Welcome back to The Weekend Press! Today, Suzy Weiss reacts to Meghan Markle’s “unhinged and unintentionally hilarious” Christmas special. And if you’ve ever worn slippers to the airport, Elliot Ackerman wants to have a word. But first: Has divorce stopped being a tragedy?

The right to end an unhappy marriage has always been associated with feminism and freedom. But until quite recently, it wasn’t a right you exercised lightly. Divorce was something serious and sad.

In the years since, something strange has happened. Though divorces have fallen, the culture has shifted to treat them as something worth celebrating. There’s been a glut of movies and shows and books about fortysomething women having delightful sexual awakenings after leaving disappointing husbands. Female celebrities are celebrated for getting divorced. Separation is now a triumphant path to self-actualization. It’s almost more taboo to say, “I was miserable in my marriage back then, but I stuck it out.”

But that’s exactly what Larissa Phillips is saying, today, in a beautiful personal essay. She looks back at the time she considered breaking up with her husband, then didn’t. “When I listen to people who stay married for decades, I hear the same thing over and over: ‘Back then, we didn’t know if we’d make it,’ ” she writes. No one ever said it was easy. No one says you have to stay. But for her, it was worth it.

The New York Times published a mega-viral piece this week about a woman who made the opposite decision to Larissa; it was titled, “The Case for Ending a Long, Mostly Good Marriage.” The writer, Cathi Hanauer, actually helped the husband she’s separated from found the paper’s Modern Love series, one of the many corners of the culture that’s helped shift our ideas about marriage.

This week, Kat Rosenfield had two drinks with Cathi in Grand Central Terminal, to ask her: What’s it like when the whole world sees the implosion of your relationship as a referendum on the institution of marriage? Of matrimony, Cathi had this to say: “It’s the worst possible way of doing things except for all the other ways that have been tried.”

How should you spend your weekend? We asked Sascha Seinfeld for her best picks…

🎵Listen . . . Submarine by the Marías. This album sounds like if a scalp massager was music! It was my most-played album this year, and I’m sure it’ll stay that way well into 2026. Floaty, melancholic, soothing—it makes me feel like I’m lying at the bottom of a pool looking up at the surface, each track another bubble rising. I went to their concert this fall, and when “No One Noticed” played—their ironically titled breakout song—I heard a couple behind me openly weeping. The band—nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys this year—will be a household name soon.

📺 Watch . . . If you’re in the mood for something smooth-brained, try I Love LA, Rachel Sennott’s new HBO show about a group of girlfriends trying to make it on the West Coast. It’s endearing, playful, and superficial, and occasionally it’s unclear whether it’s self-parody or just an excuse for a bunch of actor friends to hang out on camera.

🍳 Eat . . . If you don’t feel like cooking—as is my constant state—microwave a Nishiki Premium Grade Steamed White Rice package. Then add nori seasoning, rice vinegar, and yuzu-flavored Japanese barbecue sauce. If you want it to qualify as a meal—and not just something to keep you alive—turn it into a salmon bowl with chopped scallions. Make sure to rake the salmon like it’s an avocado and stir it in with the rice so it becomes a glorious mush.

Last but not least, the magnificently unusual architect Frank Gehry died this week. He made beautifully weird buildings, like this one:

The magnificently unusual architect Frank Gehry died this week. He made beautifully weird buildings. (Emily Norton/Getty Images)

That’s all, folks! Tell us what you think about this edition of The Weekend Press—or just tell us what you’re cooking; we’re at [email protected].

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