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Defector

Lauren Theisen

1940s Helpful Department Store Saleswoman Holding A Dress For Ctomer Wearing A Hat With Coat And Handbag Over Her Arm

Life Lessons

How To Dress To Change Your Life

Dave McKenna

(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) Children in their free time Bourgeois children in a cafe in the 'Casino des Enfants' in Paris - 1904 - Vintage property of ullstein bild (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Food

Watch Out For Those Fees

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

GRIMSBY, ENGLAND - JUNE 28: An aerial view of imported new cars on the quayside of Alexandra Dock at Grimsby Port on June 28, 2025 in Grimsby, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Want To Buy A Car? Be Ready To Suffer

The College Trip

Albert Burneko

In a black-and-white old photo from an exhibition in Paris in 1960, a robotic typist sits at a desk in front of a typewriter, with two women looking on.

The Machines

Why Would You Ask AI To Tell The Story Of Your Own Life?

<p>Hamilton Nolan is a journalist based in New York City. Subscribe to his work at <a href="https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1687350200913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0naFbUVOe-5ZgtPDtIM3gz">HamiltonNolan.com</a>.</p>


Hamilton Nolan

Go Ahead And Use AI. It Will Only Help Me Dominate You.

A Bit Of Church

Confessions Of A Bookanizer

Ray Ratto

A customer takes a photograph of a glass of Russian River Brewing's Pliny the Younger at the Russian River Brewing Company on February 1, 2019 in Windsor, California.

An Afternoon With Pliny The Younger

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Two joggers run in an autumnal park between two trees.

Falling Back In Love With Running

Kelsey McKinney

A barren Dust Bowl wasteland with a single fencepost standing in the foreground.

Now Let Us Survey Our Summer’s Gardening Bounty

Rachelle Hampton

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

I Hurt My Back

<p>Former Defector intern, now freelancer.</p>
<p>For professional inquiries or tips please write lucybl00m@protonmail.com or yuck.20 on Signal.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


Lucy Bloom

You Can’t Be Too Careful

Seeking Closure At Planet Hollywood, Where My Life Once Exploded

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Puja Patel is a writer, editor, and curator who has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Pitchfork and <em>Spin</em>, a culture editor for Deadspin, and a columnist for MTV and the <em>Village Voice</em>. Her work has appeared in publications such as the <em>New Yorker</em>, <em>Harper&#8217;s Bazaar</em>, and <em>Rolling Stone,</em> among others. She serves on the advisory board of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and Building Beats, a nonprofit organization that provides music education to underserved youth across New York City and Los Angeles.</div>
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