I hope you are enjoying the first week of May, objectively the best month of the year, not just because it's my birthday month. Everything feels a little lighter to me all of a sudden. The sun is warmer, janarik are in season and I’m deep in the joyful chaos of planning a summer trip with my friends.

Happily, this week’s picks are a total reflection of that mood – lighter stories, good food and even a hint of future promise. 

Enjoy!

A debate for the art historians among you 

Is romanticism dead? The three artists whose works are now showing at the Janine Rubiez Gallery gave us their hot takes on the artistic movement. But how do their pastoral paintings of Lebanon square with their critique of romanticism as a relic of colonial fantasy?

What’s it like to be Lebanon’s first sexologist?

Sandrine Atallah went from being told that “kissing leads to hell” to becoming a household name as a sexologist in a country where talking about sex is taboo. Raphael Abdelnour sat down with her to ask some juicy questions you might be secretly curious about. 

Strike a pose 

I’ve watched The Devil Wears Prada enough times to know that the fashion industry is a cut-throat world. But Sam Rawadi has climbed the ranks from small-town dreamer in the hills of Bikfaya (Metn) to having his photographs grace the covers of Vogue and Elle Arabia. What does he dream of achieving next?

The sounds of Jazz Week ring on 

One of the joys of watching a jazz band is observing how each player interacts and slots into the careful dance of call and response. In Jim Quilty’s write-up of the Makram Aboul Hosn Octet, his attention to each of the eight players brings the whole performance to life, to the point where you can almost hear it.

Lebanon’s journalists of tomorrow 

What does cultural preservation look like through the eyes of Lebanese university students? We got to hear from them directly as part of the AUB Outlook x L’Orient Today writing competition. I found the winning submissions impressively sensitive and beautifully written.

Some food for all that thought 

And finally, Jaimee Lee Haddad is back with more delicious globe-trotting recipes, which I can personally vouch for! This week, she serves us a Lebanese-Mexican crossover — two food-haven heavyweights — for those of you feeling homesick, hungry or perhaps just adventurous.