Latest news with #postgrad
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia
The more academia has broken your heart, the more you'll love RF Kuang's new novel. Katabasis knows the slow grind of postgrad precarity: the endless grant grubbing and essay marking; the thesis chapters drafted, redrafted and quietly ignored by a supervisor who can't be bothered to read – let alone reply to – an email. Living semester to semester, pay shrinking, workload metastasising, cannon fodder in a departmental forever war. Katabasis knows how it feels to spend your best thinking years doing grunt work to further someone else's ideas, clinging to the bottom rung of a ladder you will never be allowed to climb: less an ivory tower than a pyramid scheme. Academia is a hellscape; Katabasis just makes it literal. The American author's sixth novel is an infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons. Kuang's previous book, 2023's Yellowface, satirised the publishing industrial complex with an irresistible mix of gallows humour and gossip. A tale of toxic allies, commodified identity and hollow moralising, it was lapped up – with predictable irony – by the very people it skewered, like a real-life version of the stunt novel in Percival Everett's Erasure. The year before Yellowface, in the cult hit Babel, she invented an elaborate, counter-historical version of Oxford University – and then blew it up. A literary Rhodes Must Fall. All of which is to say, Kuang isn't subtle. She doesn't allude; she indicts. Some structures are so intractable, she argues – so insidiously self-replicating – they can only be disrupted with blunt force. But she also knows that a joke can deliver the same hard clarity as rage; sometimes more. She doesn't pull her punches, or her punchlines. In Katabasis, hell is not a roiling pit of fire, it's worse: 'Hell is a campus.' Cambridge postgrads Alice Law and Peter Murdoch are here on a quest. They're searching for their thesis supervisor, the recently deceased Professor Jacob Grimes. The victim of a grisly lab accident, Grimes has exploded, and not just in rage. His body is in bits, and his soul is in the queue for judgment. Without him, Alice and Peter's academic futures are equally damned. Their plan is simple: sneak into the underworld and haul him back. It worked so well for Orpheus. This is the 1980s: post-structuralism is eating meaning and theory is eating itself. Our dauntless duo are scholars in 'analytic magick', an archaic and volatile branch of the humanities where philosophy is actually useful (that's Kuang's joke, not mine; don't sic the Nietzscheans on me). It's a similar discipline to the one Kuang invented in Babel, with the intellectual friction of a paradox harnessed and mechanised ('Magick taunts physics and makes her cry'). There's special chalk involved this time, some algebra and pentagrams. Once again, it's best not to think too hard about it. Just surrender to the conceit. The real dark magic in this book is self-delusion. As Alice and Peter wander the 'eight courts of hell' (Dante was mostly right), they come to realise how deeply they've internalised the extractive logic of the academy. They've been taught to mistake rivalry for strength, exploitation for meritocracy, privilege for prestige, and endurance for resilience. To thank the system that feeds on them. The lie was so simple: you can be the exception, if you're willing to be exceptional. And it was Grimes – rapacious, scornful and addicted to his own myth – who made them believe it. The quest to save him begins to curdle, but old allegiances run deep ('Professor Grimes hadn't tormented just anyone. He'd tormented them … whatever they became when he was done with them would be so dazzling'). It's not easy to shake a validation fetish. Scathing about the institution, faithful to the ideal: Kuang is a campus novelist to the core. Katabasis is a celebration of 'the acrobatics of thought'. A tale of poets and storytellers, thinkers and theorists, art-makers and cultural sorcerers. It jostles with in-jokes, from the Nash equilibrium to Escher's impossible staircase; Lacan to Lembas bread. This is a novel that believes in ideas – just not the cages we build for them. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Babel ended in cleansing fire. There was something queasy in that final, flaming gesture – a flirtation with martyrdom that never quite questioned its own romance. Death as purity. Destruction as justice. Katabasis is messier, and more generous. It turns away from the allure of heroic sacrifice toward something far harder: survival. It doesn't ask what we're willing to die for, but what keeps us here – the oldest and most obstinate of our philosophical questions, and the most beautiful. Katabasis is far from perfect. There's a pair of blood-drunk villains who feel like a gory distraction, and a nonsense MacGuffin. Bone creatures clatter through plot holes. Grand mythologies collide and compete. Chunks of the novel read like a Rowan Atkinson sketch. And the 1980s faculty politics look deceptively – or perhaps wearily – like our own (a fascinating companion read would be Helen Garner's 1995 landmark provocation The First Stone). But none of that really matters – especially if you have a score to settle. The heretical glee of this novel is irrepressible. I escaped from my PhD 14 years ago, and it really did feel like an escape; it still does. This book reminded me why. It also reminded me how it felt to ascend from a hell of my own making and not look back. I read Katabasis in a single sitting and then slept the deep, unburdened sleep of someone who'd never even heard of Foucault. Katabasis by RF Kuang is published by HarperVoyager (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia
