Skip to Content
Defector home
Defector home
Log In
Three photos of Charli XCX

Charli XCX Made A Beautiful Monument To Impermanence

11
Lamar Jackson

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Baltimore Ravens

123
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (R) looks on as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order

Three Vaccines Is Less Vaccine Than One Vaccine, According To Donald Trump

87

Blogs of Note

While Wearing An Orange Wig And A Big Red Foam Nose, Fabrizio Romano Insists He’s Not A Clown

Two Scrabble Superstars Explain Their Unbelievable Championship Match

The “Ground Zero Mosque” Strategy Makes An Even More Pathetic Return

Don Nelson Followed His Bliss And Changed Basketball

Sophie Cunningham Has Quite A Journey To Get Back To Basketball

Umpires explain a rule review to manager John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays during the seventh inning of their MLB game against the Boston Red Sox.
MLB

Red Sox Stumble Into Rules Review Hell, Emerge With Inconsequential Run

61
Mike Kinsella of American Football performs onstage during a concert at O2 Academy Leeds.
Music

American Football Is Still Making Magic

20
Image
Arts And Culture

The Sports Idiot Is Dead, Long Live The Sports Idiot

83
Cathy Engelbert playing golf.
Funbag

Cathy Engelbert Is Doing The Job She Was Hired To Do

339

The last good website.

Why Your Team Sucks

FLOWERY BRANCH, GEORGIA - MAY 27: Michael Penix Jr. #9 of the Atlanta Falcons runs through drills alongside Tua Tagovailoa #1 as head coach Kevin Stefanski looks on during OTA’s at IBM Performance Field on May 27, 2026 in Flowery Branch, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Michael Penix Jr.; Tua Tagovailoa; Kevin Stefanski

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Atlanta Falcons

299
Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Dallas Cowboys

317
Jeff Hafley

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Miami Dolphins

274

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow poses at the Met Gala

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: New Orleans Saints

288
Tyler Shough

Why Your Team Sucks 2026: Washington Commanders

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (L) speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump as Commanders team owner Josh Harris looks on at the NFL football game between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium
Image
This Is So Stupid

CarJitsu Is Precisely As Dumb As It Sounds

140

Arts And Culture

LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets attends a 2025 NBA Summer League game

Let’s Unpack LaMelo Ball’s Sugary Abode

97
Image

Claire Stapleton Helped Write The Myth Of Google, But Now She’s Trying To Tell The Truth

51

What Are You Banning When You Ban Influencers?

Collage: An old drawing of people in a lifeboat struggling against rough seas; in front of them a modern woman is popping out of the water, taking a photo of herself.

The Best Music Of 2026 So Far

Still image from Drake's music video for "Burning Bridges."

Podcasts

Here is the logo of the Normal Gossip podcast

Normal Gossip

The Distraction podcast

The Distraction

Image

Try Hard

Image

Only If You Get Caught

Image

Nothing But Respect

Science

a fluffy white and brown cat in a gray camouflage recovery suit

Melon’s Odyssey On The Black Market For Life-Saving Cat Medicine

a still of ESPN reporter Lindsey Thiry batting away a big bug

What Big Bug “Attacked” An ESPN Reporter At Rams Camp?

Image

We Wouldn’t Be Here Without Poop

an ichthyosaur eats a pterosaur, all above the gaping maw of a pliosaur

Would You Eat This Cretaceous Turducken?

WNBA

MLB

Sportscaster Mike Krukow watches from the broadcast center between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park on October 1, 2021 in San Francisco, California.

Mike Krukow, One Of Baseball’s Greatest Hangs, Is Ready To Go

152
Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Miami Heat speaks to the media during an introductory press conference at Kaseya Center on July 16, 2026. The Distraction logo is at upper right.

Mugged By Seagulls, With Rohan Nadkarni

124
Jefry Yan #84 of the New York Mets celebrates after striking out Angel Martínez #1 of the Cleveland Guardians for his first career strikeout during the sixth inning of his major league debut on August 5, 2026.

It’s Jefry Yan Time

66
Tarik Skubal #29 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Oh No: Dodgers In Unrecoverable Tailspin After Sixth Straight Loss

103

Advice

A little boy walks among the tombstones at Arlington National Cemetary in Washington D.C.

How Do I Talk To My Kid About Death?

104
Kristaps Porzingis with blood on his forehead from a collision.

Concussion Protocols Are A Sham

482
A man carries his child sideways in his arms as he walks up a road

Is It Even Possible To Discipline A Two-Year-Old?

115
Shirtless Broncos fans yelling

Will People Ever Stop Attending Sporting Events?

468

Crosswords

Passengers arrive on an Amtrak train at Union Station on December 04, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Amtrak carried a record 32.8 million passengers in their 2024 fiscal year, a 15 percent increase over the same period in 2023.

The Crossword, Aug. 10: Midpoint

55
JR Ritchie #60 of the Atlanta Braves pitches in the second inning during the game against the Washington Nationals at Truist Park on August 2, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Crossword, Aug. 3: Lucky Stars

66
Serena Williams of United States prepares to serve against Maya Joint of Australia during their Ladies' Singles first round match on day two of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 30, 2026 in London, England.

The Crossword, July 27: Way Downtown (Themeless)

65
ABC/ESPN sideline reporter Katie George interviews head coach Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs after the Friday afternoon college football game between the UGA Bulldogs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on November 28, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA.

The Crossword, July 20: No Half Measures

58

More

Announcements

Transactions, August 10

161
printing press
Cycling

The Tour de France Femmes Was A Contentious, Hypercompetitive Classic

55
NICE, FRANCE - AUGUST 09: Demi Vollering of Netherlands and Team FDJ United - SUEZ - Yellow Leader Jersey celebrates at finish line as stage and final overall race winner during the 5th Tour de France Femmes 2026, Stage 9 a 99.2km stage from Nice to Nice / #UCIWWT / on August 09, 2026 in Nice, France. (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Podcasts

What Does It Take To Make Big City Dreams Work?

12
A picture I took from the Brooklyn Bridge the first week I lived in New York, almost a decade ago.
Politics

Alligator Alcatraz Isn’t Just An American Fantasy

52
Asylum seekers, who entered Israel illegally via Egypt, lean at the fence of the Holot detention centre in Israel's southern Negev Desert, on February 17, 2014.
Staff Chat

Staff Chat Starts Now? Staff Chat Starts Now

934
Undated group photo of the original "Our Gang."
Announcements

The Defector Interns Say Fogo de “Ciao”

78
Sarah and Sohini eat dinner
This Is So Stupid

Defector Also Investigating How Our Super Powerful AI Tool Broke Contain

171
ILLUSTRATION - 17 May 2024, North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne: A person works at a computer with an illustrative image generated by artificial intelligence on the screen, showing code from various programming languages and a neural network diagram. At the meeting of telecommunications ministers on May 21, the EU countries are expected to finally adopt the AI law in the EU. The European Parliament had already given the green light for the project beforehand. Photo: Oliver Berg/dpa (Photo by Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images)
MLB

Paul Skenes Is Stuck Being A Guy While The Pirates Require A Dude

81
Paul Skenes in the rain.

See All Posts →

Interviews

Life's Rich Pageant

Let Me And A Food Scientist Sample The Abandoned Fish Sauce Terrorizing A Small Canadian Town

Interviews

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

Interviews

An Interview With Three Italian Backpackers Who Crossed The Pyrenees And Accidentally Ran Into The Tour de France

Arts And Culture

Meet The Broadway Actor Teaching Public Defenders How To Win In Court

Interviews

John Early’s Secret Is Total Commitment