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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

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>.

Tommy Craggs

Bari Weiss seated onstage at a Free Press event in 2024.

Journalismism

Bari Weiss Is The Symptom

Tom Ley

Sports Highlight Of The Day

The Sports Highlight Of The Day Is This ICE Goon Eating Shit

Samer Kalaf

Young Palestinian choir members, attending an UNRWA-funded school, sing during a performance on July 18, 2023, in Gaza City.

Rolling Stone Makes The Absurd Claim That Women Are Not Allowed To Sing In Gaza

Justin Ellis

Protestors stare down federal officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside a federal building near Minneapolis following the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent.

Politics

When Everyday Life Becomes Domestic Terrorism

ICE agents stand at the scene where ICE agents fatally shot a woman earlier in the day in Minneapolis.

ICE Is Modeling Its Brutality After The IDF

Albert Burneko

US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota

How Hard Is It To Oppose Murder?

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Which Lives Are Worthy Of The Media’s Protection?

Police tape surrounds a vehicle suspected to be involved in a shooting by an ICE agent during federal law enforcement operations on January 07, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to federal officials, the agent, “fearing for his life” killed a woman during a confrontation in south Minneapolis.

ICE Agent Kills Woman, DHS Tells Obvious, Insane Lies About It

Barry Petchesky

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - JANUARY 03: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the media during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club on January 03, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump confirmed that the United States military carried out a large-scale strike in Caracas overnight, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Donald Trump Will Tell You Exactly What He Wants From Venezuela

'Grok' logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a picture of Elon Musk in Ankara, Turkiye on July 17, 2025.

Who’s Responsible For Elon Musk’s Idiot Chatbot Producing On-Demand Child Sexual Abuse Material?

Bari Weiss Keeps CBS News Groveling At The Feet Of Donald Trump

Brandy Jensen

Arts And Culture

American Cant

Dan Schindel

Interviews

Filmmaker Ian Bell On ‘WTO/99’ And The Legacy Of The Battle In Seattle

CBS News Hitches Its Wagon To These Two Duds

Piers Morgan, Nick Kyrgios, Aryna Sabalenka

Tennis

An Extended Conversation Between Piers Morgan, Nick Kyrgios, And Aryna Sabalenka Was Always Going To Turn Transphobic

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

Nicholas Russell

Seth Harp Talks About The Rot At The Core Of America’s Empire

Giri Nathan

Suns Reporter Describes Death Threats And Moving His Family Out Of Phoenix After Charlie Kirk Tweets

David Roth

A general view of the OU logo and signage for 50 Conference Championships, 7 National Championships, and 31 Bowl Championships on June 8, 2025, on the facade of the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK.

The Conservative Grievance Business Is Always Hiring

Zohran Mamdani holding up a photo of Ian Wright

This Is So Stupid

Can Zohran Mamdani Keep New Yorkers Safe From Remembering Some Arsenal Guys?

Jasper Nathaniel

Good Settler, Bad Settler

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

a photo of RFK Jr. where he looks like a broken Chuck-E-Cheeze animatronic

Science

Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism, No Matter What The CDC Website Now Says

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers attends the Allen &amp; Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every year, some of the world's wealthiest and most powerful figures from the media, finance, technology, and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive week-long conference hosted by boutique investment bank Allen &amp; Co. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Larry Summers Recedes From Public Life Due To His Gross Emails With Jeffrey Epstein

Patrick Redford

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 10: Daniel Lurie, San Francisco Mayor attends 36th Annual Macy's Great Tree celebration presented by Ripple Lighting Ceremony at Union Square on November 10, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Macy's)

Shocker: Appointing A 29-Year-Old Derelict Pet Store Owner With No Politics Experience To San Francisco Board Of Supervisors Not Actually A Masterstroke

Alex Shultz is a journalist based in Brooklyn. He&#8217;s a writer for <a href="https://www.hardresetmedia.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hardresetmedia.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1763581679564000&amp;usg=AOvVaw07bi0TNndgTXDN2QH72s3J">Hard Reset,</a> a newsletter about tech, labor, and power.

Alex Shultz

US Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, looks at his cellphone in between Senate votes to reopen the government on day 41 of the government shutdown at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 10, 2025. The longest-ever US government shutdown appeared headed Monday to an eventual resolution, after several Democratic senators broke ranks to join Republicans in advancing a compromise deal -- sparking intra-party backlash.

John Fetterman’s Memoir Is As Low-Effort As His Senate Tenure

Split image. The lefthand side is Olivia Nuzzi attends the 2023 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 29, 2023 in Washington, DC. She's wearing a leopard longsleeve top and has long blonde hair and is smiling tightly at the camera. On the right side is an image of a purple blob of some sort.