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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

David Roth

People walk past an installation showcasing the Riyadh Comedy Festival at Boulevard City in the Hittin neighborhood of Riyadh on October 6, 2025. The Distraction logo is at upper right.

Podcasts

Maxing Out The Candle Budget, With Eli Yudin

Samer Kalaf

Arts And Culture

Bill Burr Keeps Cycling Through Excuses For Doing The Riyadh Comedy Festival

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

Marc Maron performing stand up comedy. He is sitting on a stool and holding a microphone

There Will Never Be Another ‘WTF With Marc Maron’

Eva Holland is a freelance writer and editor based in Whitehorse, Yukon. She&#8217;s a correspondent for Outside magazine and the author of the books Nerve and <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/no-sleep-til-fairbanks#/">No Sleep &#8216;Til Fairbanks</a>.

Eva Holland

‘North Of North’ Is An Arctic Comedy That Will Warm Your Heart

Soraya Roberts

Crowd Work Isn’t A Substitute For Comedy

Politics

They’re Saying It

Israel Daramola

John Mulaney Made A Perfect Late-Night Show For Just One Week

Jerrod Carmichael accepts Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special for "Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel" onstage during the 74th Primetime Emmys at Microsoft Theater on September 12, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

The Surreal Life Of ‘Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show’

Patrick Redford

13 August 2021, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory. The first vehicles are to roll off the production line in Grünheide near Berlin from the end of 2021. The US company plans to build around 500,000 units of the compact Model 3 and Model Y series here each year. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Capital

Elon Musk Is Grimly Determined To Let You Know He Is Funny

Aparna Nancherla speaks onstage during The 2023 New Yorker Festival at SVA Theater 1 on October 07, 2023 in New York City.

Aparna Nancherla Is My Favorite Impostor

Giri Nathan

The Namedropping podcast logo, a coffee cup with a scratched-out name

Am I Having A White Thought Or An Indian Thought? With Sridhar Ramesh

‘Bottoms’ Turns High School Into A Violent, Absurdist Playground

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

The animated Ray Jay Johnson as he appeared in a season 13 episode of The Simpsons.

Rays Week

Ray Jay Johnson And Other People I Know Only From ‘The Simpsons’

Chip Chantry is a television writer and stand up comedian. He has written for Crazy Talk, a comedy/talk series for NBC Universal and the syndicated series Whacked Out Sports. He most recently wrote on the NatGeo series Howie Mandel’s Animals Doing Things. In 2012, he released his first live comedy album, ACROSS FROM THE ADONIS. His second album, SWINGERS PARTY, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts in March 2019.

Chip Chantry

&lt;&gt; on March 15, 2010 in Hollywood, California.

I Was Bob Saget’s Underwear Guy

This is Jim Breuer performing at the New York Comedy Club in 2016, but the photo is taken from far enough away that you can pretend it's someone funnier.

Engagement Versus Laughter And Other Comedy Dilemmas, With Christian Finnegan

Jason England

Side-by-side images of Dave Chappelle and Kyrie Irving.

The Limits Of Dave Chappelle And Kyrie Irving’s Free-Thinking

Barry Petchesky

ASPEN - FEBRUARY 28: Norm MacDonald performs during the US Comedy Arts Festival at the historic Wheeler Opera House February 28, 2003 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Brands/Getty Images)

Things We Actually Like

Norm Macdonald Surprised Us One Last Time

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 02: Wilmer Difo #15 of the Pittsburgh Pirates commits an error in the 11th inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 02, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs won 6-5 in 11 innings. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

Pittsburgh Pirates, Comedy Geniuses, Continue To Perfect Art Of Losing

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

attends Kevin Hart hosts Mohegan Sun's 20th Anniversary Comedy All-Star Gala starring Sarah Silverman, Dave Attell, Margaret Cho &amp; more at Mohegan Sun on October 14, 2016 in Uncasville, Connecticut.

comedy