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The Slate Culture Gift Guide
00:49:39
Hark! A holiday gift guide from Slate’s culture cadre.
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- [00:00]
A
Hey there, Hit Parade listeners. This month's episode about the producer Mutt Lang is coming out soon. Part one will hit your feed later this week. In the meantime, we're bringing you Slate's take on a time honored tradition, the Holiday Gift Guide. I recently sat down with my fellow Slate podcast hosts, Willa Paskin from Dakota Ring and Dana Stevens from the Culture Gabfest to offer our picks for culture gifts this season. To no one's surprise, my picks have pop music connections, but I think you're going to like what Willa and Dana picked, too. Enjoy this audio version or check out the video@slate.com CultureGiftGuide either way, I'll see you back here this weekend for this month's Hit Parade episode.
- [00:59]
B
Hi and welcome to the Slate Culture Gift Gift Guide. I'm Willa Paskin, the host of Decoder Ring, and I'm joined today by Slate's film critic and the host of the Culture Gabfest, Dana Stevens. Hi, Dana.
- [01:09]
C
Hey. Hey, Willa.
- [01:10]
B
And Chris Melanfy, the host of Hit Parade. Hi, Chris.
- [01:14]
A
Hey, Willa. How are you?
- [01:15]
B
Chris, can you explain why we're all here, like some crossover MCU special spectacular to talk about gifts? What are we doing here?
- [01:26]
A
I like to think of us as a Voltron that have joined forces. You know, pick your metaphor. Sure. So with the holiday season upon us, we thought that we would gather to bring you one of the season's most cherished, most solemn traditions. A gift guide. Today, we're going to share with you some of our favorite gifts. Nothing too expensive. We kept it around the hundred dollar mark, so hopefully there's something here for everyone.
- [01:50]
C
Yes, I don't know about the two of you, but I had fun researching these gifts and figuring out what to submit for for our little shared list. And I can't wait to hear what you chose. But first, here's a little break for a word from our sponsor. Are you as obsessed with dissecting the latest movies as I am?
- [02:04]
A
Or explaining how hit songs top the charts like I do?
- [02:07]
C
Well, if so, then we've got the perfect gift for you to give anyone else in your life who shares those passions this holiday season. Apple Gift Card.
- [02:14]
A
Apple Gift Card helps fuel all of your pop culture interests. Use it for culture must haves like streaming subscriptions, album releases, new apps, and more.
- [02:24]
C
Visit applegiftcard.apple.com to learn more and gift one today. All right, back to Slate's Culture Gift Guide 2025. Willa, you have been working in culture journalism for a long time. At various different outlets, many of which I know do gift guides. Like, some of them are gift guides that I consult every year for gift ideas. Do you have anything to say about the larger concept of doing a gift guide?
- [02:47]
B
Dana? Weirdly, I have so many thoughts about gift guides because I think gift guides are, like, a pure ambivalence for me, but not in, like, the middle of the road way. In the way where I both, like, absolutely love some of them. And like, when it's like, when New York magazine does a gift guide and like, when the ish. The print issue that's like, their New York magazine gift guide comes, I'm like, ah, the best. Like, I'm just gonna look at this and, like, window shop, like, love, like, a good gift guide. I love. And yet I simultaneously feel dread and loathe and, like, deep capitalist fear and anxiety about the incredible preponderance of them and the way that it maps on to just, like, the way we interact with the world is just shopping. Like, all we're supposed to do all the time is get recommendations to buy stuff. And gift guides, because they're geared towards Christmas and, like, the holiday season when you need to buy stuff, are like, it's just like, masks off. Like, everyone's like, here's our 10,000 things. We're all getting affiliate links on it. And I, like, at once think it's so hard to do well and, like, kind of gobble them up and also just find myself, like, kind of just like, sick in the inundation, which has increased year over year. So I like. I said I really. I'm really fascinated by them. I'm fascinated by my response to them. I find them to be, like, deeply ambivalent cultural objects at this point. And then also something I totally just, like, read for fun, you know, I.
- [04:09]
C
Mean, it sounds like the holidays themselves, right? It's something that is both, like, the jolliest time of year and the most alienating time of year. But to me, what sets apart a gift guide? And I. I agree that New York magazine knows how to do it, right? What sets one apart really is as. As of anything you're reading online, the love that's put into it, right? I mean, if you really have a feeling that people are. Are thinking about items that are important to them and people that are dear to them and trying to. To solve a problem, right? Rather than trying to get those affiliate links.
- [04:37]
B
I think that's right. But it's just, like, it gets a little. It's like, a little hard to tell Sometimes, because also, it's like, the incentives are so much to think and put effort into this thing, and people do a good job of it, but you're like, oh, I don't know what you're thinking and putting your effort in it. It's like, it's our. It's not fine. It's not infinite. Our capacity to create content. And so, like, when you. By the time I get, like, my 50th gift guide, even if it's, like, lovingly crafted, I'm just like, oh, boy. You know, like, this is just a lot of oh, boy effort for, like, this thing. And then also, the other thing about gift guides that I really think is interesting and I don't know how you guys use them is that really, I think they're just a way to shop for yourself, which isn't bad, but, like, you know, you. Like. I go to gift guides to, like, get ideas for other people, but I find it's actually not super helpful. Like, I'm honestly reading gift guides being like, ooh, yes, me that, like, like, it's just self shopping for later. Do you know what I mean? Which is sort of like, antithetical to, like, the holiday spirit of it.
- [05:36]
A
I totally agree with that shopping for yourself thing. I mean, speaking as someone, I'm about to recommend three cultural products, you know, consumable cultural products. And I find that when I'm looking at gift guides, I'm like, oh, I forgot that that box set is need to get that for myself. Because by the time we get to Christmas, I'm probably getting a sweater or something from my family. And realistically, I'm probably buying the stuff on the gift guide for myself. However, I will say, and I share Willa's ambivalence in this regard, I don't necessarily love the plethora of gift guides, but they have saved me. I mean, I remember, gosh, just a couple of years ago, I. I got perilously close to Christmas in mid December, and I had a couple of family members, they will remain nameless, who I couldn't figure out what to get them. And I ran across a gift guide, and I was like, oh, wait a minute, that's actually a good idea. So it kind of saved my butt. No, totally.
- [06:31]
B
I mean, I use them that way, too. But I just also. I mean, it's interesting because I think, like, the gift guide is not new. Like, they were invented as advertisements for, like, department stores, like, 100 years ago, but they're clearly because of the incentives of the Internet and Affiliate links, which I think actually are sort of not even as successful as they used to be. And we'll see what, like, AI does to affiliate links and all of that. Like, there. There is. It feels like there. And also there's like, the collapse of gatekeepers. Like, there's just so many more of them. So, like, when you see a beautifully curated one, you're like, great, or someone you love. On Substack was one. Like, that's great. But there just is now also, like, it's just a. I mean, there's just so many more than there even were like 10 years ago. Like, it's a. It's like gift guide season. I feel like we're almost about to be in gift guide season.
- [07:12]
A
That said, if you, you know, derive joy from reading a gift guide, I mean, there's a bounty for you at this point. You know, you can. You can read them like journalism, if that's your game.
- [07:23]
B
No, and to be. To be totally, like, transparent. Like, I remember last year, like, there was a bunch of. There started to be like a sort of low simmer on social media and substacks of, like, gift guide fatigue. And I was like, not me. Like it was the right person. I'm still reading this whole thing, so I just want to say that I'm implicated. Like, I am. I am consuming the content. I just feel ambivalent about it. So gift guides are. They feel like, very contemporary because of the way that everything is so like Internet shopping. But the truth is, like, they're an old form. That's the pleasure of which I think is, like, pretty pure shot for the last hundred years. Like, they sort of work the same way, and they have through time, even though now we can do it on our phones and computers, like, buy stuff, but like, the sort of. The earliest ones start in the early 1900s, and you have, like, department stores, like one called Can Sons and co. In Washington, D.C. that like, printed an advertisement that's essentially, like. It's called a Christmas gift guide. And it, like, has little pictures and drawings of all the things that you can buy. And that's just like the beginning of. What are some of these, like, extremely effective, basically, advertisements as gift, like, advertorial content. That sort of really does, I think, probably satisfy shoppers and also the people selling stuff. And what's interesting about these sort of old gift guides is, like, they kind of are very recognizable. I mean, they're sort of made by a company, a department store, just, like, expressly to sell stuff. They're like advertorial content, but the way that they like, appeal to presumably like the buyer or the reader at that time is like so familiar. Our producer Ben dug up some of these old gift guides and one comes from the 1910s, a department store called Green Hut, Siegel and Cooper. Chris, do you want to tell us about some of the things that you could buy in 1910 in the gift guide?
- [09:08]
A
I have to talk about this robe, which retailed for just $3.95. It's a little bit like that Carol Burnett sketch where she parodies Gone with the Wind and comes down in an entire set of curtains. It looks like this guy is wearing drapes. He, he looks very luxurious. He looks like a proto version of Hugh Hefner walking around in that.
- [09:26]
B
It's giving like pope vibes to me almost. Do you know regalia?
- [09:30]
A
Real regal, yeah, very regal. Very vestments vibe that it's going for. So, yeah, I, I kind of want that robe. I'm not sure when I would have her have reason to wear it, but I just kind of want to own it. So. Yeah, that, that one stuck out to me.
- [09:46]
B
Dana, are there any other of these in these old or gift guides that like, stands out to you as covetable or interesting?
- [09:53]
C
Yes, Willa, thank you for asking. From the same catalog from the teens, I found myself fixating on the child's fur set, which is this fake fur. Actually, even though it's the era of real fur, this is a fake fur item for a child. But. But in order to look more like real fur, this white sort of fur set with a matching muff has two ermine heads on the top and one ermine head on the muff, plus several tails. So you could make sure that your little girl is walking around looking like a hunter carrying her her bounty. And I love this one sentence from the write up of the the child's ermine fur set, which is make up your mind right now that you are going to make some little lady intensely happy Christmas morning walking around with fresh.
- [10:33]
A
Kill, just like mom.
- [10:35]
B
Yeah.
- [10:36]
C
And best of all, if you're trying to keep your prices low as you shop for your little lady, it's only a dollar fifty people.
- [10:42]
B
Well, weirdly, there's this other gift guide from 1961 from Esquire that looks very modern and I was shocked because there is a portable tape player that's 85, 50. That seems like a lot of money to me for 1961 and a tape player.
- [10:56]
A
Well, ironically, this is what happens with technology and equipment is that you can now get the modern version of that for roughly the same price. It's one of the few things that, like, inflation messes with somehow that we can get like the cheap version of something like that, you know, for under 50 bucks, probably. So, yeah.
- [11:13]
B
Does that look like a good tape recorder?
- [11:15]
A
I mean, for the time, sure. Given, you know, the way technology has marched on. This is pre Walkman, so that was probably the best we could do in the early 60s.
- [11:26]
B
This Esquire one from 1961 is kind of like. It's kind of great. It's sort of both extremely of its time. Like, very sort of George Lois looking Esquire, very mod, very sort of 1960s, but also really like. I think New York magazine has done illustrations like this and their beloved gift guides. Like, I think it sort of looks very contemporary. And even though it's illustrations, like, it's. It's just like. It's the fun of it. It's like you read the tiny fine print on, like, all the cutesy things. Like, there's a. Not to spoil what my whole gift category will be. But there's like, this little pillbox that looks like an apple. I'm really, like, a sucker for things that look like other things. And there's like, seems. I mean, you can almost feel like. Like you're like, yes, Dana, like, where can I go? Right in. Like, get this thing.
- [12:08]
C
Yes. You always want to write in. I'll write a check and send it to this P.O. box if you'll just send me that. That little apple pill.
- [12:15]
B
Totally. Or, like, can I go to the store? Like, is it. Can I go to the store around the corner where this is available? That doesn't exist anymore, and it kind of makes you want to time travel. And I don't. I mean, it's interesting, obviously. Like, the visuals are such an important part of making you covet stuff and gift guides. And you can see that, like, they're always illustrated from the beginning. I think it's funny, though, we were digging up as we were sort of looking into this topic, that there was, like, book gift guides. Like, it feels very like bathroom. Like that. The whole era of, like, bathroom books. Like, obviously now we're just has their phones, but the weird things that they, like, turned into bathroom books and books.
