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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

Buy a Defector Gift Subscription, Get A (Different) Gift Subscription

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2025 gift subs

Marc Normandin currently writes on baseball’s labor issues and more at <a style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif" href="http://marcnormandin.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://marcnormandin.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1758998321491000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1ZpjG5RUFwdpapWqR1u4bd">marcnormandin.com</a>, which you can read for free but support <a style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif" href="https://www.patreon.com/marcnormandin">through his Patreon</a>. His baseball writing has appeared at FOX Sports, SB Nation, Defector, Global Sport Matters, Deadspin, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Sports on Earth, The Guardian, The Nation, FAIR, and TalkPoverty, and you can read his takes on video games at Retro XP and Endless Mode.
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Marc Normandin

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred talks to Astros GM James Click during the 2021 World Series.

World Series – Atlanta Braves v Houston Astros – Game One

MLB Owners Have Forgotten That They Always Lose Lockouts

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Ben Tippett

CHESS-FIDE-UAE

Chess

Magnus Carlsen And Ian Nepomniachtchi Brought Classic Sports Drama To Chess

Fran Hoepfner is a writer and teacher.

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Fran Hoepfner

bad house

Life Lessons

My Brush With Puzzle Brain

Felix Kent

Julien Ingrassia traditionally drinks from a shoe as he celebrates his 8th World title on November 21, 2021 after the ACI Rally Monza 2021

AUTO-RALLY-ITA-WRC-PODIUM

Racing

The Lottery In Secaucus

CHESS-WORLD-UAE

The World Chess Championship Has Given Us The Best And Worst Of Classical Chess

Amos Barshad

NYC 2

Capital

These Musicians Are Angry, Organized, And Coming For Spotify

Nandini Balial is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Harper&#8217;s Bazaar, Vice, Slate, The Week, The Texas Observer, Ebert Voices, The AV Club, and Wired, among others. She lives and works in Fort Worth, Texas.

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Nandini Balial

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Chefector

Let’s Make Something Sweet, With Cardamom

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

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Nicholas Russell

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Defector Reads A Book

How Do You Pin Down An Auteur As Evasive As David Fincher?

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Soraya Roberts

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Cold Comforts

‘Red Road’ Is A Revenge Story So Hot You Can’t Look Away

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Your Complete Guide To The 2021 World Chess Championship

Claire Watkins is a musician and writer living in Chicago, IL.

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Claire Watkins

Chicago Red Stars v Portland Thorns FC: Semifinal – 2021 NWSL Championship

Soccer

This NWSL Final Is The Result Of Knockout Soccer At Its Best

Lori Teresa Yearwood is a trauma-aware and trauma-sensitive journalist currently covering the U.S. housing crisis for The Economic Hardship Reporting Project. A former reporter for the Miami Herald, the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Syracuse Newspapers, she has always written stories about people from populations that have been marginalized.

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Lori Teresa Yearwood

Violettes-car

How Are You Coping With That?

A Widow Prepares To Start Living In Her Van

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Israel Daramola

Colin Kaepernick at the Los Angeles premiere of his 2021 Netflix limited series "Colin In Black & White"

Netflix Limited Series Colin In Black And White Premiere

Who Is Colin Kaepernick’s New TV Show Actually For?

1985: A lady racegoer has a nap during Royal Ascot at Ascot racecourse in Berkshire, England. Mandatory Credit: Allsport UK /Allsport

A lady race goer has a nap

The Disappearing Girl

<a href="https://twitter.com/ericnus">Eric Nusbaum</a> is a writer based in Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of the book <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/stealing-home-los-angeles-the-dodgers-and-the-lives-caught-in-between-9781541742222/9781541742215">Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between</a>. He is also a former editor at Vice.

Eric Nusbaum

Illustration of Chris Ballew, performing as Caspar Babypants, by Adam Villacin

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Dadfector

Chris Ballew Went Platinum On The Way To Becoming Caspar Babypants

Still image from the movie The Vanishing.

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In ‘The Vanishing,’ What Can Kill You Is What You Want To Know

Neighborhood Sports and Social Center Turns Into a Market To Survive During Quarantine

Running Towards Nothing

Kat Brewster is a PhD candidate in Informatics at UC Irvine. Researching the internet (sad parts only).

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Kat Brewster

Workers haul part of a fibre optic cable onto the shore at the Kenyan port town of Mombasa on June 12, 2009. An undersea fibre optic cable bringing broadband Internet connectivity to east Africa, reached the Kenyan coast from the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the president said. The East Africa Marine Systems (TEAMS) fibre optic submarine cable project is a joint venture of the Kenyan government and Emirates Telecommunication Technology (Etisalat) and a consortium of local investors. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers haul part of a fibre optic cable

Science

How The Internet Works

Harry Styles Performs On His European Tour At AccorHotels Arena, Paris

Music

We All Came To See Each Other At The Harry Styles Show

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Jason England

Side-by-side images of Dave Chappelle and Kyrie Irving.

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Politics

The Limits Of Dave Chappelle And Kyrie Irving’s Free-Thinking

Louis Keene is a writer for the Forward and the creator of <a href="http://unstatable.com">Unstatable</a>, a newsletter about the Clippers. He’s on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/thislouis">@thislouis.</a>

Louis Keene

The late Malik Sealy and Brent Barry at a Los Angeles Clippers game in the Arrowhead Pond, in 1997.

Nuggets V Clippers

25 Years Ago, The Clippers Came Closer To Moving To Anaheim Than Anyone Knew

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Defector At The Movies

The Muddy Ethics Of The Thai Cave Rescue Entertainment Machine

TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 30: A local surfer is seen in action with Mount Fuji in the background from the beach of Enoshima during the build up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on January 30, 2020 in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The venue will hold the sailing events. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

General Views Around Tokyo ahead of 2020 Olympic Games

As You Know, Jeff, Every Time I Stare Into The Abyss It Stares Back At Me

Los Angeles Football Club v Los Angeles Galaxy

NWSL

The NWSL Was Working As Intended

Photo of Andrew Bagby and his parents David and Kathleen Bagby at Andrew's graduation from medical school.

Dear Zachary photo 5

‘Dear Zachary’ Is A Greek Tragedy Come To Life