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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

Enter Our Raffle To Win A Visit And Home-Cooked Meal From Drew Magary

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tip jar sweepstakes

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Soraya Roberts

Summer 1976

Chefector

I’ll Have What No One Is Having

Felix Kent

A woman sits on the floor of her hotel room in her underwear, leaning against the bed and with a magnum of champagne turned up to her mouth. Her clothes are strewn about the bed and floor of the room. (Photo by Graphic House/Getty Images)

Woman Drinks Magnum Of Champagne

Arts And Culture

How To Drink Alone, The Madison Avenue Way

Hamilton Nolan is a journalist based in New York City. Subscribe to his work at <a href="https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1687350200913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0naFbUVOe-5ZgtPDtIM3gz">HamiltonNolan.com</a>.

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Hamilton Nolan

NFL: JAN 14 AFC Wild Card Playoffs – Chargers at Jaguars

Jaguars Junction: Wild Card Round

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<div>Casey Taylor is a writer living and working in Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a book for St. Martin&#8217;s Press about cannabis religions, Haile Selassie I, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. He also writes a free newsletter called <a href="https://weedchurch.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weedchurch.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1709306863919000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mVH2xiID6S0zvlyj6yHco">Weed Church</a> covering foolish spiritual things that occur to him. His work has appeared in The New Republic, WIRED, New York Magazine, and a sports blog he can’t currently recall the name of. You can <a href="mailto:caseyt7@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email</a> him if you’d like.</div>
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Casey Taylor

SAN FRANCISCO - JUNE 09: Apple CEO Steve Jobs watches a video of the new iPhone 3G as he delivers the keynote address at the Apple Worldwide Web Developers Conference June 9, 2008 in San Francisco, California. Jobs kicked off the 2008 WWDC conference with a keynote where he announced an upgraded version of the popular iPhone called the iPhone 3G. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple Introduces New iPhone At Worldwide Developers Conference

Capital

Quiet Quitting Is A Stupid New Name For An Old Fight

Alan Hanson is a writer from California. He writes creative nonfiction, essays, and poetry. He’s worked in advertising for over a decade because he likes to eat. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/iluvbutts247" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@iluvbutts247</a> unless of course he gets suspiciously suspended.

Alan Hanson

This screen grab shows the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk on October 27, 2022.

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Stories

I Was Almost Elon Musk’s Twitter Voice

Amanda Ruggeri is a multi-award-winning freelance journalist who lives in Switzerland. She writes on topics including science, travel, and sometimes ski racing.

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Amanda Ruggeri

Mikaela Shiffrin of United States of America during the flower ceremony of Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Womens Slalom race on January 10, 2023 in Flachau, Austria. (Photo by Hans Peter Lottermoser/SEPA.Media /Getty Images)

Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup – Women’s Slalom

Olympics

Mikaela Shiffrin Resets

The Jaguars celebrate after a fumble returned for a touchdown

Tennessee Titans v Jacksonville Jaguars

Jaguars Junction: Week 18

Emile is a freelance writer, originally from the U.S., now living in Barcelona. He writes about Spanish soccer, namely FC Barcelona and Barça Femeni, on Substack, at <a href="https://barcafemeni.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://barcafemeni.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw14bYDiXeApFrdtb0hLPnFE">La Barça Soc Supporter</a> and appears regularly on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3pyv2PojdPBZ1Gkv3_aN-S">The Barcelona Podcast</a>. His work has previously featured at outlets including The Blizzard, <a href="https://urbanpitch.com/author/eavanessian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urbanpitch.com/author/eavanessian/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0I4zygG7AmIDTzwXlPE2u_">Urban Pitch</a>, The Squall, Barça Blaugranes, and <a href="https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/author/emile-avanessian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/author/emile-avanessian/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753084000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3g0kv0jxafpvL520xVCsVU">Sports Collectors Daily</a>.
Emile also writes about the NBA, at his new outpost League Pass in L’Eixample. His previous work can be found at Forum Blue and Gold and his own site, a living relic of the basketblog era, <a href="https://hardwoodhype.com/the-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://hardwoodhype.com/the-work&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1699026753085000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2U949Uf-KXcPwkDPCbW129">Hardwood Hype</a>.

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Emile Avanessian

FC Barcelona v Olympique Lyon – UEFA Women’s Champions League Final 2021/22

Soccer

Alexia Putellas’s Documentary Finds Truth In Disaster

You can follow Will on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/Senn_Spud" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@Senn_Spud</a>), Instagram (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/will_sennett/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@will_sennett</a>), and TikTok (<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@will_sennett" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@will_sennett</a>). You can listen to his podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-closer-look-podcast/id1561306479" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Closer Look</a>, wherever you get your podcasts.

