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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. During the seasons of gift-giving, we want to remind you there are all kinds of ways to give, and not just to your loved ones. You can give blood, you can give your time, and serve meals to those in need. You can give toys at drop-off points for toys or tot for tots. All Of It is hosting a Coat Drive for employees here at WNYC. Happy to report the box is getting full.

In fact, if you know a place to give, tag us on your Instagram stories and we will Regram it as well as putting it on our gift-giving highlight. We've been doing this this month. A lot of folks have done this already, so please go for it @allofitwnyc, we want to share ways to give back this holiday season. We're on the subject of gifts. Maybe on your Lifts is that Tween Boy who refers to you as bruh or at Picky Powell, or maybe even a little self-gifting is in the back of your mind.

To help us think creatively about gifting, I'm joined by Maxine Builder, the editor of The Strategist, the Gift Guide section of New York Magazine. Their plentiful guides feature everything from spider catchier microscopes to easy installed bidets to electric planters that grow herbs. She'll give us a tour of some of these unexpected yet thoughtful items. Maxine, welcome to the studio.

Maxine Builder: Thanks so much for having me. Excited to be here.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, you can join in on this conversation. What is a great gift that you've received and what made it so special? If there's a gift you're excited to give this year, what do you think people should know about it? Or maybe you need advice for a really hard person to shop for from our gift-giving expert. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC, you can call in and join us on air, or you can text us at that number.

You can reach out on social media at All Of It WNYC. Maybe you have a great gift suggestion that doesn't cost too much money but is on the very thoughtful side of things. 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. You can call in and join us on air, or you can text to us at that number as well. How can we be more thoughtful gift-givers? How can we be more creative about what we give people?

Maxine Builder: It sounds really simple, but a good gift is something that someone's really going to use and like. I think some of it is-- we joke on staff sometimes that being a good gift giver is also sometimes being a good spy. Looking at what people are liking on Instagram, being thoughtful too. If someone mentioned something that they liked or had their eye on, file it away. Put it in your little notes app and save it for later.

Alison Stewart: Oh, I like the spy business. Tell me a little bit about other places we can spy on someone to figure out, wait, maybe what they really might want or even need.

Maxine Builder: Yes. Instagram is a great place for our gift issue this year. We actually talked to stylish couples who, obviously, have bought plenty of gifts for each other. One of them was saying that they have looked at what their spouse has bid on on eBay, for instance, and then tries to outbid them on eBay for the gift. Looking at what they looked at Amazon and things like that. It's a little sneaky, but it can be fun and I think it adds to that delight and surprise.

Alison Stewart: Some of your gift guides have very specific focus, the best gift for cat lovers, the best gifts for every kind of dad, tween boys according to tween Boys. What is your process on deciding what your buckets are going to be?

Maxine Builder: I think some of it is just even thinking of our own lives. Thinking about who are the hard to shop for people in our lives. Teens and tweens are perennially so difficult to shop for. In some ways it's actually talking to them that you're going to get the best picks. It's fun to be able to reach out to people and ask, what is on your wishlist? What do you want this year?

Alison Stewart: All right. Let's talk about significant others. What are some things to keep in mind when buying something for a romantic partner?

Maxine Builder: I think buying gifts for a romantic partner, again, you want to get something that they're actually going to use and love. One thing we also joke about with romantic partners too is that it's not just Christmas, it's your anniversary. It's Valentine's Day, it's their birthday, it goes on and on and on. I think in some ways you can't discount just spending some quality time with each other too.

Thinking of gifts that is there a concert that you would both like to go to? Is there a restaurant that's on your list? Something as simple as just making a reservation and sharing it with them can be a perfectly nice gift for your significant other.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Catherine from Ridgewood, New Jersey, who has a little tip for us. Hi Catherine. Thanks for calling in.

Catherine: Well, thank you. We're at a point in our lives where we don't need more things. What I did one year was I reached out to a bunch of our friends and asked them to recommend a book for my husband. I've also reached out to ask them to recommend a movie for him and then package it in just a cute little way, arranging it like a Christmas tree on a piece of paper or something like that. It keeps us occupied for the year. It's just a wonderful reminder of our friends and it gives you an insight to your friends as well.

Alison Stewart: Catherine, excellent suggestion. Thank you for calling in. Judd is calling from Union New Jersey. Hi Judd, thanks for calling All Of It.

Judd: Hi. Thanks for having me. My mother's really into gardening and I know a lot of people are into gardening and they always get plants and flowers. One year I got her a tree, which I understand is a privilege not a lot of people have, especially if you live in the city and the apartment. I live in the suburbs of New Jersey, so I'm lucky enough that she has such a backyard and it's honestly the greatest gift I ever got anyone in my entire life.

I got it for her, a willow tree, and it was about six feet tall when I got it for her and it fit in a box. Now about a decade later, it's about 50, 60 feet tall. It gives a huge amount of shade in the backyard and it's something she can literally see change year after year. I don't think I will ever top a gift my entire life as much as that one. That was really something special.

Alison Stewart: Judd, well done. Thank you for calling in. What a wonderful gift that was.

Maxine Builder: Certainly a gift that keeps on giving.

Alison Stewart: My guest is Maxine Builder, the editor of the Strategist. We're talking about their gift guide selection of New York Magazine. We want to hear from you, great gifts you've given, great gifts you've received, or any tips on how to think creatively about giving good gifts this holiday season. Our phone lines were open, 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC.

You can call in, join us on air or you can text us at that number or you can reach out on social media @allofitwnyc. It's great when we crowdsource and help each other out. It was interesting talking about people who like plants. This is people who like plants. You have on this list, AeroGarden Sprout. What is an AeroGarden Sprout? Who would this be good for?

Maxine Builder: It's an indoor garden kit. Our writer Aaron Schwartz has tested a bunch of these. It's a compact little device that sits on your counter. Part of what's cool about the AeroGarden Sprout is that it waters itself so you don't have to spend too much time worrying about it. It comes with these little seed pod kits. You pop in the pod and then you can grow. There's one that you can grow herbs, there's another where you can grow little flowers. It's a nice little thing to have on your countertop, especially if they're a good home cook who likes fresh herb.

Alison Stewart: You have a gift described for the boyfriend who keeps raving about the hotel toilet

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Alison Stewart: This is a tushy classic bidet. My question about this [unintelligible 00:07:38] bidet is, do I need to include a TaskRabbit gift card for someone to install this, or is this easy.

Maxine Builder: Fortunately, you don't with this one. This is another product that our writers have tested. We have a whole guide to the best bidets if you're bidet curious. This one is great too. You don't need a plumber, it just attaches to your-- this one from Tushy, it is the Tushy 3.0. It just attaches straight to your toilet seat. There's not a lot of plumbing you have to do.

Alison Stewart: What about if you know somebody who's like, "I just have to get organized, this is my thing. I want to get organized." You've heard them talk about this. How can we help our friend get organized but also keep it on the gift side, not on the "Hey, you're a mess." [laughs]

Maxine Builder: Totally. I think that's one thing that's really hard too, is you never want to give someone a backhanded compliment as a gift either. We actually have this one Japanese planner that it's a favorite among our staffers. It's called the Hobonichi Techo. It's a dainty little planner, really beautifully designed. It's a nice little thing to stuff in someone's stalking.

Alison Stewart: A planner, so write down--

Maxine Builder: A handwritten planner, yes.

Alison Stewart: What if I'm somebody who loses things?

Maxine Builder: Oh, well for that case, we do-- I have to say another great stocking stuffer, the Apple air tags. They're really as good as people say, "Great for tracking luggage, great for keeping track of your stuff." I think the key though is making it feel a little bit gifty. One thing I recommend would be to add a little key chain to it. You can also get little key chain holders for your air tags.

There are some that are just super sleek and look really nice and just very simple. Then there's others that are shaped like cartoon characters for my husband actually who loses things sometimes, I got him these little strawberry-shaped ones. You slip the air tag in and it's a cute little strawberry on his cue chain.

Alison Stewart: Let's go to Jacqueline calling in from Inglewood, New Jersey. Hi Jacqueline, thanks for calling All Of It.

