on Sophie Cunningham and a trans controversy that doesn't involve any actual trans people: defector.com/the-right-ha...
7000-word T.J. Clark essay about the Chauvet cave paintings? Counting the minutes 'til lunchtime so I can turn this thing up to 11
T.J. Clark · Night Visitors: What I saw in the cave
The world exceeds us. It comes to us out of darkness. The cave is the universe, the nightly presence of that unknown...
lrb.co.uk
AI listings have made apartment hunting even more debasing:
AI Listings Have Made Apartment Hunting Even More Debasing | Defector
I started reading Valley of the Dolls for the first time the other night. It opens in 1945, with Anne Wells landing in New York and securing a job as a secretary at Henry Bellamy’s theatrical agency.…
defector.com
Google appears to be in an active race to destroy all remaining goodwill the company once had. They've almost entirely destroyed search and now they're screwing with Google Maps.
Faine Greenwood@faineg.bsky.social · 5d agoI used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:
WNBA suspends Seattle Storm minority owner for being rude to transphobic shitheads:
WNBA Suspends Seattle Storm Minority Owner For Being Rude To Transphobic Shitheads | Defector
On Tuesday night, a small group of weirdos held an anti-trans rally outside of the Seattle Storm’s home arena. The occasion for their gathering was a game against the Indiana Fever and bench player…
defector.com
‘I Want Your Sex’ is a raunchy plea for young people to have more fun:
‘I Want Your Sex’ Is A Raunchy Plea For Young People To Have More Fun | Defector
Everyone believes their generation is uniquely maligned; invariably, so do I. The formative years of my generation—I’m at the older end of the dreaded Gen Z—vanished within the global despair and…
defector.com
honestly pretty funny that no matter what Emily Wilson does people will be insane about it. almost like she was cursed by some powerful being
another year of incredible tour coverage from @redford.bsky.social. You can read it all here:
2026 tour de france Archives | Defector
defector.com
This is outrageous.
Brandy Zadrozny@brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 2w agoGet in, there’s a new secret political influence campaign paying people to post. This time, a network targeting people in Michigan. First paid to post about how hard it is to afford groceries and gas, the accounts have gone hard in recent days, supporting Haley Stevens. www.ms.now/news/haley-s...
The NYRB Author’s Closet, a series of videos of the least camera-ready people in society mumbling inaudibly about Vasily Grossman.
Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff.bsky.social · 2w agoNYRB should do their own version of the Criterion Closet for their book publishing arm imo
Danny McBride leaves you wandering: defector.com/danny-mcbrid...
Danny McBride Leaves You Wandering | Defector
I imagine the pitch for Danny McBride’s new short story collection, Thrilling Tales of Modern Men, went a little something like this: Hey, this is Danny McBride’s agent. Yeah, that guy. He wants to…
defector.com
Sophie Cunningham is about as edgy as a beach ball: defector.com/sophie-cunni...
Sophie Cunningham Is About As Edgy As A Beach Ball | Defector
There’s a type of public relations exercise that unfolds like a joke. In it, a notable figure who has chosen to sit for a longform profile, declined to answer a sensitive question through her…
defector.com
Terrific interview, and an urgent reminder that I need to get the last volume of the Harlem trilogy before I fly on Friday
Natalie Weiner@natalieweiner.bsky.social · 2w agoExciting new work alert: I spoke with the inimitable @colsonwhitehead.com about his latest, COOL MACHINE, in my first piece for @defector.com! defector.com/colson-white...
“It was mindless, gutter politics. It felt to Duncan that after three decades of fighting to clear his name in the courts, he was now being forced to do it again in public.” My profile of the extraordinary Calvin Duncan, his historic run for office & the Maga effort to eradicate his victory
He won office in Louisiana after a murder exoneration. Maga wouldn’t let the election stand
Calvin Duncan studied law in prison to free himself and won his court clerk race in a landslide. Three hours in, the role was abolished in an act of ‘white supremacy’
theguardian.com
Are you a journalist? Have you worked as one for 5 years and have leadership experience? Do you want to earn 6 figures and have health insurance? Do you have good political acumen? Do you want to be my boss? If so, I have the job for you heartlandsignal.com/jobs/editor-...
