Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, amuse, or inspire us.

Hey, did you read:

• This argument that extending unemployment benefits and raising the minimum wage will hurt the poor? —Steve Bogira

• That George W. Bush may not have actually known about the torture of terrorism suspects during his administration? —Mick Dumke

• About why a recently fired Byliner editor declined to OK a nondisparagement clause, even though it cost him severance pay? —Steve Bogira

• About the Indiana man who was arrested for selling stolen brains on eBay? —Gwynedd Stuart

• That dogs are sensitive to the earth’s magnetic fields and align themselves on a north-south axis when they poop? —Aimee Levitt

• That U.S. customs officials destroyed rare flutes belonging to a virtuoso, thinking they were agricultural products? —Tony Adler

• That David Brooks smoked pot? (Also, the satirical response to the column that people—myself included—briefly thought was real.) —Tal Rosenberg

• Michael Patrick Thornton of Jefferson Park’s Gift Theatre (and ABC’s Private Practice) discussing accessibility for audiences, artists, and administrators alike? —Tony Adler

• The Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States, which shows how the country grew and who lived where and who voted for whom? (In other words, a perfect educational time waster.) —Aimee Levitt