defector-orange-no-empty-space

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

Footer Legal

Header - Categories

Header Menu

The last good website.

Topics

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.

defector-no-empty-space

Defector

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

back-in-stock-for-a-limited-time

Merch v3

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/johnwilmeswords">John Wilmes</a> is a writer and professor in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Ringer, <em>GQ</em>, <em>Chicago Reader</em>, and <em>The New Republic</em>, among other places. He is the author of the novella <i>Jad&#8217;s Dad Milo</i>.</p>


John Wilmes

Fans look on during the eighth inning between the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field in 2022.

Minnesota Twins v Chicago White Sox

At Home With The Worst Team In Baseball

authorpic1294q9q7qfnn

Soraya Roberts

Screenshot 2024-08-14 at 9.46.52 AM

Arts And Culture

Josh Hartnett Was Always Guaranteed To Jack You Up

iAZrsXUb_400x400

Rohan Nadkarni

Head coach Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks watches a workout during Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on May 03, 2024 in Renton, Washington.

Seattle Seahawks Rookie Minicamp

Why Your Team Sucks

Why Your Team Sucks 2024: Seattle Seahawks


<p>Patrick T. Dorsey is the writer of and a producer on the feature film FUTURE DATE, which had its world premiere at the 2024 Cinequest Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Comedy Feature. You can hear him Thursdays on Defector Trivia, whenever Diana Moskovitz shouts, “Baaaaaaabe!”</p>


Patrick T. Dorsey

Hailey van Lith #9 of Team United States attempts to fight past a screen by Gracia Alonso #44 of Team Spain while Sandra Ygueravide #13 of Team Spain drives past during a Women's 3x3 basketball semifinal game between the United States and Spain on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Esplanade Des Invalides on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France.

3×3 Basketball – Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10

Olympics

Who Is 3×3 Olympic Basketball For?

Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 10.34.24 AM

Abigail Segel

ans of Team Brazil hold a flag with a picture of Marta prior to the Women's Quarterfinal match between France and Brazil during the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Marta-banner-world-cup

Marta’s Last Chance

<div id="1695913206.579009" class="c-virtual_list__item c-virtual_list__item--initial-activeitem" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913206.579009">
<div class="c-message_kit__background c-message_kit__background--hovered p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover c-message_kit__hover--hovered" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__right" role="presentation" data-qa="message_content">
<div class="c-message_kit__indent">
<div class="c-message_kit__blocks c-message_kit__blocks--rich_text c-message_kit__blocks--inline">
<div class="c-message__message_blocks c-message__message_blocks--rich_text c-message__message_blocks--inline" data-qa="message-text">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer p-block_kit_renderer--inline" data-qa="block-kit-renderer">
<div class="p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper p-block_kit_renderer__block_wrapper--first">
<div class="p-rich_text_block p-rich_text_block--inline" dir="auto">
<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>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="1695913224.677889" class="c-virtual_list__item" role="listitem" data-qa="virtual-list-item" data-item-key="1695913224.677889">
<div class="c-message_kit__background p-message_pane_message__message c-message_kit__message" role="presentation" data-qa="message_container" data-qa-unprocessed="false" data-qa-placeholder="false">
<div class="c-message_kit__hover" role="document" data-qa-hover="true">
<div class="c-message_kit__actions c-message_kit__actions--above">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter c-message_kit__gutter--compact">
<div class="c-message_kit__gutter__left" role="presentation"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>


8b2c55a3-643f-49c0-b14a-0e4470463bef_1200x1200-1

Tom Scocca

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton waits to speak at the annual convention of the Rainbow/Push Coalition June 24, 2003 in Chicago, Illinois. Clinton said Bush Administration policies make likely the need for affirmative action programs for years to come.

Clinton Speaks At Rainbow Coalition Convention

Margin Of Error

Can The Pundits Pivot Toward The Center?

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


IMG_1801 (1)

Nicholas Russell

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leaves the stage during a commercial break as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with US President Joe Biden at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024.

TOPSHOT-US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEBATE-BIDEN-TRUMP

Interviews

‘Know Your Enemy’ Host Matt Sitman Talks About Covering Politics Without Becoming A Hack

<p><a href="https://tomwhyman.com/">Tom Whyman</a> is a British philosopher.</p>


Tom Whyman

Far-right activists hold an 'Enough is Enough' protest on August 02, 2024 in Sunderland, England

anti-migration-sunderland

Politics

U.K. Politicians Can’t Fix What They Broke

PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 02: Chase Budinger of Team United States reacts during a Men's Preliminary Phase match on day seven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Eiffel Tower Stadium on August 02, 2024 in Paris, France.