- [12:50]
A
Or coffee table books, right? Because, I mean, some of these were lovely enough objects that actually leave them out in the living room. I mean, I remember totally.
- [12:58]
B
But there is something. There's so many. Something funny about thinking that there would be something like the greatest gift guide ever, which was published in 1986. Or like finding the perfect gift, the ultimate guide in 1994 where you're like that's. It's really just. We think of needing them for such a short period of time and also is really not being evergreen. You know, you're not like. But maybe they are. I don't know. I guess I look through old gift guides sometimes. But it's. It's like a funny idea about book. What the way book publishing used to work when we didn't have the Internet. Which is like they could flood the zone on things that we now think of as like just extremely ephemeral and like time sensitive.
- [13:30]
A
A week or two ago in the mail I got the latest Restoration Hardware catalog in this year 2025. And it's OB. That they wanted me to either put it on my coffee table or leave it in the bathroom. So I suppose we haven't entirely abandoned this idea.
- [13:44]
B
How fat was it? Those are really fat.
- [13:46]
A
It was like Vogue's September issue thick. I'm not exaggerating.
- [13:51]
B
So yeah, you know what comes in the mail now which like is fully in line with these older gift guides is Amazon now. So cannily in October basically sends out a gift. Like it's a catalog of toys but like of things they have.
- [14:05]
A
It's kind of like a circular, right?
- [14:07]
B
Yeah, like it looks. No, it like looks sort of like a. Sort of a cross. It's almost looks like a. It's like a pretty hefty catalog.
- [14:13]
A
Oh really?
- [14:13]
B
Stickers in it and it's just like for your kids to go circle and sticker and like tell you the things that they want that are available on Amazon. And like it's incredibly. I'm not saying that like my kids love it. I'm not saying that we bought stuff for them out of it but like it's incredibly effective. Like they're geniuses at this at reviving this 100 year old practice.
- [14:33]
C
Do are they will. Are they algorithmically targeting people that they've figured out have children from their. What they buy?
- [14:39]
B
Yeah, but I mean that's like they know we have like that is the thing they know. I feel like all new parents at this point, like whether or not they've been avoiding Amazon like the week their child is born, like become Amazon prime members like by accident just because of how much they use it. Like you just start to just be like you're like diaper. Like you're just.
- [14:55]
A
There's stuff I was going to say once you start putting diapers on an auto refill with Amazon, they must say, okay, in three years they're going to need the toy catalog 100%.
- [15:04]
B
Of all the things that Amazon knows about me, I feel like determining that I have children was like really low hanging fruit from like my Halloween, you know, for just like everything I order from them. Sorry, I know I'm not. I know I shouldn't, but what do you do? What are you going to do?
- [15:18]
C
All right, well, having established our own relationship to gift guides and the history of gift guides, I want to get into our own picks for this year. But first, let's take a break for one more word from our sponsors.
- [15:29]
B
Whether you know me from my show Decoder Ring or you're hearing me for the first time on this cross show extravaganza, I really love unraveling cultural mysteries. That's something about me.
- [15:40]
C
And similarly, if you're a fan of my show the Slate Culture gabfest, or if you're just hearing me for the first time on this show, you can probably tell that I'm a big fan of analyzing the latest movies.
- [15:49]
B
And because of our interest in movies and culture and mysteries, we're excited to talk to you about today's sponsor, Apple Gift Card.
- [15:56]
A
Right.
- [15:57]
C
Because Apple Gift Card fuels passions like ours, making it the perfect gift for any culture lover in your life, including yourself.
- [16:03]
B
It can be used for everything pop culture related from podcast subscriptions to bestselling books like movies, television, all of it you can buy with Apple Gift Card.
- [16:12]
C
So this year, skip the last minute shopping scramble and make the culture fans in your life happy with Apple gift card.
- [16:18]
B
Visit applegiftcard.apple.com to learn more and gift one today.
- [16:23]
C
All right, welcome back. And it's time to get into the meat of the subject, our gift choices for this year. Chris, I know you have a theme. I don't know what your gifts are, but can you first describe what ties your three choices together?
- [16:34]
A
I mean, it's a very loose theme, but my theme is basically, and this won't surprise anybody, stuff that has informed Hit Parade episodes. In some cases directly, in some cases indirectly. So I have three items that, you know, fit this theme. I would say the one, let me start with the one that fits the theme least, only because it didn't directly inspire an episode, but it's kind of connected to some episodes. So that would be the Revolver box set. So from about, let me think if I got this right, 2017 through, I think 2022, Apple Records, the Beatles still existent. You know, label was putting out These collections, these 50th anniversary collections, where the classic Beatles albums were remastered by Giles Martin. And if that name means anything to you, that's the son of George Martin, the famed Beatles producer who was in the studio with them in the 60s. And what Giles did was he went back to the original master tapes and basically deconstructed and reconstructed each album, trying to make it sound as most like the original album as possible, so that it wasn't, you know, shockingly new to you, but fresher, better stereo separation, because stereo was still a new technology in the 60s. There have been now, I believe, five of these. Sergeant Pepper, the White Album, Abbey Road, Let It Be, and then he went back in time to 1966's revolver. And I would say my absolute favorite of the five I'm not actually holding up, that's the White Album. The only reason I'm mending that is that that one now retails for about 200 bucks. So that's a real investment. That's the one to get for somebody who, you know, needs a jumbo gift. This one is closer to 100 bucks. But I'm holding this one up because this one was the most revelatory to me. I learned things. It's weird to be a music nerd in this day and age and feel like you can still learn something about the Beatles. And I'd even heard some of the outtakes from the Revolver album when they were released on Anthology 2 way back in 1996. But, for example, if you didn't know that Yellow Submarine, which is like, you know, one of their most famous kiddie anthems, started off as a bit of a morose John Lennon composition that sounded almost emo and sad. You can literally hear them evolving Yellow Submarine into the fun kitty Ringo bop that it became in the outtakes of this box set. And there's lots of little revelations like that. In a way, this may have other. Again, other than the White Album box, which has more outtakes, this may have the most revelatory outtakes. And of course, you know, I've done a couple of Hit Parade episodes about the Beatles. Not about Revolver directly, but definitely about. In my Great War against the Single episode, I talked about how the Beatles kind of shifted music commerce from the single to the album in the 60s. And, you know, Revolver is kind of the pivot point for that just before sergeant Pepper. So for all those reasons, I thought I would share this as my first gift suggestion. One thing I should also describe, for those of you who are listening, audio only is What a beautiful object this thing is. I'm actually holding up the CD version because I am still a compact disc guy, not a vinyl guy. I know. Send in your complaints please to Slate. But it looks like a vinyl box. It's still a big square and you know when you slide it open it's got like one case for the CDs that looks like a record album and this beautiful book. That's another reason to get these 50th anniversary sets. The books are actually really solid and, you know, well written, lots of, you know, backstory about, you know, where the Beatles were at in their career at that time. So yeah, it's a coffee table worthy object in addition to being a great listen.
