I’ve been thinking about Dan non-stop, and what I’ve come to understand is just how much I admired him. Dan built his life and moved through the world in a way I wish I could emulate more easily. I’ll keep trying, and in moments when I succeed I’ll think of him again. defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector
Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his diag...
defector.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:24 AM
I’ve been thinking about Dan non-stop, and what I’ve come to understand is just how much I admired him. Dan built his life and moved through the world in a way I wish I could emulate more easily. I’ll keep trying, and in moments when I succeed I’ll think of him again. defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
Reposted by Tom Ley
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026: defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026 | Defector
Dan McQuade, our friend and colleague, died this week at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife and young son. At the end of 2024, Dan was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer. The news of his…
defector.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Dan McQuade, 1983–2026: defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
Reposted by Tom Ley
The season finale of Only If You Get Caught is out today. Thank you to everyone for listening and sharing with all your most influential friends! defector.com/the-class-wa...
The Class Warfare Behind The Varsity Blues Saga | Defector
The first distinguishing characteristic of the Varsity Blues scandal is that it’s extremely funny: a bunch of rich parents paid a guy to photoshop their underachieving children into athletic scenarios...
defector.com
January 27, 2026 at 6:31 PM
The season finale of Only If You Get Caught is out today. Thank you to everyone for listening and sharing with all your most influential friends! defector.com/the-class-wa...
Reposted by Tom Ley
I wrote about prediction markets, where we’re at and how we got here for Defector
January 27, 2026 at 7:23 PM
I wrote about prediction markets, where we’re at and how we got here for Defector
It’s a 37-12 run in the third quarter. JD’s trying to draw up a play but nobody’s listening. Miller’s at the end of the bench with a towel over his head. Trump’s just watching the mascot take half-court shots.
January 27, 2026 at 3:04 AM
It’s a 37-12 run in the third quarter. JD’s trying to draw up a play but nobody’s listening. Miller’s at the end of the bench with a towel over his head. Trump’s just watching the mascot take half-court shots.
Reposted by Tom Ley
I have a piece today in Defector making the case for "more training" for ICE agents. A *lot* more training. defector.com/i-have-a-gre...
I Have A Great Idea For Retraining ICE Agents | Defector
The several thousand federal agents currently running rampant in the Twin Cities have so far achieved little in the way of legitimate law enforcement objectives, but they have been rather more success...
defector.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:18 PM
I have a piece today in Defector making the case for "more training" for ICE agents. A *lot* more training. defector.com/i-have-a-gre...
Reposted by Tom Ley
I have a great idea for retraining ICE agents: defector.com/i-have-a-gre...
I Have A Great Idea For Retraining ICE Agents | Defector
The several thousand federal agents currently running rampant in the Twin Cities have so far achieved little in the way of legitimate law enforcement objectives, but they have been rather more…
defector.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:25 PM
I have a great idea for retraining ICE agents: defector.com/i-have-a-gre...
If any of your friends or family work for DHS, you should check in on them during these difficult times. There are important conversations to be had.
January 25, 2026 at 8:23 PM
If any of your friends or family work for DHS, you should check in on them during these difficult times. There are important conversations to be had.
Reposted by Tom Ley
Jarrett Stidham is a PROBLEM!! 🤯 ALL PASSES 😵 RUNS 😱 TDS 🥵 2025 SEASON 🤪🔥🫠
January 25, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Jarrett Stidham is a PROBLEM!! 🤯 ALL PASSES 😵 RUNS 😱 TDS 🥵 2025 SEASON 🤪🔥🫠
Reposted by Tom Ley
I talked with Tom Ley about our shared love for the delightfully and unnecessarily committed and entirely batshit 28 Days Later sequels. (There are spoilers in here but nothing you wouldn't have learned from reading basically any review of the films.) defector.com/we-live-in-t...
We Live In The Bone Temple Now | Defector
David Roth: I feel like when we have these sorts of conversation blogs on the site, the subject is generally something that everyone kind of likes, but not in a way that they’d fully feel comfortable ...
defector.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:12 PM
I talked with Tom Ley about our shared love for the delightfully and unnecessarily committed and entirely batshit 28 Days Later sequels. (There are spoilers in here but nothing you wouldn't have learned from reading basically any review of the films.) defector.com/we-live-in-t...
