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Defector
@defector.com
79K followers 31 following 6K posts
The last good website.
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Adam: You or one of your loved one has to have major surgery. You receive a recommendation for the best surgeon in your area to do the critical, delicate operation. When you go into the surgeon’s office for the consultation their office is a standard professional’s office (big desk, nice furniture, medical books, etc) but on one of their office walls they have a life-size FatHead sticker of Aaron Rodgers. Do you still get surgery from them?
January 11, 2026 at 6:02 PM
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Some heavily developed areas in South Florida have unintentionally offered crocodiles a very modern refuge for basking: jet skis, paddleboards, and kayaks. defector.com/if-you-give-...
January 6, 2026 at 12:39 AM
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Christen Press and Tobin Heath want to keep up the fight: defector.com/christen-pre...
You can sometimes detect an edge in how the USWNTers of the previous generation—who fought for and won pay equity, while in many cases being outspoken on various social justice issues—talk about today's crop of stars. During the live show, Press expressed her ambivalence about the current generation's public complacency. "I played soccer during the right time for me because I wanted to do that work. That is why I played. But it's a gift to not have to do that work. And so it's like, we fought so that this generation could just ball out, right?" she said. "And we get to see that, and we're like, 'Wait, aren't you going to fight for more? Like, carry the torch!'" Rapinoe identified a "more conservative" shift among the personal brands of current American stars. She gave a word of wisdom to the next generation: "Somebody's profiting off you, so you may as well be a part of it."
January 4, 2026 at 10:00 PM
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FUNBAG: defector.com/against-slop
Brian: I have a friend from high school who may be the world’s worst case of bandwagoning. In the nearly 30 years I have known him, he has been a consistent fan of Mississippi State and the Atlanta Braves, as well as a revolving door of “it” teams. At various points, he has been a fan of Notre Dame, Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida. He used to be a Tennessee Titans fan because of Steve McNair, but is now a Cowboys fan because of Dak Prescott. And for the last few years he has been a Chiefs fan. I used to make fun of him for his flavor of the month bandwagoning, especially because none of these teams won championships during the time he liked them (except Florida). When I went home to see my parents this Christmas, I met up with him like I always do to see a movie. He was wearing a Dodgers T-shirt and an Edmonton Oilers hat. He has never been interested in hockey the entire time I’ve known him. I don’t really have a question. I just need validation that he’s nuts.
January 4, 2026 at 6:00 PM
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Here are some very real, very gnarly penis injuries suffered by Americans. defector.com/what-horribl...
January 2, 2026 at 10:06 PM
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What would you name this cat? defector.com/what-would-y...
December 30, 2025 at 9:52 PM
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“How many tables order this every night?” I asked.

“Almost all of them,” she said, with just a hint of resignation. defector.com/two-nights-p...
December 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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The 2025 Hater’s Guide to the Williams-Sonoma catalog: defector.com/the-2025-hat...
ITEM #20-5252899 – ROWENTA IXEO VISION ALL-IN-ONE STEAMER Price: $399.95 Copy: “Make sure your holiday linens are pressed to impress. Rowenta’s powerful steamers ensure impeccable results.” Drew says: Oh, do you not own holiday linens? And are they not pressed (to impress) on a regular basis? Well then you probably don’t like Christmas at all. You must be a real asshole, buddy! “Rowenta’s powerful steamers” was actually my fantasy football team’s name this season.
December 21, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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JJ: Who would you rather spend an hour with, Willem Dafoe or Malcolm McDowell? Both creepy, both intense, but one could answer some Spider-Man questions and the other could explain how in the world he was married to Mary Steenburgen.
December 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
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Some wrestling matches that Lauren Theisen liked in 2025: defector.com/the-states-o...