The more academia has broken your heart, the more you'll love RF Kuang's new novel. Katabasis knows the slow grind of postgrad precarity: the endless grant grubbing and essay marking; the thesis chapters drafted, redrafted and quietly ignored by a supervisor who can't be bothered to read – let alone reply to – an email. Living semester to semester, pay shrinking, workload metastasising, cannon fodder in a departmental forever war. Katabasis knows how it feels to spend your best thinking years doing grunt work to further someone else's ideas, clinging to the bottom rung of a ladder you will never be allowed to climb: less an ivory tower than a pyramid scheme. Academia is a hellscape; Katabasis just makes it literal. The American author's sixth novel is an infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons. Kuang's previous book, 2023's Yellowface, satirised the publishing industrial complex with an irresistible mix of gallows humour and gossip. A tale of toxic allies, commodified identity and hollow moralising, it was lapped up – with predictable irony – by the very people it skewered, like a real-life version of the stunt novel in Percival Everett's Erasure. The year before Yellowface, in the cult hit Babel, she invented an elaborate, counter-historical version of Oxford University – and then blew it up. A literary Rhodes Must Fall. All of which is to say, Kuang isn't subtle. She doesn't allude; she indicts. Some structures are so intractable, she argues – so insidiously self-replicating – they can only be disrupted with blunt force. But she also knows that a joke can deliver the same hard clarity as rage; sometimes more. She doesn't pull her punches, or her punchlines. In Katabasis, hell is not a roiling pit of fire, it's worse: 'Hell is a campus.' Cambridge postgrads Alice Law and Peter Murdoch are here on a quest. They're searching for their thesis supervisor, the recently deceased Professor Jacob Grimes. The victim of a grisly lab accident, Grimes has exploded, and not just in rage. His body is in bits, and his soul is in the queue for judgment. Without him, Alice and Peter's academic futures are equally damned. Their plan is simple: sneak into the underworld and haul him back. It worked so well for Orpheus. This is the 1980s: post-structuralism is eating meaning and theory is eating itself. Our dauntless duo are scholars in 'analytic magick', an archaic and volatile branch of the humanities where philosophy is actually useful (that's Kuang's joke, not mine; don't sic the Nietzscheans on me). It's a similar discipline to the one Kuang invented in Babel, with the intellectual friction of a paradox harnessed and mechanised ('Magick taunts physics and makes her cry'). There's special chalk involved this time, some algebra and pentagrams. Once again, it's best not to think too hard about it. Just surrender to the conceit. The real dark magic in this book is self-delusion. As Alice and Peter wander the 'eight courts of hell' (Dante was mostly right), they come to realise how deeply they've internalised the extractive logic of the academy. They've been taught to mistake rivalry for strength, exploitation for meritocracy, privilege for prestige, and endurance for resilience. To thank the system that feeds on them. The lie was so simple: you can be the exception, if you're willing to be exceptional. And it was Grimes – rapacious, scornful and addicted to his own myth – who made them believe it. The quest to save him begins to curdle, but old allegiances run deep ('Professor Grimes hadn't tormented just anyone. He'd tormented them … whatever they became when he was done with them would be so dazzling'). It's not easy to shake a validation fetish. Scathing about the institution, faithful to the ideal: Kuang is a campus novelist to the core. Katabasis is a celebration of 'the acrobatics of thought'. A tale of poets and storytellers, thinkers and theorists, art-makers and cultural sorcerers. It jostles with in-jokes, from the Nash equilibrium to Escher's impossible staircase; Lacan to Lembas bread. This is a novel that believes in ideas – just not the cages we build for them. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Babel ended in cleansing fire. There was something queasy in that final, flaming gesture – a flirtation with martyrdom that never quite questioned its own romance. Death as purity. Destruction as justice. Katabasis is messier, and more generous. It turns away from the allure of heroic sacrifice toward something far harder: survival. It doesn't ask what we're willing to die for, but what keeps us here – the oldest and most obstinate of our philosophical questions, and the most beautiful. Katabasis is far from perfect. There's a pair of blood-drunk villains who feel like a gory distraction, and a nonsense MacGuffin. Bone creatures clatter through plot holes. Grand mythologies collide and compete. Chunks of the novel read like a Rowan Atkinson sketch. And the 1980s faculty politics look deceptively – or perhaps wearily – like our own (a fascinating companion read would be Helen Garner's 1995 landmark provocation The First Stone). But none of that really matters – especially if you have a score to settle. The heretical glee of this novel is irrepressible. I escaped from my PhD 14 years ago, and it really did feel like an escape; it still does. This book reminded me why. It also reminded me how it felt to ascend from a hell of my own making and not look back. I read Katabasis in a single sitting and then slept the deep, unburdened sleep of someone who'd never even heard of Foucault. Katabasis by RF Kuang is published by HarperVoyager (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
I moved from a big city to a remote island in Washington that doesn't have a grocery store or gas station. I've never been happier.
