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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

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Soraya Roberts

Meghann Fahy as Violet in Drop, directed by Christopher Landon.

Drop

Arts And Culture

‘Drop’ Is Not A ’90s Thriller Because The ’90s Are Unfortunately Over

<p>John Semley is a writer and researcher based in Philadelphia.</p>


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John Semley

People queue outside indie record store Flashback Records to shop for vinyls on Record Store Day in London on April 20, 2024.

BRITAIN-CULTURE-MUSIC-RECORD STORE DAY

Music

How Record Store Day Became The Stupidest Day In Music

<p>Lindsey Adler is a writer based in Brooklyn. She exclusively covered sports for a decade but has other interests, too.</p>


Lindsey Adler

NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 28: Jesse Lacey of Brand New performs during the 2017 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience at City Park on October 28, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

2017 Voodoo Music + Arts Experience – Day 2

Brand New Tour, Same Old Question

<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400">Dan Brooks writes essays and fiction from Missoula, Montana.</span></i></p>


Dan Brooks

U.S. Vice President JD Vance (L) shoots with U.S. Marines at a gun range during a visit to Marine Corps Base Quantico

Vice President Vance Visits Marine Corps Base Quantico

Politics

American Freedom

<div>Paola Rosa-Aquino is a freelance journalist covering science, space and the environment. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her canine co-worker Cece.</div>
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Paola Rosa-Aquino

Flames are seen after Starship's Super Heavy Booster splashed down for a water landing off the coast of, Texas, on its sixth flight test on November 19, 2024. SpaceX aborted an attempt to catch the first stage booster of its Starship megarocket in the "chopstick" arms of its launch tower, opting instead for an ocean splashdown, a live feed showed November 19. The hitch came as President-elect Donald Trump joined SpaceX chief Elon Musk at the company's Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas to watch the test flight, the latest sign of the budding bromance between the two billionaires. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

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Science

We’re Littering The Earth With Space Trash

Screenshot 2025-03-03 at 5.14.33 PM

Mark Asch

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In Praise Of ‘The Pitt,’ The Most Normal Show On Television

<p>John Loeppky is a freelance writer and theatre artist currently based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. His work has appeared for outlets such as FiveThirtyEight, CBC, and <em>Maclean’s</em>.</p>


John Loeppky Headshot

John Loeppky

CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 07: Wheelchair basketball athletes Natalie Schneider of Team USA, Zoie Voris of the Arlington Lady Movin' Mavs, Hayley Nielsen #20 of Arizona and and Josie Aslakson #7 of Team USA compete at halftime during the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament National Championship between the Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina Gamecocks at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on April 07, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament – National Championship

Parasports

University Parasports Brace For Trump’s Anti-DEI Crusade

Ludwig – Series 1

‘Ludwig’ Gets Cozy With David Mitchell’s Limits

<p>Owen Lewis is a former Defector intern and co-founded the website <a href="http://popcorntennis.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://popcorntennis.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726234676777000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PFWw6PL-FUqaCMME5TLqP">popcorntennis.com</a>. He wrote 63,000 words about the Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal rivalry that can be accessed for free at <a href="https://thegoldenrivalry.substack.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thegoldenrivalry.substack.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1726234676777000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2OjAHpo4PVIhkx8Xd21lRJ">thegoldenrivalry.substack.com</a>.</p>


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Owen Lewis

Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Jessica Pegula

Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 – Day 12

Tennis

Aryna Sabalenka Is Thrillingly Imperfect

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Veronica de Souza

Drawing of an Interior: Atelier, 1857. Artist Anon. (Photo by Heritage Images via Getty Images)

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Make It Nice

Introducing: Make It Nice

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


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Nicholas Russell

Capturing A Sperm Whale

‘Moby-Dick’ Is Still Too Big For The Opera

<p>Carly Stern is an independent journalist, writer and editor based in Brooklyn. She has written for publications including The New York Times, Vox, The Guardian and The Washington Post.</p>


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Carly Stern

Carlos Watson, co-founder of Ozy Media, speaks with press after his sentencing hearing at Brooklyn Federal Court on December 16, 2024 in New York City. Watson was sentenced to almost 10 years in prison for trying to defraud investors and lenders by lying about the company’s finances after being convicted in July. Samir Rao, the other co-founder of Ozy, and Suzee Han, a former Ozy chief of staff, pleaded guilty last year to fraud charges and both cooperated in the case and testified against Watson.

