That’s right. It’s Puja Week and I’m Puja—everyone has to do what I say, or else. Don’t worry, this isn’t my first rodeo. A decade ago, I was a culture editor at the Gawker Media version of Deadspin and worked with many of the writers and editors who make up Defector today. Back then, my remit was “anything but sports,” which meant navigating what I liked to call “a wide variety of balls” in pursuit of more entertaining and earnest fare. My time with those people—and with my colleagues across our sister sites—was one of the most ridiculously fun and journalistically bold stretches of my career. It shaped me as an editor and reporter, and it’s where I met some of my closest friends and favorite bloggers. It feels good to be here with some of them again.
If I sound nostalgic, it’s because I’m writing this in August. While “Puja Week” is meant to be synonymous with “Music Week”—I left Deadspin to run Spin, and more recently helmed Pitchfork—it’s equally a tribute to the hangover of the year, that liminal period where the last drops of summer freedom are wrung out in anxious, existential anticipation of the coming seasonal chill. August is a month of spiritual and climatic dissonance. Over the next few days, you’ll see writing to match—reflective, feelings-forward, sentimental, brooding, occasionally needling at past, present, and future. Expect essays (and playlists) about life’s transitional periods—exploring love, identity, family, and emotional regulation—lists that wrestle with liking and hating something at once, and surveys of the shifting pockets of the music industry and their current cultural cachet.
This thematic thread might mirror why I’ve always been drawn to spaces that resist easy labels—places with grit, independence, personality, and the flexibility to experiment. In the past weeks, I’ve had the chance of work with Defector writers I’d never edited before—and I’ve been genuinely struck by their talent and openness. Whether or not I have any business feeling this way, I’m proud of and in awe of what this place has become, and truly honored to be here, even if just for a little while.
That said, I’ve been threatening Ley and Samer with publishing a wide range of ranked lists on topics of my choosing… because there’s nothing more fun than to make my old—and newer—friends nervous. So if you have any ideas, let me know (nicely!) in the comments. I’m the boss and can do whatever I want. Enjoy!