Daily Bafflements

• At a New York Times-hosted conference on Friday about the state of the press in a post-Snowden era, Sen. Charles Schumer told the audience that a federal shield law would “very likely” pass the Senate this year. The version proposed last year came under criticism for a too-narrow definition of “journalist.” With that in mind, Bill Keller asked Schumer whether Julian Assange would be protected under the law. “If he had any commercial relationship as a journalist, yes,” said Schumer.

• Longform.org has resurrected “In the Jungle,” Rian Malan’s piece in Rolling Stone from 2000. It’s the story of how “the American music industry made millions off the work of Solomon Linda, a Zulu tribesman who wrote ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ and died a pauper.”

• Today is the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez disaster, which eventually polluted 700 miles of coastline.

• Woof, was all of that a bit too dark for a Monday morning? Sorry. From the Finnish magician Jose Ahonen, here is a video of dogs baffled by magic tricks. Actually, this is also kind of sad. The dogs are so confused! And the humans, they just laugh and laugh . . . .