Ozy Media’s Carlos Watson Sentenced In Fraud Trial

Journalismism

Looking For Closure At Carlos Watson’s Sentencing Hearing

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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

Yemeni men and children in the rubble of a Sana'a neighborhood leveled by U.S. attacks.

Sana’a

Margin Of Error

The Human Factor

On a gradient background going from tan-ish to pink-ish, the front cover of the book Trauma Plot by Jamie Hood. The book is black with a statue of a woman with wings in the center. It also identifies Hood as the author of How to Be A Good Girl.

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Interviews

“Rape Is Political”: Jamie Hood On Trauma Narratives, Writing The Self, And Ethical Obligation

<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

dream-count

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


<p><a href="https://twitter.com/kenpomeroy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ken</a> has been cranking out college basketball statistics at <a href="http://kenpom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">kenpom.com</a> since 2004. He’s written at The Athletic, Slate, the late <em>ESPN The Magazine</em>, and the late Basketball Prospectus. He hopes to live long enough to see the men&#8217;s game start using quarters, like every other basketball league in the world.</p>


Ken Pomeroy

Head coach Rick Pitino of the St. John's Red Storm speaks with Deivon Smith #5 of the St. John's Red Storm during the first half of the game against the Connecticut Huskies on February 23, 2025.

Connecticut v St. John’s

College Basketball

Tom Izzo And Rick Pitino Are Up Against One Of March’s Weirdest Curses

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What The Beads Can Tell You

<p>Lesley Ryder is a writer and a host covering the Chicago Red Stars. She co-created <a href="https://galpalsports.com/">Gal Pal Sports</a>, a platform that lives to make women’s sports fun for everyone.</p>


Lesley Photo

Lesley Ryder

Detail of the Bedazzled NWSL ball prior to the NWSL match between Angel City FC and San Diego Wave at BMO Stadium on March 16, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

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NWSL

NWSL Soccer Is Back, But The Scandals Haven’t Gone Away

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) walks back towards the senate side of the building at the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Tensions have flared over the shutdown within the Democratic caucus after Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Thursday that he will vote to advance a House-passed six-month government funding bill, despite opposition from many Democrats who argue it would create a "slush fund" for former President Trump and Elon Musk.

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Chuck Schumer Is Responsible

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<p>Charles P. Pierce is a writer at <em>Esquire</em> and the author of four books, most recently <em>Idiot America</em>, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston with his wife but no longer his three children.</p>
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Charles P. Pierce

Payton Pritchard #11 of the Boston Celtics attempts a three-point basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second quarter at the TD Garden on January 12, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

New Orleans Pelicans v Boston Celtics

Payton Pritchard Brings The Hush

Screenshot 2025-03-06 at 11.46.04 AM

‘Eephus’ Director Carson Lund On Baseball As A Way Of Being

<p>Alex Prewitt is a writer in Brooklyn. He shoots free throws the normal way.</p>


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Alex Prewitt

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How “Ball Don’t Lie” Became More Than A Basketball Mantra

Robert Pastore

New York correctional officers and sergeants continue their strike for a second week outside of the Coxsackie Correctional Facility on February 28, 2025 in Coxsackie, Greene, New York.

New York Prison Guards Strike Over Proclaimed Unsafe Working Conditions

Policing

What The Corrections Officer Strike Means To Incarcerated People Like Me

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, behind a podium at a press conference, looking like doofuses.

Schumer Jeffries DOGE Presser

This Is Uvalde

<p>Brent Rose covers sports, science and tech, health and fitness, travel and adventure, and more for magazines and websites you have heard of and deeply respect. <a href="http://www.brentrose.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.brentrose.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1740705584988000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3nXxS34PFPs6s9xKFmyn-U">www.brentrose.com</a></p>


JUN 03-10, 2023 – Surf Simply PhotoPack-745

Brent Rose

ASPEN, COLORADO - JANUARY 24: Hiroto Ogiwara of Japan competes in the Men's Snowboard Big Air during Day Two of the X Games Aspen 2025 at Buttermilk Ski Resort on January 24, 2025 in Aspen, Colorado.

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