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The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read BooksTo read a book in college, it helps to have read a book in high school, Rose Horowitch wrote in the November 2024 issue.I’m an English teacher at a private college-preparatory school, and much of “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books” sounded familiar. My students, too, now struggle to read long texts. Unaddressed in this apt article, though, are changes to the broader high-school context in which reading for homework now occurs. Today, students with elite college aspirations have extracurricular schedules that demand as much—if not more—time than school itself. These commitments are necessary, in their eyes, to gain admission to selective institutions. As a result, teachers face considerable pressure from not only students but also parents and school administrators to limit homework time—no matter if the assignment is a calculus problem set or Pride and Prejudice. In combination with considerably slower rates of reading and diminished reading comprehension, curtailed homework time means that an English teacher might not be able to assign more than 10 to 15 pages of relatively easy prose per class meeting, a rate so excruciatingly slow, it diminishes one’s ability to actually grasp a novel’s meaning and structure. I see how anxious and drained my students are, but I think it’s important for them to experience what can grow from immersive reading and sustained written thought. If we want students to read books, we have to be willing to prioritize the time for them to do so.Anna ClarkSan Diego, Calif.As a professor, I agree with my colleagues who have noticed the declining literacy of American students at elite universities.However, I am not sure if the schools are entirely to blame. In American universities, selection is carried out by admissions offices with little interest in the qualities that faculty might consider desirable in a college student. If faculty members were polled—something that has never happened to me in my 20-year career—I’m sure we would rank interest and experience in reading books quite highly.Admissions decisions in the United States are based on some qualities that, however admirable, have little or nothing to do with academic aptitude. In contrast, at Oxford and Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, undergraduate admissions are typically conducted by the same academics who will teach those students. Most personal statements primarily consist of a discussion of which books the student has read and what they learned from them. Students are then expected to discuss these books in more detail in an interview. When considered alongside the undergraduate selection process, the decline in literacy among American undergraduates is totally understandable.Ione FinePsychology Professor, University of WashingtonSeattle, Wash.Having taught English in a public school for 32 years, I am not surprised that colleges and universities are discovering that incoming students lack the skill, focus, and endurance to read novels. Throughout my career, primarily teaching ninth graders, I fostered student readership not by assigning novels for the whole class to read, but rather by allowing students to select young-adult books that they would read independently in class. Thousands of lifelong readers were created as a result.Ten years ago, however, my district administration told me that I could no longer use class time for independent student reading. Instead, I was to focus on teaching skills and content that the district believed would improve standardized-test scores. Ironically, research showed that the students who read more books scored significantly better than their classmates on standardized reading tests.I knew that many students were unlikely to read at home. So I doubled down: I found time for students to read during the school day and repurposed class time to allow my students to share their ideas; to question, respond, and react along with their peers. The method was so successful that the district adopted my approach for seventh through ninth grade, and I published a university-level textbook preparing teachers to create similar communities of readers in their own classrooms.Whole-class novels just aren’t working: Some students will always be uninterested in a teacher’s choice, and perceive the classics as irrelevant and difficult to comprehend. But allowing students to select their books can help them fall in love with reading.Michael AnthonyReading, Pa.I am an educator of 16 years living in New Hampshire. “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books” reflects a lot of what I’ve seen recently. But a large piece of the puzzle is public-school budgets. A major reason novels have been removed from curricula is money: Many districts cannot afford to purchase a book for every student, especially in the upper grades. Typically, districts will buy a “class set” of novels, about 20 to 30 books—that’s it. The books must be used during the English blocks for instruction and reading time. There are not enough books for students to take home and read; if they are reading them only in their class block, a novel will take months and months to finish. I knew of one district that would have teachers make copies of entire novels to share with their students; they’d take turns on copy duty to pull it off. I wish I could teach more complete novels, because students love it. But districts need budgets large enough to buy books for everyone.Meaghan KellyRumney, N.H.When teaching my college history courses, I have polled my students to see how many have ever read a book cover to cover. Sometimes, only a few students would raise their hand.I inquired because I always gave them the option to read a book instead of writing a 10-page research paper. They then would have a one-on-one, hour-long discussion with me about the book they’d selected. Students who chose that option generally had a good experience. But one student shines bright in my mind. In truth, I didn’t remember him well—but he stopped me at an alumni function to say thank you. He had taken my class the second semester of his senior year to fill an elective, and he had chosen to read David McCullough’s 1776. He’d devoured the book—and he’d loved our discussion. He told me that the assignment had changed his life: Up to that point, he had never read a whole book. Since that class, he has read two or three books a month, and now has hundreds of books in his own library. He assured me that he would be a reader for the rest of his life.It was one of the most gratifying moments of my career. I hope more teachers, professors, and parents give their students a chance to learn what this student did—that books are one of the great joys in life.Scott SalvatoMooresville, N.C.Rose Horowitch replies:Anna Clark’s letter builds on an idea that I hoped to convey in the article: that the shift away from reading full books is about more than individual students, teachers, or schools. Much of the change can be understood as the consequence of a change in values. The professors I spoke with didn’t think their students were lazy; if anything, they said they were overscheduled and frazzled like never before, facing immense pressure to devote their time to activities that will further their career. Under these circumstances, it can be difficult to see how reading The Iliad in its entirety is a good use of time. Acknowledging this reality can be disheartening, because the solution will not be as simple as changing curricula at the college, high-school, or middle-school level. (And as several of these letters note, changing curricula isn’t all that straightforward.) But letters like Scott Salvato’s are a hopeful reminder of the power of a good—full—book to inspire a student to become a lifelong reader. The Atlantic Behind the CoverIn this month’s cover story, “How the Ivy League Broke America,” David Brooks describes the failure of the United States’ meritocracy, created in part by James Conant, the influential president of Harvard from 1933 to 1953. Conant and like-minded reformers had hoped to overturn America’s “hereditary aristocracy of wealth”; instead, they helped create a new ruling class—the so-called cognitive elite, selected and credentialed by the nation’s top universities. For our cover image, the artist Danielle Del Plato placed the story’s headline on pennants she created for each of the eight Ivy League schools, which have been instrumental in shaping and perpetuating America’s meritocracy.— Paul Spella, Senior Art DirectorCorrectionsDue to an editing error, “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books” (November) misstated the year Nicholas Dames started teaching Literature Humanities. He began teaching the course in 1998, not 1988. “What Zoya Sees” (November) misstated where in Nigeria Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi and her husband, Sunny, have a home. Their home is in Ngwo, not Igwo.This article appears in the December 2024 print edition with the headline “The Commons.”

