defector-orange-no-empty-space

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

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-no-empty-space

Defector

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

back-in-stock-for-a-limited-time

Merch v3


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


Typing

Sabrina Imbler

a silvery fish called a delta smelt in a litle cup

Delta_Smelt_(36489759745)

Politics

This Week In Maligned Little Fish

<div id="1695913206.579009" class="c-virtual_list__item c-virtual_list__item--initial-activeitem" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913206.579009">
<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--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__indent">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text c-message_kit__blocks--inline">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text c-message__message_blocks--inline" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer p-block_kit_renderer--inline" 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 p-rich_text_block--inline" dir="auto">
<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>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1695913224.677889" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913224.677889">
<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--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__left" role="presentation"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


8b2c55a3-643f-49c0-b14a-0e4470463bef_1200x1200-1

Tom Scocca

First responders wearing Hazmat gear investigate a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of the entrance to the Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas on Jan. 01, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

burned cybertruck

Margin Of Error

How Crazy Was The Las Vegas Cybertruck Bomber?

Dave McKenna

LAGRANGE, GA - JUNE 10: Former US President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalyn Carter attach siding to the front of a Habitat for Humanity home being built June 10, 2003 in LaGrange, Georgia. More than 90 homes are being built in LaGrange; Valdosta, Georgia; and Anniston, Alabama by volunteers as part of Habitat for Humanity International's Jimmy Carter Work Project 2003.

Former President Carter Works On Habitat For Humanity Homes

Jimmy Carter Was The Iron Man Of Hospice

Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and JD Vance attend the Army-Navy football game on December 14, 2024.

Trump Musk Vance

Elon Musk Takes What He Can Get

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

GettyImages-2169636185_jpg

Journalismism

ABC’s Trump Settlement Is A Bad Omen

IMG_3819

Tom Ley

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 4: Police officers investigate the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan near a hotel on 54th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues on December 04, 2024 in New York, United States. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in what authorities are calling a 'brazen, targeted attack' outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The masked gunman, who waited several minutes before ambushing Thompson, fired multiple times, striking him in the back and right calf. Thompson was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. The suspect fled the scene and remains at large. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.

Healthcare executive gunned down in New York City in apparent ‘targeted attack’

What Comes After The Gun?

<p>Mohammed Mhawish is a Palestinian journalist and writer from Gaza. He is currently a contributing writer for <em>The Nation</em>. Mohammed, a contributor to the book <em>A Land With a People</em>, has reported for Al Jazeera, <em>The Economist</em>, MSNBC, +972 Magazine, and more. Subscribe to his newsletter <a href="https://www.mohammedmhawish.com/">here</a>.</p>


mohammed-mhawish-headshot

Mohammed R. Mhawish

The rubble of the author's house in Gaza. A child's toy is visible.

mhawish-gaza-house

Stories

One Year Ago, Israel Buried Me Alive. I’m Still Clawing My Way Out.

VictorPortraitWClaw

David Roth

A small drone flies in front of the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building as the sun rises in New York City on August 11, 2023

Sunrise in New York City

It’s Time For A Little Recreational Mental Illness In New Jersey

ajk_headshot

Alan Kluegel

Denzel Washington looking incredibly sinister and cool in Gladiator II.

Denzel-washington-gladiator-ii

Defector At The Movies

II Decadent II Decrepit: The Politics Of ‘Gladiator II’

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth leaves a meeting with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) with his wife Jennifer Rauchet as he continues to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2024 in Washington, DC.

hegseth

What Makes A Scandal

skalaf-photo

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO - OCTOBER 19: Brooke Slusser #10 of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

SJSU v Air Force

Bigots Don’t Know Ball

-b9trzb

Lauren Theisen

The Charter Building, Uxbridge, United Kingdom. Architect: dn-a architecture, 2017.

The Purpose Of A Bathroom Law


<p>Luisa Rollenhagen is a German-Argentinian freelance journalist based in Berlin. She&#8217;s written for publications such as <em>The Guardian</em>, BuzzFeed News, Deutsche Welle, and <em>GQ</em>. </p>


Profile

Luisa Rollenhagen

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - FEBRUARY 12: A parade float shows an effigy of Donald Trump holding a pair of scissors in his hand with a cut-up US flag in the shape of a swastika at the annual Rose Monday Carnival parade on February 12, 2024 in Dusseldorf, Germany. The Mainz and Dusseldorf Rose Monday parades are known for their biting political satire. Cities in western Germany are celebrating the traditional Rhineland Carnival this week, culminating in today's Rose Monday parades. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Rose Monday Carnival Parades In Mainz And Dusseldorf

Donald Trump Is Everyone’s Problem, Even In Germany

The U.S. Supreme Court building with the low afternoon sun behind it and a pedestrian in the foreground.

SCOTUS

Lapse Of Judgment