Some Matches I Liked From The Anglosphere Mariah May vs. Toni Storm, AEW Revolution, March 9 Timothy Thatcher vs. Zack Sabre Jr., DEFY Streets Of Rage, April 13 Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku vs. James Drake & Zack Gibson, DPW Title Fight In Vegas, April 18 IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley, WWE Evolution, July 13 Michael Oku vs. Ricky Knight Jr., RevPro Summer Sizzler, July 25 Bandido vs. Hechicero, ROH Death Before Dishonor, August 29 Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley, AEW All Out, September 20 Lee Moriarty vs. Nigel McGuinness, ROH Final Battle, December 5 Some Matches I Liked From Mexico Blue Panther vs. Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL Viernes Espectacular, August 8 Gran Guerrero, Stuka Jr. & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Mistico, Neon & Titan, CMLL Viernes Espectacular, August 22 Dragon Lee vs. El Grande Americano vs. El Hijo del Vikingo, AAA Alianzas, September 27 Atlantis Jr. & Difunto vs. Komander & The Beast Mortos, CMLL Sabados De Coliseo, November 22 Komander vs. Mascara Dorada, CMLL Domingo Familiar, November 23 Some Matches I Liked From Japan Kaito Kiyomiya vs. OZAWA, NOAH The New Year, January 1 Meiko Satomura vs. Sareee, Sareee-ISM Chapter VI, January 23 Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga vs. Chon Shiryu & Leon, ChocoPro #426 Gatoh Rhapsody, February 2 Konosuke Takeshita vs. Oleg Boltin, NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka, February 11 Jun Saito & Rei Saito vs. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi, AJPW Dream Power Series, March 9 Ryo Mizunami vs. Saori Anou, OZ Academy Battle Big Bonus, April 13 El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai, NJPW Death Pain Invitational, June 24 Hiroshi Tanahashi & Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kaito Kiyomiya & Ryohei Oiwa, NJPW Tanahashi Jam, June 29 AZM vs. Bozilla, Stardom Nighter In Korakuen, July 24 Katsuyori Shibata & KENTA vs. Minoru Suzuki & Naomichi Marufuji, Takayamania Empire IV, September 3 Jacky Kamei vs. Ryoya Tanaka, DG Storm Gate, September 4 Mai Sakurai vs. Nao Ishikawa, Marigold Battle Heart, November 17
December 20, 2025 at 8:04 PM
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Who can imagine why anyone would want to cut this lovely mom out of their life? defector.com/who-can-imag...
A reader of the Journal article is left to hunt around for clues about its estranged moms' situations, such as: Wellington's nasty, self-satisfied little smile in the embedded video after she asks if "your child has decided to be an ungrateful little bastard," the defining facial expression of the online MAGA grievance farmer Her history, which the Journal doesn't mention but some intrepid readers quickly uncovered, of contributing to the loony right-wing Western Journal (entirely representative Western Journal headline: Sick Video: Sweet, Elderly Target Worker Horribly Attacked by Woke Activists for Wearing Charlie Kirk Shirt Is Now Getting Tens of Thousands of Dollars) The video Wellington posted publicly online entirely of her own free will, in which she smilingly calls her absent daughter a narcissist and blames all of her own problems on that supposed narcissism
December 19, 2025 at 1:06 AM
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Maggie Nelson sputters and stalls in the 51-page book 'The Slicks: On Sylvia Plath and Taylor Swift' defector.com/maggie-nelso...
Let me spare you the suspense by saying it now: She doesn’t. The book is ill-conceived and poorly wrought, a cynical scripture from the Church of Taylor Swift that relies on circular, shallow argumentation leading the reader nowhere. The central premise, that Swift and Plath are both victims of the patriarchal distaste for prolific woman artists, comes off as tired and outdated; parts of the book read like they belong back in 2015, on the shelf beside a Ruth Bader Ginsburg mug. There’s a notable absence of many of Nelson’s usual strengths—a penchant for universalizing the personal, a deft application of critical theory—and the strengths that are evident, namely her vast wealth of knowledge about poetry and literature, are drowned out by a poorly considered “feminist” argument that reads more like a chip on Nelson’s shoulder than a legitimate political issue.
December 14, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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'Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story' feels more like an infomercial for the Bills' new stadium than a Christmas movie. defector.com/the-bills-ha...
December 14, 2025 at 6:01 PM
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FUNBAG: defector.com/pat-mcafee-i...
Monte: Barring reading (which is not writing), is there any means of practice for writers beyond the sheer act of creation? There are no etudes or scales for writers, and I'm not sure the trick of copying an existing piece until your own imagination takes over makes sense.
December 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
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"I Shall Never Mess Up Again," by A. Frog: defector.com/is-this-the-...
December 12, 2025 at 1:09 AM
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Defector watches 'My Secret Santa,' the story of one man's sexual tension with Santa Claus. defector.com/defector-wat...