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People pose for photos after they’re sworn in as new US citizens. | Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Ending birthright citizenship has been on President-elect Donald Trump’s wishlist for years, and he’s pledged to kill it once and for all in his next term. But ending it may not be as easy as he’s promised.  Under a longstanding interpretation of the Constitution and federal law, children born in the US automatically become American citizens, even if their parents are undocumented. Trump, however, has promised that, “On day one of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the children of illegal immigrants will not receive automatic US citizenship.” Specifically, that executive order would mandate that at least one parent must be a US citizen or green card holder for their child to qualify for automatic citizenship. Federal agencies would be directed to deny passports, Social Security numbers, and public benefits to children with two undocumented parents.  The executive order would almost certainly be challenged in court. Though it’s impossible to say what the Supreme Court may ultimately decide, history and precedent isn’t on Trump’s side.  “I think that birthright citizenship is such a bedrock principle of American law that of all the things on the Trump agenda, this is the one least likely to be successful,” said Hiroshi Motomura, a professor at UCLA School of Law. Trump has framed the policy as a solution to “birth tourism” — when pregnant people travel to the US to give birth in order to secure US citizenship for their child — and a means of removing a pull factor for unauthorized immigration, which has sharply declined at the southern border in 2024. The policy also reflects Trump’s longtime efforts to assert a particular vision of what it means to be American in an era when the US’s white population is declining in numbers. In his first term, he reportedly eschewed immigration from “shithole countries,” referring to Haiti and African countries. And he has more recently claimed that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country.  It’s not clear how many people could be impacted by the policy. However, about 5.5 million American citizen children currently live in mixed-status households, some of them with two undocumented parents, which would have made them ineligible for automatic US citizenship under Trump’s proposed policy. That suggests that the affected population of future children born in the US could be large. What the law says The prevailing belief among legal experts is that ending birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment, that there is not enough support in Congress to pass one, and that Trump’s proposed executive order would not hold up in court.   “President Trump cannot do this,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean at Berkeley Law school. “President Trump cannot change the Constitution by executive order.” He said that ending birthright citizenship by executive order contravenes the 14th Amendment, which was adopted after the Civil War to ensure that formerly enslaved people would be considered US citizens.  The 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”  Chemerinsky said that this has “always been understood to mean that all born in the United States (or naturalized as citizens) are United States citizens,” in addition to any individuals under US jurisdiction abroad, such as children born to US military personnel in foreign countries. The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was intended to exclude only Native Americans born on tribal land as well as children of enemy occupiers and foreign diplomats.  The Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark “makes clear that those born in the United States are citizens,” Chemerinsky added. That case concerned a child born in California to Chinese immigrants who were lawful permanent residents of the US. At the time, no Chinese citizens were allowed to become naturalized US citizens under the Chinese Exclusion Acts. The court ruled that the child was a US citizen because he was born in the US, even though his parents were noncitizens.  Can Trump ban birthright citizenship anyway? Right-wing immigration hawks have argued that the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause ought to be interpreted differently to exclude children of unauthorized immigrants from the benefits of automatic citizenship. The clause, they argue, was meant to exclude anyone who had any loyalties to a foreign power, including citizens of other countries.  But even some of Trump’s allies — including Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigrant think tank — appear to acknowledge that he would face an uphill battle in court to realize his plan.  “I think it would be immediately challenged in the courts, and I think that the challenge would have all of the history and the origins of the statute behind it,” Motomura said. “I can’t predict what any court will actually do, but I think the historical record is so clear.” Still, if Trump succeeds in enacting his executive order, its impact would be far-reaching. Birthright citizenship has served as an “engine of integration” for immigrant populations in the US, and ending it would also undermine America’s cultural identity as an “inclusive immigrant society,” Motomura said, adding that it would hit people of Mexican and Central American origin the hardest. “That aspect can’t be ignored,” Motomura said. “It’s the resurrection of the use of US citizenship rules with a real racial impact, and I think an intentional racial impact.”

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CiCi Zhang believes the best gift money can buy is, well, money itself. As a kid, her father attempted to buy her presents, but he so often missed the mark that he transitioned to giving her money by the time she was a teen, Zhang, 30, says.  At the start of their relationship, her husband wasn’t much better. A few of his greatest gift misses included a massage gun and a food scale. They couldn’t return the massage gun, Zhang says, so she kept it. As for the scale, the couple took it back and shopped for a replacement together. Despite his gifting shortcomings, Zhang’s husband refuses to give money as a gift, she says. As a compromise, she maintains a comprehensive wish list from which he can select items that are sure to please. Zhang grew up in China, where giving monetary gifts during holidays and special events is customary. “During Father’s Day, I probably will give my dad money,” says Zhang, who is now based outside of Seattle. “With money, it’s guaranteed that you can use it. Probably you want it, you can spend it, or you can save it.” Who wants to put a dollar amount on a priceless relationship?  Despite the fact that giving cash as a present is not only normative but preferred in other countries like Korea and Japan, in the US and other Western cultures, the exchange is sometimes seen as gauche. Cash is easy, quick, and, most of all, practical since almost everyone could use a little more of it. But for those same reasons, money can be seen as thoughtless, or worse, an implication the gift recipient really, really needs it — more than the candle warmer or the novelty socks you picked out in a panic on Christmas Eve. After all, who wants to put a dollar amount on a priceless relationship?  But if you were to ask recipients what they actually want for the holidays, the answer is clear: Cash is king. A December 2023 YouGov survey found 38 percent of global respondents said they’d prefer to get cash for the holidays — the largest share of potential presents. Another 10 percent said they wanted gift cards. The MassMutual Consumer Spending & Saving Index from 2022 found similar results: 31 percent of Americans said their ideal gift was cash; 16 percent said their dream present was a gift card.  The chasm between what people really want — money — and what givers feel comfortable gifting — pretty much anything else — has led gift-givers to waste millions of dollars on unwanted or lackluster presents. But you shouldn’t feel weird bestowing cash to your nearest and dearest, experts say. There are tactful ways to do it.  Americans have never liked giving cash gifts Americans have long been leery of giving money to their loved ones for the holidays. In the 1993 book The Modern Christmas in America: A Cultural History of Gift Giving, William Waits writes that even though some magazines offered advice on how to thoughtfully give money in the early 20th century, the public found the practice “impersonal” and cold. “As a gift item,” Waits wrote, “[money] ascribed a certain numerical value to relationships but did not define the quality of the relationships.” Gift certificates posed the same problem.  