Leff’s picks: July 2017

Once a month, we’re highlighting stories, videos, podcasts, and other quality finds from around the web and beyond. Enjoy!

From Annie, editorial associate:

Always a sucker for things related to travel, and getting excited about my upcoming family road trip, I couldn’t resist this piece about flying around the United States for eight days. I’ve always felt that airports are the most exciting places on the planet. You’re on the brink of adventure. Vacation, family time, friend reunions, weddings—the best things start at the airport! Even as travel has gotten less convenient, more expensive, more nickel-and-dime-y, I still find myself totally amped up at the airport. This piece highlights that if you take away the sweet rewards of flying, you’re left with fear, curtness, intolerance, and, sometimes, a short fuse.

From Brittany, editorial manager:

David Sedaris was one of the first people who made me want to become a writer. I read his book Me Talk Pretty One Day in high school and was absolutely floored. He’s gone on to publish more than a half a dozen books. I admire his writing so much because he manages to be funny and macabre. His shining prose is no accident; I read an interview with him recently in which he talked about how he goes through more than a dozen drafts of a piece before showing it to an editor. If only all writers did the same…In his latest contribution to The New Yorker, Sedaris discusses his mother’s alcohol addiction.

From Delilah, design director:

Atlas Obscura is one of my favorite websites—its articles never disappoint. Take a look at these mapped visualizations of Dante’s Inferno. The depictions are incredible. Sandro Botticelli, one of my favorite Renaissance painters, was among the artists who mapped this hellscape.

Known for his vibrant Tahitian paintings, post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin is the featured subject of the Art Institute of Chicago’s exhibition, “Gaugin: Artist as Alchemist.” His varying innovative styles and processes are highlighted alongside more than 240 of his ceramics, printmaking, woodcarving, and 3-D objects. This largest ever public showing of Gauguin’s works is on display through September 10. For a glimpse into Gauguin’s novel printmaking techniques, check out this video below.

From DeQuesha, editorial associate: 

Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway is fed up with the corporate claptrap that is commonly referred to as jargon. Since her requests that people quit using business b.s., as she puts it, have gone unheard for almost 25 years, she figured it best to create a how-to guide. Clearly, Kellaway is making fun of those who insist on using phrases such as “110 per cent committed,” “ultra-premium,” “Robustifying Learnabililty,” and other confusing language. And her perspective is quite amusing in this article and equally entertaining as she reads it during an episode of her podcast, Listen to Lucy.