The best Chanukah gift won't actually cost you anything

My 77-year-old mother does not like stuff. She abhors clutter. She reuses everything. If you were to buy her a bottle of nice olive oil as a hostess gift, it would sit unopened in her pantry for the next 20 to 40 years. When I ask what she wants for Chanukah, the answer is always the same: Nothing.

But last December, my mother came to me with a specific request: She wanted eight lists of cultural recommendations, one per night. It turned out to be the best present I’ve ever given her.

The eight categories I selected were books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, musical albums, recipes, websites and...