- [20:49]
C
Chris, I have both a bad joke and a question about your description of that album. My bad joke is that because you are stressing how the booklet and the essays and so forth stress the evolution, that it could be called Evolver. Right, that's number one and number two is my question. I always thought Yellow Submarine was a Ringo composition.
- [21:09]
A
It's not a Ringo composition, it's a Ringo vocal. Ringo didn't start writing songs until the White Album when he wrote Don't Pass Me By. And in all the years of the Beatles, not counting a couple of tracks where they gave co credit to Ringo, the only two Ringo compositions are Don't Pass Me by on the White Album and Octopus's Garden on Abbey Road. Prior to that, John and Paul were frequently writing songs for Ringo to sing with a little help from my friends on Sergeant Pepper is another one. A Lennon McCartney composition that was sung by Ringo. Several of the covers, like Buck Owens Act Naturally were sung by Ringo but obviously not written by Ringo.
- [21:49]
C
So yeah, oh, I always thought whatever Beatle was singing a song was the Beatle that was key to write it.
- [21:54]
A
Not always. There are even songs very early in their career that are sung by George but written by Lennon McCartney. Do you want to know a secret? Is a song on the first album, Please Please Me, sung by George Harrison, but written by. I think that was primarily, I want to say a Lennon composition, but it's. Anyway, it's Lennon McCartney. In any case, that was like a.
- [22:15]
B
Little hip raid, little sidebar.
- [22:19]
C
All right, that was like a little hit parade. And now I want me a box set. If nothing else, I love that they preserve the format of the original cover art. All right. The theme to my gifts is going to be Movie Night over the holidays. I didn't even mean for this to be a theme at first or to have A theme. But then our producer noticed that everything I was choosing would be the perfect prop to have for a cozy movie night. So that's my theme. So starting with a gift that is well under a hundred dollars, this is a really inexpensive gift that I think I'm going to use a lot is the Salbri popcorn popping bowl. Do you guys know about this whole style of thing? Like, look at this bowl. It's made of silicone. It's like a squishy silicone bowl that you put directly in your microwave has this little lid that pops on top. And you don't put in any oil. You just put. And it's not special popcorn or anything. You just fill your popcorn to the line, put it in the microwave for two minutes, and you have this perfect popcorn. And there's nothing to clean afterwards because you didn't put any oil in it. You can put butter on the popcorn or whatever, but you basically just have a dry bowl at the end. So it's super, super handy.
- [23:19]
B
That's actually so helpful. I make popcorn sometimes because I'm a Rancho Gordo Bean club member and they regularly like every year send like thing of popcorn. And like, it's actually hard to eat like popcorn. It gets so much bigger, you know, like each seed like, so it's like really hard to go through a package of popcorn. So every so often I'm like, I have like three packages of popcorn and I'm trying to make them. But that is like much easier that as you say, than like doing it on the stove top with like a. We have to sort of pay attention. And it always like it's about to burn and then like it makes your house smell like oil and yeah, it.
- [23:49]
C
Lowers the bar to having popcorn to the point where it just seems like a normal movie accompaniment. So then the other. There's actually two halves to this first gift. This is going to count as one gift because that bowl is so, so cheap. Like, it's really a crazy good deal. But then I also got some very fancy quality popcorn from. I don't know if you can read the label, but it's Amish country popcorn. I've been trying to research their website to see if the people who grow and package this popcorn actually drive around in a horse and buggy. And I have not been able to confirm that.
- [24:18]
B
Too good to fact check, like, hope that it's the case.
- [24:20]
C
It's being delivered in a horse and buggy to whatever store you're buying it from.
- [24:25]
B
But.
- [24:26]
C
But I remember people talking in the past about, you know, people who are real popcorn heads about Amish country popcorn. So I got a sampler, and one thing about it that's fun is there are different colors. So it's blue popcorn, purple popcorn. And then one of them is a normal white, yellowish kind of kernel. They all pop white because that's the inside of the corn kernel. But it's kind of. Kind of fun to pour bright purple kernels into a bowl and pop them. And it's really good popcorn. Now, what makes really good popcorn? I had to think about this last night when I was thinking about recommending this popcorn for me. I don't love movie popcorn. I feel like it's too big and the holes get stuck in your teeth and they're sort of too, too. It's too chewy. Maybe it's just that it's been sitting in the. In the popper for too long that's the main problem.
- [25:07]
A
Right. It's been sitting around.
- [25:08]
B
It's just old pre popped.
- [25:10]
A
It's.
- [25:10]
C
Yeah, but I'm not really into getting popcorn at the movies. Like, I'll only get it if I really need a snack badly. But this stuff is super delicious. The hulls are soft, so you can sort of chew them without them cutting the inside of your mouth. And it's just really tender. Chewy, delicious. The purple anyway, which is the only one I've tried so far. Delicious popcorn. All it needs is a little butter and salt and you're ready to go.
- [25:32]
B
I would need some popcorn right now.
- [25:34]
A
Seriously, I'm totally.
- [25:36]
C
Salbury bowl man. You've got to try it.
- [25:38]
A
I am totally getting that one. And I kind of hope my girlfriend is not watching this gift guide right now because she pops popcorn on the regular when we're watching movies together and she does it in a pot. And the idea that we could lower the bar on how much mess we make on popcorn, that's really very tempting.
