animal liberation Bay area wild life demands freedom, continues to resist human oppression Jason Weisberger

tarantulas Rosie the tarantula is finally being relieved of her meet-and-greet duties Jennifer Sandlin

bizarre competitions Wolfing down scalding hot biscuits and other weird contests from 1897 Mark Frauenfelder

books Patrick McDonnell's charming new "Mutts" book Ruben Bolling

pigs George Orwell on the real meaning of Animal Farm: get rid of the pigs Thom Dunn

Bald eagle 31-year-old male bald eagle, Murphy, who tried to incubate a rock, might be getting his own baby bird to raise after all! Jennifer Sandlin

books The Red Deal calls for climate solutions beyond the scope of state action Elías Villoro

animals Activists released thousands of minks that are now on the loose in Ohio David Pescovitz

Delightful Creatures Video compilation of animals being released back into the wild Elías Villoro

Space The Harriet Tubman Space Telescope and the Lavender Scare at NASA: What happens when a telescope zooms in on the politics of Earth? A.E. Gómez

History Benjamin Lay was the best radical vegan Quaker hunchback abolitionist of the 1700s Thom Dunn

censorship Leaked Facebook docs: weird censorship standards that protect "white men but not black children" Cory Doctorow

Institute for the Future What I learned after spending two days with futurists and positive psychologists Mark Frauenfelder