During that time, rural Americans gifted their friends and family food and small handmade wooden or sewn presents. Those in cities swapped figurines, wall hangings, and other crafts.  Throughout the 20th century, however, consumption and consumerism took root in the American psyche. Businesses and department stores began to heavily advertise their products during the holiday season, encouraging shoppers to find the perfect present behind their doors.  These days, the holiday shopping season seems to creep earlier and earlier with the goal of getting consumers to spend more and more, often on tangible, unwanted items — a good portion of which end up in the trash. Nearly half of holiday shoppers begin their purchasing as early as August, per a Bankrate survey. This year, Americans each plan to spend over $900 on holiday gifts, up from about $800 last year, according to NerdWallet’s annual holiday spending report. Why giving cash is so uncomfortable While Americans might be spending more on holiday gifts, or at least urged to, they aren’t necessarily choosing presents that are sure to delight the recipient.  When shopping, givers often choose an item that says more about themselves than it does the recipient, says Ernest Baskin, an associate professor of food, pharma, and health care at Saint Joseph’s University. Givers are preoccupied with the “wow” factor, research shows, a present that says, “Look how well I know you to have selected this thoughtful, meaningful item.”  “Most of the time, we’re not right about this, to be honest,” Baskin says. “Most of the time, [recipients] can tell you very well what their desire is, or they’d rather you just give them money so they can pick what their desire is.” Cash is practical — almost too practical — and givers tend to underestimate how much recipients appreciate useful, ordinary presents, research suggests. Indeed, handing someone a card with a check inside is less exciting than watching their face light up at the sight of a puppy in a box. However, after the initial excitement fades, the pragmatic, boring gift gets the most use. Cash is also seen as thoughtless and low-effort, says Julian Givi, associate professor of marketing at West Virginia University. Writing a check or hitting the ATM requires very little creative energy. “It’s really in no way personalized to you,” Givi says. “[Giving] 100 bucks to someone shows nothing about your knowledge of their hobbies, their interests, their passions, and so on.” Handing someone a card with a check inside is less exciting than watching their face light up at the sight of a puppy in a box. The relationship between the giver and the receiver is also paramount in cash-giving scenarios. A grandparent tucking a $5 bill into a card for a kid is kosher, “but going up the age ladder is a little awkward,” Givi says. Think about it: How would grandma feel if you gave her $25 in cash?   Cash gifts between friends is also tricky, says Lizzie Post, etiquette expert and co-president at the Emily Post Institute. That same $5 your aunt gives you every year is odd coming from a friend. There’s the implication that the receiver is in dire straits and perhaps needs the cash more than, say, a cashmere sweater. “We don’t often just hand our friends money,” Post says. “Instead, we go do something enriching with them.” Even if the recipient explicitly requests cash, Americans still find it taboo to comply. Instead, givers have found ways to creatively disguise the act of bestowing money, especially through registries. To make the exchange more thoughtful, wedding or baby shower guests will often contribute to a honeymoon or diaper fund. Platforms like Honeyfund and Babylist have facilitated these touchless cash gifts, eliminating the potential awkwardness of handing over a supposedly inconsiderate present. “At the end of the day, that’s still just cash that you’re giving,” Baskin says, “but now you can say that I’m actually giving something that the couple needs.” Gift cards, too, are simply cash by another name, only restricted to specific stores. Giving cash doesn’t have to be awkward Despite popular convention that cash presents are gauche, tacky, or uninspired, Post says the annals of etiquette wisdom permit monetary gifts. (Though she does find the practice of Venmoing money as a wedding gift a little crass.) The key is to make it thoughtful. Definitely include a card, Post says, and write a short note about how you hope they spend the dough: “Use this to buy those Taylor Swift concert tickets” or “Treat yourself to a massage.” As for the amount, consider your relationship with the recipient, but only give what is within your budget, Post says.   Remember how awkward it would be to give grandma $25? Giving her a gift card to a grocery store is likely to go over better, Givi says, even if the dollar amount is the same. “You’re putting in some thoughtfulness to select something related to her and who she is,” Givi says. “Then also, you had to go out and buy this thing.”  Definitely include a card, Post says, and write a short note about how you hope they spend the dough. If you feel so inclined as to ask for cash, offer the givers a few other options, Post says: “Someone asks you, ‘What do you want for Hanukkah?’ You could absolutely say to them, ‘I’m into these books. I’m into this sport. Anything to do with them is great. And of course, I’m always a fan of cash. Whatever is easiest for you to do.’” Should you still lack gifting inspiration, ask yourself what gift you’d like to receive, Baskin, the Saint Joseph’s researcher, says. Is it embroidered socks or is it cold hard cash?  When Baskin poses that same question to study participants, “the answer [that] often comes up,” he says, is “money.”

It’s a question that has bedeviled all too many of us: how to deal with loved ones who just keep giving us bad gifts.  The National Retail Federation estimates that last winter, about $966 billion worth of merchandise was sold over the holiday period — and about $148 billion of that likely returned. A survey from consumer research firm CivicScience showed that 28 percent of people had returned or exchanged a gift last year. According to Statista, the most wanted Christmas gift among US consumers is cold hard cash. The second most popular? Gift cards. The message seems to be: Thanks for the thought, but let me just choose what I want. Over a single year, let alone an entire lifetime, you might amass a pile of stuff you won’t ever use, taking up valuable space in your home. Do you harden your heart and simply give all of it away? Do you attempt to return every unwanted item as soon as you receive it? What about the things that don’t spark joy, per se, but do have some sentimental value? Standard etiquette advises us to remain gracious even in the face of laughably bad gifts, but research in the social psychology of gift-giving suggests we might be granting bad gift-givers too much benefit of the doubt. Sometimes, an ill-fitting gift is ill-fitting on purpose; it’s not mere miscommunication, but negative, even resentful communication. At the heart of solving this perennial problem is taking a good hard look at what motivates us to confer gifts unto others in the first place.  How to politely deal with well-meaning – but unwanted – gifts The question of what to do with gifts you won’t use is a popular etiquette question “in a world of more and more consumer goods,” according to Daniel Post Senning, an etiquette expert at The Emily Post Institute. Generally, “gifts should be received in the same spirit of generosity that they’re given in,” says Senning. “If you don’t particularly appreciate the gift itself, the expectation is that you thank [them] for the effort or thought that went into it.” With that in mind, Senning says that it’s not an etiquette cardinal sin to regift something if you know you can’t use it – for example, if you already happen to have the item. But you should avoid regifting anything handmade or personalized. “Beyond that, it’s about being upfront, ethical, honest” with the original gifter, if they ask, and the new recipient, Senning tells Vox. After all, a gift should be freely given with no obligations, and that includes the recipient having some choice in what they decide to do with the gift. (This is also a reminder to include a gift receipt whenever possible.)  “One of my core beliefs is that everything comes into your life for a reason but that doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever.” Even after the etiquette issue is resolved, it can be tricky figuring out which gifts you’ll no longer keep. “It’s usually easier to begin with items that have less sentimental value,” Juliet Landau-Pope, a productivity coach who has written about decluttering your home of unwanted gifts, tells Vox in an email. Larger items that take up a lot of space might be prime candidates for the initial decluttering, whether they’re going to be regifted or donated.  