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The staff of Mother Jones is, once again, rounding up the heroes and monsters of the past year. This is a non-exhaustive and totally subjective list, giving our reporters a chance to write about something that brought joy, discontent, or curiosity. Happy holidays.

About a month ago, a clip of Sarah Paulson found its way into my Instagram feed, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Speaking on the podcast Las Culturistas, the Emmy winner called on the world to show some respect for the humble pigeon.

“Pigeon hate must be stopped,” she said. “People run them over. They don’t care. They don’t feed them. They give them their trash,” Paulson vented to the hosts, comedians Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers. “They are talked about as if they are disgusting.” In reality, she argued, pigeons were bred by humans to dwell in cities, carry messages to loved ones, and serve in times of war. They also often mate for life. “How could we treat them so terribly?”

Darwin wrote that observing pigeons........

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