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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

Justin Ellis

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward scores a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 20, 2026

Hot Feet On Main Are Only One Part  Of The NFL’s Climate Problem

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

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is carted off the field with an injury during a game with the Minnesota Vikings on September 20, 2026

Caleb Williams Suffers Awful Injury At Awful Time In Awful Game

Members of the Vanderbilt Commodores football team react after a last second fumble return in the endzone won the game against NC State, 35-31

College Football

NC State Innovates Brand New Endgame Choking Strategy

ESPN's College GameDay show on the quad at LSU, with Rece Davis, Nick Saban, Lainey Wilson, Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit, and Pat McAfee

This Is So Fucking Embarrassing

Brandy Jensen

David Roth

Staff Writer
Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19

Chris Thompson

Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher character glowers at a screaming man with his hand stuck in an industrial shredder during an episode from season four of Amazon's "Reacher." Reacher is wearing a t-shirt that says "Get Cracked In Philadelphia," and is huge.

He’ll Take The Elevator: Defector Reacher Creatures On ‘Reacher’ Season Four

Israel Daramola

Ray Ratto

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - SEPTEMBER 5: Lane Kiffin of the LSU Tigers walks down victory hill prior to a game against the Clemson Tigers at Tiger Stadium on September 5, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Lane Kiffin And ESPN Are Both Shilling For Their Agendas

page

Barry Petchesky

Russian Alexander Ovechkin talks to media in a locker room after the charity hockey "Match of the Year" between Russian players of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) at the CSKA arena in Moscow on July 13, 2025. (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP via Getty Images)

Alex Ovechkin Finally Faces Some Pushback For Supporting Vladimir Putin

Grace Byron is a critic, reporter, and novelist based in Queens. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Bookforum, and elsewhere. Her debut novel Herculine is out now.

Grace Byron

Books

A New Book Examines The Wickedness Of Trump. Sort Of.

Tom Ley

Gambling

There’s Always More Angry Problem Gamblers Where Those Came From

Patrick Redford

Capital

See The Algorithm’s Dark Gleam In The Hunter Biden-Andrew Callaghan Crypto Scam Email Whoopsie

LeBron James smiles and gestures from the stage of some dumb event.

Life's Rich Pageant

LeBron James Wants Your Paycheck To Become His Paycheck, By Way Of Polymarket

An AI-generated map of the united states that has incorrect borders and puts Detroit in Canada.

The Jets May Want To Reconsider Being “AI-First”

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

Luisa Rollenhagen

A basecap with the lettering 'Make Germany Great Again' is seen in a shelf behind co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the party's candidate for chancellor Alice Weidel prior to a live discussion with US tech billionaire and businessman Elon Musk on social network X, formerly known as Twitter, in her office at the Jakob Kaiser Building in Berlin on January 9, 2025. Musk is set to host a discussion on X with AfD's leader Weidel on Thursday. (Photo by Kay Nietfeld / POOL / AFP)

Politics

The Far Right Had Its Biggest Electoral Win In Germany Since The Nazis. What Now?

Giri Nathan

A huge group of fans mill around at the 2026 U.S. Open

Tennis

The State Of The U.S. Open Is The State Of Us

Kalshi's logo appears on a smartphone placed on a reflective surface, with a blurry betting curve projected in the background in Creteil, France, on March 9, 2026, during a major scandal and $54 million lawsuit concerning bets related to recent strikes in Iran. (Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Kalshi Lawsuit Pits States Against Trump Family’s Corruption Machine

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 16: David Ellison, CEO of Paramount, speaks onstage at the Paramount Pictures presentation at The Dolby Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of Cinema United, on April 16, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)

David Ellison’s Bid To Control Warner Bros. Hits The Rocks

Luis Paez-Pumar

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (L) and United States of America President Donald Trump (R) look on following the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final match between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium on July 19, 2026 in East Rutherford, United States.

Soccer

Gianni Infantino Is Putting The World Cup Up For Sale

The author can be reached at postpostdoc@protonmail.com.

Post-Postdoc

A visual representation of the Navier Stokes proof

The Machines

What Gets Left Out Of Math’s New Era?

Albert Burneko

Filming at the BBC Ealing studios for Dr Who story call "Moonbase" which sees the return of the Cybermen. Our picture shows: The Cybermen building a weapon on the moons surface, 19th January 1967.

What If We Could Have A Future?

Studious robot on an ocean liner cruising the North Sea.

With The Power Of AI, Information Can Pour Straight Through Your Skull And Onto The Ground Without Ever Slowing

ILLUSTRATION - 17 May 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: A person works at a computer with an illustrative image generated by artificial intelligence on the screen, showing code from various programming languages and a neural network diagram. At the meeting of telecommunications ministers on May 21, the EU countries are expected to finally adopt the AI law in the EU. The European Parliament had already given the green light for the project beforehand. Photo: Oliver Berg/dpa (Photo by Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images)

This Is So Stupid

Defector Also Investigating How Our Super Powerful AI Tool Broke Contain

Mychal Denzel Smith is the author of Stakes Is High, winner of the Kirkus Prize for Non-Fiction.

Mychal Denzel Smith

The Crazy Thing About “Woke 1” Was How It Was Exploited

Sohini Desai

A huge crowd of protesters marching in support of Black families. As the Black Lives Matter and Defund The Police movements are gaining momentum, activists are pushing to get rid of institutions that police and oppress black people. Activist in Brooklyn gathered at MetroTech plaza for a march to defund the Administration for Children's Services (ACS)

New York’s Use Of AI For Family Policing Summarizes The Last 30 Years Of City Politics

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller (L) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio before addressing the audience

Eventually Everyone Will Be Called A Terrorist

Charlotte Rosen

How Cops Consolidated So Much Power Over Local Governments

Media Meltdowns

Arch Manning, Room Full Of Dipshits, Snicker About AI Video Of Steve Sarkisian Slapping Holly Rowe

US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks during the second day of the Republican National Committee midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 10, 2026. US Republicans are betting that putting President Donald Trump at the center of their campaign can rescue a party facing grim election forecasts, despite the president's negative approval ratings. A day earlier, on the first day of the midterm convention, he promised $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans retain control of Congress in November. (Photo by Kent NISHIMURA / AFP)