If there’s someone in your life who would appreciate a regift, you should ideally let them know that you were given something you can’t use for insert-reason-here but would love to give them. Clothes — a common but often miscalculated gift — jewelry, and household goods can all go to a Goodwill location or a local family shelter. Furniture, appliances, and other household items can also be donated to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore program.    “One of my core beliefs is that everything comes into your life for a reason but that doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever,” Landau-Pope says. Take the example of greeting and holiday cards, which may be piling up in your drawer or taking over your fridge. Landau-Pope’s personal policy is to keep handmade cards from her children, while displaying the others for a set period of time, taking a picture of the display, and then recycling them.  Why so many of us get bad gifts In the ideal gift exchange scenario, we probably want to grace the people in our lives with gifts that will be met with undeniable enthusiasm. So why is it that we so often end up saddled with bad ones?  It might be an expectations mismatch: As Julian Givi, a marketing professor at West Virginia University, explains, “Whenever we’re gift-givers, we really focus on making people happy the moment that they’re opening the gift.” In order words, we prioritize the drama of a big reveal, as opposed to whether the gift is useful and valuable years down the road.  Then there are all the other unintentional ways we might give a bad gift. We might overestimate how passionate someone is about a hobby, sports team, or something else they once mentioned offhand. We might miss the mark simply because we don’t know enough about the other person; we wouldn’t guess in a million years that they have a bad childhood association with receiving hand-knit sweaters, for example.  We prioritize the drama of a big reveal, as opposed to whether the gift is useful and valuable years down the road.  Unfortunately, research shows that there are more sinister motives for giving subpar gifts than we’d like to think. For one, some people know exactly what a recipient wants — maybe they have a gift registry — but they buy something else anyway because the options presented are boring to them personally, says Givi. Another selfish motivation his research has discovered: people resist choosing gifts (like, say, a nice pair of sunglasses) that are better than the versions they own, likely to avoid feeling envious. Deborah Cohn, a marketing professor at the New York Institute of Technology, has identified five broad patterns for how lousy gifts happen. On the more innocuous side is due to ritual and obligation. “You’re going to be at a party, you have to bring somebody something,” Cohn tells Vox. But you don’t know enough about them or just don’t want to expend the mental effort of figuring out what they’d really want, so you grab something perfunctory. A more aggressive (but all too common) type of bad gift-giving is when the gift is intended to impose a certain identity on the recipient. We’ve all heard stories about parents who only give dolls and dresses to their daughters, and Legos and video games to their sons. It’s not that these givers don’t understand what their individual children’s real preferences are. It’s that they want to foist their own desire upon the recipient. “This actually happened to me,” says Cohn. “Somebody gave me a book about a religion that I don’t ascribe to.” Other typical bad gift-giving habits stem from pure self-centeredness, like picking out headphones for your spouse that you intend to use or wanting bragging rights for presenting the splashiest (read: most expensive) gift at the party. These kinds of gift-giving behaviors aren’t mistakes, and they aren’t innocent, Cohn contends. “It’s selfish,” she says. “It’s thinking more about yourself than the recipient, and people can see right through it.” Right now, Cohn is working on further research on whether there’s a correlation between habitually bad gift-giving and narcissism. How to be a better gift-giver Individual tastes in gifts can vary greatly, but there are some broad strokes of what people tend to appreciate. According to Givi, sentimental gifts — for example, something handmade or connected to a memory that the two of you share — are often underrated by gift-givers. Another finding in Givi’s research was that people tend to appreciate gifts that are given “out of the blue, as opposed to gifts that we receive on our birthday or any other special occasion.” The fact that it’s not being presented out of any social obligation may emphasize that the thought behind a gift really does count. Being a good gift-giver also involves imagining ourselves in another’s shoes. It takes conscious effort. You genuinely need to ask yourself what this particular person would want, not what you or some other abstract of a person would want in the same situation. It probably doesn’t help, then, that there’s still some social awkwardness around being explicit about what you want to be gifted and what you’d hate to receive. Maybe to some people, maintaining a regularly updated gift registry is gauche, but if you’re concerned about your pile of unused gifts gathering dust in the closet, taking the surprise out of gift-giving does seem like the preferable option. (According to Senning, it’s perfectly all right for gifters to ask for some direction on what gifts someone would like.) Cohn recalls the memory of a bad gift she got in childhood: a prank played on her by her father in which every gift box just contained a smaller one, with nothing inside the last. It motivated her to study what gifts mean and how people communicate through them. She told her mother how the prank had made her feel; when Cohn finished her dissertation, her mother gave her another set of nested boxes, this time full of chocolates. “I think that was the best gift I ever got because she wanted to take away my pain. That’s what that gift was meant to do,” she says. 

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Welcome to The Atlantic’s 2024 gift guide. With the help of an eclectic group of writers and editors, we offer 65 ideas for bringing more merriment, adventure, and wonder to the ones you love. Some items may be available at a holiday discount.The Person Who Has EverythingA Map of City Movement Courtesy of Traintrackr Do you need the current status of cars running on the Boston T or London Underground? Or perhaps you’re curious whether the Washington Metro, or the New York or Chicago or San Francisco rapid transit systems, are running smoothly. You need to know all this, don’t you? Of course you don’t. But it would be cool to have that information flashing at you in twinkling lights. Traintrackr—which gets real-time information from these urban transit systems—is a great gift for someone who has everything, especially if they’ve lived in a city, used to live in a city, wish they did—or are glad they don’t. (“Oh, look, the Red Line to South Station is all jammed up again. Bummer.”) — Tom Nichols, Staff Writer$129–$315 on TraintrackrLos Alamos Staff Mug Courtesy of Cafe Press When my husband came home from a visit to Los Alamos a few years back, he bore a mug that featured a bewildering collage of grainy, black-and-white headshots. Only after close inspection did I realize: These were the identification badges of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. If you’re a physics nerd or history buff, many of the faces are recognizable—Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, Luis Alvarez, John von Neumann, and of course, J. Robert Oppenheimer. The mug has been discontinued at Los Alamos History Museum, but an enterprising science historian and blogger, Alex Wellerstein, sells one online. It’s a mesmerizing object, visually stimulating yet intensely sobering, which seems appropriate for morning coffee. — Jennifer Senior, Staff Writer$10.49–$13.49 on Cafe PressSwiss Army Knife Courtesy of Victorinox No one needs another scarf or another sweater (even a great sweater), and we all have enough socks to last us from now until Armageddon. Don’t even talk to me about steak knives. Knives are all the same. Except for the Swiss Army knife, which is an entire tool chest contained in one beautifully designed red cover. You’ve got your blades, you’ve got your magnifying glass, you’ve got a fork that can be a spoon, a spoon that can be a fork, a hammer, tweezers, a toothpick, a