The Peyton Watson Emergence has me ready to start saying some truly reckless things about the Nuggets. Such as, "I wonder what it will look like when Jokic comes back and suddenly has prime Kawhi Leonard on his team?"
January 23, 2026 at 4:29 PM
The Peyton Watson Emergence has me ready to start saying some truly reckless things about the Nuggets. Such as, "I wonder what it will look like when Jokic comes back and suddenly has prime Kawhi Leonard on his team?"
Scanning one of these QR codes and shouting “This one’s weak to necrotic damage!”
I am introducing the Quick Recognition (QR) Act, which requires ICE and CBP officers to wear uniforms featuring QR codes. When scanned, the code would generate a digital ID displaying the officer’s name, badge number, and law enforcement agency.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
January 15, 2026 at 12:20 AM
Scanning one of these QR codes and shouting “This one’s weak to necrotic damage!”
Wearing a tuxedo on a tour of the CBS studios so I can take a selfie in front of this and caption it "when it goes up it stays up 🗣️"
Update — Here is what the new apparent CBS News segment "Whiskey Fridays with Tony Dokoupil" may look like:
January 14, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Wearing a tuxedo on a tour of the CBS studios so I can take a selfie in front of this and caption it "when it goes up it stays up 🗣️"
Reposted by Tom Ley
"If Weiss is exceptional, it's only in her knack for making a spectacle of the sort of things that slicker operators in media say and do all the time without causing too much of a fuss."
@tcraggs22.bsky.social on Bari Weiss and all the Bari Weisses: defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
@tcraggs22.bsky.social on Bari Weiss and all the Bari Weisses: defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
Bari Weiss Is The Symptom | Defector
Who says Bari Weiss doesn’t know how to run a newsroom? “My general view here,” the CBS News editor-in-chief wrote in a memo before shelving the now-infamous 60 Minutes report on El Salvador’s CECOT c...
defector.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:00 PM
"If Weiss is exceptional, it's only in her knack for making a spectacle of the sort of things that slicker operators in media say and do all the time without causing too much of a fuss."
@tcraggs22.bsky.social on Bari Weiss and all the Bari Weisses: defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
@tcraggs22.bsky.social on Bari Weiss and all the Bari Weisses: defector.com/bari-weiss-i...
Reposted by Tom Ley
hi! i'm co-founding a new gaming website with my former polygon colleague @zoehhannah.com. it's called mothership.blog. i made it for someone like me... the kind of website i always wished we had in our space. watch the video to learn more :D
It's time to board the Mothership.
www.youtube.com/shorts/iEw90...
www.youtube.com/shorts/iEw90...
Board the Mothership.
YouTube video by Mothership Media LLC
www.youtube.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:04 PM
hi! i'm co-founding a new gaming website with my former polygon colleague @zoehhannah.com. it's called mothership.blog. i made it for someone like me... the kind of website i always wished we had in our space. watch the video to learn more :D
Reposted by Tom Ley
JD Vance: meanwhile ICE agents are ::checks notes:: literally storing trauma in their whole ass bodies????
January 9, 2026 at 10:54 PM
JD Vance: meanwhile ICE agents are ::checks notes:: literally storing trauma in their whole ass bodies????
Reposted by Tom Ley
ICE agent kills woman, DHS tells obvious, insane lies about it: defector.com/ice-agent-ki...
ICE Agent Kills Woman, DHS Tells Obvious, Insane Lies About It | Defector
On Wednesday in Minneapolis, masked government agents apparently representing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surrounded a stationary vehicle stopped in the middle of a residential street.…
defector.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:47 PM
ICE agent kills woman, DHS tells obvious, insane lies about it: defector.com/ice-agent-ki...
Reposted by Tom Ley
Hi friends. I’m taking some time off for chemo. Not the way I wanted to start 2026, but it’s a necessary step. I’ll be trying to stay disconnected. I hope you can keep me in your prayers as I continue treatment.
A year ago, doctors told me I had neuroendocrine cancer of the pancreas. I’d probably been living with it for a decade. I will likely never be cured. But after a year of surgeries, radiation and monthly shots with a giant needle, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. defector.com/my-life-with...
