Weighing divorce, airline etiquette, your brain’s development: Check out the day’s stories
By Sarah Hutter, CNN
👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Thanksgiving chats usually cover politics, football and movies — but this year, expect a new hot topic: AI. Wondering why everyone’s buzzing about it and what you should know? Dive into this explainer.
Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.
5 things
1️⃣ Out with the old
Sometimes ringing in the new year means letting go of old ties. If you’ve already decided that divorce is on the horizon for 2026 — or you’re still weighing your options — taking a few steps now can help ease financial stress later.
2️⃣ Exploring extreme depths
A hidden canyon in the Mediterranean is teeming with whales and dolphins, but it’s now under threat. After years of conducting research at the surface level, an ambitious team built a specialized, remotely operated vehicle to uncover what lies on the seafloor.
3️⃣ Clashing legacy
More than a century ago, soldiers who fought at Wounded Knee were given Medals of Honor. The awards still divide their descendants.
4️⃣ Stark gender bias
Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait just sold for $54.7 million — making it the most valuable work by a female artist at auction. It’s a triumph, but also a reminder of the persistent gender gap in the art world.
5️⃣ Mind your manners
You adjust your neck pillow, slip on a sleep mask and settle in for a long flight, only to be interrupted by feet poking out from behind your armrest. With 6 million US travelers expected to fly domestically this Thanksgiving, here are some tips for navigating the etiquette of air travel.
Watch this
🧠 Age is just a number: Ever feel like growing up took forever? New research from Cambridge University reveals that the human brain stays in adolescence far longer than scientists once believed — reshaping how we understand maturity.
Top headlines
- Two National Guardsmen shot in Washington, DC
- Three arrested over deadly Hong Kong high-rise fire as hundreds remain missing
- Trump brushes off concerns about Witkoff’s interactions with Russians as leaked transcript roils Washington
Check this out
🐯 ‘She just eats everything’: Deep in Thailand’s forests, conservationists are using GPS collars to track the eating habits of the country’s last remaining tigers. What they didn’t expect? “Strange” prey.
For CNN subscribers
- How America’s biggest retailers are preparing for an unpredictable holiday season
- Why wildfire survivors are trying so hard to relight ‘Altadena’s beautiful little beacon’ for the holidays
- Live coverage starting tomorrow at 8 a.m. ET: Thanksgiving Day parades across the US, plus performances and appearances by Brad Paisley, Henry Winkler, T.I. — and more.
Quiz time
🍴 Cranberry sauce is a holiday staple. How many pounds of cranberries do Americans consume during Thanksgiving week?
A. 20 million
B. 80 million
C. 250 million
D. 1 billion
Thanks for reading
✅ Most popular in yesterday’s newsletter: Italian man accused of dressing up as his dead mom to claim her pension
👀 Looking for the quiz answer? Take CNN’s special Thanksgiving Quiz and see if you got it right.
👋 We’re off for a couple days for Thanksgiving. Catch 5 Good Things on Saturday and a holiday edition of 5 Things Sunday!
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Today’s edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN’s Kimberly Richardson and Chris Good.
