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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

The Defector Crewneck Sweatshirt Is Back In Stock

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Merch v3

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Albert Burneko

Robert F. Kennedy looking like an old shrunken russet potato at some Trump rally.

RFK Jr. lookin real bad

Media Meltdowns

What The Fuck Is A “Vaccine Skeptic”?

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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

Workers prepare US Capitol for 2025 inauguration.

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Margin Of Error

Last Time Was Lucky

A big campaign sign that is just Kamala Harris's head, in front of a blue sky with scattered clouds.

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The Candidates Have Nothing Left To Tell You

Donald Trump makes a loony-eyed face while speaking at IAC.

trump crazy eyes

Where Racism Goes To Become Rhetoric

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

Can The Pundits Pivot Toward The Center?

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Tom Ley

Screenshot 2024-08-02 at 10.27.34 AM

Bigots Need Their Useful Idiots

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

The New York Times building is seen on September 6, 2018 in New York. - A furious Donald Trump called September 5, 2018 for the unmasking of an anonymous senior official who wrote in the New York Times that top members of his administration were undermining the president to curb his "misguided impulses." Trump asked if the unsigned op-ed could be considered treasonous, assailed the newspaper for the "gutless" piece and questioned whether the senior official it was attributed to actually existed. "TREASON?" Trump posted in response to the article entitled "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration," which claimed the president's own staff see him as a danger to the nation."Does the so-called 'Senior Administration Official' really exist, or is (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Journalismism

Why Did The New York Times Delete A Notorious Fraudster’s Election Take?

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.

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What’s The Story With Joe Biden?

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Kelsey McKinney

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Arts And Culture

Who Are These Big Book Lists For?

Donald Trump and Joe Biden, looking like a couple of brain-ruined old mummies during their presidential debate.

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Debate Losers

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Justin Ellis

A photo of the scoreboard screen at the Target Center in Minneapolis displaying the words "Bring Ya Ass"

bringyaass

Whomst Has Brought The Ass?

"Motoman" robots from Japan's largest industrial robot maker Yasukawa Electric, beats a drum during a demonstration at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, 29 November 2007.

JAPAN-INDUSTRY-ROBOT

The Machines

If Kevin Roose Was ChatGPT With A Spray-On Beard, Could Anyone Tell?

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

Columbia encampment

Going Off Script

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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

They Are Insecure For A Reason

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

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Patrick Redford

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

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Samer Kalaf

nyt-building

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

In this photograph a group of townsfolk descend on a disciple after it was discovered that the ritual he participated in left a person dead during an Epoch Event in Toronto on August 6, 2011

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Fantasy Convention

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<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>
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Mike Tanier

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON WRITING IN LARGE BOOK WITH QUILL PEN (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

STILL LIFE OF SKELETON…

Three Newsrooms Imploded Around Me In Under A Year

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

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

<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>


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Drew Magary

Woman plays Wordle on her smartphone at the kitchen table of her home on 26th November 2023 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Wordle is a web-based word game played by millions of users / players worldwide often on their mobile devices. The game was created and developed by software engineer Josh Wardle, and owned by The New York Times Company since 2022.

Wordle Smartphone Game

Overexplained Lists

New York Times Games, Ranked

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

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Politics

Hamas Will Be Anywhere That Israel Wants It To Be

Dave McKenna

New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan, looking like a big sad baby at a microphone

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Hey James Dolan: Quit Your Job

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