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

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

I finally get Midnights. I don’t just mean, “Oh, I thought this album was whatever when I first heard it, and now I really ...

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

If it feels like white rappers are sprouting up all around us, it’s with good reason. Though they never really went ...