The Thing Quarterly is a surprise subscription produced by smart people. I’ll let them explain it in more detail:

“Each year, four artists, writers, musicians or filmmakers are invited by the editors to create an everyday object that somehow incorporates text. This object will be reproduced and hand packed at a wrapping party and then mailed to the homes of the subscribers with the help of the United States Postal Service.”

This year’s issues will be produced by visual artists Allora & Calzadilla, writer Jonathan Lethem, and experimental geographer, artist and writer Trevor Paglen, and visual artist Ryan Gander.