Kelsey McKinney

Kelsey McKinney (born ) is an American journalist, podcaster, and author. She is a staff writer at Defector and the founding host of Normal Gossip. She previously wrote for Deadspin and Vox.

Early life and education McKinney grew up in Flower Mound, Texas. Her father is an Evangelical pastor.

Career McKinney previously wrote a newsletter, Written Out, about books written by women who had been marginalized in historical narratives.

McKinney was hired at Deadspin in spring 2019. That October, she was one of 19 staffers at the publication who resigned in protest after editor Barry Petchesky was fired over a mandate to "stick to sports." Over the following year, she and her former colleagues discussed the idea of a media company that more effectively centered writers. They proceeded to found the sports and culture site Defector, which is owned collectively as a worker cooperative.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she felt nostalgic for the experience of gossiping with friends in person and tweeted about the idea of hosting a gossip-centric podcast, which would become Normal Gossip. Both McKinney and Laughlin left Normal Gossip in December 2024, although they retained their positions at Defector.

Books McKinney's 2021 debut novel, God Spare the Girls, follows two daughters of a Texas megachurch pastor who is revealed to have had an affair.

Personal life McKinney lives in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband and her dog, Georgia.