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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

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

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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

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.

Margin Of Error

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.

Politics

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


<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Culture Writer</p>


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

David Roth

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

Patrick Redford

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.

Youth Sports

It’s A Great Time To Be A Pathetic Loser

Donald Trump holds up a printed article from "American Thinker" while accusing South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa of state-sanctioned violence against white farmers in South Africa during a press availability in the Oval Office at the White House on May 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.

What Do You Do About A Declining President?

Police officers are seen outside the Supreme Court of the United States is seen on Thursday May 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. The court is hearing arguments about lower courts' ability to block President Donald Trump's policy to end birthright citzenship.

Podcasts

Notes Of Sparkling Authoritarianism, With Jason Steinhauer

Anthony Santander of the Toronto Blue Jays rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning during the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels.

A Dumb New Way To Think About The Dismantling Of The Federal Government

Donald Trump looking like a saggy orange bag of shit on his way onto Air Force 1 for a trip to the Middle East.

Journalismism

NYT Reporter: It’s Not Corruption Unless The Envelope Says “Bribe” On It

Donald Trump and Terry Moran in conversation in the extremely cluttered Oval Office during an ABC News interview.

Talking To The President

President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton attend the White House State Dinner for the President of Ukraine on November 22, 1994 in Washington, D.C.

The Era Of Meek Government Is Over


<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 21: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a collectors card depicting the assassination attempt during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. The White House is expecting thousands of children and adults to participate in the annual tradition of rolling colored eggs down the White House lawn, a tradition started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

Trump Shows Kids Collectible Card With Photo Of Him Being Shot

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer looks on as US President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on April 9, 2025 in Washington, DC.