After college, I moved from Nashville to a remote island in Washington. There's no grocery store or gas station here, and most residents are at least 30 years my senior. Living here full-time requires careful planning, but it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. Last summer, I felt stuck. I was a year out of college and living in Nashville, with no idea where to go next. Most of my friends were headed to New York City, with a few straying from the norm by going to other big cities, like Denver or Dallas. I, however, veered entirely off the norm — practically skidding on two wheels — by moving to a tiny, remote spot in Washington's San Juan Islands where I spent summers as a kid in my family's cabin. The small island wasn't on my short list of places to move postgrad. In fact, it wasn't on any of my lists. However, the appeal of a slower pace of life, coupled with the quintessential feelings of being lost in my 20s, compelled me to try living there. My family's 40-year-old cabin was built in just two weeks and was never meant to be lived in full-time. It has single-pane glass windows that creak with every gust of wind, and the rotting deck grows even more rotted with each rainy season that passes. It's a far cry from my high-rise existence in Nashville, but it has its benefits. The beaches, scattered with sun-worn driftwood, stretch on for miles, with scarcely another person in sight. While sitting at my kitchen table, I watch seals bobbing in the waves, shorebirds diving for their dinner, eagles scanning the land down below, and geese flapping their strong wings as they take off. Almost every morning, I walk the rocky expanse of beach that lies outside my front door. However, life on the island has its quirks. Gone are the days of my convenient city existence, where everything I needed was within a few-mile radius. In fact, my new home has no grocery store, no gas station, and only one point of public access. Trips to the mainland can only be made via a small water taxi, which operates a handful of times throughout the week. Thankfully, modernity has started to catch up, with the frequency of the island taxi runs increasing and even enabling local grocery delivery through Instacart. Living here full-time requires meticulous planning, thorough lists and a sprinkle of resourcefulness. In Nashville, I was surrounded by neighbors on the 15th floor of an apartment building — yet I never met a single one of them. Here, however, it didn't take long for me to form close bonds with the locals. They're a hearty, salty, rugged bunch, and I quickly learned that I would do best to avoid getting on their bad side. They're the kind of people who can catch, kill, and fix anything, and most of them are at least 30 years my senior. I, on the other hand — young, bright-eyed, and with little to no hard skills — definitely did not fit the mold of an island resident. Despite this, I was welcomed into the community with open arms. On the eve of the first bad winter storm, my 75-year-old neighbor came barreling down the dirt road in his mandarin-orange 1970s pick-up. He wanted to ensure I was prepared for the storm and even offered his place up the hill in case of a power outage. He, along with our 92-year-old neighbor — another gruff but gentle gentleman — would become my most dutiful, watchful caretakers. We exchange chocolate chip cookies for backyard apples, compare foraged beach treasures, and grab groceries for each other in town. On the island, looking out for others in your community is the most valuable form of currency. Here, I've found a sense of community that I never knew before. I've discovered a lifestyle that is filled with adventure, joy, and the kind of self-confidence that only comes from learning resourcefulness. Every day, I'm lucky to experience a connection with — and reverence for — the natural world that surrounds me. I know my life looks different than that of my peers. There are no coffee shops to frequent every morning, no going to restaurants with friends on a Friday night, and don't even get me started on the dating scene. It's the last place anyone would expect a 23-year-old to choose to live, let alone love. Although it took some time to adjust — I'm a sucker for buying an expensive specialty latte at a coffee shop — I eventually found my groove, and I'm the happiest I've ever been. Read the original article on Business Insider
The Verge
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Oh no, Google is turning everything into a podcast
