Good morning. The newsletter team will be closed on Independence Day. We’ll be back with the news you need to start your day tomorrow. Today, listen to the morning version of the “Summer of Love” series and welcome the summer sunshine.
The future of marriage
go through Claire Murajima, Morning Edition and Up First Production Assistant
When I was a girl, I didn’t dream of getting married like many of my friends did. I was single most of my twenties and it didn’t bother me.
My parents, Cindy (left) and Don (right) Murashima, were married on October 14, 1995, in Newport Beach, California, when they were 29 (mom) and 34 (dad).
Don and Cindy Murashima
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Don and Cindy Murashima
As my peers and I adjusted to life after college, It felt as though we were either going the traditional route and marrying young, or not even thinking about marriage at all. Among the latter, there are those who do not believe in the institution, those who are morally non-monogamous, and those who believe their long-term relationships do not require marriage to be sufficient.
So, for the first part of the Morning Edition “Summer of Love” series, I teamed up with Michel Martin and futurist Jake Dunagan to answer the question: What will marriage look like in the future?
I also spoke with four other experts, whose interviews were not aired. They had a lot to say about how the rapid changes in marriage norms in recent decades will affect the future. Here are some of their thoughts:
- 💒 Therapist Sheila Addison says LGBTQ+ people are “leading the way in reimagining marriage”. Although many of her queer clients are skeptical of the agency because same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide nine years ago, she said they want “some kind of committed, intimate relationship,” adding that “for many Humanly speaking, it still means marriage.”
- 💒 Marriage coach Hassani Pettiford counsels couples on the verge of divorce due to infidelity. Marriages are in danger, he says, because of a culture that demands fleeing when things get difficult. He compared the difficulty of maintaining a relationship to buying a house. “If I rent, I can break the lease and move on. I’ll pay a little bit,” Pettiford said. “But if I own the house, it’s harder to leave.” This rental-versus-ownership mentality has spilled over into relationships, Pettiford said.
All the experts I spoke to predicted that marriages would continue to become more volatile. It has moved away from the model of one man and one woman getting married, having children, and never getting divorced.
Dunagan sees three alternative potential futures For the institution of marriage:
- ❤️ It may crash. Today, many people feel they don’t need the approval of religion or the state to have a lasting romantic relationship.
- ❤️ Its specifications may become more stringent and used to reinforce social norms.
- ❤️ Finally, it can transform completely. Non-human entities such as humans and artificial intelligence can marry.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more stories about love! listen morning edition Learn about the evolution of marriage, the politics of marriage, the historical evolution of love songs, and more on the NPR app or your local NPR station. If you’d like to hear a story, let me know at cmurashima@npr.org.
July 4th Stories You May Have Missed
go through Suzanne NewyenUp first Newsletter Author
The Caesar Salad was born 100 years ago, on July 4, 1924, in Tijuana, Mexico. Pictured above is the Caesar Salad at Boucherie Restaurant in New Orleans.
Randy Schmidt/Bucciri
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Randy Schmidt/Bucciri
Today is another very important anniversary: 100th Anniversary of the Caesar Salad. Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant living in Mexico, created this iconic dish on July 4, 1924 in Tijuana. Cardini’s original restaurant is still open. Learn how he makes his Caesar salad and how it’s evolved over the years.
All week, Morning Edition asked newly naturalized citizens What being an American means to them.
- 🦅 Bernadette Medina, 47, says she wants to become a citizen This was her “proudest moment.” Eduardo Bautista said it was “a dream come true.”
- 🦅 Joanne Daw and Andy Daw immigrated to the United States from England Andy said it was hard to say goodbye to their home. While their relationship with their family in the UK won’t change, they say they are starting a different future in the US
- 🦅 Nickolas Grosser left Brazil feeling safe and free as an LGBTQ+ person. He met his husband in the United States and said he felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders after becoming a citizen.
The American flag is one of the most iconic symbols of this holiday. It flies around the world, and many flags across the country got their start with strips of cloth from the Anning Flag Factory in Ohio. The company was founded in New York in 1847. It has produced some of the most historic flags, such as the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln’s casket, the flag raised by the U.S. Marines at Iwo Jima, the flag on the moon and the flag used at presidential inaugurations since Zachary Taylor Every flag hung on. (Taken from WOSU)
What’s on your 4th of July playlist? Today you’re likely to hear Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” But you’ve probably never heard of the Freedom remix of this song. In 1984, on the cusp of superstardom, Sting agreed to have a producer remix three songs from his upcoming album, also titled born in united states Forty years later, these mixes have all but disappeared.
Independence Day fireworks can be difficult for veterans Because loud, colorful explosions remind them of combat or other painful military experiences. Mandy Rabenhorst-Bell, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) program manager for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in eastern Colorado, offers tips on how to help veterans relieve stress. (from Kunming University)
This newsletter is sponsored by Trey Green.
