The moment I had long dreaded finally arrived: the day I’d have to dismantle my childhood. I suppose I should consider myself ...

If there’s one thing I’ve historically been very good at, it’s playing it cool around those for whom I have developed a romantic interest. Ask any of my friends and they’ll confirm that I am skilled ...

Consider this a sister piece to the list of “The Worst Songs That We Love So Much” that ran yesterday, with a slightly different conceit. I asked some of my music and culture writer friends to confess ...

A few minutes into her Aug. 13 appearance on New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift said, “This is my first podcast.” I thought she was making a little joke—surely she’d talked to Marc ...

Some people are fans of the Cincinnati Bengals. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Cincinnati Bengals. This 2025 ...

I’ve always struggled with the idea of a “guilty pleasure.” Truly innocent pleasure shouldn’t come with a side of shame. Most guilty pleasures are purposely private, indulged alone or among the ...

In 2018, Mitski released her fifth album, Be the Cowboy. She had been putting out music that was as critically acclaimed as ...

On a breezy spring night in 2023, the Georgia Room at the Freehand Hotel was humid with sweat. Queers of various genders wore cowboy hats and bedazzled denim, camouflage and American flag bikinis. The ...

Some people are fans of the Seattle Seahawks. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Seattle Seahawks. This 2025 Defector NFL team preview is for those in the latter group. Read all the ...

At some point in the thick of the pandemic, I became briefly obsessed with a silly-seeming online controversy over what is known as the double-beat theory. The argument concerns classical music, which ...

Some people are fans of the Arizona Cardinals. But many, many more people are NOT fans of the Arizona Cardinals. This 2025 ...

It is easy enough to read about the climate crisis through the dozens of devastating stories that run each week, warning us ...