This Monday, explore whether or not pigs can explain history and how, on both sides of the States, issues of housing are coming to a head.

Happening in the world: Two citizen journalists reporting on the conditions of quarantined Wuhan, the city at the center of the novel coronavirus outbreak, have gone missing. These journalists, Fang Bin and Chen Qiushi, both went quiet in early February and have not been heard from since. Chinese authorities, who have historically silenced activist reporting, have yet to officially comment on either’s whereabouts. (BBC)

Happening in the US: Los Angeles is slowly opening apartments on the 400-acre campus of the city’s Department of Veterans Affairs to house homeless veterans in one of the largest-scale moves to address veteran homelessness in the nation. While overall homelessness is still at alarming levels in the city, this move represents a step forward to address a portion of those affected. (NYT)

Happening in NYC: In Flushing, Queens, the use of a 1906 covenant by an all-white homeowner’s association to prevent an Asian family from building a fence around their yard is being criticized as a racist move. The family is not the first Asian family to face such restrictions, and the issue brings up old racial tensions in a majority-Asian neighborhood where the minority white voice is still exercising considerable influence. (Gothamist)

Happening on campus: Jordan Sand, professor of Japanese History at Georgetown University, is giving a talk at 4 pm this evening in the International Affairs Building about the history of transpacific empires through… pigs! Professor Sand plans to show how the place of pigs in various Pacific societies underscores their ideas of “property, freedom, and human society.” No registration is required. (Columbia Events)

How to start your week: Especially if your window faces east like mine, unintentionally leave your blinds slightly open so that the 6:45 am sunrise can wake you up way before you want to and lie there, bleary-eyed, in your warm bed until it is time to do things.

Image via Flickr