- [25:56]
C
So, yeah, no, it's kind of a romantic gift in a way. Like, give somebody a movie and some popcorn and a popcorn popper and you're saying, like, I want to settle down with a bowl of popcorn in a movie and you.
- [26:06]
B
Okay. So as I said, I'm ambivalent about give guys. And so I actually found, like, fig. I just feel like I. I'm like, I don't know. Everyone has so much stuff. But I. I worked it through, guys. I worked it through, and I was, like, thinking about things that I actually like. And do you ever notice, like, you have a tendency and then you recognize it and you're like, this is ridiculous. I have to, like, check this. So one of those is like, for a while I was like, oh, I like, kind of love, like, animal inflected, like, hooks. Like, like, think, like, I have an. I have a flamingo, like, paper towel holder and like, elephant hooks. And I was like, oh, this is. This is so cutesy. Like, what am I doing? This is whatever. I got to stop doing that or I got to pay attention next time I want to get, like a goat paper mache head, you know? And then I was like, oh, another thing that, like, it's like, I really love it when things look like other things. Like, for example, like the flamingo paper towel holder. Like, I really get a kick out of that sort of like trompe oil, like, sort of playfulness. And I have to watch it. But I was like, I will just dig into it this time. So these are a series of bowls. They're just tertiary bowls. They look like melt cantaloupe. Some water just fell out because I just watched. Had to take them out of the dishwasher. But so there's this Portuguese company called, called Bordalo Pinero. It's like, very old. They make. They make sort of cabbage ware. If they make basically, like, all this gorgeous ceramics. And they look like dragon fruit. They look like lettuce. Like, they're really beautiful and gorgeous. These ones which have, like, cantaloupe, like, rind on the outside, orange on the inside are actually from Etsy.
- [27:40]
C
Like a.
- [27:40]
B
Another maker of them. But everyone is knocking off Bordello Pinero who make, like, truly actually gorgeous stuff. In fact, also, additionally, I have tried to knock them off because I take pottery and I was like, I'm gonna try to make a watermelon bowl, which I like. If you look closely, like, I definitely look at. You can see I messed it up. Like, you see, like, I did. I was wet. But I have, like, I have. Thank you. I've like, tried to do it myself and I like, like, like, I made a little one because I was, like, trying to learn. But I really like these things. They're really very beautiful and gorgeous and they make a ton of different fruit. And that kind of thing tickles you. Like, please. Also all the stuff because the company's been around for a long time. Like, you can find a lot of it used. You can find it on vintage sites. Like, it's a good rabbit hole.
- [28:22]
C
Is the outside textured like the way cantaloupe rind would be?
- [28:25]
B
Yes, it is. It is totally Textured. Like it's. It is, yeah. I mean, it's not exactly, but yeah, it's like. It's like that.
- [28:31]
C
That's so pleasing. And if you serve the cantaloupe in it, then it's. Yes, it's a whole.
- [28:35]
B
But I don't know what happened.
- [28:36]
A
Wheels within wheels.
- [28:37]
B
Like a black hole bowl. It's like a space time continuum opens.
- [28:40]
A
And you go back in time.
- [28:41]
B
Yeah, but that's like my kid, you know, it's a regular cereal bowl in my house.
- [28:45]
A
All right, well, this gift suggestion will probably surprise no one because I've actually referred to this in two. Count them to hit parade episodes in the last 12 months. But I am recommending the Mad Men Blu Ray gift set, which came out about a decade ago when Mad Men completed its run in 2015. I. I've been on a Mad Men kick in the last year. Last December's episode of Hit Parade was about the history of hits created by advertising, and I referenced Mad Men in that episode. And then I went deeper in our March 2025 episode, which was about the 60s and how the 60s was actually lived. And one of the things I said about why I love Mad Men so much, why it's kind of my favorite peak TV show of the last quarter century, is it captured popular culture of the 60s as it was actually lived. So you're not going to see all of the, you know, cliched protest music. There's no Fortunate sun by Credence Clearwater Revival. There's no all along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. Great as those songs are, they play a lot of the actual pop schlock that was, you know, actually topping the charts in the 60s. Like love is Blue by Paul Marriott or Harper Valley PTA by Jeannie C. Reilly. Anyway, that's my music angle on Mad Men. It's also just a great show. And this Blu Ray set is kind of amazing because there's like often two commentaries per episode, at least one. And, you know, sometimes with the actors, sometimes with Matthew Weiner. And there are mini docs about 60s culture, advertising culture, you know, social unrest in the 60s. You will spend so much time enjoying this set. I did a full rewatch of the show and by the way, I went looking for it when I started researching the previous episode of Hit Parade. And it's not, at least for now, universally on streaming. I think you may have to buy each episode. So this is actually a worthwhile purchase if you like the show and want to do a rewatch because you've You've got all the discs at your disposal. So that's why I've been immersed in Mad Men. It was actually a Christmas gift given to me last December that I asked for because I was immersing myself in research for the show.
- [31:11]
B
You could make popcorn to watch Mad Men. It doesn't have to be a movie.
- [31:15]
A
Exactly.
- [31:15]
B
For your, your nightly Mad Men viewing, it'll take you like six months to get through it every night.
- [31:22]
A
Not quite six months, but it did take a period of months for me to rewatch the whole show. And it was so pleasurable.
- [31:27]
C
There's nothing like a box set. I mean, even if there's a way that you can find the same episode streaming, the presence of it on your shelf. Right. The DVD extras that it offers, the booklet. Just if you really love a show or a movie, I always feel like it's a kind of augmentation of your love for it to have the physical presence of a box set on your shelf.
- [31:48]
A
I totally agree.
- [31:48]
B
Dana, what's your next thing?
- [31:50]
C
Smash cut to me, wrapped in a big cozy holiday colored blanket. So this is, this is the next part of my holiday evening in with a loved one watching movies with popcorn is that of course, you need a cozy blanket. And this is a big knitted. I don't know if you can see that. It's got like a broad knit so you can stick your fingers through it. It's a big chenille blanket from a company called Lagatti. Very inexpensive for how nice it is. It doesn't have that yucky texture that an inexpensive blanket can have. It's all cotton, super cozy, very warm. So you do have to wait for a winter night to be wrapped in it. But this is kind of throw size, you know, so it's, it's not so much a blanket for your bed as something you would just keep on your couch to throw over yourself as you're munching your popcorn.
