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' Instagram
• Vince Aletti's Interview with Madonna in Aperture 156 (Summer 1999)
• Deana Lawson, Photographer
• John Edmonds, Photographer
• Carrie 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)

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