CULTURE

Footer Column 2

Footer Legal

Footer Main

Nav Bar

OTHER

SPORTS

Subscribe, at any level, to play

Thanks for your interest in Defector Crosswords!

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Plans start at $8/month.

Subscribers enjoy unlimited, ad-free browsing.

Register to continue

Or click here to subscribe for unlimited, ad-free access!

Our gift to you: This year's post is unlocked. Register your email to get even more free articles.

Welcome to the 2025 Hater's Guide!

Just register your email:

This blog is free to read.

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.

Defector

<div id="message-list_1754580289.636299" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1754580289.636299">
<div class="c-message_kit__background c-message_kit__background--hovered p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover c-message_kit__hover--hovered" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--default">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer" data-qa="block-kit-renderer">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first">
<div class="p-rich_text_block" dir="auto">
<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>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="message-list_1754580598.595269" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1754580598.595269">
<div class="c-message_kit__background p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--default">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__left" role="presentation" data-stringify-ignore="true"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


Puja Patel

Mods Asleep

Months, Ranked

Brandy Jensen

Joni Mitchell posed in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1972

A Playlist For Being Chill About Your Crush

The Cringiest Love Songs That Make Us Cry

<p>Amy Phillips is the former Executive Editor of Pitchfork. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Village Voice, and many other publications. A Philadelphia native, she currently lives in Brooklyn.</p>


Amy Phillips

Amy at 14 in her childhood bedroom (L) / Amy's daughter as a baby in that same room (R).

Living Through This, Again

<p>Bobby Finger is the co-host of Who? Weekly and the author of the novels <i>The Old Place</i> and <i>Four Squares</i>. His third novel will be released next summer.</p>


Bobby Finger

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift talk on a podcast.

Two Showgirls In Love: Travis Kelce And Taylor Swift Have A Chat

Defector Staff

The Worst Songs We Love So Much

<p>Marian Bull is a writer, editor, and potter living in Brooklyn. She writes <a href="https://marianbull.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://marianbull.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1755179401925000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1fEbhNoXERVRom7SEmVfSn">Mess Hall</a>, a cooking newsletter, and is at work on her first book.</p>


Marian Bull

Patrons dance during weekly line dancing lessons

Stud Country, Queer Line Dancing,  And The Joys Of Being In Sync

Just A Tip

Israel Daramola

2 small boys playing Street Smart video game

A Playlist Of Pop That Sounds Like My Gamer Youth

<p>Tommy Craggs is an editor and writer, late of Game Theory With Bomani Jones on HBO, Mother Jones (no relation), HuffPost, Slate, Gawker Media, and Deadspin. He&#8217;s part of the <a href="https://flaminghydra.com/">Flaming Hydra</a> cooperative of independent writers and artists, and one of the many founders of the <a href="https://www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/">Oakland Review of Books</a>.</p>


Tommy Craggs

Are We Playing It All Wrong?

Dave McKenna

Fans of Elvis Presley (1935-1977) gather to celebrate his memory during an impersonator contest in Memphis.

Remembering My Elvis Death Week Pilgrimage, 35 Years Later

<div>Jaime Brooks is a writer, musician, and poster who lives in Astoria, Oregon. She has written for <a href="https://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/streaming-services/">The New Inquiry</a> and has a Substack called <a href="https://jaimebrooks.substack.com/">The Seat of Loss</a>.</div>
<div></div>


Jaime Brooks

What Caused The Current Country Boom?

Kathryn Xu

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

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

Kelsey McKinney

screenshot from the movie barbie of margot robbie with the text "do you guys ever think about dying"

A Playlist To Escape The Summertime Blues 

<p>Clover Hope is a Brooklyn-based writer and author of the award-winning book <a href="https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/the-motherlode"><i>The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop</i></a>. Her writing has appeared in <i>Esquire</i>, <i>Men&#8217;s Health</i>, <i>Elle</i>, ESPN, <i>Billboard, </i>and <i>GQ</i>, among others.</p>
<div class="yj6qo ajU"></div>


Clover Hope

Screenshot from Hulu's tv series remake of 'High Fidelity'

The Trials Of Finding Love As A Music Snob

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


Sabrina Imbler

How Climate Change Is Transforming The Soundtrack Of The Natural World

Billy Haisley

Boy in a pedal car. Driving his pedal car on the pavement outside his house.

A Playlist Of Ear-Splitting Brazilian Funk Ideal For A Long Drive

Lauren Theisen

Taylor Swift performs onstage during "Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour"

Taylor Swift Turned Me Straight

<p>Jordan Sargent is a writer and music industry professional living in Brooklyn. His work has appeared in Gawker, Pitchfork, Slate, and more.</p>


Jordan Sargent

There Has Never Been A Better Time To Be A White Rapper

Huddle Up, Take A Knee: It’s Puja Week

Talk show host Conan O'Brien appears on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" at the NBC Studios on September 5, 2003 in Burbank, California.

The Late-Night Television Wars Are Worth Reliving

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


Nicholas Russell

End of life petrol and diesel cars and vans are piled on top of one another as they wait to be recycled in a car scrapyard on November 29, 2022 in Glastonbury, England. The UK scraps over one million cars a year and many more petrol and diesel cars will need to be taken off the road if the Government is to reach its target for the number of electric cars to be reached.

I Will Drive This Fucked-Up Car Until One Of Us Dies


<p>Corey Atad is a freelancer writer based in Toronto with an unhealthy Air Bud obsession.</p>


Corey Atad

The Decemberists Take Me Back And Forth

Ray Ratto

FC Barcelona women's football team present their Champions League trophy to supporters from the balcony of the Catalan Regional Government headquarters one day after getting their third Champions League triumph, in Barcelona on May 26, 2024. The Catalans finally avenged final defeats by Lyon in 2019 and 2022 yesterday in Bilbao, beating the French giants 2-0 to lift the Champions League for the third time.

Buy The T-Shirt, Not The Jersey

Patrick Redford

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 06: Donte DiVincenzo #0, Jalen Brunson #11, and Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks react against the Indiana Pacers during Game One of the Eastern Conference Second Round Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 06, 2024 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. ()

Vinson Cunningham On The Knicks, Art, And How Basketball Can Help You Live Nobly

<p>B.D. McClay is an essayist and critic.</p>


B.D. McClay

11 February 2020, Berlin: Bottles of the brand "Coca Cola" are lined up in the cinema Zoo Palast.

I Will Never Abandon My Special Little Drink

<p>Mitch Therieau is a writer living in Virginia.</p>


Mitch Therieau

American singer Rob Thomas, of the American rock band Matchbox Twenty, sings on stage during a concert in Los Angeles, California, circa 1996. (Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images)

In Defense Of That Whole Weird ’90s Rock Marble-Mouthed Thing

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Madeleine Baker is a historian and an associate editor at </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400">The Drift.</span></i></p>


Madeleine Baker

Professor Richard Dawkins next to a bus displaying an atheist message in Kensington Gardens, London.

The Ghosts Of New Atheism Still Haunt Us

<p>Fran Hoepfner is a writer and teacher.</p>


Fran Hoepfner

US actor Kevin Costner attends a press conference for the film "Horizon: An American Saga" during the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2024.

Why Do I Keep Rooting For Kevin Costner?

<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Dan Brooks writes essays and fiction from Missoula, Montana.</span></i></p>


Dan Brooks

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift reputation Stadium Tour at MetLife Stadium on July 21, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Culture Needs More Jerks

Woman Reclining at Desk Next to Typewriter (Photo by William H. Rau/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)