Who is a “climate refugee”? (The Conversation)
by Miranda Cady Hallett
People flee Central America due to gang violence, crop failure, natural disasters, and many other factors—often with many reasons rolled together. Climate change is related to many of these hardships, but it’s hard to determine its exact role, and even harder to see how it fits with laws governing refugees.

A history of child-free life (The Washington Post)
by Rachel Chrastil
Many people who never have kids are treated as though their situation is part of a new trend. But childlessness has been a fact of life for many people throughout history, often connected to changing economics, marriage norms, and women’s ability to control their fertility.

The dark side of employee wellness (The New Republic)
by Lena Solow
Employee wellness programs punish people for having disabilities, hurt morale, judge workers’ health using questionable metrics, and—even in terms of those metrics—don’t do what they’re designed to do. Why do companies still use them?

Sexual orientation is really very complicated (PBS)
by Nsikan Akpan
A massive study found that genetics account for only 8 to 25 percent of a person’s likelihood of engaging in same-sex relationships. Genes play a role in sexuality, along with many other factors, but it’s impossible to predict an individual’s sexual orientation based on any “gay gene.”

The politics of coal-country nonvoters (Slate)
by Ruth Graham
Working-class people from coal country aren’t all Trump voters. Many of them, regardless of race or gender, don’t vote at all. A sociologist studied the complicated, despairing politics of people who feel ill-served by politicians of all stripes.

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