corkscrew. I believe there’s even a fishing pole somewhere in there. What a gift! It looks beautiful just sitting there on the counter. It fits nicely in a drawer. And it gives you confidence in your pocket. Stepping on it could be a problem, but that’s true for any knife. It really is the perfect gift. — Henry Winkler, Actor$115 on VictorinoxA Future Classic Courtesy of Lorca Watch Company Watch collecting can be a brutal, unforgiving hobby, but not if you start out right with the Lorca Model No. 2. The musician and watch lover Jesse Marchant designed this future classic. It’s got 100 meters of water-resistance (go for a swim!), can time events with a chronograph, and even has a second time zone on the bezel for travel. Most important, it will make you look smart and attractive. Spend $2,650 for a watch way cooler than a Rolex. Tell them Gary sent you. — Gary Shteyngart, Author $2,650 on Lorca WatchesHandcrafted Copper Grater Courtesy of Tenzo No one you know needs to own a beautiful handcrafted grater in the shape of an animal. Everyone you know would be thrilled to receive one. These are made by the chef-adored Japanese brand Ooya Seisakusho using centuries-old techniques and can be used to grate lemon, ginger, garlic, cheese, or anything else. This is the rare kitchen tool that requires no technique and very little storage space but makes everything feel special. — Ellen Cushing, Staff Writer$44 on TenzoA Christmas Miracle Courtesy of Rogaine This holiday season my gift recommendation is the product known as Rogaine. Is this a gift? I believe it is a gift to the world, because it actually works. When I started taking it many years ago, I had a rapidly growing bald spot and receding hairline. Now I am proud to say that that bald spot is the exact same size. What product keeps its promises? I am just as bald as I was seven years ago. It’s a Christmas miracle that must be respected and honored. — Judd Apatow, Writer, Comedian, and Director$31.84–$80.00 on AmazonA Speaker Built to Last Courtesy of Tivoli Audio The perfect portable speaker is an essential item in any house, especially if more is less. And the Tivoli PAL BT radio is definitely giving both. It’s audio ambidextrous, doubling as both an analog radio and a Bluetooth speaker, with a crisp sound. And it’s fun! The retro-radio look comes in customizable popping colors. It’s also a sturdy workhorse that is weather-resistant and holds a charge for what seems like forever (okay, I think technically 12 hours). Reliable, stylish, functional, the PAL BT is a gift built to last in a time when our world is full of disposables. — Claudine Ebeid, Executive Producer, Audio$179.99–$219.99 on AmazonA Subscription for the Soul Courtesy of Whitefish Review A subscription may be a small thing to unwrap; it is a wonderful thing to receive for the rest of the year. Pick a small literary journal from your mom’s hometown, or from where your father-in-law attended college. The muted response on Christmas morning will turn into a year’s worth of calls or texts as each issue delivers unexpected stories, poems, essays, and art that feel as though you picked them out personally. — Evan McMurry, Senior Editor$35 one-year subscription with auto renew on Whitefish ReviewPassword Peace of Mind Courtesy of 1Password It won’t get you any points for romance or sentimentality, but a gift card to 1Password or another password manager can reduce the stress of being a human being online in 2024—and that’s perhaps the nicest thing you can do for a friend or loved one. These services are widely (and rightly) recommended for the security they can bring to your online accounts, but for me, the real benefit has been the relief of having to remember just one single password. I appreciate this every time I have to log in to order takeout, see my bank statement, or view a message sent to me by a doctor via some arcane medical portal. And it’s also taken the pain out of signing up for any other new service or site—no need to create a new password and keep track of it, ever again. — Rebecca J. Rosen, Senior Editor$25–$100 on 1PasswordTwo Tickets to a Show Getty Images For people who covet physical objects—to the point where they either cannot or should not keep collecting them—I like to go in the opposite direction, with something more experiential: two tickets to a show (ideally for the both of us to go together). Either I pick the show to surprise them, or I hand them my credit card and let them decide. Not only does this gift come with the built-in promise of making a memory; it also leaves no tangible trace behind—that is, unless they can’t help but swing by the merch stand. — Allegra Frank, Senior EditorOne Good Scraper Courtesy of August Thomsen Corp. A nice, sturdy bench scraper: Sure, you can (and will) use this for its intended purposes—scooping up chopped vegetables, slicing up bread dough, etc. But you’ll find yourself using it for so much more (in my case: scraping up the inevitable post-dinner mess from the splat mat under my kid’s high chair). — Dan Fallon, Senior Editor$18.35 on AmazonA Dollop of Luxury Courtesy of La Mer I take my six-step beauty routine very seriously. My favorite part is always, always applying La Mer’s Moisturizing Soft Cream. I love using the tiny spatula to spread the cream all over my face, watching it melt into my skin. And honestly, when I apply these luxurious products, I feel like I’m the ultimate beauty snob. — Jenisha Watts, Senior Editor$100–$1,440 on Saks Fifth AvenueCeramic Sun Bowls Courtesy of the Nationlal Nordic Museum My husband and I received four of these bowls as a wedding gift last year, and they haven’t seen the inside of a cabinet yet: They’re in such constant rotation in our household, and so nice to look at, that as soon as we take them out of the dishwasher we just put them right back in a (very pretty) stack on the counter to be used again the next day. The handmade ceramic dishes come in dozens of colors and patterns—I recommend mixing and matching—and are the perfect size for your morning bowl of cereal or yogurt. — Amy Weiss-Meyer, Senior Editor$38 on National Nordic MuseumA Morning Ritual Courtesy of De’Longhi The coffee lovers in your life might swear by their French press or daily Starbucks, but that’s only because they haven’t experienced the sweet, sweet satisfaction of making themselves that perfect cappuccino in the morning. This gift isn’t just about better coffee (although trust me, it’s so much better). It’s about introducing a ritual of slowness, simplicity, and concerted attention in a world that too often pulls us toward the very opposite. Think: all the benefits of meditation but infinitely more delicious (and at a fraction of the price of most espresso machines!). — Rogé Karma, Staff Writer$119.95 on De’LonghiAdventurersShibumi Shade Courtesy of Shibumi Shade Visit almost any beach in North Carolina, where I live, and you’ll see what looks like a Christo and Jeanne-Claude installation of two-tone blue flags stretching down the sand. They’re called Shibumi Shades, and they are the state’s best export since Rhiannon Giddens. Real talk: I found them dumb and gimmicky and doubted that they worked right up until we received one as a gift. They’re really light, much simpler to put up than any other beach shelter, and produce a surprisingly large shade area in even gentle breeze. — David A. Graham, Staff Writer$250 on AmazonA Speaker Fit for a Music Critic Courtesy of Bose In a world of junky wireless boom boxes with pointless flashing lights and walkie-talkie-level sound quality, this unassuming, palm-sized pellet is a quiet—but loud—miracle. For years, I’ve brought one along on beach trips, bike rides, and various other occasions that I suspected might suffer from a dearth of Charli XCX. Waterproof, sand-resistant, and capable of producing a rich roar of sound, the speaker has only one bit of filigree—a stretchy strap for fastening to tree branches. The durability is part of the fun: I love knowing that a potential party is always bumping around at the bottom of my backpack. — Spencer Kornhaber, Staff Writer$119 on BoseRound Mini Shoulder Bag Courtesy of Uniqlo Spend time walking around any city and you’ll likely see one of these so-called Millennial Birkin slung across the body of someone Out and About Doing Stuff. The Uniqlo round mini shoulder bag—reasonably priced, modestly designed, solidly constructed—is a handy gift for a person of any generation, a reminder that “fashion can be affordable without being disposable,” Gillian B. White wrote in 2019. Uniqlo made its founder, Tadashi Yanai, the richest man in Japan; its parent company is one of the largest apparel retailers in the world. Yet in the United States, the brick-and-mortars mostly exist in coastal cities. You may just have to