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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.

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Defector

Defector's 5th Birthday Party is on September 10 in Brooklyn

5th birthday party

Birthday party 2025

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Tom Ley

2019-01-01 00:15:14.989

Maitreyi Anantharaman

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Luis Paez-Pumar

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Brandy Jensen

Defector Reads A Book: The Art of Fielding

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Defector Reads A Book

The Art Of Reading

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Lauren Theisen

Birch boletus - edible mushrooms on moss (Leccinum scabrum)

Birch boletus – edible mushrooms on moss (Leccinum scabrum)

Arts And Culture

My Favorite Part Of ‘Anna Karenina’ Is The Guy Who Can’t Stop Himself From Talking About Mushrooms

Annie Berke

Clueless

‘Ugh! As If!’ Takes On The Enduring Appeal Of ‘Clueless’

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Kelsey McKinney

black and white photo of a man with a pipe lounging with a book

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How Do I Find A Non-Fiction Book I Won’t Hate?

<p>Emily Zhou is the author of <em>Girlfriends</em><i>, </i>which won the Publishing Triangle’s Leslie Feinberg Award and was nominated for a Lambda<i>. </i>She edits books at LittlePuss Press and short fiction at <em>Joyland Magazine</em><i>.</i></p>


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Emily Zhou

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Nerves, Nerves, Nerves

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<p>Robert Rubsam writes fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in the NYT Magazine, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Baffler, and Liberties. He is a contributing writer for Commonweal Magazine.</p>
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Robert Rubsam

Craig Finn attends "A New York Evening With Margo Price" at The Greene Space on June 16, 2023 in New York City.

Craig Finn

Craig Finn Can Write A Great Song, But Can He Write A Good Short Story?

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Bills Week

William F. Buckley’s Bill Never Came Due

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Soraya Roberts

Hanif Kureishi attends the press night after party for "The Buddha Of Suburbia" at the Barbican Centre on October 29, 2024 in London, England.

“The Buddha Of Suburbia” – Press Night – After Party

Hanif Kureishi Writes Himself Anew In ‘Shattered’

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


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Nicholas Russell

Promo still from the 1961 Film The Children's Hour

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Interviews

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back: Michael Koresky On Hollywood’s Queer History

Sarah Brouillette

Man uses vintage typewriter

The Plight Of The White Male Novelist

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Defector Staff

In the shadows, c.1920. Private Collection. Creator: Cucuel, Edward (1875-1954).

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Books We Think You Should Read This Summer

25th May 1937: Two London women reading back to back as they sunbathe by the banks of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London.

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I Had A Baby And Now I Can’t Read! What Do I Do?

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<div>Katherine Churchill holds a Ph.D. in English literature. Her writing has appeared in <i>Time</i>, <i>Literary Hub, Electric Literature, Oxford American Magazine</i>, and elsewhere.</div>
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Katherine Churchill

RARE BOOKS

The Exclusive Men’s-Only Rare Books Club, And The Woman Who Has A Key

A logo for Ask the Book Doctor, with a woman with arm tattoos and a nose ring looking at a giant art book and flipping pages. It's a very 1980s clip art look

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Got A Reading Problem? Ask The Book Doctor!

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Dan Sinykin

County Libraries Book Auto, Cincinnati & Hamilton Ohio

Close Reading Is For Everyone

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Patrick Redford

Cyclists in a race are in the background. There is a house or wall on the left side of the road. There is a man in front, looking at the peloton, squatting halfway with his arms spread just past his knees. Next to him in the center of the road is a bicycle laid across the ground.

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Defector Reads A Book: Defector Rides A Bike

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Ben Goldfarb

A bulldozer moves a pile of dirt, which features two hoofs sticking out of the top

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Capital

An Abundance Of Concrete

Author Photo_Stratis_Credit Alysha Haugen

Niko Stratis

Jakob Dylan, in 1997, singing in front of a microphone. He has short curly hair, maybe has a little beard, and he's in a long sleeve collared button-front shirt. He's playing guitar. In the corner there's an image of a book cover: The Dad Rock That Made Me A Woman, by Niko Stratis

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Book Excerpts That Don't Suck

Got To Be Something Better Than In The Middle

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Jack Hanson

Curzio-Malaparte

The Perfect Fascist

<p>Leah Finnegan is the former editor-in-chief of Gawker and the Outline. She has written and edited for the <em>New York Times</em>, <em>New York</em> magazine, the <em>New Republic</em>, the <em>Baffler</em>, and others.</p>


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Leah Finnegan

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Dream Count’ Is Stuck In The Past

A collage of covers of books. A Court of Thorns and Roses, Barbarian Lover, Fourth Wing, Ice Planet Barbarians, The Serpent and the Wings of Night, and The Games Gods Play

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Alien Pleasures

Sir John Falstaff On A Visit To His Friend Page, At Windsor. From The Merry Wives Of Windsor, By William Shakespeare. Drawn And Etched By George Cruikshank. From The Illustrated Library Shakspeare, Published London 1890. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Sir John Falstaff On A Visit To His Friend Page

Jeremy Gordon On Grief, Connection, And His Novel ‘See Friendship’

<p><a href="http://www.ddavisla.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">David Davis </span></a>is the author of <i>Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans From World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation</i> and <i>Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku</i>. He lives in Los Angeles.</p>
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David Davis

Photo of Gidget running through the Malibu Pier. Fifty years after Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, aka Gidget, learned to surf in Malibu, the surfing world has accepted her as surfing's early pioneers, mascots and avid promoters. April 27, 2006, (Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Photo of Gidget running through the Malibu Pier. Fifty years after Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, aka Gidg

Gidget The Survivor

<p>Grace Byron is a writer from the Midwest based in Queens whose writing has appeared in The Cut, <em>Vogue</em>, <em>LARB</em>, <em>The Baffler</em>, <em>Bookforum</em>, and elsewhere. Find her @emotrophywife. Her debut novel <em>Herculine</em> is forthcoming from Saga Press.</p>


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Grace Byron

Bill Gates speaks at the Global Solutions Summit

Conclusion Global Solutions Summit

What’s The Point Of Bill Gates?

Two hands, a drawing, holding an orange sign with yellow text that reads: MAKE YOUR OWN JOB

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The Power Of Negative Thinking

Books