Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

The Slate Culture Gift Guide

Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Chris Molanphy (Hit Parade)
Guests: Willa Paskin (Decoder Ring), Dana Stevens (Culture Gabfest)

Overview & Main Theme

This special crossover episode brings together three of Slate’s leading culture podcasters—Chris Molanphy, Willa Paskin, and Dana Stevens—for a lively, thoughtful, and personal conversation on the traditions and quirks of holiday gift guides. They explore the evolution of gift guides, their own complicated relationships with them, and offer a curated selection of culture-related gifts under $100. The gifts span classic music box sets, quirky home goods, cozy essentials for movie nights, and unique, artful novelties. Through banter and deep dives, the hosts reflect on culture, consumption, nostalgia, and the search for memorable, meaningful gifts.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Gift Guide as a Cultural Artifact

[02:46–07:23]

• Ambivalence around gift guides: Willa confesses her simultaneous love for and dread of holiday gift guides—enjoying the “window shopping” and curation, but feeling “deep capitalist fear and anxiety” about their ubiquity and the commercialization of the holiday season.
  • “I both, like, absolutely love some of them... and also just find myself, like, kind of just like, sick in the inundation, which has increased year over year.” (Willa, 02:46)
• Gift guides as self-shopping tools: The group agrees that, often, people use gift guides to shop for themselves rather than others, which subverts the alleged spirit of giving.
  • “I'm honestly reading gift guides being like, ooh, yes, me that... which is sort of like, antithetical to, like, the holiday spirit of it.” (Willa, 04:08)
• Gift guides have saved the day: Chris recounts using gift guides in a pinch:
  • “I remember, gosh, just a couple of years ago, I... had a couple of family members... 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.” (Chris, 05:36)

2. The History and Evolution of Gift Guides

[07:23–13:43]

• Their deep roots: Willa notes gift guides date back to early 1900s department stores, referencing old catalogs (e.g., Green Hut, Siegel & Cooper, 1910s), where curated advertisements doubled as gift inspiration.
• Nostalgic gems & archaisms: Chris describes a $3.95 men’s robe from 1910s catalogs—luxuriously depicted, drawing Carol Burnett and Hugh Hefner comparisons—and Dana highlights a faux-ermine child’s fur set, noting the anachronistic delight and social attitudes captured in such finds.
  • “Make up your mind right now that you are going to make some little lady intensely happy Christmas morning walking around with fresh kill, just like mom.” (Dana quoting from catalog, 10:33)
• Gift guides as physical objects: Discussion of coffee table books, catalogs (like Restoration Hardware’s lavish, current catalog), and Amazon’s toy catalog, showing how tactile, aspirational, and interactive these guides can be for families—even influencing kids’ wishlists.
  • “Amazon now... basically sends out a gift... catalog of toys but like of things they have... stickers in it and it's just like for your kids to go circle and sticker... and it's incredibly effective.” (Willa, 14:12)

3. The Present-Day Tide of Gift Guides

[06:31–07:23; 13:43–15:18]

• The group acknowledges “gift guide fatigue,” with the internet’s proliferation of both algorithmic and lovingly crafted guides. Willa admits to being “implicated” as both critic and avid reader.
• They set the stage for their own guide: curated, personal Picks rooted in their passions.

The Culture Gift Picks

Chris Molanphy’s Picks—“Stuff that Informed Hit Parade Episodes”

[16:34, 20:49, 31:45, 36:56]

1. The Beatles “Revolver” 50th Anniversary Box Set

   • [16:34–21:48]
   • A remastered classic with revelations in the making-of, outtakes, and album evolution (notably “Yellow Submarine”’s origins).
   • Beautiful packaging—“Coffee table worthy.”
   • “It's weird to be a music nerd in this day and age and feel like you can still learn something about the Beatles. …This may have the most revelatory outtakes.” (Chris, 19:43)

2. Mad Men: The Complete Blu-ray Gift Set

   • [31:45–33:11]
   • Lauded for capturing the authentic pop music texture of the 1960s; loaded with insightful commentaries and mini-docs.
   • Not always streamable—physical media is valuable.
   • “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… you will spend so much time enjoying this set.” (Chris, 30:12)

3. Book: "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop’s Blockbuster Year" by Michelangelo Matos

   • [36:56–38:44]
   • Deep-dive into a pivotal pop year. Multiple cultural angles, accessible in chapter-sized stories, perfect for music history fans.
   • “A book that I found incredibly pleasurable just to read. …The stories and the deep research are why this book is great. So I can't recommend it enough.” (Chris, 37:56)

Dana Stevens’ Picks—“Movie Night at Home”

[22:19, 48:04, 41:45]

