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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

Anne Heche at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

The IMDb Studio At The 2017 Sundance Film Festival Featuring The Filmmaker Discovery Lounge, Presented By Amazon Video Direct: Day Four – 2017 Park City

Defector At The Movies

Anne Heche For Me Is Anne Heche In ‘Walking And Talking’

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


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Nicholas Russell

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Hey It's That Guy

Marton Csokas Is Too Quiet To Forget

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In ‘Sharp Stick,’ Jon Bernthal Invents Kissing

<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

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 30: Danny Garcia lands a punch on Jose Benavidez Jr. (teal shorts) during their super welterweight boxing match at Barclays Center on July 30, 2022 in in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Danny Garcia v Jose Benavidez Jr

Boxing

Everyone Is Their Truest Self At The Fights

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‘Ninjababy’ Is The Movie For You If You Don’t Want To Be Pregnant


<p><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 <em>The Bennington Review</em>, <em>Conjunctions</em>, <em>The Drift</em>, and elsewhere.</p>


Pete Segall

The Assassin in Phil Tippett's animated feature Mad God.

MadGod

Three Decades In The Making, Phil Tippett’s ‘Mad God’ Is A Movie For This Moment

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Ben Tippett

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Chess

Who Wants To Be World Chess Champion?

Felix Kent

A tourist practices with a paddleboard during a sunset in Philippine's Boracay island on April 24, 2018, ahead of its closure. - Police with assault rifles patrolled entry points to Boracay island on April 24 just days before a six-month shutdown and clean-up of one of the Philippines' top tourist attractions. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP) (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Elder Wisdom

A Middle-Aged Person Takes Up A Hobby

Still image from the TV show, "The Bear."

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‘The Bear’ Is Why We Must End The Reign Of TV’s Vibes Cartel


<p><a href="https://twitter.com/robertfoconnell" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert O’Connell</a> is a writer from Kansas living in New York. His work has appeared in <em>Sports Illustrated</em>, <em>The Atlantic</em>, <em>The New York Times</em>, and elsewhere.</p>


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Robert O’Connell

Dan Uggla in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, striking out.

79th MLB All-Star Game

No One Will Ever Have A Worse All-Star Game Than Dan Uggla


<p><a href="http://Feldman.cool" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Brian Feldman</a> is a software engineer living in Brooklyn.</p>


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Brian Feldman

A comic of video stills of a kid getting hit in the head with a basketball

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Life's Rich Pageant

The Secret History Of The Internet’s Funniest Buzzer-Beater


<p>Amy Schneider is a software engineer, cat owner, and Jeopardy champion who posts about her experiences on Twitter @Jeopardamy. She used to have a podcast, and odds are she will again some day.</p>


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Amy Schneider

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Rays Week

Where Are You Jimmy Ray?


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


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Corey Atad

Premiere Of HBO's "All The Way" - Arrivals

Ray Wise Has Always Been More Than “That Guy”

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<p class="sc-77igqf-0 bOfvBY">Vince Guerrieri is an award-winning journalist and author in the Cleveland area. He likes Lake Erie perch sandwiches, Jim Traficant and long walks on the field at League Park. His website is <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://vinceguerrieri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://vinceguerrieri.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">vinceguerrieri.com</a>, and you can follow him on Twitter <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">@vinceguerrieri</a>.</p>
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Vince Guerrieri

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The Rise And Fall Of The Rogue League That Took On MLB And Changed It Forever

Screenshot from the movie Cha Cha Real Smooth.

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‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Is The Worst Kind Of Indie Throwback


<p>Amy Pedulla is a writer and audio producer. She can be reached at pedullaa@gmail.com.</p>


Amy Pedulla

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Capital

The Uphill Battle To Unionize Tennessee Whiskey

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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

An effigy of Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, dressed as a January 6, 2021, insurrectionist is placed near the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 25, 2021. - Protester set up effigies of Big Tech CEO's as the US Congress holds hearings March 25 about the spread of disinformation and misinformation on their platforms. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Journalismism

Who Is The Disinformation Beat Actually For?

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‘RRR’ Didn’t Cross Over Just Because It’s Awesome

<p><a href="http://www.ddavisla.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">David Davis</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> is the author of <em>Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation</em>. A </span><a href="https://sidewinderfilms.org/films/waterman"><span style="font-weight: 400">documentary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> based on his previous book, <em>Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku</em>, airs on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/waterman-duke-ambassador-of-aloha-ot83gi/">PBS’s American Masters series</a> on May 10.</span></p>


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David Davis

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How They Shot “The Last Shot”

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Maya Goldberg-Safir

WNBA Finals – Game One – Chicago Sky v Phoenix Mercury

WNBA

Brittney Griner And The Labyrinth Of Wrongful Detainment

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‘Men’ Is Bad


<p>Reporter with Insider and cultural critic everywhere. Born and raised. Probably eating ice cream.</p>


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Bradford William Davis

New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles

Don’t Let Josh Donaldson Fool You

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady performs at Ottobar in Baltimore.

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Arts And Culture

Craig Finn Returns To The Scene


<p>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.</p>


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Lam Thuy Vo

A climber scales a climbing wall at Brooklyn Boulders

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Climbing

What Happens To A Rock Climbing Community When Venture Capital Comes Calling?


<p>Claire Watkins is a musician and writer living in Chicago, IL.</p>


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Claire Watkins

The United States celebrate a goal by Trinity Rodman #14 (C-R) during the second half against Uzbekistan at Subaru Park on April 12, 2022 in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Uzbekistan v USWNT

Soccer

Why Equal Pay For Equal Work Finally Became A Reality For The USWNT