The Slate Culture Gift Guide

The Slate Culture Gift Guide

Author: Slate Podcasts November 12, 2025 Duration: 48:09

Hark, the holiday season is upon us—and with it, the most solemn of festive traditions: a gift guide! In this video and podcast special, Slate hosts Dana Stevens, Chris Molanphy, and Willa Paskin beam in from their collective hearths to deliver unto the internet their favorite gifts for culture lovers. In addition to sharing gifts, they also discuss the cultural artifact that is the “holiday gift guide,” and its history going back to the early 20th century, up to the modern day. See the entirety of the 1910 gift guide Our Special Holiday Gift-Book from Greenhut-Siegel Cooper, and Esquire’s ultra-mod gift guide from 1961. 

Check out our gift recommendations below: 

Dana Stevens’ Cozy Movie Night-In: 

Chris Molanphy’s Hit Parade Collection: 

Willa Paskin’s Fruit-Themed Trompe-l'œil Housewares:

The Slate Culture Gift Guide is produced for Slate Studios by Benjamin Frisch and Micah Phillips, with Meryl Bezrutczyk and Andrew Harding.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever. Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on...
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia
Podcast Episodes
Raise Your Glass Edition Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:06
Alecia Moore was so fearless, they put an exclamation point in her name. Pink—a.k.a. P!nk—was full of bravado from the moment she broke at the turn of the millennium, singing a frothy style of teen pop&B. She was promote…
A Little Love and Some Tenderness Edition Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:33
One of the most improbable blockbuster successes of the ’90s was Hootie and the Blowfish: a South Carolina bar band fronted by a Black lead singer that played jangly alt-pop. That singer, Darius Rucker, built a career th…
A Little Love and Some Tenderness Edition Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:06
One of the most improbable blockbuster successes of the ’90s was Hootie and the Blowfish: a South Carolina bar band fronted by a Black lead singer that played jangly alt-pop. That singer, Darius Rucker, built a career th…
Thinking About Tomorrow Edition Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:13
The story of Fleetwood Mac is an oft-told rock n’ roll tale: British blues-rock band sells poorly until two Americans join, bringing California vibes and lots of drama. Everybody fights, cheats, drugs, and boozes. Out po…
Thinking About Tomorrow Edition Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:49
The story of Fleetwood Mac is an oft-told rock n’ roll tale: British blues-rock band sells poorly until two Americans join, bringing California vibes and lots of drama. Everybody fights, cheats, drugs and boozes. Out pop…
Hits of the Year Edition Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:47
Sam the Sham over the Rolling Stones? The Knack over Donna Summer? Wilson Phillips over Mariah Carey? Glass Animals over Harry Styles?On Billboard’s year-end Hot 100, upsets are quite common. Songs that seemed to dominat…
Decoder Ring: The New Age Hit Machine [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:41
Today, we’re excited to share an episode from Slate’s Decoder Ring that we think you’re going to love.For this episode, a story from Slate senior producer Evan Chung about how Yanni, John Tesh and a number of other surpr…
Hits of the Year Edition Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:41
Sam the Sham over the Rolling Stones? The Knack over Donna Summer? Wilson Phillips over Mariah Carey? Glass Animals over Harry Styles?On Billboard’s year-end Hot 100, upsets are quite common. Songs that seemed to dominat…
Angry Young Men Edition Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:09
Punk was meant to be angry. But the so-called Angry Young Men of the late ’70s U.K. scene were secret sophisticates in punk clothing. They delivered withering lyrics and snarling attitude over melodies a pop fan could lo…
Angry Young Men Edition Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:33
Punk was meant to be angry. But the so-called Angry Young Men of the late ’70s U.K. scene were secret sophisticates in punk clothing. They delivered withering lyrics and snarling attitude over melodies a pop fan could lo…