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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.

Defector

David Roth

Soda packaging are seen at the grocery store in Las Vegas, United States on November 17, 2023.

Podcasts

A Very Fine Cheerwine, With Emma Baccellieri

Isabelle Harrison and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty making some fantastic What Can You Do faces on the bench during a July 25 game against the Phoenix Mercury.

A Huge W, With Maitreyi Anantharaman

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Mattie Goes To A Yoga Class

NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell discusses the state of the union and its direction for the upcoming year before the Super Bowl in New Orleans. The Distraction logo is at upper right.

Who Can You Trust? With Pablo Torre

Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates jokes with Oneil Cruz #15 during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Yankees in 2024.

The Hazards Of Bob Nutting Mindset, With Justin Halpern

Defector Staff

Announcements

In Paradigm-Shifting Business Maneuver, Defector Acquires Basketball Podcast

A group of people gathers around an old timey radio to listen to a boxing match.

Defector Is Launching New Podcasts

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 Point B. Handsomest man in the world.

Drew Magary

Ten-year-old Eli Knauer takes a bite from a bacon cheeseburger twice wider than his face on May 27, 2011 at Morton's Steakhouse in Baltimore, Maryland.

Bullied For Bacon, With Michael Schur And Rohan Nadkarni

A worker stocks food items at a Whole Foods Market grocery store in Manhattan on December 17, 2024.

Like A Bat In The Supermarket

Oklahoma City Thunder players celebrate with the Larry O'Brien trophy after winning Game Seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center on June 22, 2025.

The Agony Of Victory, With Ray Ratto

Photo taken on Jan. 12, 2023 shows a closed store of Big Lots at King Square Center in Arvada, Northwest of Denver.

A Fine Balance Between Evil And Stupid, With Kelsey McKinney And Megan Greenwell

Monorail: Origins, With Alan Siegel

Jae Towle Vieira [they/them] works as a producer for Normal Gossip. Their fiction has been published in The Normal School, New England Review, Carve Magazine, Passages North, Fairy Tale Review, and elsewhere.

Jae Towle Vieira

Normal Gossip logo with cartoon characters gossiping

Everyone Will Be Abuzz About The Season 8 Finale

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Donovan (33) as seen during a Major League Baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2025. Just a real Cardinals-looking guy.

A Residence At One Cardinal Way, With Will Leitch

Spontaneous Diffusions Of Vocal Energy

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks to his right, seemingly at The Distraction logo, with a towel over his shoulder, after the team's Game 4 loss in the Western Conference Finals.

Activating The Dunk Machine

The Champagne Socialist And The Espresso Martini Capitalist

Police officers are seen outside the Supreme Court of the United States is seen on Thursday May 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The court is hearing arguments about lower courts' ability to block President Donald Trump's policy to end birthright citzenship.

Notes Of Sparkling Authoritarianism, With Jason Steinhauer

Brie Is A Promise

Honorary pace car driver, Alan Ritchson attends the "Reacher" activation on the midway prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2025 in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Distraction logo is at upper right.

Hands Like Small Turkeys, With Brandy Jensen

Stewing In Anger

A copy of "The Onion," a satirical newspaper, is seen on a lamppost in downtown Washington, DC on November 14, 2024. The lead headline reads "America Defeats America."

The State Of The Onion, With Ben Collins

Rolling The 20-Sided Dice On Love

Owner Steve Ballmer of the Los Angeles Clippers reacts against the Denver Nuggets during the fourth quarter in Game Three of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs.