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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

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from Killers Of The Flower Moon

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Arts And Culture

‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ Asks You To Sit With Its Contradictions

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


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Nicholas Russell

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors gather as they demonstrate against Israeli war on Gaza calling for a ceasefire at Sergelstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, October 22, 2023.

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sweden

Politics

What Happens After The Rally Ends?

<p>Andre Kobayashi Deckrow is Post-Doctoral Associate in the Heritage Studies and Public History program and the Department of History at the University of Minnesota. He is currently working on a book about Japanese state-led migration to São Paulo in the 1920s and &#8217;30s. When not teaching or researching, he can be found rooting for Seattle sports teams or cooking Japanese food.</p>


Andre Kobayashi Deckrow

Pedro Okuda of Team Brazil celebrates a win over Panama in the WBC qualifiers in 2012.

World Baseball Classic Qualifier 3  Game 6: Team Panama v Team Brazil

How Baseball Became Brazilian


<p>Corey Atad is a freelancer writer based in Toronto with an unhealthy Air Bud obsession.</p>


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Corey Atad

A scene from eddie alcaraz's new film, Divinity

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Defector At The Movies

The Survival Of Independent Cinema Begins With The Belief Of Those Who Make It

<div class="gmail_default">Timothy Faust is a healthcare writer and author of the book <i><a href="http://www.healthjusticenow.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.healthjusticenow.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1685593699820000&amp;usg=AOvVaw24V19Y2HTPgYkH_EpZ_lgj">Health Justice Now</a></i>. He and his long little dog, Ume, move around a lot.</div>
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Timothy Faust

A drawing of Tim as a kidney vending machine.

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Life Lessons

You Too Can Donate A Kidney And Still Be A Normal Cool Guy Who Pounds Brewskis

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

The 2023 New Yorker Festival – Ziwe And Aparna Nancherla Talk With Emma Allen

Aparna Nancherla Is My Favorite Impostor

<p>T.M. Brown is a Brooklyn-based writer who has written for <em>The New Yorker</em>, <em>The New York Times</em>, and <em>Rolling Stone</em>, as well as the good versions of Deadspin and the <em>Village Voice</em>. He writes the newsletter <a href="https://tedthoughts.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tedthoughts.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1696431933834000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1vP6E3SoXDsrjiq0Qj9HM5">Is It Supposed to Look Like That?</a></p>


T.M. Brown

Telcel ATP Mexican Open 2016 – Dimitrov v Thiem

Tennis

Surviving Break Point

Cosplayer Devan Blake dressed as Valak from "The Conjuring" attends the 2019 Comic-Con International on July 18, 2019 in San Diego, California.

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They’ll Just Keep Conjuring That Garbage

<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Dennis Young is the news editor at Front Office Sports.</span></p>


Dennis Young

Kelvin Kiptum celebrates after winning the Chicago Marathon

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Negative Splits

Freak Athletes And Freakier Technology Have Tamed The Marathon

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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

Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox throws a knuckleball, in profile

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Tim Wakefield Was A Wizard For The Working Day

Joanna Arnow in a scene from her movie, The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed

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Joanna Arnow’s Time Has Arrived

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Kelly Conaboy

A cupcake baking pan messily filled with French onion soup

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Chefector

French Onion Soup In Cupcake Tins? French Onion Soup In Cupcake Tins

<div>Nate Jackson is a former NFL tight end and author of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/slow-getting-up-a-story-of-nfl-survival-from-the-bottom-of-the-pile-nate-jackson/6430451?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpc-oBhCGARIsAH6ote9JzWMngZDpSjF2eoL1_JlyPm2QhDfkNgOzqvaB4n9ic0qqUNQ4iCwaAsasEALw_wcB"><em>Slow Getting Up</em></a>. He lives in Denver.</div>
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Nate Jackson

Denver Broncos v Miami Dolphins

Not All Ass-Beatings Are Created Equal

<p>A. Andrews is a thirty-something disabled queer/trans writer and illustrator. They spent the majority of their young life sketching in hospitals and experienced their first heartbreak at age 8 during Game 6 of the &#8217;96 NBA championships. When they aren’t writing and drawing their guts out, they’re hanging with their dog, George, and drinking too many coffees. They will probably never tell you “what’s <em>wrong</em> with [them]” and you shouldn’t ask! They were named one of <em>The Advocate</em>&#8216;s 2021 People of the Year, are a 2020 Tin House Summer Workshop scholar, and their debut graphic novel, <em>A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex &amp; Disability</em> topped 2020 lists for the NYPL best books for teens, and YALSA&#8217;s best books for teens, and is available anywhere books are sold. You can find more of their work at <em>Washington Post</em>, <em>Esquire</em>, the Nib, and other fun corners of the internet.</p>


