Gift ideas

Gifts for culture fans

Know someone who loves culture? Pick their favourite topic for gift ideas, with a fact to share when they open it.

  • Anthropology

    The Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforest have a unique form of warfare where they primarily aim to inflict psychological damage rather than kill their opponents.

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  • Appropriation

    The term "cultural appropriation" itself is a relatively recent development, gaining significant traction in academic and public discourse only in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

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  • Arts & Culture

    The Mona Lisa's eyebrows and eyelashes were likely painted on originally, but have since worn away.

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  • Body Positivity

    Body positivity isn't just about loving your body as it is; it also includes advocating for systemic changes that create a more inclusive and equitable environment for all bodies.

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  • Cancel Culture

    The term "cancel culture" itself wasn't widely used until the mid-2010s, despite similar phenomena existing throughout history.

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  • Celebrity & Pop Culture

    The theme song for "The Simpsons" was originally intended to be much longer and more complex, but it was shortened to fit the time constraints of television.

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  • Classic Icons

    Marilyn Monroe's famous white halter dress from *The Seven Year Itch* was almost ruined by a subway grate malfunction during filming; the gust of air it created lifted the skirt much higher than planned!

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  • Cultural Studies

    The Frankfurt School, a key group in the development of critical theory and cultural studies, initially focused on the impact of mass media on the working class, but their analyses broadened significantly to encompass art, literature, and broader societal structures.

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  • Food Trends

    The popularity of "everything bagel seasoning" exploded in the early 2010s, transcending its original bagel application to become a ubiquitous seasoning for everything from popcorn to eggs.

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  • Meme Warfare

    One of the earliest documented examples of coordinated meme warfare involved the use of "rage comics" during the 2012 US Presidential election.

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  • Memetics

    The term "meme," coined by Richard Dawkins, was originally intended to describe units of cultural information transmitted between individuals, analogous to genes in biology, not necessarily humorous internet images.

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  • Music subcultures

    The British punk subculture of the 1970s famously embraced DIY aesthetics, often creating their own clothing and zines, leading to a rejection of mainstream fashion and media.

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  • Mythology

    In Norse mythology, Loki, the trickster god, is the mother of Sleipnir, Odin's eight-legged horse, having given birth to him after shapeshifting into a mare.

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  • Niche Fandoms

    Some niche fandoms have developed their own unique slang and inside jokes so complex that outsiders find them completely unintelligible.

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  • Pop Culture & Fandoms

    The fictional language Klingon, from Star Trek, has a surprisingly large and dedicated following, with its own dictionaries, language learning materials, and even opera performances.

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  • Pop Icons

    Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video was the first music video to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

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  • Pop Predictions

    Pop-predictions, while seemingly about predicting popular culture trends, often rely heavily on analyzing existing data and social media trends, rather than solely on intuition or clairvoyance.

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  • Samurai

    Some Samurai wore lacquered helmets that were so heavy, they required special neck muscles to support them.

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  • Subcultures

    The "Teddy Boy" subculture of the 1950s in Britain drew inspiration from the Edwardian era, creating a sharp contrast to the contemporary fashion.

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  • TikTok Trends

    The "Renegade" dance, a viral TikTok trend in 2020, was choreographed by a 14-year-old.

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  • Vikings

    Vikings weren't all bearded brutes. Many Viking women were warriors and held positions of power.

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  • Zeitgeist

    The term "Zeitgeist" literally translates from German to "spirit of the times" or "sign of the times".

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Other interests

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