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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

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller depart Union Station after meeting with federal law enforcement officers on August 20, 2025.

Politics

The United States Of Snitches

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<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>
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Tom Scocca

U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on September 11, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. President Trump is traveling to New York to attend a New York Yankees game and to stay at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey for the weekend.

Margin Of Error

How Do You Stop A Serial Killer?

Samer Kalaf

The scene after shots were fired at an appearance by Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.

This Is Who Charlie Kirk Was

Kelsey McKinney

close up of president trump's face in the oval office

The Bleak Fantasy Of Donald Trump’s Death

Armed members of the National Guard patrol Union Station on August 27, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Well, He Sent In The Troops

Patrick Redford

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - 2025/04/06: A banner saying “Greenland not for sale” and “Kalaallit Nunaat Kalaallit Pigaat” translated to "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” seen during a demonstration against the Trump administration. Protesters gathered in front of the American Embassy in response to the Trump administration's repeated statements about wanting control over Greenland. These statements, which questioned Denmark’s sovereignty and emphasized Greenland’s strategic value, sparked outrage in both Greenland and Denmark. Greenlandic leaders and citizens strongly rejected any suggestion of being "for sale," stressing their right to self-determination and fears of losing their cultural identity. The situation has unified Greenland’s political parties and raised broader concerns about international law and Arctic geopolitics. (Photo by Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Danish Intelligence Service Tells Trump To Stop Oafish Espionage Maneuvers

Dave McKenna

The Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) agents walk on patrol near Nationals Park on August 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. An increased presence of law enforcement has been seen throughout the nation's capital since U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the U.S. National Guard.

Notes From The D.C. Clampdown

The Apartheid Museum, featuring collections of photographs, documents and materials exhibited in its galleries.

Tyranny Is Managed Into Existence

U.S. President Donald Trump looks at (L-R) golfer Bryson DeChambeau, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, and WWE Chief Creative Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque as he speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump signed a series of orders that will expand on his council on sports, fitness and nutrition, including by reviving the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools.

Report: Harrison Butker’s PAC Coffers Are As Empty As His Head

Ray Ratto

Washington Commanders logo displayed on a phone screen and photo of Donald Trump taken on June 25 in The Hague displayed on a laptop screen in the background. It's a photo illustration.

Donald Trump Is Trying To Extort The Washington Commanders Into Making It 1989 Again

From left, American real estate developer Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), former model Melania Knauss, financier (and future convicted sex offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000.

Collective Amnesia

Tom Ley

Bills Week

What Are The Epstein Files, And How Much Should You Care About Them?

<p><a href="http://pjmaciak.substack.com">Phillip Maciak</a> is the TV critic at <em>The New Republic</em> and the author of <em>Avidly Reads Screen Time</em>. He&#8217;s working on a book about dad culture.</p>


Phillip Maciak

Cultural Capitulation

Barry Petchesky

The Space Shuttle Discovery, aboard a specially modified NASA Boeing 747, flies over the Washington, DC, April 17, 2012, as seen from Arlington, Virginia. NASA is transferring the Shuttle, which completed 39 missions and spent 365 days in space, to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo by Saul LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The “Big Beautiful Bill” Is Trying To Steal A Space Shuttle


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<div>Hallie Lieberman is a historian and journalist. Her book <em>Gigolos: An Exploration of the Men Who Sell Sex and The Women Who Buy It</em> will be published by Beacon Press in January 2027. She is also the author of <em>Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy</em>. Her writing has appeared in <em>Esquire</em>, <em>The New York Times</em>, <em>The Washington Post</em>, and other outlets. </div>
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Hallie Lieberman

President Donald Trump delivers remarks before signing the “No Men in Women’s Sports” executive order in the East Room at the White House on February 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. The executive order, which Trump signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, prohibits transgender women from competing in women’s sports and is the third order he has signed that targets transgender people.

How Trans Prisoners Are Dealing With The Trump Administration’s Attacks

<p>Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.</p>


Asher Elbein

Why Do Fascists Dream Of Alligators?

Donald Trump looks up at the new flag on the south lawn of the White House on July 06, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Totally Petty

Israel Daramola

Photo from the No Kings protest in Los Angeles.

So What Is It Gonna Take?

<p>Joe Flynn is a writer based in the D.C. area.</p>


Joe Flynn

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks. He looks like a photographic negative and is grimacing. Skin the color of a hot dog.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Will Not Let My Daughter Be

President Trump, sitting alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and First Lady Melania Trump, observe U.S. Army tanks traveling down Pennsylvania Avenue, during a celebration of the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary on Flag Day, June 14, 2025.

Against The Day

Albert Burneko

Rep. April McClain Delaney, D-Md., speaks during a rally outside National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration headquarters to oppose the recent worker firings, in Sliver Spring, Md., on Monday, March 3, 2025

Weenie Centrist Legislator Faceplants Hard At Weekend Protest Event

Lauren Theisen

Protests Big

Elon Musk speaks during a news conference with President Trump on May 30, 2025 inside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington.

Donald Trump And Elon Musk Throw Day-Long Tantrums At Each Other

A large bitcoin guy regards the world they will take over

What World Does Bitcoin Want To Build For Itself?

A woman wearing Save Girls Sport hat records a video of transgender athlete AB Hernandez of Jurupa Valley (not pictured) during the girls long jump at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet at Moorpark High School on May 24, 2025 in Moorpark, California.