Rachelle D’nae

An Extensive And Exhaustive Player-By-Player Preview Of 'Survivor 50' | Defector There’s nothing quite like a returnee season of Survivor. Wednesday night’s Season 50 premiere will begin the sixth season in the show’s history featuring a cast entirely of returning players: 24 vete...

Happy Survivor 50 day!

Ahead of tonight's premiere, the Defector jury got together to explain every player's deal and pass judgement on their chances of winning.

You can read our (massive) preview here: defector.com/an-extensive...

🫡

Who Said Malala Doesn’t Like To Gossip? | Defector We’re back, baby! And we’re kicking off our ninth season of Normal Gossip by gabbing it up with Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai!  In this episode, Rachelle and Malala dig into such questions as whethe...

Malala? On Normal Gossip? In this economy? defector.com/who-said-mal...

Normal Gossip episode titled Love is Blind with Malala Yousafzai

Tiffany New York Pollard Beyoncé meme edited to say MALALA?!?!

Honored to be a panelist for Noella's panel at NEW YORK COMIC CON!

We'll be talking about the subject of her upcoming book — Misogynoir and Multiverses: A Black Girl's Guide to Fandom Culture — as part of NYCC's professional programming in partnership with NYPL!

Come see us! Oct. 9 at 5pm @ NYCC!

would love to hear from as many people as possible

An Interview With A Fired Unaccompanied Children Ombuds | Defector When Mary Giovagnoli was in law school, she spent a year working as a junior public defender representing people accused of misdemeanors. “I really liked the work, but it was emotionally devastating,…

Sabrina Imbler spoke to Mary Giovagnoli about the idea that children are children first, her fears for the Office of Refugee Resettlement's future, and the principle that the government exists to serve the public. defector.com/an-interview...

an nigh-endless crowd of protesters in los angeles, one of whom is holding a sign that depicts hello kitty waving a palestine flag

The Summer (Game Fest) Before The Fall (Of America)

aftermath.site/summer-game-...

Folks, @rpavelko.bsky.social & I need your help. If you or someone you know listens to NORMAL GOSSIP, we'd love you/them to take this survey. More info attached. @defector.com @mckinneykelsey.bsky.social @heyydnae.bsky.social

pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

The Reason Behind Trump’s Newest Tariffs Is Dumber Than You Think He’s turning basic groceries into luxury items.

so Trump just wrapped up his "Liberation Day" conference on the massive new "reciprocal" tariffs he's imposing on many of our key trading partners. if you're wondering what exactly this means for prices and the economy, I've got a comprehensive guide for you right here: slate.com/business/202...

Just read everything by Sabrina Imbler. Who's always swimming upstream and into interesting channels.

laying off @methsaxon.bsky.social is one of the dumbest decisions slate could've made

The point of excluding categories of people from the military like this is to send the message that they are unworthy of citizenship, it is pure bigotry and the assumptions behind it are disproven by the honorable service of the people being targeted in the first place bsky.app/profile/bran...

Pankaj Mishra On Gaza, The Memory Of The Holocaust, And The "Very Dark World" To Come | Defector In his own words, Pankaj Mishra wrote his latest book not to describe the atrocities in Gaza, which have been well documented, but “to ask some very basic questions: How can human beings treat other h...

"Gaza is not something that can be seen most purely in terms of Middle Eastern politics, or through the politics of Palestinian resistance, or through the politics of the state of Israel. It is now a world-historical atrocity..."
defector.com/the-world-af...

Gonna need more non-disabled people to see stuff like this and understand that ableism is also one of the integral -isms the right is devoted to, so it should be jettisoned whenever and in whomever you encounter it

"...Black politics is on life support. By Black politics we mean politics that unapologetically advocates for the needs of Black people. The presence of Black politicians is not necessarily evidence that Black politics are being asserted."

www.blackagendareport.com/eric-adams-a...

we're not embarrassed for falling for seo tricks? in 2025?

jon caramanica doesn't need defenders but dude basically said the same thing as craig jenkins just under a shittier headline and professional writers who refuse to read are calling him racist for it

“Israeli police have raided a leading Palestinian-owned bookshop in Jerusalem and detained two of its owners, citing a children’s colouring book as evidence of incitement to terrorism.”

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was more concerned with Drake than politics MAGA still hated the Pulitzer Prize winner’s performance.

www.vox.com/culture/3990...

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was more concerned with Drake than politics

LA STUDENTS WALK OUT AGAIN-

High school AND middle school students have taken over the streets in front of LA city hall for the 5th straight day of anti-ICE, immigration rights protests. This won’t be slowing down anytime soon

When is the rest of LA going to start joining them?

Really fits that the guy who's like "we have conquered the globe and so by rights we must rule it" leads his online bio with the fact that he was the first employee at Roblox. "Yeah, I'm kind of the Alexander The Great of working at the video game with all the sex offenders in the chat."

"The delay in receiving its federal funds forced the Appalachian Center for Independent Living, which has operated in the Charleston, West Virginia, area for four decades, to lay off its employment training specialist – one of its five staffers – and halt its job placement services."

Use. Precise. Language.

"Any official, including the president, who chooses to blame everything from plane crashes to wildfires on non-White, non-male people should be asked whether they believe that desegregation is to blame. Whether they believe resegregation is the answer."

Hi - If you rely on federal data and websites and are now unable to access them, I would like to talk with you. You can reach me at lizzie.oleary@slate.com, or on signal at lizzieohreally.31

Thanks!

It's Free Friday at Defector! From now until Sunday night, all of our posts on here will include free-to-read gift links, so you can check out all of our blogs, even if you're not a subscriber.

Just look for the gift emoji and enjoy. 🎁🎁🎁

Defector | The last good website. Defector is an employee-owned sports and culture website brought to you by the former staffers of Deadspin.

I always feel strange doing this sort of thing but Defector.com has had an incredible January, just a ton of really good stories on a wide range of topics, and I suggest subscribing to it. I am biased, obviously, but I am really proud and grateful to get to do this the way we're doing it.

Why Didn't Orchestra Musicians Choose To Learn Cooler Instruments? | Defector Time for your weekly edition of the Defector Funbag. Got something on your mind? Email the Funbag. And buy Drew’s book, The Night The Lights Went Out, while you’re at it. Drew’s off. Today, we’re talk...

The FUNBAG is just a tad late this week because guest host @heyydnae.bsky.social was sick, but now she’s better and has delivered a perfect rendition. defector.com/why-didnt-or...

Defector staff writer Rachelle Hampton (@heyydnae.bsky.social) is guest-hosting this week's Funbag. There's still time to send her questions at funbag@defector.com.