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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.

Defector

Natalie Weiner

Interviews

Colson Whitehead Talks About Embracing Change, Pulling Off A Heist, And Finding A Good Coffee Table

Dave McKenna

Funbag

What’s The Riskiest Thing You’ve Survived Eating?

Patrick Redford

The Ticketmaster logo is displayed on a smartphone screen in this photo illustration. Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, currently faces a major antitrust trial in the United States, where regulators accuse the live-events giant of monopolizing the concert ticketing and promotion market, allegations the company denies, in Brussels, Belgium, on March 5, 2026. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto)

Capital

Live Nation Gets To Keep Its Monopoly Thanks To Trump’s Department Of Justice

Rodman and TOni Braxton at the MTV Music Awards

Podcasts

Associated “Association Update” Update, With Will Anderson Of Hotline TNT

<p>Columnist. Author of many <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Magary/e/B001JS8R52/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1">fine works of literature</a>, including <em>Point B</em>. Handsomest man in the world.</p>


Drew Magary

The Kindness Of Familiar Faces

Defector Staff

Early gramophone in photo on Norwegian postcard of young people listening to record on a gramophone, early thirties.

Year In Review

The Best Things We Heard In 2025

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Puja Patel is a writer, editor, and curator who has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Pitchfork and <em>Spin</em>, a culture editor for Deadspin, and a columnist for MTV and the <em>Village Voice</em>. Her work has appeared in publications such as the <em>New Yorker</em>, <em>Harper&#8217;s Bazaar</em>, and <em>Rolling Stone,</em> among others. She serves on the advisory board of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and Building Beats, a nonprofit organization that provides music education to underserved youth across New York City and Los Angeles.</div>
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Puja Patel

Mods Asleep

The Cringiest Love Songs That Make Us Cry

Albert Burneko

San Antonio Spurs French forward-centre Victor Wembanyama (C) reacts as he attends his event named "Hoop Gambit", a chess and basketball tournament that takes place in his birth town of Le Chesnay, south-west of Paris, on July 20, 2025.

OK But What If The Billionaire Is A Cool Guy?

A gallery assistant looks at a vintage horn gramophone belonging to John Peel during a photo call for highlights from Bonhams Live In Session: Property From The John Peel Archive sale which takes place on Tuesday June 14 at Bonhams in London. Picture date: Friday June 10, 2022.

I Listen To Music Wrong

Kelsey McKinney

Luis Paez-Pumar

Lauren Theisen

Kathryn Xu

Singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs at City Year Los Angeles Spring Break at Sony Studios on April 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California

Defector Music Club

Defector Music Club Really Really Really Really Really Really Likes Carly Rae Jepsen

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


Sabrina Imbler


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

Ray Ratto

The two Eurovision hosts are surrounded by dancers holding giant fondue sticks.

Music

Can You Do Racism Against Italians? A Eurovision Roundtable

Orson Welles And Paola Mori Having Lunch At Table

The Only Spaghetti Eating Lesson You’ll Ever Need

<p>Staff Writer</p>
<p>Find me on Signal @DefectorChris.19</p>


Chris Thompson

Two tennis guys get horny looking at Zendaya.

Defector At The Movies

Is My Most Loathed Enemy A Song From The Score Of ‘Challengers’? Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah-Yeah-Yeah Yeah Yeah-Yeah-Yeah

Arts And Culture

I Believe In Ethel Cain

Rachelle Hampton

Leslie Chelsey, 10, of Victory Boulevard School, plays violin. (Photo by USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)

Why Didn’t Orchestra Musicians Choose To Learn Cooler Instruments?

David Roth

Giri Nathan

Defector Music Club Talks TV On The Radio On The Internet

Wicked co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande stand on a red carpet. Grande holds Erivo's hand to her mouth.

When Will The ‘Wicked’ Press Campaign End?

Defector Music Club Blows Up The Chicken Man

Ancienne Belgique (AB) - Brussel - Belgium - 04/06/2005 Oasis: Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher Photo gie Knaeps

Oasis Is Back, You Wankers!

Chappell Roan on stage in a blue outfit, her hair blowing behind her, with one arm outstretched, pointing.

Chappell Roan Confronts The Sickness Of Modern Fandom

<p>Heather Chen is a former Defector intern and the managing editor at the <em>Columbia Daily Spectator</em>. She loves hockey, photography, and the good ol’ state of Michigan.</p>


Heather Wei-Xi Chen

PARIS, FRANCE July 29, 2024-USA's Jagger Eaton falls on his last attempt to win a gold medal of the Men's street skateboard competition at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France Monday. Eaton won the silver medal. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Olympics

Explain To Me Your Music Choices, Now

two actors sitting on stage, looking at each other, in Illinoise

‘Illinoise’ Carries The Spirit That Makes Sufjan Stevens Special

Israel Daramola

The Year’s Best Rap Album Wants To Take You To The Future

<p>Mitch Therieau is a writer living in Virginia.</p>


Mitch Therieau

American singer Rob Thomas, of the American rock band Matchbox Twenty, sings on stage during a concert in Los Angeles, California, circa 1996. (Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images)

In Defense Of That Whole Weird ’90s Rock Marble-Mouthed Thing

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