December 11, 2025 at 10:41 PM
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We're ramping up toward going live with the 2025 Shams Charania Award For Excellence In Divulging Of Information Through Syntax Comprehended By Many: twitch.tv/defectormedia
December 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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Time for some tortured prose. At 1 p.m. ET today, the Defector Twitch stream will present the nominees for the 2025 Shams Charania Award For Excellence In Divulging Of Information Through Syntax Comprehended By Many: www.twitch.tv/defectormedia

(art by @mattielubchansky.com)
December 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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FUNBAG: defector.com/oh-shit-im-a...
Brian: A question only a middle aged man could ask: What’s the best trash day? Town moved us from Monday to Friday and it fucking sucks. Monday was perfect. You throw away the evidence of the weekend and start fresh. Friday is terrible. There’s gotta be a right answer here.
December 6, 2025 at 8:40 PM
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Tim Robinson understands what the boys are going through: defector.com/tim-robinson...
There is something specific to what's going on with young men today that Robinson's show and comedy in general speaks to. It's the neediness of it all. Robinson's characters tend to be devoid of purpose and value in a world that increasingly needs less from them. Their crack-ups are set in motion by their inability to find fulfillment in a technological world that preys on insecurities and feeds them depression for every meal. It is a human impulse to wander and search for meaning. Robinson's characters show us how easy it is to get pinned down, not just by the demands of a capitalist system, but by the internet's ability to pick at our anxieties and feelings of inadequacy. If every day is just about going to work and then living our lives online, how is anyone supposed to function?
December 4, 2025 at 11:10 PM
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The conservative grievance business is always hiring: defector.com/the-conserva...
It's more accurate to say that Marine Todd, as a conservative figure of fantasy and the beefy personification of a foundational urge that runs through that movement, is both very old and very current. That fantasy is about violence, but it is also about impunity—"God was busy protecting America’s military," Todd tells his professor, once he comes to, "who are out protecting your right to say stupid shit like that, so he sent me to fill in." Righteously smashing whoever and whatever offends or just inconveniences you is something like the essential reactionary fantasy; the great work of the conservative movement, then and now, is creating the circumstances and structures that make it possible for the right type of smasher to get away with doing that.
December 3, 2025 at 10:59 PM
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A 61-year-old Mets mystery: Who was Wilbur Huckle, and what's the deal with these buttons? defector.com/wilbur-huckl...
November 28, 2025 at 11:00 PM
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The Phoenix Mercury’s new logos vs. the planet Mercury: an exhausting showdown defector.com/the-phoenix-...
The Mercury say they did not engage an outside design firm to produce their new logos. But they do claim the process took nearly three years, which is billable hours–coded, and they do suffer the same need to logorrheically explain every choice, and assign deep lore to every decision, as if a sports logo is a Dan Brown puzzle to decode and not a thing that mostly just needs to look cool on merch. I'm a big planet fan. All planets. Love 'em. I even live on one. I'm also a pedant, so I thought it might be worth my time—certainly not yours—to look at all the planetary references in the new logos and wordmarks, and see if the Mercury do justice to Mercury.
November 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
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Welcome to the ‘Nothing But Respect’ media hour: defector.com/welcome-to-t...
This week on the show, Harry and I yapped about a number of different media-adjacent topics, basketball and otherwise. What began as a discussion of how we each follow the NBA turned into a much longer conversation about cutting-edge media in other spheres, namely, the daily streaming tech show Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN). What should one make of the success of an X dot com–based show broadcast during the middle of the workday that is mostly impenetrable to non-tech audiences? To what extent is TBPN's explicitly boosterish, non-journalistic outlook a problem? Does this connect at all to hoops media (yes)?
November 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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Shocker: Appointing a 29-year-old derelict pet store owner with no politics experience to San Francisco Board of Supervisors not actually a masterstroke defector.com/shocker-appo...
As of publication, residents of San Francisco's District 4, comprising most of the Sunset from 7th Avenue out to the Pacific Ocean, do not have a representative on the city's Board of Supervisors; the 29-year-old former pet shop owner whom the mayor appointed to the position had to resign after around a week on the job. The cascading series of reasons is both very funny and a revealing look at the strange state of San Francisco local politics.
November 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM