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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

Patrick Redford

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 13: Achraf Hakimi of Morocco pours water over his face during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Brazil and Morocco at New York New Jersey Stadium on June 13, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

Soccer

FIFA’s Hydration Breaks Break The Essence Of The Game

charismatic megafauna (they/them)

Sabrina Imbler

Claire Sneed, a recently fired US Forest Service hydrologic technician

Interviews

An Interview With A Fired U.S. Forest Service Hydrologic Technician

Vince Mancini is a culture writer and old school blogger whose work has appeared in GQ, The Ringer, Uproxx, and more. He writes <a href="https://vincemancini.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://vincemancini.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1739555630062000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0e3B6TjurbpZyGcyNkVTcQ">The #Content Report</a> on Substack and podcasts about prestige TV on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/frotcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.patreon.com/c/frotcast&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1739555630062000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0xjEhxjt84GGvFCgoW4S0E">Pod Yourself</a>.

Vince Mancini

Capital

‘Pistachio Wars’ Tells The Story Of California’s Terraforming

Barry Petchesky

VALLES MARINERIS, MARS - Mars' own Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris, is shown on the surface of the planet in this composite image made aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The image was taken from a video featuring high-resolution images from Arizona State University's Thermal Emission Imaging System multi-band camera on board the spacecraft. The mosaic was then colored to approximate how Mars would look to the human eye. Valles Marineris is 10 times longer, five times deeper and 20 times wider than Earth's Grand Canyon. (Photo by NASA/Arizona State University via Getty Images)

Science

There’s So Much Ice On Mars, You Guys

Lauren Theisen

Golf

Jordan Spieth Nearly Puts Ball In Hole, Self In Lake

Laura Wagner

1934: Profile view of French actor Maurice Chevalier drinking a glass of water while seated in a folding chair on the set of director Ernst Lubitsch's film, 'The Merry Widow'. Chevalier wears a military uniform.

Life Lessons

Barry And Laura Recommend: Glass Of Water

Kelsey McKinney

Diana Moskovitz is Defector&#8217;s investigations editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99

Diana Moskovitz

Coming back from collect water, a woman, deprived of drinking water in her house, pushes a wheelbarrow containing a large pitcher of water on August 03, 1990 in Saint-Martin-des-Besaces, France.

Kelsey And Diana Recommend: Giant Water Bottle

Albert Burneko

Picture taken on January 15, 1937 at Palm Springs showing a bartender mixing a cocktail under water in a swimming pool. (Photo by - / ACME / AFP) (Photo by -/ACME/AFP via Getty Images)

Barkeep, A Glass Of Your Finest Chemolithotroph Peepee, If You Please

Tom Ley

Defector Up All Night

What’s Your Water-Drinking Situation?

Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.

Dan McQuade

My cat, on the rim of a sink, next to a running faucet

Water