Heartland Signal - Job Opening - Editor in Chief Job | Heartland Signal
Heartland Signal is hiring a remote editor in chief to lead a growing state-politics newsroom. Edit daily, set the agenda, build the team. Apply by Aug. 6.
heartlandsignal.com
Exciting new work alert: I spoke with the inimitable @colsonwhitehead.com about his latest, COOL MACHINE, in my first piece for @defector.com! defector.com/colson-white...
Colson Whitehead Talks About Embracing Change, Pulling Off A Heist, And Finding A Good Coffee Table | Defector
“The city was question and answer in one,” Colson Whitehead writes early on in Cool Machine, the final novel of his Harlem Trilogy. “Cause and effect and everything else, too.” You can forgive the lif...
defector.com
A very good (if super depressing) piece!!
Owen Lewis@owensports.bsky.social · 2w agoI spent the last few weeks writing this piece about the end of tennis.com -- what it was like during the peak of the blog days, how it influenced young writers, how it changed in tandem with the Internet, and the void that's left now that it's gone. Gift link: defector.com/tennis-com-l...
Can men stop hating women? defector.com/can-men-stop...
Can Men Stop Hating Women? | Defector
While many of us can agree men are in trouble, few can agree on the exact cause. America has a masculinity crisis. Men are in trouble. The “masculinity crisis” is real. The male loneliness epidemic…
defector.com
One great writer on another great writer in a fantastic discussion of "Blue Power" defector.com/how-cops-con...
How Cops Consolidated So Much Power Over Local Governments | Defector
Even before his historic election as New York City’s mayor in November 2025, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani had reportedly begun searching for “common ground” with the city’s rank-and-file police...
defector.com
the streaming era has given us a micro-genre of show whose premise is, basically, “actresses!” so far Jennifer Garner’s new thing seems a fine addition to it
stunning. gorgeous. defector.com/hey-look-we-...
Hey Look, We Redesigned Our Website | Defector
Well, well, well, would you look at that. We have a fancy new website. This redesign is the result of a lot of hard work by our esteemed partners at Lede, and they have provided us with a homepage tha...
defector.com
This long-form article paints an extremely damning picture of Biden, but also Blinken, Sullivan, Austin, and Finer who all seem to be trying to place the blame solely on their boss.
How Biden Enabled Israel’s Aggression Toward Gaza—and Iran
Top officials from the previous Administration now express regret over their failure to rein in Netanyahu.
newyorker.com
How cops consolidated so much power over local governments: defector.com/how-cops-con...
How Cops Consolidated So Much Power Over Local Governments | Defector
Even before his historic election as New York City’s mayor in November 2025, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani had reportedly begun searching for “common ground” with the city’s rank-and-file…
defector.com
I apologize for opening Bluesky just to copy-and-paste a LinkedIn post, but here goes: As part of @defector.com's grant work with Start.coop, we're co-sponsoring a 12-week accelerator program for emerging journalist-led/worker-friendly media companies. www.start.coop/accelerator
Start.coop | Empower Cooperative Growth
Discover resources and support to build and grow cooperatively-owned businesses, fostering community wealth-building and economic stability.
start.coop
This is really great defector.com/pen-americas...
PEN America's "Silent Moratorium" Prompts Very Loud Criticism | Defector
PEN America president Dinaw Mengestu resigned from his position this past Thursday after the troubled free-expression organization published a report reaffirming its opposition to cultural boycotts. T...
defector.com
Maris Kreizman@maris.bsky.social · 3w agoYou can always rely on PEN America to double down after shooting itself in the foot.
eating more beans to avoid shitting too much… what has the world come to