Graduation is one of those unique milestones in life that's both exciting and nerve-wracking. It's worth celebrating, but it also marks a new chapter that can feel overwhelming. That's why your grad will surely appreciate a little support as they step into the next phase of their life, whether that be college or their first job. Lucky for you, we've put together a list of gifts that are designed to make the transition into post-grad life a little smoother. Our picks cover essentials they might need for their first apartment or dorm — from kitchenware to tools — along with a few gifts to remind them of home. We've also sprinkled in a ton of gadgets to set them up for success, including e-readers and portable chargers. And because they've certainly earned some downtime, we've included a selection of other ideas to help them unwind and celebrate a job well done. How much do you want to spend? Under $20$21 to $50$51 to $150$151 to $400$401+ Nanoleaf Expo Smart LED Display Case Smarter Kit $300 A proper collection deserves a proper showcase, which is where Nanoleaf's smart LED cases come in. Each reactive, stackable box can display tunable white lighting and up to 16 million hues, allowing you to bathe your shoes, figurines, and other items in whatever colors you see fit. And because it's Nanoleaf, you'll even be able to access the same smart features as the company's bulbs. $300 at Amazon $300 at Nanoleaf RugsRat Video Game Rug $35 Who needs a Ruggable or a pricey Tibetan rug when you can get one emblazoned with Sora, Sonic, or a dual-wielding Master Chief? RugsRat's circular rugs are soft, durable, and pay homage to video game series new and old. That includes classics like Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as well as newer releases such as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. Hell, you can even design your own. $35 at RugsRat Ikea Skådis Pegboard Combination $60 Whether they're outfitting their dorm room or an apartment, Ikea's Skådis Pegboard Combination offers grads a sleek, space-saving way to stay organized. The spacious board comes with a set of containers, hooks, clips, and a shelf, all of which are perfect for neatly displaying everything from keys and sticky notes to cables, pens, and other accessories. $60 at Ikea Google TV Streamer 4K $100 Now that the school year is officially over, your giftee likely has a lot more time to binge. For that, we recommend the Google TV Streamer 4K, which boasts onboard Google Assistant, easy-to-use smart home controls, and the best interface of any streaming device available. The set-top box even features a handy button for pinging the remote, giving it an edge over your couch. $100 at Amazon $100 at Best Buy $100 at Google Apple iPad (11th-gen) $299$34914% off With its spacious 11-inch display, Apple's latest iPad makes it easy to dive into studying or unwind with your favorite TV shows. It delivers snappy performance courtesy of Apple's A16 chip, letting you off emails, take notes, or binge-watch to your heart's content. Plus, it has a solid front-facing camera this time, ensuring you can video call and stay in touch with loved ones back home with ease. $299 at Amazon $299 at Walmart $349 at Best Buy Beats Pill speaker $100$15033% off Portable and powerful, the latest Beats Pill offers good sound and IP67 dust and water resistance, making it ideal for beach days or study sessions. It's also packed with features geared toward grads on the go, including a speakerphone for hands-free calls and a USB-C port for charging other devices. It even supports Find My / Find My Device support on both iOS and Android, so they won't have to worry about losing it. $100 at Amazon $100 at Walmart $100 at Best Buy Looking Glass Go $299 If they're feeling homesick, the 6-inch Looking Glass Go can bring photos of family and friends to life like no ordinary picture frame can. Just upload an image from any iOS or Android device, and the app will transform it into a high-resolution hologram with the help of AI. You can even share your 3D pictures with loved ones, making it a meaningful way to stay connected from afar. $299 at Looking Glass Personalized Hometown Puzzle $46 A personalized hometown puzzle is the kind of gift that hits the sweet spot in terms of nostalgia. The 400-piece jigsaw puzzles encapsulate a 6 x 4-mile coverage area with a given address at the center, and because they're based on USGS mapping, each shows roads, waterways, vegetation, transit, and other geographical tidbits your giftee should be all too familiar with. $46 at Amazon Away The Carry-On $275 Whether you intend to use it for work trips or weekend getaways with friends, the Carry-On is a sleek, durable suitcase that makes travel easier. It's packed with thoughtful touches — including a TSA-approved lock, 360-degree wheels, and a separate laundry bag — and it's small enough to fit in most overhead bins yet spacious enough that you should have no trouble stowing everything you need for a three-day jaunt. $275 at Amazon $275 at Away Anker Charging Station (7-in-1, 100W) $40$5020% off A cluttered desk can make it hard to concentrate, which is why Anker's 7-in-1 charging station is a great gift for grads. The 100W hub features a pair of USB-C and USB-A ports on the front and three AC outlets on the back, making it easy to power a 16-inch MacBook Pro, table lamp, phone, and other gadgets while keeping a tidy workspace. $40 at Amazon $50 at Anker Hoto Hand Tool Set $50$6017% off Hoto's electric screwdrivers are a mainstay at The Verge, and the company's Hand Tool Set is just as eye-catching. All of the included components, from the needlenose pliers and claw hammer to the textured carrying case, showcase a handsome minimalist design that's far more attractive than the usual white-label fare. It makes for an attractive starter kit, if nothing else. $50 at Amazon $50 at Walmart $60 at Hoto Codenames $20 Classic team-based games like Codenames offer a good opportunity to break the ice with new schoolmates, whether you're living with them or just linking up on the quad. The collaborative game charges two so-called 'spymasters' with connecting a series of seemingly unrelated cards via a one-word clue, which their teammates must then uncover before the opposing team. It's simple to learn but tough to master. $20 at Amazon $20 at Walmart $20 at Target Cuisinart PerfecTemp Cordless Electric Kettle $100$12017% off Cuisinart's cordless, 1,500W electric kettle lets you dial in the right temperature for whatever you're drinking, be it coffee, a nice oolong, or a dorm room staple like instant ramen (no judgment here). The speedy stainless-steel kettle is loaded with six preset temps and an auto-shutoff timer, too, rendering it ideal for busy grads who always have to jet. $100 at Amazon $120 at Williams Sonoma $120 at Cuisinart The Last Lecture $11 The Last Lecture captures the moving wisdom that Randy Pausch, a professor and former computer scientist, shared with his students following his cancer diagnosis cancer in '06. His inspiring words encourage readers to reflect on what truly matters and the kind of legacy they hope to leave behind, making it a thoughtful guide for any graduate trying to figure out their next steps in life. $11 at Amazon $25 at Barnes & Noble $39 at Target Anker Laptop Power Bank $115$13515% off The Anker Laptop Power Bank is a lifesaver for anyone who works or studies on the go. With an impressive 25,000mAh capacity and 165W total output, it can quickly charge a beefy MacBook Pro to 50 percent capacity in just 30 minutes. Plus, with three USB-C ports and a USB-A port, you can power multiple devices at once, including phones, tablets, and handheld consoles. $115 at Amazon (with code 0UKU9YQD) $116 at Anker (with code WS244D6GC) $120 at Newegg (with code LEESA233) Apple AirTag $25$2914% off Whether they're planning to take a well-earned vacation or just prone to losing things, an AirTag is a smart, stress-saving gift for any grad. The UWB Bluetooth trackers tap into Apple's vast Find My network, letting you keep an eye out and quickly recover lost luggage, keys, passports, and other items using little more than a quick glance at your iPhone. $25 at Amazon $25 at Walmart $25 at Best Buy Pantone Ceramic Bowls $103$12920% off Pantone's vibrant, color-coded ceramic bowls provide a simple way to brighten up any kitchen cabinet… or bowl of Cap'n Crunch. The six sturdy, 5.75-inch bowls are also dishwasher-safe, making them suitable for everything from soup to messy study snacks. $103 at MoMA Design Store (members) $129 at MoMA Design Store (non-members) Kalita Wave 185 Dripper $21$3946% off The Kalita Wave 185 Dripper might be the only thing that gets your college-bound grad through linguistics or ochem. It brews a rich, full cup of pour-over coffee using wave filters and a flat-bottom, three-hold design, which makes it the perfect companion for pulling all-nighters when the nearest cafe is closed. $21 at Amazon $30 at Walmart $39 at Kalita Kobo Elipsa 2E $389$4003% off The Kobo Elipsa 2E isn't just an e-reader — it's the ideal study companion for grads heading to college or grad school. Its sizable 10.3-inch screen and included stylus makes annotating a breeze, while its ability to convert handwritten notes into typed text and solve math equations renders it an even more valuable tool for studying. $389 at Amazon $400 at Rakuten Kobo Nintendo Switch 2 $449 The Switch 2 could make for a stellar gift for any grad — that is, if you can manage to preorder one ahead of the console's arrival on June 5th. Nintendo's latest hybrid console packs a larger 7.9-inch 1080p display, magnetic Joy-Con controllers, and a host of other minor but welcome improvements that build upon what was already a winning formula. $449 at Walmart $450 at Best Buy $450 at GameStop Skullcandy Method 360 ANC $100$13023% off The Skullcandy Method 360 ANC are basically a pair of Bose earbuds in disguise, which isn't a bad thing. They offer well-balanced sound, great features, and a comfortable fit that effectively blocks out unwanted noise, much more so than previous Skullcandy offerings. I guess that's what you get when you license technology and audio tuning from Bose. $100 at Amazon $100 at Best Buy $100 at Skullcandy Lodge Cast Iron Skillet (12-inch) $25$3017% off Everyone could use a good pan to cook their meals. With a Lodge skillet, your graduate can sear, sauté, bake, broil, braise, and fry all kinds of foods for years to come. Not only does the hardy 12-inch pan offer terrific heat distribution and retention, but it's also safe to use in the oven or over an open fire. The included silicone handle is just an added plus that lets you ditch the oven mitts. $25 at Lodge $25 at Walmart $30 at Amazon Cotopaxi Nido Accessory Bag $34$4524% off Cotopaxi's Nido Accessory Bag pairs wonderfully with work trips, road trips, and trips to a shared bathroom (hello, dorm life). The durable Dopp kit is great for holding both toiletries and tech accessories thanks to its zippered pocket and a bevy of small storage compartments, all of which let you store your essentials neatly in place. $34 at Cotopaxi $45 at Amazon $45 at Backcountry Circa Leather Discbound Notebook $130 Circa's leather notebook offers a level of customization few journals can match. Given the pages are secured via a series of discs along the spine, your grad can easily add or remove sheets and organize sections in a way that fits their unique lifestyle and needs. That means they can reorient their thoughts for class, their next job interview, and a variety of other situations. $130 at Levenger F*cking Planner Stickers $6 F*cking Planner Stickers can provide any grad who is trying to keep their life together (or at least look like they are) with a much-needed dose of humor. Bold, irreverent, and hilariously honest, they turn even the most mundane adulting tasks — from scheduling meetings to paying bills — into something a little less boring and a lot more fun. $6 at Amazon $6 at Button Poetry $9 at Walmart Black & Decker Furbuster $93$1007% off High-end robovacs with auto-empty docks and AI obstacle avoidance are great and all, but sometimes a classic handheld is all you need. Black & Decker's rechargeable Furbuster is a great option for picking up fur, dirt, and other debris, especially since it offers a surprising amount of suction and an extra-long crevice tool for hitting those hard-to-reach areas. $93 at Amazon $93 at Chewy $93 at The Home Depot Songmics Bamboo Bed Desk with Tilting Top $40$5020% off The Songmics Bamboo Bed Desk is great for sick days, late-night study sessions, and a formidable breakfast in bed. It's equipped with an adjustable top and legs, along with a small side drawer for storing pens, snacks, and everything needed to stay productive — or unwind — without leaving bed. $40 at Amazon $46 at Songmics Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 $197$1991% off The Instax Mini 99 is the perfect instant camera for budding photogs who crave a little more control over their shots. It quickly prints credit card-sized photos and features dual shutter buttons, along with a multitude of brightness settings and color effects. It even offers a Sports Mode, allowing you to effortlessly capture shots of subjects who refuse to sit still. $197 at Amazon $199 at B&H Photo $200 at Best Buy
The Verge
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
The Verge's 2025 graduation gift guide
Graduation is one of those unique milestones in life that's both exciting and nerve-wracking. It's worth celebrating, but it also marks a new chapter that can feel overwhelming. That's why your grad will surely appreciate a little support as they step into the next phase of their life, whether that be college or their first job. Lucky for you, we've put together a list of gifts that are designed to make the transition into post-grad life a little smoother. Our picks cover essentials they might need for their first apartment or dorm — from kitchenware to tools — along with a few gifts to remind them of home. We've also sprinkled in a ton of gadgets to set them up for success, including e-readers and portable chargers. And because they've certainly earned some downtime, we've included a selection of other ideas to help them unwind and celebrate a job well done. How much do you want to spend? Under $20$21 to $50$51 to $150$151 to $400$401+ Nanoleaf Expo Smart LED Display Case Smarter Kit $300 A proper collection deserves a proper showcase, which is where Nanoleaf's smart LED cases come in. Each reactive, stackable box can display tunable white lighting and up to 16 million hues, allowing you to bathe your shoes, figurines, and other items in whatever colors you see fit. And because it's Nanoleaf, you'll even be able to access the same smart features as the company's bulbs. $300 at Amazon $300 at Nanoleaf RugsRat Video Game Rug $35 Who needs a Ruggable or a pricey Tibetan rug when you can get one emblazoned with Sora, Sonic, or a dual-wielding Master Chief? RugsRat's circular rugs are soft, durable, and pay homage to video game series new and old. That includes classics like Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, as well as newer releases such as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. Hell, you can even design your own. $35 at RugsRat Ikea Skådis Pegboard Combination $60 Whether they're outfitting their dorm room or an apartment, Ikea's Skådis Pegboard Combination offers grads a sleek, space-saving way to stay organized. The spacious board comes with a set of containers, hooks, clips, and a shelf, all of which are perfect for neatly displaying everything from keys and sticky notes to cables, pens, and other accessories. $60 at Ikea Google TV Streamer 4K $100 Now that the school year is officially over, your giftee likely has a lot more time to binge. For that, we recommend the Google TV Streamer 4K, which boasts onboard Google Assistant, easy-to-use smart home controls, and the best interface of any streaming device available. The set-top box even features a handy button for pinging the remote, giving it an edge over your couch. $100 at Amazon $100 at Best Buy $100 at Google Apple iPad (11th-gen) $299$34914% off With its spacious 11-inch display, Apple's latest iPad makes it easy