The Great Pupkin Pets can provide companionship, protection, and in some cases, an excuse to play dress-up. Writer Todd Levin and photographer Geoff Badner report on dogs in Brooklyn wearing clothes.

Daddies Unbound The stereotype that dads don’t show much skill or interest in child-rearing should have gone out when you were still in diapers—so why does it persist? Our author says it’s not dads who are trying to duck duty, but moms who won’t share.

The Secret Gardener Your parents’ hobbies seem odd and quaint until you discover you can’t sleep late on the weekends anymore. Clay Risen finds early middle age in the flower boxes of his backyard.

Roundtable: Children’s Music We’ve seen their drawings of Radiohead songs, they tell us the Strokes make their heads hurt ‘like 100 dogs,’ but how do we feel about their songs? Contributing writers Leslie Harpold, Sarah Hepola, and Choire Sicha listen to children’s music, and weigh in on the state of the weird and pint-sized.