A. Andrews

Drawing of a group of people helping each other over a labyrinth

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Histories Of Transition

How I Transitioned With Complex Disability

<p>Katharine Trendacosta writes about tech policy, the entertainment industry, pop culture, and where those things intersect. In her day job, she&#8217;s the Associate Director of Policy and Activism for the digital civil liberties nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation. (Her writing here reflects her views alone and not those of EFF.) In her spare time, she writes things like this.</p>


A photo of the author, Katharine Trendacosta

Katharine Trendacosta

Members of WGA cheer at the end of their picket in front of CBS Television City on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023 in Hollywood, CA. Saturday marked the fourth straight day of talks, which kicked off Wednesday with the heads of four major studios participating directly. The union and studio alliance had not announced a deal as of early Saturday evening.

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Capital

The Hollywood Writers Strike Proved That Collective Action Works

<p>Nick Zarzycki is a Toronto-based writer whose work has appeared in the <i data-stringify-type="italic">Washington Post</i>, <i data-stringify-type="italic">Deadspin</i> and <i data-stringify-type="italic">Toronto Life</i>.</p>


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Nick Zarzycki

Russia Daniil Medvedev in action, returns the ball vs Serbia Novak Djokovic during the Men's Singles Finals match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

2023 US Open – Day 13

I Finally Understand Why You Ding Dongs Won’t Come To The Net

<p>James Robins is an award-winning critic and historian. His work has appeared in the <i>New Republic</i>, <i>Vulture</i>, and the <i>TLS</i>, and he writes the newsletter <a href="https://thedreadnought.substack.com/">The Dreadnought</a>. He lives in London.</p>


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James Robins

Walter Isaacson (right) and Elon Musk (left) speak onstage at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit back in 2014, long before Isaacson wrote a big biography of Musk.

Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit – Day 1

Not Even The Patron Stooge Of Fawning Biographies Can Make Elon Musk Look Good

Brandi Brown

A child and llama competing in the Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest at the Minnesota State Fair.

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Life's Rich Pageant

What I Saw At The Minnesota State Fair’s Llama-Alpaca Experience

The Contenders London presented by Deadline, Arrivals, UK – 06 Oct 2017

Hey It's That Guy

Lois Smith Is Too Cool To Be Hollywood’s Grandma

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<div>Zach Buchanan has covered Major League Baseball for more than a decade, for the <em>Arizona Republic</em>, <em>Cincinnati Enquirer,</em> and most recently The Athletic. He also has been published in <em>The New York Times</em>, <em>Washington Post</em>, FanGraphs and <em>Baseball America</em>. He lives in Phoenix, where he prepares for the inevitable water crisis by living off Dr Pepper instead.</div>
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Zach Buchanan

SARASOTA, FLORIDA - MARCH 21, 2023: Jackson Holliday #87 of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during a minor league spring training game against the Atlanta Braves at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex on March 21, 2023 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jackson Holliday

Atlanta Braves v Baltimore Orioles minor leaguers

MLB Prospects Are Getting Promoted Faster Than Ever. Why?

Maria Bamford discusses her memoir "Sure, I'll Join Your Cult" with Phoebe Robinson at Symphony Space on September 05, 2023 in New York City.

Maria Bamford Discusses Her Memoir “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult” With Phoebe Robinson

I’m A Card-Carrying Member Of Maria Bamford’s Cult

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<div dir="ltr">Brigid Christison is the founder of <a href="http://palaeopoems.com">PalaeoPoems.com</a>, a free digital anthology of palaeontology-themed poetry.</div>
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<div dir="ltr">My twitter/bluesky is @Brigidomorpha.</div>
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Brigid Christison

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Animals

The Dead And The Beautiful

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The ‘Slough House’ Series Lets Spies Be The Losers They Are

<p>Micah Herskind is an organizer, policy advocate, and writer based in Atlanta, GA.</p>


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Micah Herskind

Environmental activists hold a rally and a march through the Atlanta Forest, a preserved forest Atlanta that is scheduled to be developed as a police training center, March 4, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Intent upon stopping the building of what they have called cop city, the environmentalists were evicted from the forest in January, resulting in the killing by police of Manuel Teran, a young activist and medic.

Environmental Activists Reoccupy Atlanta Forest

Policing

The Stop Cop City Indictment Is An Act Of Desperation

<p>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>.</p>


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Hamilton Nolan

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 10: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars throws a pass in the second half of a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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