Weekend Reads

“Scientists often say that we don’t know what animals feel because they can’t speak to us … But the thing is, they are reporting their inner states. We’re just not listening.” And many zoo animals are telling us they’re pretty depressed (that’s how I feel at the zoo, and I’m not even in a cage). From Alex Halberstadt in the NYT Magazine: Zoo Animals and Their Discontents.

+ Drake Bennett: Inside Monsanto, America’s third-most-hated company.

+ Nick Summers: The truth about Tinder and women is even worse than you think (and that’s really saying something…)

+ Fifty years after the signing of the Civil Rights Act, NPR gathered journalists, lawyers and civil rights activists to explore the historic legislation — pulling the language out of history and telling us how it’s relevant today.

+ Believer Mag: The ex-lovers of rock stars reflect on their wounds, real and metaphorical. Without You I’m Nothing.

+ And if you’re looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, my syndication pal Jason Kottke has put together an excellent list of scientist biography recommendations.