- [32:30]
B
Is there anything better than a cozy blanket? I know that's like, I feel like I'm con. I have like all these blankets in my house that are like not cozy that I've like inherited somehow. And they're wool. And I'm like, what am I? This would be such an easy way to make my life cozier and nicer. I should just get over this. And this is good incentive to do that.
- [32:47]
C
Yeah. Really, you need, you need all weights of blanket, right? Like you've got this sort of summer, cottony, light knit throw. But then you have to have things like this once in a While that. This is sort of the texture of like, you know, like those big mushy socks that teenage girls wear in their dorm room.
- [33:02]
B
You know, they're almost like a slipper, but it's like also a sock. Yeah.
- [33:06]
C
That makes your foot really big and puffy. That's sort of what this is. So. Yeah, you're like a Muppet when you're wrapped in this thing.
- [33:11]
A
Also, this is probably going to reveal a little of my ocd, but the holes in that blanket are a feature, not a bug bug to me. Like playing around with those holes in the knit, that. That would be very pleasurable. It's like popping bubble wrap for me.
- [33:25]
C
Okay, will it gift number two, what have you got?
- [33:27]
B
Okay, so this is again, things that look like other things. I don't know if you guys have noticed this explosion in this category, which is candles that look like other things. So I am not a candle person. I really hate things that have smells. Um, my dad, like, hated just. He hated it and it's sort of given it to me. And I don't like, like perfumey smells, so I have like, sort of avoided candles, which, like, that's what they're for. But I'm very into this just like, visually aesthetic candle. Like, there's lots of really cool, like colorful striped candles. Like, hay makes this like really cool giant, like scroll, sculptural, colorful candle. But I also am super into candles that look like food. Like, there's croissant candles and like tomato candles and potato candles. And they're like. They really just look like the thing, but they're also a candle because, like, wax is very malleable.
- [34:15]
C
So, Will, it's occurring to me that your whole gift selection is like, is it cake? The TV show?
- [34:21]
B
I kind of can't stand that show. Although my kids like it. But also like, yes, a hundred percent. I'm like, I kind of want everything. I basically apparently love it. I want everything to look to not be cake or to be cake, but be something that it's not to be plugging.
- [34:34]
A
But I mean, you know, is it. Cake is kind of a cultural mystery. So, you know, know it really ties into there.
- [34:40]
B
It's all my interest. 1. So this is like a very nicely. I could smell though, orange. It doesn't smell bad. Orange candle. These are from Amazon.com they are like stocking stuffer priced, I think. Honestly, I'm Jewish. I don't know about stocking stuffers, but I think that's correct. I mean, I'm kidding. I'm American. I know about stocking stuffers. All right, so these are like, they're very nice little.
- [35:00]
C
Look, it's a candle.
- [35:01]
B
It's just like a little orange. This is an elite. Just like it's, it really looks like an orange, but it's a candle. Something about that really delights me. And I also, there's, there's lots. This is like a really. Also a rabbit hole. Like, I think if you were like, I need rutabaga candles. Like you could find them at this point. Like, and you could probably find some really high end ones. Like, it's all out there, asparagus, pomegranates, you name it.
- [35:24]
A
My hang up with that candle is that it's so beautiful I'd be afraid to light it.
- [35:28]
B
Well, it came in a pack of four, so, you know, like. Yeah, totally. I do have a bunch of candles actually, now that you mentioned it, that just like they. I will never use it. They're sort of like for display. Like they're just sitting on a mantle.
- [35:39]
A
Exactly.
- [35:40]
B
That's never going to be used.
- [35:41]
A
It's a little bit like the soap you put in the bathroom that's too nice to actually use.
- [35:45]
B
Yes. Or like when I was a kid and you know, Bed Bath and Beyond, it wasn't Bed Bath and Beyond, it was the Body Shop. Like, for. They would give these little, like make these little packages and you'd get them for like birthday presents. And I would just keep like for 20 years until I literally like, like fell apart because it's soap. I had like the little bears and the lambs because I just couldn't bear to actually like deface them by using them. So then I had to throw them in the garbage 20 years later when they had fallen apart. You know, so anyway, that probably would happen to your candle too. You should just use your candle.
- [36:11]
C
Yeah. My argument was going to be maybe lighting the candle and seeing it melt is a little bit like the moment on is it cake? Where they slice into the object and it turns out to be cake. There's something about destroying the perfect facsimile of the orange is satisfying too.
- [36:24]
B
Also, to be honest, when they start to melt is almost actually cool because then they're sort of in this middle. Like they aren't cake, but they sort of like it's like a melting orange. Like, when have you seen a melt? You know, like they have. It has like a sort of art element when you start to destroy them.
- [36:37]
A
Well, and there's a perfect moment when you burn a candle where it's Kind of in that in between state, and it's just gone down maybe, I don't know, a quarter to a third of the way. So it. Look, it, it gives candle, and yet you haven't completely melted it all down. That. That's the perfect moment for a candle for me, anyway.
- [36:52]
B
Okay, Chris, what's your last gift?
- [36:56]
A
My final pick. I. I seem to be going all content here, which I suppose is appropriate for me. I wanted to recommend a book that, you know, I actually plumb the depths of various books for Hit Parade episodes. I've read so many artist memoirs, but one of the episodes that I know a lot of my listeners love that is only a little over a year old was the episode I did about the Hits of 1984. This was my September 2024 episode of Hit Parade. And for that episode, I heavily consulted my friend Michelangelo Matos's book, Can't slow down how 1984 became pop's blockbuster Year. This is not just a book that I used for research, but a book that I found incredibly pleasurable just to read. In each chapter, Matos kind of digs into an angle on 1984, a story about 1984, whether it's the 1984 Olympics and what the pop culture connections are to that or, you know, the. The Supreme Court case about Betamax that led to, you know, whether or not we can make copies of things. And it had all these implications for, you know, fair use to Michael Jackson obviously dominating the Grammys in 1984. The stories are. And the deep research or why this book is great. So I can't recommend it enough. It's. It's kind of one of those. Keep it next to the bed. And when you need just one really well written chapter, you know, before you drop off at night, it's very pleasurable if you like a good cultural history. So that's why I recommend Can't Slow down, which, by the way, for those who haven't picked up on this, is named after the Lionel Richie album Can't Slow down, that won the Grammy for Album of the year in early 1985. So, you know, it's got that going for it.
