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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

<p>Libby Watson is a journalist who covers healthcare.</p>


Libby Watson

A very weird TV, reflected in a wall-mounted mirror in a large British "sitting room."

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I Am Obsessed With The Tiny TVs Of ‘Escape To The Country’

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Soraya Roberts

Only Murders In The Building -- "True Crime" - Episode 101 --Upper West Side neighbors Charles, Oliver &amp; Mabel bond over a shared love of true crime. When a fellow resident dies in their building, the trio determine to solve the mystery and record an accompanying podcast. Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin), shown.

True Crime

Arts And Culture

It Takes More Than Fancy Clothes To Be The Best-Dressed Show On TV

<div>Rick Paulas is a writer in Brooklyn who made <i><a href="http://www.theladyingreenpoint.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.theladyingreenpoint.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1693673714100000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3mdrn4_mwbI7boyzf49u2G">The Lady in Greenpoint</a></i>, a 3-mile walking audio ghost story starting at the Pulaski Bridge, and <i>The Palmer Hotel</i>, a collection of spooky short stories set over a century in a downtown hotel, of which there are like 50 copies left for sale.</div>
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Rick Paulas

An overhead shot of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront area in Brooklyn, New York. Taken from a plane or helicopter or maybe one of those new tall buildings on the waterfront.

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Life Lessons

I’ll Always Have Rec League Softball, Until I Don’t

Felix Kent

CANADA - JULY 24: Leonard Cohen (Photo by Andrew Stawicki/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Leonard Cohen

How Do You Reconcile A Part You Hate In A Work You Love?

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Jason England

Roger Goodell, Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter attend Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.

Super Bowl LVII Pregame

Music

50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?

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Have You Seen Skyler Gisondo?

<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

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 19: Striking SAG-AFTRA members picket with striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers outside Netflix offices on July 19, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood's largest union which represents actors and other media professionals, have joined striking WGA (Writers Guild of America) workers in the first joint walkout against the studios since 1960. The strike could shut down Hollywood productions completely with writers in the third month of their strike against the Hollywood studios. Netflix reported second quarter earnings after the closing bell today.

Members Of SAG-AFTRA And WGA Go On Strike At Netflix, Sunset Gower And Paramount Studios

The Hollywood Strike Forces A Reckoning For The Trades

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


Dennis Young

Sha'Carri Richardson celebrates her 100-meter final win at the 2023 track and field world championships.

shacarri richardson

Track And Field

American Track Now Has Its Most Electric Sprinters In Years

<p>Hesse Deni is a podcaster and screenwriter from Buffalo, New York currently living in Manhattan. Her podcast is called <em>Seeking Derangement</em>s and is available on all major platforms.</p>


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Hesse Deni

Veteran broadcasters Harry Neale (left) and Rick Jeanneret (right) of the Buffalo Sabres get ready for their game

Montreal Canadiens v Buffalo Sabres

Rick Jeanneret’s Voice Gave Buffalo Hope

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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

Ukraine's Olha Kharlan (L) refuses to shake hands with Russia's Anna Smirnova, registered as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), after she defeated her during the Sabre Women's Senior Individual qualifiers, as part of the FIE Fencing World Championships at the Fair Allianz MI.CO (Milano Convegni) in Milan, on July 27, 2023.

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Olympics

Olga Kharlan’s Stand Had History Behind It

<p>Krys Malcolm Belc is the author of <em>The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood</em> (Counterpoint) and the flash nonfiction chapbook <em>In Transit</em> (The Cupboard Pamphlet). He is the memoir editor of <em>Split Lip Magazine</em><i>. </i>Krys is the current Edelstein-Keller Writer-in-Residence at the University of Minnesota and lives in St. Paul with his partner and their four young children.</p>


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Krys Malcolm Belc

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

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Histories Of Transition

How Transmasc Parents Navigate Testosterone After Pregnancy

<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

Can Benny Safdie Just Make Himself Into A Character Actor?

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Life's Rich Pageant

Everyone At The Christian Influencer Convention Was Trapped

<p>Sean T. Collins has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Decider, Pitchfork, and many others. He lives with his family on Long Island.</p>


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Sean T. Collins

Jon Moxley delivers a move to Anthony Bowens during the AEW Dynamite - Beach Break taping on January 26, 2022, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH.

WRESTLING: JAN 26 AEW Dynamite

Pro Wrestling

How Queer Pro Wrestlers Are Handling America’s Anti-LGBTQ+ Heel Turn


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


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Corey Atad

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Interviews

Steven Soderbergh Says It’s Time To Tear The Streaming Model Down To The Studs

Writers on strike march with signs on the picket line on day four of the strike by the Writers Guild of America in front of Netflix in Hollywood, California on May 5, 2023. - More than 11,000 Hollywood television and movie writers are on their first strike since 2007 after talks with studios and streamers over pay and working conditions failed to clinch a deal.

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Is An Independent Hollywood Possible?


<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

Rose Zhang of the United States plays a shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the Dana Open at Highland Meadows Golf Club on July 14, 2023 in Sylvania, Ohio.

Dana Open – Round Two

Golf

Rose Zhang, Golf’s Next Phenom, Is Doing Her Own Thing

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the film Barbie

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Defector At The Movies

‘Barbie’ Was Born Out Of The Anxiety Of Modern Filmmaking

<p>Kim McCauley covers soccer for The Athletic and ESPN, and worked as a data analyst at Angel City FC. You can <a href="https://twitter.com/kimischilling" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/kimischilling&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1690042325485000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3FfPKUcZC9_LzSiHDnR1Ox">follow her on the bird app</a>.</p>
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Kim McCauley

Alyssa Thompson #7 of the United States dribbles the ball during the first half of an international friendly against Wales at PayPal Park on July 09, 2023 in San Jose, California.

Wales v United States

Soccer

What Is This USWNT Player’s Deal: Alyssa Thompson

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

‘Dead Reckoning’ Knows Exactly Who We Need Behind The Wheel

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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

An American soldier stands in the Zeppelin stadium and looks towards a Nazi swastika, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945. The stadium, along with two others, was used by Adolf Hitler to hold many Nazi rallies. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Nuremberg in Allied Hands

They Almost Played An All-Star Game At Nuremberg

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Stephen Root Knows What Lurks Beneath The Everyman

<p>Lucas Hubbard is a North Carolina-based writer whose work has appeared in Microfiction Monday Magazine, INDY Week, Paste, and other outlets.</p>


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Lucas Hubbard

A card with a bunch of love items about Rafael Nadal. There's one of him picking his wedge, one of him screaming after a point and him, in a heart, smiling. Also there are drawings of tennis balls and tennis rackets.

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Tennis

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Nadal

Crowds are seen in front of the stage as Lost Frequencies gives a DJ Performance concert on the second day of the Champions Festival, which is being prepared for the UEFA Champions League final to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 9, 2023.

Day 2 Festival – UEFA Champions League Final 2022/23

I Just Want To Go To A Concert

<p>Jen Ramos Eisen is a Central California-based minor league baseball writer.</p>


Jen Ramos Eisen

Domingo German #0 of the New York Yankees pitches to Esteury Ruiz #1 of the Oakland Athletics in the bottom of the ninth inning at RingCentral Coliseum on June 28, 2023 in Oakland, California. Ruiz made the final out in a no-hit perfect game for German, defeating the Athletics 11-0.

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