Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

The sapiens of the sea, whales are the other intelligent, social, and loquacious animal. But they seem to swim away the more people chase after them in an effort to communicate and connect. Why does the meaning of their mesmerizing songs continue to elude us? In times of unprecedented environmental and social loss, Whale Song ponders the problems facing ocean ecosystems and offers lessons from those depths for human social life and intimacy.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.