- [38:44]
C
All right, well, I'm joining the content train, Chris, along with you for my last gift, because, of course, you can't have that movie night with popcorn and a popcorn popper and a big old blanket without some movies. So my last gift is a box set. Let me try to display it so that you can see the fun design of the box. It's like a little Suitcase, A Criterion box set called the Adventures of Antoine Dwanelle. Does that ring a bell with either of you? Who is Antoine Dwanelle?
- [39:08]
A
The 400 blows, right?
- [39:10]
B
40 blows. 400 blows, yeah.
- [39:11]
A
So I hope I have the number right.
- [39:13]
B
It rang a bell for the wrong title of the movie, but I was there. Truffle.
- [39:17]
C
Truffaut, right, yes, the Truffaut movie. The 400 Blows from 1959. Like if you know a Francois Truffaut movie, it's probably that one. You would see it in any, I don't know, retrospective of the French New Wave. This 1959 movie about an adolescent boy who's played by a 14 year old named Jean Pierre Leo, who was sort of a discovery, a non actor, just a kid that Francois Truffaut found and befriended and wound up becoming almost like a father figure in this kid's life because he was kind of a troubled kid. And he went on to make four different movies about Antoine Dwanelle, the character that Leo plays at age 14. And then later, I'm not going to know the exact ages, but you know, in his early 20s, in his late 20s, in his mid-30s for 20 years, sort of in the style of Richard Linklater in Boyhood or in the Before Sunset et cetera movies or the Op.
- [40:04]
A
Series by Michael Apted. Right. I mean, the way that follows the.
- [40:07]
C
Same set of people, not unlike that in the documentary century format. But yeah, Truffaut undertook one of those kind of life projects like I am going to grow up and grow old along with this actor and continue to document this character's life. And they're all wonderful movies and all in different ways. I mean, you know, the ones where he falls in love, there's two that involve love and marriage are kind of rom coms. Then there's basically a divorce drama as he's in his mid-30s. And Jean Pierre Leo is just such a unique actor. Like once you've sort of fallen in love with him as a boy, you're so interested in the quirky, eccentric adult that he becomes. All right, so what are the extras on this box set? I'm going to have to read a few of them off the bat because I just unboxed this this morning and I haven't watched any of them yet. But Criterion always does up their extras really well. So this is not only four Blu Rays with those four movies on them and also an early short by Truffaut that's called Les Mistons, that's about the lives of Children, sort of something that he was clearly thinking about before he started this whole series. But you've got two separate audio commentaries, you know, the tracks that go along with the movie. One by a Truffaut scholar, one by a close friend, a French guy who I've never heard of, who's a real life friend of Truffaut. So I assume he'll have like behind the scenes kind of stories. There's no fewer than five critical essays. There's an interview that Truffaut's daughter did with him, which seems interesting. There's a couple of video essays by film historians. Oh. One of the essays, the critical essays, is by Noah Baumbach, who, if you think about it, clearly is very influenced by Truffaut. Right. So that will be interesting to hear. Anyway. There's clearly hours. Even if you set the movies aside, there's hours and hours of good watching to be done on this box set. The Adventures of Antoine Duanelle.
- [41:45]
A
You had me at Criterion because, you know, I have so many Criterion discs on my shelf and I don't have that set. But that looks amazing. They just, you know, they make the movie look great and they, you know, they go deeper than anybody on the extras. So that. That's a great pick.
- [42:04]
C
Yeah. Something you always know about Criterion, and I know this also from having written essays or done video interviews for. For their extras, is that they're never just repackaging something to kind of do a cash grab, Right. They're going to always put some real value into whatever their new packaging of something is. So whenever they come out with the box set, even if I don't necessarily want the movies, I'll go through there and look at what the extras are and see if those are worth getting.
- [42:26]
B
Despite buffing the title earlier. Like, I love the 400 blows. And I love the thing where you get to watch actors age. Like, they do it by accident in certain things. Like, you know, the Harry Potter series is weirdly like you're watching them get older and that's like compelling about it, but it's so. It just is. And like Richard Linklater is working on that. Merrily we roll along. It's like happening in real time.
- [42:44]
C
Right.
- [42:44]
B
But it can be deployed so powerfully as it is in the UP series. Like, it's just so crazy to have seen these kids as little and then you see them as, you know, lost 50 year olds. It's just very emotional and it's like, it's cool to watch that actor. Like, even if it's the character. Like it's both things are happening. Like, his physical form is really getting older and the character. It just. I think it's a. It's really. It's very. Something about is. It's not just satisfying. It's always like very Eva. Like it's very emotional to watch.
- [43:09]
C
Absolutely. And in part also because it's a great act of trust between the. The person who was aging on camera and the guy behind the camera or woman behind the camera filming them. Right. I mean, you're sort of making. Making this pact like we are going to move through time together and we don't know where we're going. You know, I don't know if you're going to continue to be someone who wants to make these movies. You know, it's almost like a kind of, you know, bond of friendship or love between the two.
- [43:34]
A
Totally.
- [43:35]
B
And sometimes it doesn't always work out because of whatever is happening behind the scenes. Which actually, weirdly, Truffaut writes lots of movies about what's happening behind the scenes. So it's sort of like it's. Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, it's cool.
- [43:44]
A
That box set looks so thorough. About the only thing that can make it more thorough thorough would be if they included the entirety of Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Steven Spielberg. So you can watch Truffaut acting on top of it all. But, you know, that's. That's, I think a separate gift.
- [43:57]
B
A separate box set.
- [43:58]
A
A separate box set.
- [43:59]
B
Should I end this with the silliest of all the gifts by far?
- [44:04]
A
Oh, yes.
- [44:05]
B
Okay, now wait.
- [44:06]
A
So sillier than cantaloupe bowl? Sillier than.
- [44:09]
B
Oh, guys, it's silly candles. But actually I love it the most. So this is like a very absurd thing that also looks like a fruit that is so silly and like off color. But honestly, like, it's in my house and it weirdly, like, does spark joy. Like when I think about it.
