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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

Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.

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Nicholas Russell

The Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, MA on October 25, 2021.

The Harvard Book Store

Politics

What Comes After The Post-Crisis Reading List?

Investigations Editor. You can reach her at diana@defector.com or, if you prefer protonmail, dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. If security is a concern, download the Signal app and send her a text at 929-251-8187.

DFM New Headshot

Diana Moskovitz

Mary Lou Retton signs a Wheaties box in 2003. By her side is her longtime coach, Bela Karolyi

Mary Lou Retton and Bela Karolyi

Gymnastics

Mary Lou Retton’s Third Act Is Her Most All-American

justin

Justin Ellis

New York Mayor Eric Adams speaking at Healing for Heroes Gala in Brooklyn, in front of a painting of himself

Healing For Heroes Gala

This Is So Stupid

Whodunit! Unmasking The Author Of Eric Adams’s Self-Published Book

VictorPortraitWClaw

David Roth

Investor Bill Ackman, wearing one of those goofy headsets you can rent that play the radio broadcast, watches Emma Radacanu play at the 2021 U.S. Open in Queens, NY.

2021 US Open – Day 11

Hiding And Seeking With The New York Times

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Tom Ley

New York Mayor Eric Adams gives a thumbs up as he leaves his weekly press conference at New York City Hall on November 14, 2023. FBI agents seized the New York mayor's cell phones and other devices, his campaign lawyer said 10 November, 2023, in an apparent escalation of a federal investigation into campaign fundraising. The seizure appears to be part of a corruption investigation into whether Eric Adams' 2021 campaign conspired with Turkey's government and others.

US-POLITICS-INVESTIGATION-FBI-ADAMS

Eric Adams: The Beauty Of New York Is That There Are Terrorist Attacks And Also Stores That Open

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Samer Kalaf

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

gaza-protest-west-bank

Palestinian Suffering Is Never As Urgent As The Counterfactual

Dave McKenna

A close up of Conor McGregor yelling during the filming of the TV show The Ultimate Fighter in March 2023

The Ultimate Fighter Season 31: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler

The Fights

Conor McGregor And The Politics Of Mean

Ron DeSantis poses with a supporter, or anyway with a guy in a baseball hat, in Newton, Iowa in December of 2023. He is smiling in a very unsettling way.

Ron DeSantis Holds His 99th Campaign Rally In Iowa

What Puts A Smile On Ron DeSantis’s Face?

Henry Kissinger looking like a little goblin while watching a Yankees fan

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Yankees Honor Least Evil Fan

Amos Barshad

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. A grand jury today handed up an indictment naming former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies over an alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Georgia Grand Jury Delivers Indictment In 2020 Election Case

Who Does The RICO Case Against Young Thug Actually Serve?

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

gaza-premature-babies

Hamas Will Be Anywhere That Israel Wants It To Be

Normal Gossip: portraits

Alex Sujong Laughlin

Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Tim Scott standing onstage, all very normally, at a GOP primary debate in Miami.

MIAMI, FL – NOVEMBER 08: The candidates take the stage at the t

These Debates Don’t Matter

Palestinians in Gaza carry bodies through the street

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Bearing Witness To Gaza’s Grief Shouldn’t Feel Like A Radical Act

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Typing

Sabrina Imbler

People carry injured and dead Palestinians from the rubbles of buildings as civil defense teams and civilians conduct search and rescue operations after Israeli attacks on Al-Shati refugee camp of Gaza City, Gaza on October 27, 2023 as Israeli attacks continue on the 21st day on Gaza

Israeli attacks continue on the 21st day in Gaza

Science

Who Is Allowed To Do Science?

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors gather as they demonstrate against Israeli war on Gaza calling for a ceasefire at Sergelstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, October 22, 2023.

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Sweden

What Happens After The Rally Ends?

A man carries a child, wounded by Israeli airstrikes, into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-GAZA-CONFLICT

Subjugation And Dehumanization Lead To Only One Result

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Ray Ratto

Steve Garvey, in the foreground, at his induction into the Legends of Dodgers Baseball inaugural class back in September of 2018. He's got sunglasses on and is clapping.

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers

Nobody Wants Senator Steve Garvey

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Chris Thompson

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event at the Los Angeles Harbor Grain Terminal on September 29, 2023 in Long Beach, California. DeSantis is scheduled to speak at the California Republican Party Fall Convention in Anaheim, California later today.

GOP Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis Campaigns In California

Is Ron DeSantis Wearing Hidden Platform Heels Inside His Stupid Ugly Boots? An Investigation

The animals from Paw Patrol, or more accurately people wearing costumes of the animals from Paw Patrol, waving at the Paris premiere of the Paw Patrol movie.

“Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie”: Paris Premiere At UGC Normandie

Caitlin Flanagan’s Wheels Are Spinning A Little Too Fast

Micah Herskind is an organizer, policy advocate, and writer based in Atlanta, GA.

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Micah Herskind

Environmental activists hold a rally and a march through the Atlanta Forest, a preserved forest Atlanta that is scheduled to be developed as a police training center, March 4, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Intent upon stopping the building of what they have called cop city, the environmentalists were evicted from the forest in January, resulting in the killing by police of Manuel Teran, a young activist and medic.

Environmental Activists Reoccupy Atlanta Forest

Policing

The Stop Cop City Indictment Is An Act Of Desperation

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Moron Pushing Petition To Rename Commanders Has Long History Of Being A Moron

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Patrick Redford

WASHINGTON - MARCH 08: US Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas testifies before the House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on Capitol Hill March 8, 2007 in Washington, DC. Thomas and fellow Justice Anthony Kennedy spoke about concerns with the ongoing remodeling of the court building, the reduction of paperwork due to electronic media and the disparity of pay between federal judges and lawyers working in the private sector. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Clarence Thomas

Justices Kennedy And Thomas Testify Before House Appropriations Committee

Clarence Thomas Absolutely Loves Going On Vacations

New York City Mayor Eric Adams sitting at a literal table with some restauranteurs at the Manhattan restaurant Ali Baba. This is not the same as the figurative "table of success" at which his haters are his waiters.

Mayor Eric Adams cuts ribbon for Turkish restaurant in NYC

A Seat At The Table Of Success

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 02: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits "The Faulkner Focus"at Fox News Channel Studios on June 02, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)