order online. — Shan Wang, Programming Director$19.90 on Uniqlo Protein Bars You’ll Crave Courtesy of Hakan Chocolatier Going to the grocery store and looking at the protein-added products is the equivalent of having a closet full of clothes and absolutely nothing to wear. Yes, there are about a million options, but at best, they don’t want to make you throw up, and at worst, well. I’d given up until a restaurateur I respect shared that he'd found a gem: Håkan Chocolatier protein bars, made by a chocolate company in upstate New York. At $73 for a box of 12, the bars do not come cheap. When I tried one of the biscoff-flavored ones, I was astonished. It truly did taste like a regular, craveable, eat-when-high chocolate; loaded with quinoa, it had the effect of a fancy Crunch Bar. They don’t feel “healthy,” per se, but they’re what I want to pack the next time I go on a hiking excursion. — Serena Dai, Senior Editor$73 on Hakan ChocolatierA Travel Companion Courtesy of Roadtrippers Okay, yes, I’m recommending an app. But I’m really recommending the gift of adventurous whimsy. Road-trippers, whether you give the standard app or a gift-friendly premium version, will delight any road-trip enthusiast in your life. Much more detailed and user-friendly than a standard map service (with routes and stops customizable by budget, vehicle type, and much more), the app is great for trip planning. But its real magic is its on-the-road serendipity. As you travel, route maps update with all of the attractions that beckon nearby, whether arts venues or natural wonders or quirky cultural spots. Wax museums? Waterfalls? A house made of newspapers? The app will keep finding new proof that, in road-tripping as in so much else, the journey is the destination. — Megan Garber, Staff WriterFree, $35.99–$59.99 a year for the annual plans on RoadtrippersOsprey Skimmer Courtesy of Osprey Packs Traditionally, people think of the water-bladder backpack for long hikes and cycling rides. I think of my Osprey when I think of a road trip—quality time on an extended drive with my partner, my bestie, my ride-or-dies. Going on a road trip, enclosed with nothing to do but yap, is an underrated way to spend leisure time. The only issue is refreshing on water, which the backpack solves. The water reservoir holds more than double what the classic Stanley cup fits, and the long straw means even the driver can sip without much trouble. And maybe this is gauche, but I could also see hydration-obsessed Americans carrying one around their travels in European cities. Hiking backpacks: not just for hikers! — Serena Dai, Senior Editor$110 on OspreyA Wondrous Train Ride Courtesy of Alaska Railroad If you’re hoping to see North America’s tallest mountain, there’s a roughly 70 percent chance you won’t; Denali is often shrouded in cloud cover partially or fully obfuscating the mammoth mountain. But even if you don’t join the “30 percent club,” as locals call it, you have a 100 percent surefire way to make the trip to the far-flung destination worth the journey. Alaska Railroad’s Denali Star Train runs daily in the summer, from Anchorage to Fairbanks, with a stop at Denali National Park. The glass-domed ceilings in parts of the train allow for panoramic views of the Alaskan countryside, and even an opportunity to glimpse the elusive peak. — Andrea Valdez, Managing EditorPrice varies, on Alaska RailroadSwinging in the Rain Courtesy of Eagles Nest Outfitters I love backpacking but hate sleeping in a tent because I'm almost always too warm. A few years ago, I started experimenting with hammock camping but woke up to a midnight thunderstorm and had to duck into a tent where two other people were already sleeping. Never again! ENO sells a rain tarp and a bug net that both fit around its hammocks. I use them with my favorite old hammock to sleep outside while staying dry, itch-free, and, most important, cool. — Rachel Gutman-Wei, Supervisory Senior Associate Editor$84.95 on Eagles Nest OutfittersArt LoversBrandon Bird Artwork Courtesy of Brandon Bird We live in a time of rich and varied mass-market decorative goods. They’re delightful but stamped out, assembly-line style. Generative AI is making things even weirder. All of that means now is a great time to give original art—pieces created uniquely by a human and sold as singular works or small editions. You can find these in local galleries, but you can also buy them online—on Etsy, on eBay, or directly from the artists. An example: Brandon Bird was one of the earliest painters creating fine-art mash-ups of pop-culture figures. He sells signed prints and original drawings and oil paintings of Law & Order characters, Transformers, the exteriors of Sears stores, and more at extremely affordable prices. — Ian Bogost, Contributing Writer$3–$550 on Brandon BirdThe Story of Art Without Men Courtesy of W. W. Norton & Company If, like me, you love museums, love coffee-table books, and loathe the systemic erasure of women from the Western cultural canon, then this gift is for you. In 2015, Katy Hessel went to an art fair, only to slowly realize that, “out of the thousands of artworks before me, not a single one was by a woman.” This was by no means unusual, given that approximately 87 percent of artworks in American museums were made by men, and most of us struggle to name even three female artists off the top of our head. And yet all this time, women have been making work quietly in the shadows. The Story of Art Without Men is Hessel’s attempt to give them their due, documenting the pioneers, Renaissance women, portraitists, and photographers whose work is only now starting to get the attention it’s long deserved. — Sophie Gilbert, Staff Writer$42 on BookshopMuseum-Quality Prints Courtesy of Aperture These prints from Aperture are perfect for someone with an interest in art and photography, a hobbyist, or a friend starting an art collection. Aperture’s limited-edition-print program offers museum-quality pieces from incredible photographers including Michael Wolf, Nico Krijno, and An-My Lê—ready to hang and impress fellow art lovers. Proceeds support both the artists and Aperture’s educational initiatives, exhibitions, and public programming. Whether your friend is into abstract or fashion-focused or documentary photography, you’ll find something for them here. — Lucy Murray Willis, Photo Editor$150–$20,000 on ApertureDreamy Artwork by Kim Mintz Courtesy of Kim Mintz A recommendation from my own personal wish list: Kim Mintz is one of my favorite working artists; her paintings remind me of fantasies I had as a little girl, delicate sweetness and magic. But there’s a striking, eerie edge to Mintz’s work that lends it an otherworldly aura (you’ll dream of celestial goddesses weeping starlight). If your style is dreamy and unabashedly feminine, you’ll appreciate her oeuvre. — Elizabeth Bruenig, Staff WriterPrice varies, on Kim Mintz ArtTiny, Whimsical Artwork Courtesy of Tiny Framed Artwork As the saying goes, sometimes good things come in small packages. Such is the case with Elisa Wikey’s Tiny Framed Things, a series of whimsical art prints that will, as promised, “woo and delight even the curmudgeoniest of mudgeons.” On offer are dozens of diminutive illustrations, such as a teeny tardigrade and an elfin elephant. — Andrea Valdez, Managing Editor$15–$25 on Elisa WikeyAkari Light Sculptures Courtesy of Akari at Noguchi I’ve been trying to incorporate more functional art and objects into my home recently, and one thing that has really made a world of difference in my home office is my new Akari light-sculpture fixture, which immediately transformed the space. These lamps and fixtures are originally designed by the artist and architect Isamu Noguchi using Japanese Gifu lanterns as inspiration. — Vann R. Newkirk II, Senior Editor$175.00, $157.50 for members on Noguchi ShopComfortA Raincoat Courtesy of Stutterheim Cold rain is unpleasant. Cold rain on vacation is more unpleasant. Cold rain on vacation when you don’t have rain gear: more unpleasant still. Under these conditions, I convinced myself that spending a few hundred dollars on a Stutterheim raincoat was actually rational. And, actually, I don’t regret my purchase. It’s designed by Swedes, who I suppose have no choice but to know a thing or two about dressing for the weather. In this raincoat, precipitation means nothing to me. It’s long; it’s actually waterproof rather than merely water resistant; it makes me look and feel like a fisherman. Does someone in your life want to look and feel like a fisherman? This coat’s for them. — Juliet Lapidos, Senior Editor$380 on StutterheimPillow Slippers Courtesy of Joomra I recently had a child, which means that my life is joyous and meaningful in one big way but inconvenient and painful in a million other