The mood here today is generous and cozy. Scroll down for my annual recommendations for thoughtful gift-giving. And on the podcast, we talk about what we're doing inside as we hunker down during this latest pandemic wave.

On COVID stigma. The pandemic has reached even "the middle of nowhere." The twisted tale of hydroxychloroquine. Herman Cain's family has seen all the jokes about his death from COVID, too. Stacey Abrams on flipping Georgia. The hateful face of the future GOP. What the failure of 2020 election polling might mean for other kinds of surveys. What are monuments for? A cop shoots a Black man, and a police union flexes its muscle. Megan Thee Stallion is here to stay. Meet Shameika Stepney, Fiona Apple's childhood schoolmate who is named in her lyrics. Michaela Coel in candid conversation with Jeremy O. Harris. An ode to auntie style. On uunsi, the scent of the Somali diaspora. The biology of fatherhood. Some scientists are worried about the fact that nobody is getting laid.  Isolating while trans. Deaf activists are critical of Biden's new moniker in sign-language and the decision to classify the "ok" sign as hate speech. Two metal-detector enthusiasts found a Viking hoard... and a lot of trouble. Leta Powell Drake, a fixture of Lincoln, Nebraska local television and perhaps the greatest interviewer of all time. The rise of ambient TV shows designed "to provide sympathetic background for staring at your phone." Against "relevance" in art. How to recreate a lost family recipe.

Do you open this newsletter every week? If you always read but don't yet support my work financially, please know that you can become a paying member for just $5/year! What a gift.

---

Artist Carrie Mae Weems made a COVID PSA. I love that the Home Cooking podcast continues! A great interview with health educator Erica Chidi. The California City podcast, about the bizarre and heartbreaking history of a small town in the Mojave Desert. A gallery of pandemic craft projects.

The implications of this administration's failure to relinquish power are much bigger than this, but I confess that I had a hearty chuckle at Giuliani's hairline dye-drip moment. The vanity was literally dripping off! A small gift against a backdrop of selfishness.

---

It's my annual gifting guide! The best gifts are really specific to the recipient, so the practice I endorse is keeping a list in your notes app of things that your loved ones have mentioned or might like. But here are a few other approaches to showing some material affection to the people you love:

Making something.

• I love gifting cloth napkins. We're all eating at home and we all want to be using fewer disposable things. Cloth napkins are an easy DIY—achievable even if you have yet to use that sewing machine you bought in early quar.
• A set of fabric facemasks. This is another idea for sewing beginners. It's a practical gift, sure, but aren't we all already bored with the masks we have in rotation? As a no-sew option, you could also buy plain cotton masks and shibori dye them.
• A soup kit. We are all burned out on cooking, so the real gift here is the ability to autopilot dinner by just pouring a jar of dried ingredients into a pot with some water. A perfect late-stage pandemic present.
• Other edible treats: Pickles! Bitters! Drinking vinegar! Dukkah! Chili crisp!
• A personal zine. Include old photos, memories, draw a few comics, make a pie chart. Pull some photos from the depths of your camera roll and actually print them out. Yes, this is basically a scrapbook for people who are too cool for scrapbooking.

Buying something directly from an artist.

• As I write this, I am sipping coffee from my Debbie Carlos "two moods" mug. I feel both caffeinated and seen by this smiley/grumpy duality. (Bonus idea: I've gotten very into coffee from Black & Bold, and they do a subscription service.)
• A wildly sculptural phone case by Bailey Hikawa. 
• A hard-to-kill houseplant in a vessel made by a local ceramicist. Just google your city + "ceramics artist" and see what pops up.
• Maybe someone you know needs this vibrant MATRIARCHY poster by George McCalman? Or these instructions from Hallie Bateman? Or this beautiful print by Kenesha Sneed? Or the future-classic "100 New Yorkers" from Mona Chalabi? If there's someone whose art you've admired on Instagram, google them. They probably sell prints of their work.

Inscribing a book.

• I can't tell you which books will speak to your friends and fam, but I can tell you that the inscription matters. This year I've gifted copies of books about the domestic experience: Sam Irby's hilarious Wow, No Thank You and Beth Ann Fennelly's micro-memoirs Heating & Cooling. To people I'm in an ongoing dialogue with about identity: Claudia Rankine's Just Us, Alicia Garza's The Purpose of Power, and Cathy Park Hong's Minor Feelings. For teens: Look by Zan Romanoff and Fiebre Tropical by Juli Delgado Lopera. For young kids: You Matter by Christian Robinson, How to Be a Pirate by Isaac Fitzgerald and The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish Swish Swish by Lil Miss Hot Mess.
• For the friend who's been your stable center throughout this year of upheaval: Big Friendship.(Yes, I had to! But seriously, what a great gift. The audiobook is an option, too.) 

Making a donation.

• Community groups and nonprofits have really struggled this year, exactly when people need them most. Donate in honor of a loved one, and write that person a handwritten note about why you were inspired to make the connection between them and the organization.
• I especially love making direct donations that are not tax write-offs. Fill your local community fridge, take a photo, and send that with the gift note. Or think about the issues that are close to your recipient's heart, find a stranger's GoFundMe, and donate in their name.

... and some random ideas:

• An online workshop to learn something like sewing or gardening. You can also look up courses offered through their local university extension office and see if there's a good fit.
• A gift subscription to Mind Your Practice's homework club—aka ongoing support for the artist in your life.
• A grab bag of international snack foods. I was on the receiving end of this Japanese snack explosion and a Universal Yums subscription this year, and my taste buds have been so happy.
• Zero-waste kitchen supplies are not exactly exciting but talk about a gift that will be in regular rotation.
• And for the physical items, some very fun gift wrap.

We are closing out the year with two Big Friendship events! If you missed our virtual book tour this summer, here's your chance to eavesdrop on a discussion of the power of friendship with these incredible folks:

Dec 7 - In conversation with Ashley C. Ford, 7pm EST
Dec 16 - In conversation with Rebecca Traister, 8pm EST