Culture Gabfest The Slate Culture Gift Guide
Nov 14, 2025
The holiday season brings a delightful gift guide discussion, exploring the history of these cultural artifacts from the early 20th century to now. The hosts share their unique gifts, including cozy movie night essentials like a collapsible popcorn bowl and a chunky knit throw. They also recommend playful kitchenware, such as fruit-shaped ceramics and novelty candles. From classic music box sets to intriguing books on pop culture, the conversation sparks festive gift inspiration while highlighting the joy in quirky choices like a cherry-shaped toilet brush.
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Choose Guides That Show Genuine Curation
- Use gift guides as inspiration for both others and yourself, but be skeptical of affiliate-driven lists.
- Dana Stevens recommends valuing guides that show genuine care and problem-solving over pure commercialization.
Gift Guides Are Culturally Ambivalent
- Gift guides provoke ambivalent feelings: they're useful but also emblematic of consumer overload.
- Willa Paskin warns that the flood of guides intensifies capitalist shopping pressure and content fatigue.
Gift Guides Are An Old Advertorial Form
- Gift guides predate the internet as department-store advertorials from the early 1900s.
- The format's visual and curatorial strategies remain consistent even as distribution shifted online.
