1. Last week’s Roundup focused on Houston and the effects of Hurricane Harvey. This week the southeast is bracing for Hurricane Imra, which has already devastated island communities in the Caribbean. Our thoughts are with everyone in the potential path of this storm.

In the spirit of resilience and preparedness, I love this story that focuses on how zoos prepare for impending natural disasters.

Flamingos In The Men’s Room: How Zoos And Aquariums Handle Hurricanes

When you’re building a zoo disaster plan, there’s one thing to keep in mind: Murphy’s law. Anything that could go wrong, will. Just ask the flock of flamingos that weathered Hurricane Andrew in a public restroom at Zoo Miami in 1992.

2. While we’re on the topic of saving animals, let’s talk about some rescued museum cats.

Firefighters save the Hermitage’s beloved feline guards

A small fire on Friday at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg raised alarms about the fate of one of its greatest treasures: the beloved Hermitage cats

3. Recent high-profile cases and events have accentuated the need for deeper discussion and research into complex ethical questions surrounding cultural property, cultural appropriation, and legacies of injustice. This opinion piece discusses how museums need to be better prepared to lead this dialogue.

Why museums need their own ethics departments | Apollo Magazine

From the case of Python’s bell-krater to the Dana Schutz affair to the debate over Confederate monuments, recent events suggest that museums need to treat research on the ethics of art as integral to their work.

4. The museum of Enslavement and Mass Incarceration, a project of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), is set to open in 2018 on the land of a former slave warehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. According to EJI, this museum is designed to change the way we think about race in America.

The museum of “Enslavement and Mass Incarceration” will open in 2018 – and not a moment too soon

With the intense debate happening about the removal of the Confederate statues across America, pro-Confederate memorialists, including our president, have been obsessed with invoking the argument that ‘we are tearing down our history.’ It’s an ironic statement given perhaps no country ever has been more bent on silencing its own history than the United States.

5. With everything going on in the world, you may want to take a moment this weekend to sit back and listen to culture. Hyperallergic has you covered with these 11 podcast episodes. Enjoy!

11 Great Art and Culture Podcast Episodes of 2017

The compelling cultural storytelling of 2017 podcasts includes the value of hoarding, the gentrification of art districts, and one mysterious skeleton. Some of the great cultural storytelling of 2017 has been on podcasts, whether the character-driven hedge maze of or Every Little Thing that will change the way you look at both houseplants and flamingos.

Do you have a great museum story to share?