Beach Volleyball – Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 7

Chase Budinger Completed His Journey From Guy To Olympian


<p>Rose Eveleth is the host of the podcast&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Flash Forward</a>, and author of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flashforwardpod.com/book/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the book by the same name</a>.&nbsp;<br></p>


WEB-Rose Eveleth-Mamiya RZ 67-Eler de Grey

Rose Eveleth

An illustration of a skeleton with running shoes on sliding into an MRI machine

SEXAFTERDEATH (1)

What Can We Learn From The Biology Of Dead Athletes?

image1 (3)

Should I Die For Orville Peck?

<div dir="ltr">
<p>Mike Tanier has covered the NFL for 20 years for Football Outsiders, the New York Times, The Messenger, Bleacher Report, Sports on Earth, and other ancient empires. He&#8217;s a co-author of Aaron Schatz&#8217;s FTN Football Almanac and the author of the Y/A novel for grownups <i>Long Snapper&#8217;s Blues. </i>He lives off Exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike with his long-suffering wife, two sons and a 70-pound American Bully named Frank the Tank. <span style="font-weight: 400">His new Substack, <a href="https://miketanier.substack.com/">Too Deep Zone</a>, has officially launched.</span></p>
</div>


Mike Tanier

Will Levis #8 of the Tennessee Titans signs autographs before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Nashville, Tennessee at Nissan Stadium on January 7, 2024 in Houston, Texas. The Titans defeated the Jaguars 28-20.

Jacksonville Jaguars v Houston Texans

Why Your Team Sucks 2024: Tennessee Titans

<div class="author-header-content">
<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>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
<div class="author-header-shares"></div>


XrjaOfP__400x400

Charles P. Pierce

Olga Kharlan of Ukraine celebrates as she wins bronze medal after competing against Choi Se-bin (not seen) of South Korea in the Fencing Women's Foil Individual on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Grand Palais in Paris, France on July 29, 2024.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Fencing

Olga Kharlan Came All The Way Back In Paris

<div>Isle McElroy is the author of the novels <i>The Atmospherians </i>and<i> People Collide</i>, which was named a best book of 2023 by Vogue, NPR, Them, and the New York Times Critics.</div>
<div></div>


Isle McElroyHeadshot_Events

Isle McElroy

Emma Stone in a scene from Kinds of Kindness

kinds-of-kindness-emma-stone

Defector At The Movies

‘Kinds Of Kindness’ Isn’t Supposed To Be Funny

A flyer with information about Project 2025's plan to expand oil drilling inside the United States, stapled to a pole on a city street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2024 Republican National Convention

Who Wants To Talk About The Issues

<p>A Rockies fan by birth and a White Sox fan by geographic proximity, Annie Howard spends her non-suffering sports moments ardently rooting for the Nuggets and the Orioles.</p>


image_67179777

Annie Howard

Los Campesinos concert stage - two fists surrounded by a ring of shards pointing at them

IMG_5465

Music

A Small Catalog Of Reflections On Aging Made Possible By Los Campesinos!

(from left) Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) in Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

TWISTERS

‘Twisters’ Can’t Singlehandedly Drag Us Back To The ’90s

<p>Alex Shultz is a journalist based in Brooklyn.</p>


IMG_0077

Alex Shultz

An illustration of a guy opening his coat to display items for sale

eBay

59 Blu-Rays, A Nazi Trinket, And Everything Else I Found In A Right-Wing Senate Candidate’s Robust eBay Store

Chief Technology Officer of X Elon Musk speaks onstage during the "Exploring the New Frontiers of Innovation: Mark Read in Conversation with Elon Musk" session at the Lumiere Theatre during the Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 - Day Three on June 19, 2024 in Cannes, France.

Cannes Lions International Festival Of Creativity 2024 – Day Three

Elon Musk Keeps Digging In

<p>Matt Ufford is the head of video and audio at Yahoo Sports.</p>


ufford-author

Matt Ufford

A yellow-headed caracara close to reasonably priced children’s clothes and locked-up deodorant. Photo: Matt Ufford

caracara

Wings Week

Let The World Come To You On The Wings Of Vagrant Birds


<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>


AMY SCHNEIDER_11_22_2021_SN8516

Amy Schneider

380357 05: Orville Wright flying over Dayton, OH in September of 1910. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

Orville Wright flying over Dayton

You Motherfuckers Forgot About Dayton

Longlegs-MCDLONG_EC039-H-2024

‘Longlegs’ Can’t Quite Carry The Weight Of Expectations

<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>


R1byyuOh_400x400

Hamilton Nolan

Welterweight contender Jaron Ennis trains during a media workout for his upcoming fight against Custio Clayton at Churchill Boxing Club on May 11, 2022 in Santa Monica, California.

Jermell Charlo Media Workout

The Fights

Philly Has A Hero Named Boots

US President Joe Biden speaks as he hosts a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (out of frame) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 10, 2024.

joe-biden

What’s The Story With Joe Biden?


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


fl