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">vinceguerrieri.com</a>, and you can follow him on Twitter <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">@vinceguerrieri</a>.</p>
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Vince Guerrieri

Balloons, 1.5 million of them, curl around the Terminal Tower Building during Balloonfest '86 sponsored by the United Ways Services of Cleveland. The lift off will be entered into the Guinness World Book of Records.(Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Balloons Surrounding Terminal Building

Balloonfest Made Cleveland A Laughingstock. Did It Deserve It?

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David Roth

TWO HARBORS, MN - NOVEMBER 9: A bright moon shone over the horizon near the Split Rock Lighthouse on November 10, 2019. It was lit to honor the lives of the 29 men that died aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald 44 years ago. The lighthouse is only lit for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes each year. (Photo by Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Split Rock Lighthouse lit in memory of Edmund Fitzgerald

The Edmund Fitzgerald Is Inspiring Jim Harbaugh And Michigan Football To Achieve “Lake Mindset”

A man carries a child, wounded by Israeli airstrikes, into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-GAZA-CONFLICT

Subjugation And Dehumanization Lead To Only One Result

Baltimore Orioles left-hander Tippy Martinez, from a 1983 game against the Chicago White Sox.

tippy martinez

Recalling “The Pickoff Game,” Forty Years Later

<div id=":g4.ma" class="Mu SP" title="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5" data-tooltip="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5"><span id=":g4.co" class="tL8wMe EMoHub" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/GoStevenGoldman">Steven Goldman</a> is a former BP editor-in-chief and current consulting editor. He is the author of the Casey Stengel biography <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Genius-Making-Casey-Stengel/dp/1574888749">Forging Genius</a> </i>and host of the long-running <a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/show/the-infinite-inning/"><i>Infinite Inning </i>podcast</a>, which sits at the crossroads of baseball, history, politics, and culture. His most recent book, which has an introduction by David Roth, is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Baseballs-Brief-Lives-Inspired-Infinite/dp/B0BBJTPGDF"><i>Baseball&#8217;s Brief Lives: Player-Stories Inspired by the Infinite Inning</i></a>.</span></div>
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Steven Goldman

Domingo German of the New York Yankees leaves the mound during a home game against the Chicago Cubs in July of 2023.

Chicago Cubs v New York Yankees

Underneath The Bottle

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Ray Ratto

(Original Caption) 8/27/1951-St. Louis, MO-: Bill Veeck, new owner of the St. Louis Browns, who believes that a zany atmosphere in baseball is good "box office," carried his idea to a new high when he staged a "grandstand managers" night when the Brownies played the Philadelphia Athletics. Fans who always know what the managers of the opposing teams "shouldda done" were given the opportunity to vote on decisions. Here, Jay Edson, of the Browns publicity staff, is asking the Board of Managers to decide on a pitcher.

Man Holding Sign near Grandstand Audience

The Best Team Is One That Can’t Hurt You Anymore

An American soldier stands in the Zeppelin stadium and looks towards a Nazi swastika, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945. The stadium, along with two others, was used by Adolf Hitler to hold many Nazi rallies. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)