Jacqueline: Good morning. I received a gift once that I really cherished. I had gone to a local art club showing with a friend and was admiring different paintings there. The friend actually commissioned one of the artists to do a painting for me. It's something that I have prominently displayed at home and every time I look at it, it just gives me a warm feeling.

Alison Stewart: I love that. Thank you for calling in. Let's talk to Mary, calling in from Croton-on-Hudson. Hi Mary, thanks for calling All Of It.

Mary: Hi. Thanks for having me. The gift I made last year, I made two of them. One for my brother and one for my mom. I went on eBay and found a little Hot Wheels or matchbox car of our family minivan in the early '90s and I then attached a mini Christmas tree to the top of it with some wire and gave it as an ornament.

Maxine Builder: I love that.

[laughTER]

Alison Stewart: Mary, thanks for calling in. Let's talk to Pamela from Millburn, New Jersey. Hi, Pamela. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Pamela: Hi. Thank you. My mother had a lifelong dream of going on a tugboat ride and the South Street Seaport made that come true for her. It was really them. They were amazing. They made it-- she's 87 years old. It's very choppy water, but they made it a wonderful experience.

Alison Stewart: Pamela, thank you for calling in. I love that idea of experiences, things we can do together. You have a couple things on the list that aren't objects or things you can share with family members games, for example. Dutch Blitz is on your list?

Maxine Builder: Yes, that is a card game. It was created by a German optometrist, of all people. I love sharing that little fun fact. It's a fun game. It's a game where you're trying to get rid of all your cards as quick as you can. Super competitive, super fast-paced, and everyone's going at the same time too. We've been told that it has driven some families apart, so fair warning, but it's very fun.

Alison Stewart: Keep the competition friendly, everybody. It's the holiday season. Wavelength. What's wavelength?

Maxine Builder: That's another cool game. This one is great because it's suitable for up to 12 players. That's another really great one for a post-Christmas break. You basically have one person who is the psychic and they basically will pick a place on the wheel and then the people in the group have to guess where you land. It can be from hot to cold where is ice cream and you have to guess where it wants to be on the spectrum.

Alison Stewart: This is an interesting suggestion I think our listeners will really like. One of our callers, I think it was Kathleen, touched on this. You suggest buying a book that people can read together. What are some recent books that might be particularly good for this?

Maxine Builder: Over at New York Magazine, we actually did a book club this summer for The Guest by Emma Cline. That really drove a lot of conversation.

Alison Stewart: That's a good one.

Maxine Builder: Great one.

Alison Stewart: What does that ending mean? Let's discuss later. [laughs]

Maxine Builder: Yes. What does the ending mean? I also think a celebrity memoir is always a good one to discuss too. There's been some really great books that have come out this year. Britney Spears' Memoir, that's definitely going to get some conversation going. You have Walter Isaacson's Biography of Elon Musk. I also think Matthew Perry's Memoir as well is beautifully written and feels really timely. I think a good memoir is always something that's going to spark some conversation too.

Alison Stewart: The idea is maybe you get three or four friends the same book that you all read it together, or a partner.

Maxine Builder: Or a partner. Yes.

Alison Stewart: What a great idea. We are talking about gift-giving ideas with a little extra thought, some creativity to them. My guest is Maxine Builder, the editor of The Strategist. You're our guest as well, we're crowdsourcing this conversation. What is a gift that you perceived that was really special or maybe there's a gift you've given someone that just really landed, you nailed it. 212-433-9692, 212-433 WNYC. You can call in and join us on air or you can text to us at that number.

Someone's texted in amaryllis or paper white narcissus bulb kits, they're really good for people that you want to give something but not very expensive and they last a really long time. Thank you for that text as well. Talk about some grandparents' presents because we should always give grandparents presents.

Maxine Builder: Always.

Alison Stewart: I think the kids get a lot of attention. I'm about giving the grandparents some love.

Maxine Builder: Totally.

Alison Stewart: You have the just between us grandmother and granddaughter a no stress, no rules journal. How does that work?

Maxine Builder: Basically, what I love about this is that I think a lot of these gifts are grandparents too. They're designed to help create new traditions and help spark conversation and I think it can be really hard to have intergenerational conversations too. The idea of this is that there's writing prompts where the grandparent can share special events from their life. The grandkid can also share special events from their life, and one suggestion that we've gotten too is that for long-distance grandparents and grandkids, they can mail it to each other as well. You can be pen pals with your grandparent, which is really sweet.

Alison Stewart: There is a cookbook here for kids and grandparents.

Maxine Builder: Yes. Grandma and me in the kitchen. The same idea of sharing recipes together. What's nice about these recipes is that they're relatively simple too. It's blueberry muffins and tomato soup and grilled cheese. I think it's nice to be able to create some of those traditions too and to be able to kickstart some of that as well.

Alison Stewart: I think it's great if you have your kids in the kitchen with grandma and grandpa, get them to talk about their lives-

Maxine Builder: Totally.

Alison Stewart: -while they're there. Get your kids to hear about the family stories and the family traditions. That's always really terrific. If anybody listens to podcasts that some of our listeners do, I've heard so many plugs for digital picture frames. What would you suggest? If someone's thinking like, "Yes, this sounds like a good idea. I don't know where to start on a digital picture frame."

Maxine Builder: Totally. I think those are really tricky to because there are some that are not so great. Our tech rider has tested a bunch and one brand that keeps coming up is Aura. It's A-U-R-A. It's one that actually our senior editor has bought six of them over the last several years for basically every member of her family. What's great about that is that you can set it up with your iPhone or you can set it up with Google Photos.

Anytime you add a photo to that album, it then automatically updates onto the photo frame too. You set it up once and then it set it and forget it and every time you just add, the photo shows up. It is another great gift actually for long-distance grandparents or long-distance family members and a nice way to share photos together that's just for you.

Alison Stewart: I feel like we should talk gadgets a little bit. What are some fun new tech items or tech gadgets that people would think, oh wow. I'm excited to get that one?

Maxine Builder: I think this year, one thing that our tech writer has been really excited about are actually folding phones which is something that feels very mid-aughts, but there's a whole new tranche of folding phones that he's obsessed with and excited about. They really do have that satisfying click. There's obviously, of course, the new iPhone, which I think anyone would be excited to receive, is sort of a no-brainer, but then I also think that there's always headphones and new everything too. If anyone needs an upgrade of anything, you can always find it.

Alison Stewart: I love these two. One says, one year, my partner gave me a custom calendar with pictures of us. Next year, I gave it back to him filled with everything we'd done that year. Here's a terrific one too. Kids got their dad a machine to carbonate flavored water. Proud of dad for not drinking anymore. They nailed it. He loved it.

Maxine Builder: That's great.

Alison Stewart: In our last moments, any other things on your gift guides that you really want to give a shout-out to?

Maxine Builder: Yes. I think one thing I would say too is that I wouldn't-- we've been talking a lot about things that are good activities too and a Lego set. It's so basic, but it is something that I think is really great for kids of all ages. Don't be afraid to get a little silly, I think too with your gift-giving. That's my main piece of advice for anyone.

Alison Stewart: I was going to ask you something you're excited to give someone, but we don't want to blow that. What's a gift that you've gotten that you've just really loved?

Maxine Builder: A gift that I got recently, I got a new pair of running shoes from my husband and it was really sweet. It's nothing super fancy, but it was exactly what I wanted. I needed new running shoes and he got them for me. I think in some ways, that's the perfect gift. It's showing someone that you've listened to them, and you care about them and you want them to enjoy their hobbies.

Alison Stewart: Someone else texted in. For my birthday, I received a membership to MoMA for a year. Best gift ever.

Maxine Builder: That's a good one.

Alison Stewart: That's a good one. If you want to check out the lists on The Strategist, they're really great and I'm sure you can find something for that hard to find, hard to shop for a person in your life. Maxine Builder has joined us, the editor of The Strategist, the gift guide section of New York Magazine. Thanks for coming in.

Maxine Builder: Thank you for having me. Happy holidays.

Alison Stewart: Happy holidays. Remember, folks, if you know of a place where people can give back, tag us on your Instagram stories, we will Regram it and we'll add it to our giving back highlight on our Instagram. That's @allofit.wnyc. We can get gifts and we can give back as well. There's more All Of It on the way. Next hour, music from Lawrence and maybe some of the best songs of the year.

 

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