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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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Samer Kalaf

Delta Airlines planes sit parked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

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Wings Week

Who’s Afraid Of A Palestinian Flag Pin?

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Ruairí McCann

Still image from the movie The Canticle of the Stones.

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Defector At The Movies

‘Canticle Of The Stones’ Grapples With The Difficulty Of Artistic Representation Inside Occupied Palestine


<p>charismatic megafauna (they/them)</p>


Typing

Sabrina Imbler

Pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Israel's participation in the 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) demonstrate in Malmo, Sweden, on May 11, 2024, with a poster saying : NEJ TILL FOLKMORD, Welcome to the Genocide Song Contest

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Arts And Culture

The Myth Of An Apolitical Eurovision

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<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>
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Tom Scocca

An NYPD officer in riot gear looms over a student protestor on the ground and appears to be gripping her arm.

Columbia encampment

Margin Of Error

Going Off Script

A line of police at City College during pro-Gaza demonstrations

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Interviews

A City College Student Journalist Shares What He Saw During The NYPD Crackdown

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Patrick Redford

Counter protesters attack pro-Palestinian protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Clashes broke out on May 1, 2024 around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)

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Politics

UCLA Chooses Violence Over Divestment

NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University's encampment

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The Outside Agitators On Campus Were The Police

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David Roth

A group of Columbia University students, advocating for Palestinians, access the iconic Hamilton Hall building as they gather to stage a demonstration at the campus in New York, United States on April 30, 2024. Protests are sweeping college campuses across the US following a police attempt to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University, resulting in the arrest of over 100 students. Columbia University asked students on Monday to 'voluntarily disperse' amid stalled talks, threatening the students with suspension.

Columbia University students gather for Palestinians and enter iconic Hamilton Hall

Journalismism

They Are Insecure For A Reason

The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University.

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The Crackdown Explains The Protest

<p>Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.</p>


Asher Elbein

An illustration of Magneto placing a yarmulke atop his head.

Magneto (1)

History

The Judgment Of Magneto

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Lauren Theisen

2023 PEN America Literary Gala – Inside

PEN America Chooses The Most Cowardly Words

A big outdoor sign reading USC University of Southern California, with a student riding a skateboard in the background.

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The Speech-Free Campus

New York Times Managing Editor Joseph Kahn gives the keynote speech at the Andrew Olle lecture 2017 at ICC darling Harbour on October 27, 2017 in Sydney, Australia.

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The New York Times Ignores Reality In Pursuit Of Objectivity

Palestinian children are standing next to a bombed-out WCK vehicle in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

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The Exchange Rate On Palestinian Life

A Palestinian checks a damaged vehicle after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on April 2, 2024.

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Voting For Gaza

Josh Radnor, Madeline Weinstein, Cherise Boothe, and Michael Khalid Karadsheh in The Ally

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What Comes After The Argument?

Palestinians, who are unable to meet their basic needs due to the Israeli army's obstruction of humanitarian aid, receive a bag of flour from an aid truck that arrived at al-Rashid Street in the west of Gaza City, Gaza.

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The Status Quo In Gaza Is Death

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The New York Times Ignores Intense Scrutiny Of Its Oct. 7 Report

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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

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 27: A person holds a sign during a vigil for U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell at the US Army Recruiting Office in Times Square on February 27, 2024 in New York City. Bushnell died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC on Sunday. In a video that was posted to a social media account showing the act, he stated that would “no longer be complicit in genocide," before pouring an unknown liquid over himself and igniting it while yelling “Free Palestine” repeatedly. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Vigil Held For U.S. Airman Aaron Bushnell Who Died After Setting Himself On Fire In Protest Of Israeli’s Actions In Gaza

Why Did Aaron Bushnell Burn?

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times doing a PBS interview

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New York Times Pays Thomas Friedman To Compare The Middle East To Bugs

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


Dennis Young

Marathon running holding a Palestinian flag

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Olympics

How Four Marathoners Organized A Ceasefire Protest From Across The Country

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The New York Times’ David Leonhardt Turns In A Nasty Piece Of Work

Palestinians carry a list of Gaza victims during a rally amid a general strike in the occupied West Bank.

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Palestinian Suffering Is Never As Urgent As The Counterfactual

Premature babies are moved from their incubators to another location at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

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