Will Sennett

Carolina Panthers v Cincinnati Bengals

Jamboroo

Hell Is Marvin Lewis: An Open Letter To Zac Taylor

Lam Thuy Vo is a journalist who marries data analysis with on-the-ground reporting to examine how systems and policies affect individuals. She is currently a <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/soros-justice-fellowships" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soros Justice Fellow</a>, a <a href="https://www.typeinvestigations.org/blog/2021/06/14/announcing-the-2021-ida-b-wells-fellows/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Type Investigations Ida B. Wells Fellow</a>, and a <a href="https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/2021/03/lam-thuy-vo-named-to-new-role-to-strengthen-data-journalism-curriculum/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data-journalist-in-residence at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism</a>. Previously, she worked for BuzzFeed News, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera America and NPR&#8217;s Planet Money.

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Lam Thuy Vo

A copy of Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing at the Brooklyn Public Library. Access to Gyasi's book was recently restricted at a high school in Nixa, Missouri.

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Politics

When Adults Banned Their Books, These Teens Fought Back By Organizing

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Ashley Feinberg

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Funbag

Trump Vs. DeSantis: Who Ya Got?!

Two boxing gloves on a red floor background, with deep shadows. The gloves are black, and laid at the wrists atop each other. The left glove has 1-2 on it. The right glove has 2-4 on it. This is painted on with stencils in red ink.

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The Fights

On Punches

A founding member of the Billings, Montana-to-Brooklyn sportswriting pipeline, Patrick Sauer has written for many large digital publications you’ve heard of and even more smaller ones that no longer exist. He’s on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/pjsauer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@pjsauer</a>.

Patrick Sauer

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Music

The Legend Of Run-DMC’s Immortal “Christmas In Hollis,” As Remembered By The People Who Made It

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

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Nicholas Russell

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Hey It's That Guy

Sean Harris Leans Into The Pain Of Being A Creep

<a href="https://twitter.com/petesegall?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pete Segall</a> lives in Chicago. His fiction has appeared in The Bennington Review, Conjunctions, The Drift, and elsewhere.

Pete Segall

The eponymous hospital in Lars Von Trier's supernatural soap "Kingdom"

Kingdom-Exodus

After Two Decades Of Chaos, Lars Von Trier’s Supernatural Soap Opera ‘Kingdom’ Returns

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Defector At The Movies

Please Remove Me From This List

Still image from the movie Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

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Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead, Or That Christina Applegate Is Now Older Than Her

Matt Ufford is the head of video and audio at Yahoo Sports.

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Matt Ufford

cardinal

Birdfector

A Bird Idiot’s Guide To Winter Birding

Michael is a writer who has worked with The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications. His first book, The Other Olympians, which uncovers the stories of several European athletes who transitioned gender in the 1930s, is now available for purchase.

Michael Waters

TOLEDO, OH - JULY 01: Columbus Clippers player's ball caps are seen on the dugout bench during a regular season game between the Columbus Clippers and the Toledo Mud Hens on July 1, 2019 at Fifth Third Field in Toledo, Ohio.

clippers

The Columbus Clippers Made Public Sports Ownership Work. Can Anyone Else?

Canadian singer Bryan Adams posing in front of a brick wall. Taken in 1984, in Paris.

Portrait de Bryan Adams en 1984

Why Is Bryan Adams’s “Summer Of ’69” The Only Song On My Radio?

Amos Barshad

Harry Kane of England walks around the pitch after being substituted during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group B match between England and IR Iran at Khalifa International Stadium on November 21, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.

England v IR Iran: Group B – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Harry Kane

Shamira Ibrahim is a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa,&nbsp;who explores identity, cultural production and technology.

Shamira Ibrahim

Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles – October 28, 2022

Where Does Ye Go From Here?

<a href="https://twitter.com/LeanderAlphabet" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leander Schaerlaeckens</a> is a sports writer and previously wrote about <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2020/05/donald-trump-baseball-high-school-nyma.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump’s high school baseball career</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/sports/soccer/asbury-park-football-club-soccer.html?mcubz=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a soccer team that doesn’t exist</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/sports/raw-talent-and-college-sports-mix-at-culinary-institute-of-america.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">varsity sports at the Culinary Institute of America</a> and <a href="https://www.theringer.com/soccer/2022/1/27/22891886/american-investors-european-soccer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Americans buying European soccer teams</a>. He is writing a book about the United States men’s national soccer team. He teaches at Marist College.

Leander Schaerlaeckens

The handwritten notes of Dick Cramer, back when he was coming up with a stat that would change baseball forever during his spare time.

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The Forgotten Men Behind The Ideas That Changed Baseball

Jacksonville Jaguars v Kansas City Chiefs

Jaguars Junction: Week 10

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Video Games

Sometimes It’s Fun To Be A Weird Guy With A Hand For A Head