1. Salbri Silicone Popcorn Popping Bowl & Amish Country Popcorn

   • [22:19–25:31]
   • Microwave bowl for no-mess popcorn plus gourmet kernels (blue, purple, white).
   • Healthier, fun, and perfect for cozy movie nights.
   • “You just fill your popcorn to the line, put it in the microwave for two minutes, and you have this perfect popcorn. …You can put butter on the popcorn… but you basically just have a dry bowl at the end.” (Dana, 23:15)

2. Lagatti Chenille Knitted Cozy Throw Blanket

   • [31:49–33:24]
   • Inexpensive, plush and textured—great for couch snuggling.
   • Dana highlights sensory joys: “It's sort of the texture of, like, those big mushy socks that teenage girls wear in their dorm room.”
   • Chris relates: “The holes in that blanket are a feature, not a bug… It's like popping bubble wrap for me.” (33:11)

3. Criterion Collection: The Adventures of Antoine Doinel Box Set

   • [38:44–43:34]
   • Truffaut’s long-running series following Jean-Pierre Léaud’s character from adolescence through adulthood.
   • Extensive extras (essays, docs, commentaries) and deep emotional resonance in watching actors age on film.
   • “You're sort of making this pact like we are going to move through time together and we don't know where we're going.” (Dana, 43:09)

Willa Paskin’s Picks—“Things that Look Like Other Things”

[26:05, 27:39, 33:26, 44:03]

1. Fruit-shaped Ceramic Bowls (Bordallo Pinheiro and knockoffs)

   • [26:05–28:22]
   • Colorful, textured ceramics (like cantaloupe, dragon fruit), sourced via vintage, Etsy, or originals.
   • “They look like dragon fruit. They look like lettuce. …If that kind of thing tickles you, like, please… you can find a lot of it used.” (Willa, 27:39)
   • The impulse to make her own in pottery class shows the infectious charm of these items.

2. Realistic Food-shaped Candles

   • [33:26–36:36]
   • Croissant, tomato, and orange candles (“Is it cake?” energy).
   • “They're like, they really just look like the thing, but they're also a candle because, like, wax is very malleable.” (Willa, 34:05)
   • Joy in destruction—as Dana quips, “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.” (36:10)

3. Cherry-shaped Toilet Cleaner

   • [44:03–45:38]
   • The silliest pick; a pop-art solution to everyday ugliness.
   • “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.” (Willa, 44:27)
   • Chris and Dana imagine a whimsical house filled with everyday items masquerading as something else.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Banter

• On gift guide ambivalence:
  • “They feel like very contemporary because... everything is so Internet shopping. But the truth is, like, they’re an old form. The pleasure of which I think is, like, pretty pure shot for the last hundred years.” (Willa, 07:23)
• On nostalgia and authenticity in music:
  • “What Giles [Martin] 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...” (Chris, 17:09)
• On practical joy:
  • “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 does spark joy.” (Willa, 44:27, 45:48)
• On the layered pleasures of physical media:
  • “There's nothing like a box set. …The presence of it on your shelf... the DVD extras... it's a kind of augmentation of your love for it.” (Dana, 31:27)
• On the emotional resonance of time-lapse storytelling:
  • “It's a great act of trust between the person who was aging on camera and the guy behind the camera… it's almost like a kind of, you know, bond of friendship…” (Dana, 43:09)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Gift guide ambivalence, shopping for self & history: 02:46–07:23
• Antique catalogs, robe & fur set nostalgia: 09:07–10:41
• Amazon toy catalog & modern guide analogues: 13:43–14:54
• Chris’s Beatles Box Set pick: 16:34–21:48
• Dana’s Popcorn Bowl & Popcorn pick: 22:19–25:31
• Willa’s Fruit Bowls pick: 26:05–28:22
• Chris’s Mad Men Box set pick: 31:45–33:11
• Dana’s Cozy Blanket pick: 31:49–33:24
• Willa’s Food-shaped Candles pick: 33:26–36:36
• Chris’s “Can’t Slow Down” Book pick: 36:56–38:44
• Dana’s Antoine Doinel (Criterion) pick: 38:44–43:34
• Willa’s Cherry Toilet Cleaner pick: 44:03–45:38
• Wrap-up, reflections, and gift-giving philosophy: 47:06–48:48

Episode Takeaways

• The hosts underline the joy of thoughtful, personal, sometimes quirky gifts—favoring those that bring both usefulness and delight, or offer new discoveries and stories.
• The culture of gifting (and the guides that shape it) reveals much about the intersection of nostalgia, material culture, and our ongoing search for meaning—even in the mundane.
• Ultimately, gift guides, like pop culture itself, are a curatorial act—an expression of care, taste, and the universal quest to surprise and delight.

For full details and links to all recommended gifts, visit slate.com/culturegiftguide.