- [44:25]
A
Okay, I am bracing myself right now.
- [44:27]
B
It is a cherry shaped toilet cleaner. And you guys think that you don't care that your toilet bowl cleaners are ugly and like you have to hide them and they're like in a closet or they're in some corner. You don't think you care. It's fine. You do. It's so nice to have something that you're like, that just looks like a cherry. That's cool. That's like a weird piece of pop art in my bathroom. It has a function. We don't have to talk about it. You know what I mean? I'm telling you, like, I bought it on a whim. And I was like, this is so ridiculous. And then now like it's in our guest bathroom. It's like in the bathroom that we like, that everyone uses when they come to our house. And I'm like, that's great. That thing is great. Like it is Disguise away. Be a cherry. Will.
- [45:09]
C
I'm picturing you in like a 50s style apron printed with cherries, smiling merrily as you clean your toilet with a big cherry.
- [45:16]
B
Oh, yeah. No, no, I'm. I'm not.
- [45:18]
A
And birds are fluttering onto Willis.
- [45:20]
C
Yeah, it's like enchanted.
- [45:21]
B
It's like enchanted. It's like, you know that scene where she like cleans him with the cockroaches?
- [45:24]
A
Or like Amy Adams, she's whistling while she works.
- [45:27]
B
Yeah, yeah, totally. I'm like, I kid. Not like, it's just if you have one of those anywhere in a bathroom, like, if you have a toilet bowl cleaner somewhere that people can see, it's so nice for it not to look like they look like shit.
- [45:39]
A
You know, that's kind of a solid argument because, yeah, my toilet bowl cleaner is just sitting in the bathroom kind of there, so why not make it prettier?
- [45:49]
B
Honestly, I'm telling you. Sparks joy.
- [45:51]
C
I'm imagining walking into Willa's house right now and is just this solid, you know, wall after wall of items that seem to be other items.
- [45:58]
A
She.
- [45:58]
C
She pulls a book off the shelf and opens it. And then, I don't know, house plants, springs out.
- [46:02]
B
It's a. It's a vase. Yeah. Like, it's a. It's like a vault. Yeah. 100. I mean, all those things really delight me. I. But I have, as I said, I've noticed that I like them. So now I like, don't let myself get them unless they're like very good.
- [46:14]
C
Also, people give them for you as a collectible if you kind of announce and then next thing.
- [46:18]
B
I have actually never announced it, so they haven't. But maybe now it will be like, it's only. It's only things I pick up for myself, you know.
- [46:25]
A
Oh, you've put that out in the world. Now everybody's going to get you like slightly more whimsical.
- [46:30]
B
Whimsical than people think I am. Does that like, does that make like. I think, I think, I think, I think people find me difficult to get gifts for.
- [46:39]
A
You got it. You did an episode of Dakota Ring that was about truck nuts. How do they not know that? You have a whimsical sense of humor.
- [46:45]
B
You think truck nuts are whimsical?
- [46:47]
A
Well, maybe aggressively whimsical.
- [46:50]
B
They're a thing that looks like another thing. Yeah, no. So I think, like, I do have like a sort of.
- [46:56]
A
Maybe you have a punkish sense of humor.
- [46:58]
B
If nothing, who knows. Who knows what I have? But yes, maybe now it's open the floodgates and I'll have to. To like start collecting things. Look like other things, which would actually be super fun. That would be. I would be delighted to get that stuff.
- [47:07]
C
Since you're. This is a holiday themed conversation. I'm wondering about a holiday item. You always see this around the holidays.
- [47:12]
B
Do you.
- [47:13]
C
Do you like those marzipan fruits that are trompe l' oeil and they look exactly like.
- [47:18]
B
Yes, I do. I. The problem is that marzipan do you know there's those foods that you're like, this is delicious. If I have more than one bite, I'm going to vomit. Like, where you're like, this is delicious for one second. And that's how I feel about marzipan. So, like. And also we have a very old, like an auntie of mine, like a family friend who is New Yorker, like Italian New Yorker, and she's obsessed with those and she like barely lets you eat them. Like, they're forward display.
- [47:40]
A
I was gonna say they're like the candles. Right. You don't actually want to consume it.
- [47:43]
B
Yes, exactly. So I do sort of. It's also like, it's almost like dollhouse furniture. Like miniature things are sort of pleasing that way with the marzipan is too. It's small. Yeah, totally. You're right on, Dana. Like, right all in that wheelhouse.
- [47:56]
C
I think I've never taken an actual bite of one of those, but yeah, whenever they're on a display, it is like dollhouse furn have to stop and look at the tiny, cleverly crafted little fruits.
- [48:05]
B
Yeah. So people are. And like, some are like, you're like, this one's really good. They're made by like a master marzipan craftsman. And they're like, this one's less good, you know, but that's fun and it's.
- [48:13]
A
Too beautiful to eat.
- [48:14]
C
All right, well, we certainly found lots to say and I'm really inspired by you guys gifts, actually. I'm coveting those things. Yeah. My toilet may. My toilet cleaner may just be merrier than I ever thought. This holiday season, I thought we were.
- [48:28]
A
Just giving gift ideas amongst ourselves. I'm actually like getting shopping ideas from this thing. So.
- [48:33]
B
Yeah, no, I also am like, now I have lots of things to watch and listen to. I which I find I need I actually find it so overwhelming how much there are of both of those things that I like, need trusted people to tell me, like, pay attention to this one, which you guys are trusted people. So that's great.
- [48:48]
C
Well, if those of you listening and watching want to take a look at any of these things, there's going to be links@slate.com culture gift guide to all of our gifts. That slate.com culture gift guide. All right. Well, thanks to both of you for joining. This was a fun conversation.
- [49:01]
B
Yeah, it was.
- [49:04]
A
Thank you. And happy holidays.
- [49:06]
B
Yeah, happy holidays, everyone. Happy shopping, I guess.
- [49:09]
C
The Slate Culture Gift Guide is produced for Slate Studios by Benjamin Frisch and Micah Phillips with Meryl Bazretcik and Andrew Harding. To learn more about our gifts, check us out@slate.com culturegiftguide thanks and we'll see you again next time.
- [49:23]
B
It.