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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

Ray Ratto

(Original Caption) 3/22/1989-Plant City, FL-Cincinnati Reds' manager Pete Rose reacts to a reporters question 3/22 in the dugout prior to their contest against the Cards. Rose is under scrutiny by the baseball commissioners office for gambling.

Pete Rose Will Spend The Afterlife As A Cudgel

Dennis M. Hogan

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 19: People including researchers from Chicago area universities gather on the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) campus to voice concerns about the potential loss of federal funding for medical research on February 19, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. The researchers are worried about the future of their projects as the Trump administration cuts grant funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Politics

The NIH Cuts Are Part Of An All-Out War On Higher Education

Patrick Redford

A canyon and waterfall in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

The Great Outdoors

What Are Public Lands For?

Samer Kalaf

Palestinians walk through the destruction in Gaza.

Interviews

Pankaj Mishra On Gaza, The Memory Of The Holocaust, And The “Very Dark World” To Come

Israel Daramola

Arts And Culture

How Donald Trump Won Rap Back

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


Sabrina Imbler

A screenshot of a graphic including a photo of Sam Nordquist, a Black transgender man with a moustache, wearing a backwards cap and staring at the camera. The top of the graphic says "Gone But Not Forgotten" with two doves on either side. And the rest of the image states: Sam Nordquist. Canandaigua, NY. Last seen: January 1, 2025. Age: 24

Who Gets To Determine A Hate Crime?

Chris Kluwe Arrested At City Council Meeting For Calling Out Garish MAGA Plaque

A news chyron that reads: Man arrested for shooting two people in Miami Beach

Life's Rich Pageant

This Is The Logical Endpoint Of Zionism

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
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Tom Scocca

NYPD officers prepare to make arrests during a rally and a march in Manhattan to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recent raids and crackdown on migrants in New York. New York City, U.S., February 13, 2025.

The Country That Was Here Is Gone

Giri Nathan

US Vice President JD Vance, standing alongside President Donald Trump (R), speaks about the mid-air crash between American Airlines flight 5342 and a military helicopter in Washington, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Divers pulled bodies from the icy waters of Washington's Potomac river Thursday after a US military helicopter collided midair with a passenger plane carrying 64 people, with officials saying there were likely no survivors. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP) (Photo by OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

JD Vance Would Throw His Own Kids Under A Bus If Donald Trump Were Driving It

David Roth

US President Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump (L) watch the pre-game show before Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025. His hair looks all fucked up; there's a huge American flag on the field.

Confused Brits Cause Severe Damage At The Donald Trump Propaganda Factory

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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 Taylor

History

The Last Living Bedwardite

Tom Ley

President of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Charlie Baker testifies before the Senate Judicary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Committee held a hearing to investigate sports gambling. (

Death To The NCAA

Charlie Baker And The NCAA Roll Over For Donald Trump

People organize a rally and demonstration against Elon Musk outside the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in Washington D.C., United States on February 03, 2025.

Billionaire Dipshit And His Strike Team Of Greasy Beavises Are Stripping The Wires From The Federal Government

A Chiefs end zone with the NFL slogan "End Racism"

NFL No Longer Interested In Ending Racism

Justin Ellis

President Trump walks across the south lawn of the White House in a black coat after returning from a trip

The Witch Hunt

Journalists raise their hands in an attempt to ask a question of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 31, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Look For The Helpers

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<div>Jen Golbeck is a writer, scientist, and professor at the University of Maryland. Her Substack, The <a href="http://magareport.news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://magareport.news&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1738242090561000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1v7CItRYSjo8F2e4vcdTQy">MAGAReport</a>, tracks what&#8217;s happening on far-right pro-Trump social media. She splits her time between Washington, D.C. and Key West.</div>
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Jen Golbeck

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in Kharkiv. ( Photo/Jen Golbeck)

What’s Wrong With War Tourism?

We Need To Get Off The Internet

<p>Elizabeth Hawes is a poet, playwright, and essayist from Minneapolis. A recipient of the Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize, she has contributed to multiple pedagogical journals and books. Her quotes have been projected onto the Rockefeller Center during PEN America&#8217;s Centennial Art Installation Celebration: Speech Itself.</p>


Elizabeth Hawes

An illustration of a steel toilet with blue water, in an empty room.

Stories

What Happens In Prison When You Can’t Pee On Command

Media Meltdowns

Oratorical Uncles Bond Over Increasingly Reactionary Views

Kelsey McKinney

The Old Rules Are For Losers

Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL speaking at a dinner.

The ADL Was A Farce Long Before It Made Excuses For Elon Musk

<p>William Turton is a photographer and investigative reporter. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.</p>


William Turton

Trump fans in rain ponchos wait in the cold.

Donald Trump’s Biggest Fans Waited In The Cold Like Dogs

A stock graph shows the value of the $TRUMP meme coin displayed on a mobile screen in this photo illustration in Brussels, Belgium, on January 19, 2025. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto)