Beyonce and Jay-Z. Donald and Melania. Kim and Kanye. Harry and Meghan. We're compelled by the performance of marriage in culture. And with The Carters' new surprise album, "Everything Is Love," we wonder what it means for our beloved Beyonce -- and Jay-Z -- to position their marriage as a black cultural institution -- akin to the Huxtables or the Obamas -- that everyone should believe in. From writing their legacy into The Louvre in their "Apes**t" video to documenting the turmoil and triumph of their relationship in "Lovehappy," The Carters remind us that marriage, like everything, is performance -- and that matters.
Discussed this week:
"Everything is Love" (The Carters, 2018)Zerina Akers' InstagramVince Aletti's Interview with Madonna in Aperture 156 (Summer 1999)Deana Lawson, PhotographerJohn Edmonds, PhotographerCarrie Mae Weems, Photographer"Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 December 1804" (Jacques-Louis David)We Back! (On Thursday)
We Are Tired of Sexual Harassment (and Sequels) | Season Finale
We Get Biracial
We Take a Knee
We Assess the Outrage over "Bodega" and Mother!
We Bow Down to Rihanna and Venus
We Debate NPR’s Greatest Albums by Women
We Have a Chappelle Show
We Care For Ourselves and Others in Trump’s America
We Grieve Charlottesville
We Discuss: Who Owns Stories About Blackness?
We’re Freaking Out About O.J. and Girls Trip
We Pick Science Fiction for Mitch McConnell
We Get Bodied Talking Jay-Z and Beyoncé
We Seek “Authentic” BBQ
We Revive Tupac and Side-Eye Sofia Coppola
We Celebrate Gay Pride — The Highs and Lows
We Said, He Said, She Said
We Watch 'Wonder Woman' and Do a Taxonomy of the Summer Jam
We Love the Beach, We Hate the Beach
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