Web Reads: What happens when pigs really do fly?

Inappropriate pets. Writer Patricia Marx kept seeing pets in restaurants and other inappropriate places. A little research led her to the concept of emotional support animal (ESA), a designation that allows owners to take an animal just about anywhere. Marx decided to test the limits: What kinds of animals qualify and where could she go. She tests out a turtle, snake, turkey, alpaca, and pig in museums, airplanes, taxis, buses, and luxury stores. A very funny story ensues.

Unintentionally insightful. Feminist journalist Hanna Rosin explores teen sexting in a Virginia town near Richmond, where parents and town leaders discovered an Instagram site with photos of their nude teenage daughters. Rosen tends to normalize the behavior—it’s just part of sexual exploration—but her reporting provides insight into why girls send naked pictures of themselves to boys.

Best places to live? What makes a neighborhood good? How would you define the best zip codes in which to live? Real estate website Movoto used the U.S. Census Bureau’s Community Survey to rank zip codes, using the following criteria: “Median household income (the higher the better); unemployment rate (the lower the better); average commute time (the lower the better); median rent (the higher, the more desirable an area); median house worth (the higher, the more desirable an area); high school graduation rate (the higher, the better); families below the poverty line (the lower, the better).”

Pirate Joe’s. Michael Hallatt is an entrepreneur who runs a store in Canada called Pirate Joe’s. Its entire stock consists of products from Trader Joe’s, which doesn’t have a Canadian presence. Even though he pays retail for his stock and declares it at the border, Trader Joe’s has sued. Pirate Joe’s won the first round, but TJ’s has appealed. The phone message at Pirate Joe’s captures Hallatt’s sense of humor: “We do not sell Trader Joe’s products. You might have heard we do, we don’t. That would be unfair to Trader Joe’s, to go down there and buy groceries from them. Say you bought like maybe a million dollars worth of groceries from them over three years, that would be grossly unfair, paid cash. Terrible terrible. So, you know, we don’t. We didn’t do that.”