Defector is an employee-owned sports and culture website. We write about sports, politics, TV, movies, science, weird shit that happens on the internet, and anything else that catches our attention, because we believe that a good publication is one that reflects the genuine interests and obsessions of its staff. We started this company because media […]

4 days ago · 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.

Nov 22, 2024 · In honor of today's release of the major motion picture and guaranteed box office smash Wicked, here is my non-exhaustive ranking of the types of gladiator.. I. Murmillones The kings of the arena. Armed with a short sword, protected by a shield and a bracer on his sword arm, and decked out in an extravagant, often fish-themed helmet, there's a reason you think of the murmillo when you think of ...

Nov 20, 2024 · Augusta Britt has had, by any reasonable accounting, an extraordinarily rich and interesting life, and seems like a vivid and fascinating person. By her mid-teens in the mid-1970s, she was a pistol-packing Arizona refugee from her own abusive family and any number of atrocious foster homes. She met the novelist Cormac McCarthy by a motel […]

Dec 26, 2024 · This is what the Defector staff enjoyed reading in 2024. The Stadium, by Frank Andre Guridy . A historical and contemporary view of the stadium as America's latest version of the public square for good, ill, joy, evil, and plaintively stupid in that uniquely American way.

Nov 3, 2024 · Hours after the Philadelphia 76ers lost at home to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, news broke that Sixers star Joel Embiid dislodged Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in some way during a confrontation in the locker room over a rotten, cynical piece of work Hayes published this past week. That is as determinate of a statement as can be made on the interaction, as the story ...

Nov 22, 2024 · The chess world championship title goes on the line once again starting this Monday, where the incumbent Ding Liren will face off against the challenger Gukesh D for the highest title in chess! Playing 14 head-to-head games in Singapore over two and a half weeks, Ding is looking to correct his post-title form slump, while […]

Aug 21, 2024 · Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly hesitant to identify as a fan of any living artist. There are plenty of artists whose work I like, or even love, but the entire concept of being a fan, and what the act of fandom entails, has shifted in ways I …

Dec 3, 2024 · LM: All the forced "inside jokes" to supposedly bring the couple together … ugh.Like the plum pudding, and "for me ma," and … there were others, but they were so unmemorable I’m drawing a blank. When the pop star comes into the pub for the first time and the widow had told Rose something to the effect of "Here comes Katie, she sort of keeps to herself," or something … then in walks ...

Feb 1, 2023 · Politics reporter Marc Caputo announced on Tuesday that he is leaving his job at NBC News. This sudden career change comes one week after Caputo spent a day chronicling on Instagram his recent eviction of a tenant renting a home Caputo owns in Key West, through screenshots of text conversations with the tenant and property manager.