to dive into studying or unwind with your favorite TV shows. It delivers snappy performance courtesy of Apple's A16 chip, letting you off emails, take notes, or binge-watch to your heart's content. Plus, it has a solid front-facing camera this time, ensuring you can video call and stay in touch with loved ones back home with ease. $299 at Amazon $299 at Walmart $349 at Best Buy Beats Pill speaker $100$15033% off Portable and powerful, the latest Beats Pill offers good sound and IP67 dust and water resistance, making it ideal for beach days or study sessions. It's also packed with features geared toward grads on the go, including a speakerphone for hands-free calls and a USB-C port for charging other devices. It even supports Find My / Find My Device support on both iOS and Android, so they won't have to worry about losing it. $100 at Amazon $100 at Walmart $100 at Best Buy Looking Glass Go $299 If they're feeling homesick, the 6-inch Looking Glass Go can bring photos of family and friends to life like no ordinary picture frame can. Just upload an image from any iOS or Android device, and the app will transform it into a high-resolution hologram with the help of AI. You can even share your 3D pictures with loved ones, making it a meaningful way to stay connected from afar. $299 at Looking Glass Personalized Hometown Puzzle $46 A personalized hometown puzzle is the kind of gift that hits the sweet spot in terms of nostalgia. The 400-piece jigsaw puzzles encapsulate a 6 x 4-mile coverage area with a given address at the center, and because they're based on USGS mapping, each shows roads, waterways, vegetation, transit, and other geographical tidbits your giftee should be all too familiar with. $46 at Amazon Away The Carry-On $275 Whether you intend to use it for work trips or weekend getaways with friends, the Carry-On is a sleek, durable suitcase that makes travel easier. It's packed with thoughtful touches — including a TSA-approved lock, 360-degree wheels, and a separate laundry bag — and it's small enough to fit in most overhead bins yet spacious enough that you should have no trouble stowing everything you need for a three-day jaunt. $275 at Amazon $275 at Away Anker Charging Station (7-in-1, 100W) $40$5020% off A cluttered desk can make it hard to concentrate, which is why Anker's 7-in-1 charging station is a great gift for grads. The 100W hub features a pair of USB-C and USB-A ports on the front and three AC outlets on the back, making it easy to power a 16-inch MacBook Pro, table lamp, phone, and other gadgets while keeping a tidy workspace. $40 at Amazon $50 at Anker Hoto Hand Tool Set $50$6017% off Hoto's electric screwdrivers are a mainstay at The Verge, and the company's Hand Tool Set is just as eye-catching. All of the included components, from the needlenose pliers and claw hammer to the textured carrying case, showcase a handsome minimalist design that's far more attractive than the usual white-label fare. It makes for an attractive starter kit, if nothing else. $50 at Amazon $50 at Walmart $60 at Hoto Codenames $20 Classic team-based games like Codenames offer a good opportunity to break the ice with new schoolmates, whether you're living with them or just linking up on the quad. The collaborative game charges two so-called 'spymasters' with connecting a series of seemingly unrelated cards via a one-word clue, which their teammates must then uncover before the opposing team. It's simple to learn but tough to master. $20 at Amazon $20 at Walmart $20 at Target Cuisinart PerfecTemp Cordless Electric Kettle $100$12017% off Cuisinart's cordless, 1,500W electric kettle lets you dial in the right temperature for whatever you're drinking, be it coffee, a nice oolong, or a dorm room staple like instant ramen (no judgment here). The speedy stainless-steel kettle is loaded with six preset temps and an auto-shutoff timer, too, rendering it ideal for busy grads who always have to jet. $100 at Amazon $120 at Williams Sonoma $120 at Cuisinart The Last Lecture $11 The Last Lecture captures the moving wisdom that Randy Pausch, a professor and former computer scientist, shared with his students following his cancer diagnosis cancer in '06. His inspiring words encourage readers to reflect on what truly matters and the kind of legacy they hope to leave behind, making it a thoughtful guide for any graduate trying to figure out their next steps in life. $11 at Amazon $25 at Barnes & Noble $39 at Target Anker Laptop Power Bank $115$13515% off The Anker Laptop Power Bank is a lifesaver for anyone who works or studies on the go. With an impressive 25,000mAh capacity and 165W total output, it can quickly charge a beefy MacBook Pro to 50 percent capacity in just 30 minutes. Plus, with three USB-C ports and a USB-A port, you can power multiple devices at once, including phones, tablets, and handheld consoles. $115 at Amazon (with code 0UKU9YQD) $116 at Anker (with code WS244D6GC) $120 at Newegg (with code LEESA233) Apple AirTag $25$2914% off Whether they're planning to take a well-earned vacation or just prone to losing things, an AirTag is a smart, stress-saving gift for any grad. The UWB Bluetooth trackers tap into Apple's vast Find My network, letting you keep an eye out and quickly recover lost luggage, keys, passports, and other items using little more than a quick glance at your iPhone. $25 at Amazon $25 at Walmart $25 at Best Buy Pantone Ceramic Bowls $103$12920% off Pantone's vibrant, color-coded ceramic bowls provide a simple way to brighten up any kitchen cabinet… or bowl of Cap'n Crunch. The six sturdy, 5.75-inch bowls are also dishwasher-safe, making them suitable for everything from soup to messy study snacks. $103 at MoMA Design Store (members) $129 at MoMA Design Store (non-members) Kalita Wave 185 Dripper $21$3946% off The Kalita Wave 185 Dripper might be the only thing that gets your college-bound grad through linguistics or ochem. It brews a rich, full cup of pour-over coffee using wave filters and a flat-bottom, three-hold design, which makes it the perfect companion for pulling all-nighters when the nearest cafe is closed. $21 at Amazon $30 at Walmart $39 at Kalita Kobo Elipsa 2E $389$4003% off The Kobo Elipsa 2E isn't just an e-reader — it's the ideal study companion for grads heading to college or grad school. Its sizable 10.3-inch screen and included stylus makes annotating a breeze, while its ability to convert handwritten notes into typed text and solve math equations renders it an even more valuable tool for studying. $389 at Amazon $400 at Rakuten Kobo Nintendo Switch 2 $449 The Switch 2 could make for a stellar gift for any grad — that is, if you can manage to preorder one ahead of the console's arrival on June 5th. Nintendo's latest hybrid console packs a larger 7.9-inch 1080p display, magnetic Joy-Con controllers, and a host of other minor but welcome improvements that build upon what was already a winning formula. $449 at Walmart $450 at Best Buy $450 at GameStop Skullcandy Method 360 ANC $100$13023% off The Skullcandy Method 360 ANC are basically a pair of Bose earbuds in disguise, which isn't a bad thing. They offer well-balanced sound, great features, and a comfortable fit that effectively blocks out unwanted noise, much more so than previous Skullcandy offerings. I guess that's what you get when you license technology and audio tuning from Bose. $100 at Amazon $100 at Best Buy $100 at Skullcandy Lodge Cast Iron Skillet (12-inch) $25$3017% off Everyone could use a good pan to cook their meals. With a Lodge skillet, your graduate can sear, sauté, bake, broil, braise, and fry all kinds of foods for years to come. Not only does the hardy 12-inch pan offer terrific heat distribution and retention, but it's also safe to use in the oven or over an open fire. The included silicone handle is just an added plus that lets you ditch the oven mitts. $25 at Lodge $25 at Walmart $30 at Amazon Cotopaxi Nido Accessory Bag $34$4524% off Cotopaxi's Nido Accessory Bag pairs wonderfully with work trips, road trips, and trips to a shared bathroom (hello, dorm life). The durable Dopp kit is great for holding both toiletries and tech accessories thanks to its zippered pocket and a bevy of small storage compartments, all of which let you store your essentials neatly in place. $34 at Cotopaxi $45 at Amazon $45 at Backcountry Circa Leather Discbound Notebook $130 Circa's leather notebook offers a level of customization few journals can match. Given the pages are secured via a series of discs along the spine, your grad can easily add or remove sheets and organize sections in a way that fits their unique lifestyle and needs. That means they can reorient their thoughts for class, their next job interview, and a variety of other situations. $130 at Levenger F*cking Planner Stickers $6 F*cking Planner Stickers can provide any grad who is trying to keep their life together (or at least look like they are) with a much-needed dose of humor. Bold, irreverent, and hilariously honest, they turn even the most mundane adulting tasks — from scheduling meetings to paying bills — into something a little less boring and a lot more fun. Black & Decker Furbuster $93$1007% off High-end robovacs with auto-empty docks and AI obstacle avoidance are great and all, but sometimes a classic handheld is all you need. Black & Decker's rechargeable Furbuster is a great option for picking up fur, dirt, and other debris, especially since it offers a surprising amount of suction and an extra-long crevice tool for hitting those hard-to-reach areas. Songmics Bamboo Bed Desk with Tilting Top $40$5020% off The Songmics Bamboo Bed Desk is great for sick days, late-night study sessions, and a formidable breakfast in bed. It's equipped with an adjustable top and legs, along with a small side drawer for storing pens, snacks, and everything needed to stay productive — or unwind — without leaving bed. $40 at Amazon $46 at Songmics Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 $197$1991% off The Instax Mini 99 is the perfect instant camera for budding photogs who crave a little more control over their shots. It quickly prints credit card-sized photos and features dual shutter buttons, along with a multitude of brightness settings and color effects. It even offers a Sports Mode, allowing you to effortlessly capture shots of subjects who refuse to sit still. $197 at Amazon $199 at B&H Photo $200 at Best Buy