ways. One thing that has helped: these pillowy slippers I bought off of Amazon. The brand I have is Joomra, but you can buy any of the similar ones that sound like someone threw some Scrabble tiles in the air. These puppies cradle your soles and massage your arches. They cushion your footfalls as you run up and down the stairs at 3 a.m. to get the other kind of bottle, because the baby doesn’t like that one kind. They will probably fall apart after a few months, just like your sleep-training plans, but they’re cheap, so it doesn’t really matter. Treat your feet and get these. — Olga Khazan, Staff Writer$23.99 - $24.99 on AmazonMarshmallow Pants Courtesy of Old Navy Apparently they are called “joggers.” I’ve jogged in them only once—down the driveway to get the Sunday paper. They are Sunday-paper sweatpants. You are not allowed to wear them anywhere but in your room. You are absolutely not allowed to take them off. They are not multipurpose; they do not belong on casual Fridays or work-from-home Tuesdays. If you try to work in them, they will disappear. They are skinny jeans made out of marshmallows. Their elastic is sourced from space materials and they will live forever, just like the avocado stain from your nine-month-old that has been firmly emblazoned on the butt. — Walt Hunter, Contributing Editor$39.99 on Old NavyA Level-Up for Travelers Courtesy of Antler Packing efficiently makes travel so much less stressful. Although packing cubes might not be the most glamorous present, they certainly are one of the most useful. (For maximum compression, buy the kind with double zips.) If your gift recipient travels a lot for work, then a travel steamer will stop them from having to rely on hotel irons to remove creases from businesswear. — Helen Lewis, Staff Writer$65 on AmazonStovetop Fryer Courtesy of Yoshikawa When my in-laws first gave my husband and me this pot, we thought it was silly. Then we used it to fry pork chops and spring rolls and sufganiyot and became true believers. This little workhorse is great for small spaces because it’s easy to store and easy to clean, and because it keeps oil from splattering all over undersize kitchens. — Rachel Gutman-Wei, Supervisory Senior Associate Editor$39 on AmazonOofos Sandals Courtesy of Oofos Do their knees hurt? Healing someone’s achy feet or knees is a high form of care. Please give your loved ones these Oofos sandals to wear around the house, or in public if their commitment to style is weaker than their commitment to comfort. Perhaps they look like they could spring someone into orbit, but bouncing around space isn’t hard on your knees, I bet. They’re called “recovery sandals” and are effective if you need to recover from things like walking or standing (but also useful after feats of fitness!). I recommend sizing down instead of sizing up. — Bhumika Tharoor, Managing Editor$79.95 on OofosDelicious Prints Courtesy of Tom Hovey This is for the Great British Bake Off lover in your life, and if there isn’t one, get some friends who know how to eat treats and relax! Tom Hovey, the illustrator who cooks up the darling little illustrations that pop up on the show to whet your appetite, is selling them. Who doesn’t want to gaze at a hand-raised pie or a “kneadapolitan” sculpture forever? Import the show’s deliciously calm vibes onto your walls! — Hanna Rosin, Senior Editor $18.95-$37.90 on Tom HoveyHow Italians Make Pasta Courtesy of Bialetti Industries My mother, born and raised in Italy, bought me one of these while I was in college, and I’ve been using it ever since. The pot’s oval size can hold longer pasta shapes in their entirety, and the lid saves you the cabinet space needed to store a colander. Just remember to save some cooking water! — Matteo Wong, Staff Writer$31.99 on AmazonSocks Courtesy of Le Bon Shoppe The purpose of a gift, in my view, is to give someone something they actually want. And everybody—everybody—always needs socks. Pick high-quality wool or even cashmere socks in sensible earth tones; maybe knee socks for women. Laugh all you want at this banal idea, but remember: No one will ever secretly take them back to the store or stuff them in the back of a closet. — Anne Applebaum, Staff Writer$10–$28 on Le Bon ShoppeBridging a Generation GapA Child’s Book of Art: Great Pictures, First Words Courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Publishing For me, a great way to bridge a generation gap when gift giving is to hunt down a used book, now out of print, that I’ve loved. I’m doubly happy if it’s one that I loved reading with my kids—a present for both young and old. In our family, we pored over A Child’s Book of Art: Great Pictures, First Words. Selected by Lucy Micklethwait, the art from museums around the world is stunning, and arranged with alluring beauty and wit. My kids still recall their delight over the 17th-century Dutch painting titled The Sense of Smell (one of several depictions of the “Five Senses”), showing a toddler’s bare rear end being wiped. And yes, looking at paintings still gives them real pleasure. — Ann Hulbert, Literary Editor$24.99 on AmazonLa Mer Advent Calendar Courtesy of La Mer “Skin-care, if you’re doing it right, means claiming a moment of tenderness in an abrasive world,” Paris Hilton wrote in her memoir last year. I’m constantly torn between my cynicism about the beauty-industrial complex and everything it does to women, and my gullible hope that a product out there will make me look and feel somehow … better. In the spirit of the season, I’m leaning toward the tenderness argument with this recommendation. Plus, if there’s one thing that brings even Zoomers and Boomers together right now, it’s the promise of overpriced face cream in an aesthetically pleasing box. This La Mer advent calendar has 12 days of antiaging gifts for either the seasoned beauty veteran in your life or the TikTok-tutored teenager with ludicrously expensive taste—or both. — Sophie Gilbert, Staff Writer$600 on Saks Fifth AvenueA Fresh Squeeze Courtesy of SMEG Here’s what you want from your citrus juicer: easily produced juice, the simplest cleanup imaginable, and styling that doesn’t look like a clunky collab between a wood chipper and a kitchen appliance. Smeg has delivered—quite beautifully (and it takes just 36 seconds to clean—I timed it). Should you give this to anyone with a toddler (speaking again from experience), you’re actually giving them two presents: juice and occupied little hands, because it’s so easy to use. What better way to show your loved ones how much you care than by helping them keep scurvy at bay with elegant Italian design? — Bhumika Tharoor, Managing Editor$199.95 on AmazonThe Complete Calvin and Hobbes Courtesy of Andrew McMeel Publishing “The hard part for us avant-garde post-modern artists is deciding whether or not to embrace commercialism,” 6-year-old Calvin admits to his best friend (and stuffed tiger), Hobbes. As an adult, I laugh at the comic strip’s punch line: “Oh, what the heck. I’ll do it,” says the child artist who works mostly in snow sculpture and sidewalk chalk. As a kid, grabbing skinny Calvin and Hobbes compilations off my parents’ bookshelves, I laughed just as hard, probably because I had a firm grasp of only about two-thirds of the funny-sounding words in the panels. The marriage of high and low, young and old, is what makes Bill Watterson’s strip work. An elementary schooler and his imaginary friend protest unfair bedtimes, play outside, and try to avoid eating vegetables … by citing unfavorable poll numbers for the elected position of “Dad,” acting out noirish private-eye fantasies, and ranting verbosely about the contemporary art world. When it’s time for my kids to read these strips, they’ll be pulling these heftier versions off the shelf. — Emma Sarappo, Associate Editor$148.80 paperback or $209.25 hardcover on BookshopField of Dreams Bourbon Courtesy of Field of Dreams Whiskey Field of Dreams—it’s a movie about fathers and sons, men and their heroes, seeing ghosts, plowing under your corn and freaking everyone out. Now a bunch of current and former baseball players are selling whiskey that is supposedly made from that very corn. (Presumably this just means corn from that general area of Iowa.) The fun part is that opening each bottle is kind of like opening a pack of baseball cards—the wooden cap has a famous baseball player carved into it and which player it is will be a little surprise. The other fun part is that it’s whiskey. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, Staff Writer$54.99 on Field of DreamsIt Takes Two Courtesy of EA Games I’ve always had fun playing board games and video games with my kids over the years, but so-called couch co-op video games have given us some of our best experiences. One recent game really stands out as far as creativity, gameplay, cooperative puzzle solving, and just plain fun: It Takes Two, available on several consoles and PC. You play as a mother and father trapped in a surreal world, trying to escape and rescue their relationship with each other and with their daughter. It was a real hit during one of our last family get-togethers—fun to both play and watch. — Alan Taylor, Senior EditorPrice varies, on EA Games Subscription to the Criterion Channel Courtesy of The Criterion Channel The Criterion Channel is the best streaming service for movies that are not only suitable for everyone but also genuinely timeless. Easy cross-generational entry points: PlayTime, The 400 Blows, The Graduate, and A Hard Day’s Night. Or, if no kids are around, you can go a little more adult—Frances Ha or A Woman Under the Influence, or try something wacky, such as House (Hausu). — Allegra Frank, Senior Editor$10.99 monthly, $99.99 annually on Criterion ChannelReadersHardcover Versions of Beloved Books Courtesy of Penguin RandomHouse Not every book gets read more than once, but in my house, the ones that do begin to accumulate dog ears, marginalia, stains, and beaten corners until their spines finally crack and split. When a favorite title has earned that distinction, it’s worth purchasing in a beautiful, thoughtfully designed hardcover edition that can stand up to further wear—something like the Penguin Vitae series from Penguin Classics, or an omnibus from Library of America. This is an old-fashioned but flawless gift: More than a decade after I first ripped my paperback volume of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy in half, its Everyman’s Library hardcover successor, with a ribbon bookmark sewn in, awaits my next visit. — Emma Sarappo, Associate Editor$79.05 on BookshopThe Warren Commission Report Courtesy of Burnside Rare Books Allen Dulles, the former CIA director who served on the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, thought it would be pointless to release to the public the 26 volumes of hearings and exhibits the commission compiled. “Nobody reads,” he said. “Don’t believe people read in this country.” But the government put them out anyway, in a set that weighs 54 pounds and contains more than 16,000 pages. New copies were mostly purchased by libraries and colleges; reportedly fewer than 6,000 sets were ever made. That means they’re rare. If you know someone who would be offended by Dulles’s characterization of the dull American public … maybe they would like one! They make for wild reading, and 54 pounds is a hilarious weight for a present. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, Staff Writer$2,750 on AbeBooksVintage Letterpress Book Courtesy of Hanuman Books Although a vintage Hanuman book is sometimes hard to get your hands on, little is more inspiring than receiving one. It almost doesn’t matter whether the author was Patti Smith or Candy Darling—these letterpress books were the brainchild of the art critic Raymond Foye and the artist Francesco Clemente. Printed in India and distributed from the Chelsea Hotel for about $5 apiece in the ’80s, each volume was edited and designed by the pair. They are more than books; they are little objects of art that transport you back to the old world of analog, New York cool. — Xochitl Gonzalez, Staff Writer$75.96 on AbeBooksInternational Book Membership Courtesy of Archipelago Books This monthly membership is perfect for a friend who’s read everything, or a father-in-law who likes to talk with you about books. Archipelago Books publishes fiction, poetry, and other genres in translation, with a genuinely global outlook. One month you might get the Italian postmodernist Antonio Tabucchi’s little masterpiece For Isabel: A Mandala; the next month, a new translation of Aimé Césaire’s Return to My Native Land. And if the books start piling up, the gorgeous square covers will tempt you to take a mental-health day during a slow week in February to work through the backlog. — Walt Hunter, Contributing Editor$15 or $25 monthly/$150 or $250 annually on Archipelago BooksLittle Free Library Courtesy of Little Free Library Recently my block in Brooklyn wanted to honor the memory of one of our neighbors who died, and we got one of these little lending libraries. It’s been a wonderful addition to our street, and it would make a perfect gift for someone in your life who accumulates books and is looking to share. The libraries, which are available in different sizes and colors, come already built. You just need to stake them in the ground, which is not hard, and you have an instant focal point for your community—plus an endless source of free reading material. — Gal Beckerman, Staff Writer$189.95–$479.95 on Little Free Library The Little Book Light Courtesy of Glocusent I like to read before bed, often much later than my wife does. A few years ago, this presented itself as a problem. See, I had to keep the lights on. She wanted the lights off. This is not the stuff of serious marital strife, but still, I needed a solution. Enter this wonderful little book light. It bends to different angles. It has a few brightness modes. It’s perfect for the reader in your life who doesn’t want to annoy their partner. — Gal Beckerman, Staff Writer$14.99 on AmazonThe Essential Book Accessory Courtesy of HIGHTIDESTORE DTLA Everyone needs a book stand (though few know that they do). The High Tide book stand is beautiful, affordable, and impressively engineered to hold your books open so you can read hands-free (great for reading while you eat) or (and this is how I use mine) to sit your books upright, face-out on a shelf or bookcase, thereby transforming these books and their covers into artworks. — Peter Mendelsund, Creative Director$17.90 on AmazonDoomscrollersFlip Phone Courtesy of Caterpillar Buying a nice flip phone is a lot harder these days than most people might realize. The options at your local mall are likely to be flimsy, ugly, unsatisfying. The best flip phone you can buy right now for someone who might actually really enjoy (or be in dire need of) the throwback lifestyle is the CAT S22 Flip Phone, which was designed for construction workers and the like. It’s heavy in the hand; it has that satisfying “thwack” when you open it; you can drop it from six feet up; supposedly you can even drop it in bleach. And it looks cool—very “retro,” “Y2K,” etc. — Kaitlyn Tiffany, Staff Writer$79.00 on AmazonSay Cheese, Then Wait Courtesy of Fujifilm The rise of smartphones ushered in a new camera age, a visually heady era when everyone became their own personal photographer. Predictably, though, people became disillusioned with their overflowing, memory-hogging camera rolls, sparking a trendy, retro-inspired instant-camera comeback in the 2010s. But both digital and instant cameras serve our modern-day impulse for immediate gratification. People looking to dampen their digital desires should consider the power of the disposable camera. Buy a Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400, take care in framing the limited number of exposures, and wait patiently for a local photo lab to develop the images. — Andrea Valdez, Managing Editor$17.40 on AmazonA Complex Candle Courtesy of Flamingo Estate I know, I know. It really is harder to read books these days. My phone has done a number on my attention span, and there are always just countless distractions. But one thing I’ve found helpful in focusing and really making a pleasant reading experience is lighting candles. I love a unique candle, and one of my favorites these days is the Night Blooming Jasmine & Damask Rose candle from Flamingo Estate. It’s unique, it’s complex, it’s transportive—and, most important, it helps me relax into a good reading session. — Vann R. Newkirk II, Senior Editor $60 on Flamingo EstateIdeas to Go Courtesy of Moleskin After growing up immersed in my father’s stories of adventure, I’ve recently begun sifting through his old journals. Each page reveals delicate, hand-drawn maps and meticulous notes in fine ballpoint pen, capturing the beauty he witnessed. His ability to document the world with such care deeply influenced my own love for photography and storytelling. Today, I carry on that tradition, always traveling with a pen and notebook. For those who embrace exploration, it’s a way to document their journey—a notebook and pen are essential for capturing fleeting moments and reflections on the road. — Lucy Murray Willis, Photo Editor$15.75 on AmazonBlooming Bulbs Courtesy of PlantGem Present these beauties early in the gift-giving season to allow time for your lucky friends to plant them—because there’s nothing a hardcore scroller needs more than a trip outside. — Elizabeth Bruenig, Staff Writer

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