Let Me Tell You About My Uncommon Cancer
Dan McQuade shares what his last year has been like since learning he’s living with neuroendocrine cancer.
defector.com
January 5, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Hi friends. I’m taking some time off for chemo. Not the way I wanted to start 2026, but it’s a necessary step. I’ll be trying to stay disconnected. I hope you can keep me in your prayers as I continue treatment.
Reposted by Tom Ley
This all happened to one guy. defector.com/what-horribl...
What Horrible Things Did We Do To Our Penises Last Year? | Defector
Getting stuff stuck in your rectum is so 2025. Doing Looney Tunes–style violence to your groin is the new hotness. Below are some very real, very gnarly penis injuries suffered by Americans. All descr...
defector.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:43 PM
This all happened to one guy. defector.com/what-horribl...
Reposted by Tom Ley
A couple weeks after going to their live podcast taping in San Jose, I spoke with Tobin Heath and Christen Press about their ever-shifting relationship with the public, covering a generation of stars with a quieter approach to politics and labor issues, the NWSL salary cap, and more:
Christen Press And Tobin Heath Want To Keep Up The Fight | Defector
SAN JOSE, Calif. — When the podcasters arrived, they bypassed the wide talk show armchairs. Instead, they sat at the edge of the stage, heads barely above the crowd of adoring fans in front of them, a...
defector.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:15 PM
A couple weeks after going to their live podcast taping in San Jose, I spoke with Tobin Heath and Christen Press about their ever-shifting relationship with the public, covering a generation of stars with a quieter approach to politics and labor issues, the NWSL salary cap, and more:
Reposted by Tom Ley
Here are a few great blogs from Defector's 2025, starting with Chris Thompson's comprehensive and maddening history of Color Star, would-be titans of just about anything: defector.com/a-comprehens...
A Comprehensive And Maddening History Of Color Star, Would-Be Titans Of Just About Anything | Defector
The story starts with a signing ceremony. On Dec. 20, 2021, the Philadelphia 76ers staged a publicity event to announce a new marketing partnership with the Chinese company Color Star Technology Co., ...
defector.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Here are a few great blogs from Defector's 2025, starting with Chris Thompson's comprehensive and maddening history of Color Star, would-be titans of just about anything: defector.com/a-comprehens...
Enjoyed this review of Martin Foremost from E.Y. Zhao.
Marty Supreme’s title card is a stream of sperm swimming up a vaginal canal. They fertilize an egg, which becomes a white Marty Supreme ping-pong ball and soars down toward a primordial green table. Ball is life, indeed! defector.com/marty-suprem...
'Marty Supreme' Bears Us Into The New World | Defector
Marty Supreme’s title card is a stream of sperm swimming up a vaginal canal. They fertilize an egg, which becomes a white Marty Supreme ping-pong ball and soars down toward a primordial green table.…
defector.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Enjoyed this review of Martin Foremost from E.Y. Zhao.
Here’s my impression of every scene in Stranger Things.
Character A: OK so here’s my theory
Character B: Alright.
Character A: OK so here’s my theory
Character B: Alright.
December 27, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Here’s my impression of every scene in Stranger Things.
Character A: OK so here’s my theory
Character B: Alright.
Character A: OK so here’s my theory
Character B: Alright.
Best thing about the Bari Weiss disaster is she can’t even try to save face by positioning herself as the voice of reason bringing CBS’ millennial wokes to heel. Scott Pelley is old as hell. Sharyn Alfonsi’s been doing this since the 90s.
December 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Best thing about the Bari Weiss disaster is she can’t even try to save face by positioning herself as the voice of reason bringing CBS’ millennial wokes to heel. Scott Pelley is old as hell. Sharyn Alfonsi’s been doing this since the 90s.
Reposted by Tom Ley
These are Defector's favorite sports moments of 2025: defector.com/our-favorite...
Our Favorite Sports Moments Of 2025 | Defector
These are the sports moments from 2025 that the Defector staff enjoyed. A’ja Wilson Hits A Game-Winner In Phoenix By October, I think I did know subconsciously that A’ja Wilson was the greatest player...
defector.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:03 PM
These are Defector's favorite sports moments of 2025: defector.com/our-favorite...