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On Saturday, Romania said that it had detected a Russian drone in its airspace during an air patrol mission. The Romanian military authorized its pilots to shoot down the drone, but they declined to do so due to potential “collateral risks.” The incident marks the second Russian incursion into a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country’s airspace this month; on Wednesday, NATO warplanes shot down several Russian drones over Poland, prompting Poland to invoke Article 4 of the North Atlan...
On Friday, authorities said they had arrested a man suspected of killing Charlie Kirk, the conservative commentator and activist who was shot during an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday. Over the weekend, state and federal officials released new information about the suspected shooter that points to several potential motivations behind the attack. Meanwhile, Kirk’s death has prompted a range of responses from both sides of the political spectrum, including debates over his legacy and ...
A couple of days ago, a Tangle reader reached out and shared that she was at the event yesterday where Charlie Kirk was killed. She bravely offered to recount her experience to share with the Tangle audience in an interview with Tangle senior editor Will Kaback. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall. This podcast was hosted by Will Kaback and edited and eng...
Having a baby restored my faith in humanity. Today’s edition is a personal essay from our founder, Isaac Saul. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall. This podcast was hosted by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75 and Jon Lall. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Edi...
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele have a deep conversation about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and its impact to themselves on a personal level. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall. This podcast was hosted by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75 and Jon Lall. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Edito...
On Wednesday, Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist and commentator, was shot and killed at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. According to university officials, Kirk had been speaking for about 20 minutes when a single shot rang out, appearing to strike him in the neck. Officials said they believe the shot was fired from a building about 200 yards away, and the suspected shooter is still at large. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our ...
On Friday, August 22, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on a light-rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Police arrested 34-year-old ex-convict Decarlos Brown Jr. as a suspect in Zarutska’s death and charged him with murder. On Tuesday, the Justice Department also charged Brown with a federal crime. Warning: Today’s topic involves descriptions of graphic violence. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only pre...
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nonfarm payroll employment increased by 22,000 in August, while the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% to 4.3%. The healthcare sector accounted for roughly 31,000 new jobs, but declining employment in the federal government, manufacturing, and professional services offset some of those gains; the BLS also revised June’s employment numbers down by 27,000 and July’s numbers up by 6,000. Separately, on Tuesday, the BLS reported that the U....
On Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee about his efforts to overhaul U.S. health agencies and change federal vaccine policy. The hearing was at times combative, as Senators asked Kennedy about the Trump administration’s firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez, subsequent resignations of other CDC leaders, and regulatory changes to Covid-19 vaccine access. Ad-free podcasts are h...
“What does the government know about you?” A few weeks ago, Tangle staff member Russell Nystrom brought up this question in a team meeting. How much? How little? Where do they get the information and what, possibly, could they do with it? It’s an evocative question and the truth was, I only had a rough idea of the answer. Russell wanted to explore it for a story and I encouraged him to do so — and then he enlisted help from two editors on our team, Lindsey Knuth and Audrey Moorehead. Today, I’m ...
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about the implications of recent U.S. military actions in Venezuela, the controversial Gaza reconstitution plan, and the ongoing challenges in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conversation also touches on the personal side of life, with reflections on parenthood and the societal structures that support it. And, as always, the Airing of Grievances. You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor a...
On Wednesday, the U.S. military sank a small boat in the southern Caribbean Sea, killing 11 people. U.S. officials claimed the boat was transporting drugs to the United States from Venezuela and alleged the 11 people on board were narco-terrorist members of the international gang Tren de Aragua (TDA). The Trump administration has not produced evidence to support its assertion, but Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the administration “knew exactly who was in that boat.” Ad-free podcasts are ...
In recent years, several U.S. states and a number of countries have legalized Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), also known as physician-assisted suicide or physician-assisted death. While definitions vary, the practice generally allows people facing imminent death from a terminal illness to end their lives by administering drugs with support and supervision from a doctor (or team of doctors). In some countries, people with certain chronic illnesses and disabilities are also eligible for MAID. ...
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in a 7–4 decision that President Donald Trump had overstepped his authority in imposing tariffs unilaterally, upholding a lower court decision. The appeals court’s decision targeted the tariffs Trump justified by declaring a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), including the “reciprocal tariffs” Trump imposed on all U.S. trading partners, but does not apply to the industry-specific dut...
A version of today’s newsletter was originally published in 2022 after the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas. We are republishing that piece today in light of the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which killed two children (an eight- and ten-year-old) and injured 18 others. The details of the two shootings differ in some places. The attack from this week appears to be a targeted crime against Catholic schoolchildren. The shooter, in this case...
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about the tragic Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis. Then we discuss how the world and press is revolving around Trump like it's 2017 again. They then talk about how the Ghislaine Maxwell testimony and how it didnt get nearly enough attention. Lastly, some chatter and grievances about clankers and ai robots destroying the world. Ad-free podcasts are here! Many listeners have been asking for an ad-free version of this podcast that they could subscribe to — and we f...
On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the attorney general to prosecute unlawful acts that involve desecrating the American flag. The order directs the attorney general to refer acts involving flag destruction that may violate state or local laws to the relevant local authorities; it also calls for litigation to clarify the extent of First Amendment protections for such acts. Though the order does not stipulate a specific punishment, President Trump said that vi...
In a letter posted to Truth Social on Monday night, President Donald Trump ordered the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from her position for alleged mortgage fraud. Citing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and his powers under Article II of the Constitution, Trump stated that he was removing Cook “for cause.” Cook responded by saying that “no cause exists under the law” and that the president did not have the authority to fire her. Tangle LIVE tickets are available! We’re excited to ...
On Thursday, a New York appeals court threw out a $527 million penalty against President Donald Trump resulting from a 2024 civil fraud judgment. The five-justice panel unanimously agreed to dismiss the fine but disagreed on other points, ultimately deciding to leave the other penalties against Trump in place — including barring Trump from serving in top roles at any New York company for three years, extending a similar ban to his sons (Eric and Donald Jr.) for two years, and installing an indep...
On Friday, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided the Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton, former national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first term. According to a senior U.S. official, the search was connected to an investigation into Bolton’s possible use of a private email server to share classified documents with his wife and daughter while he was working in the White House. Bolton was not detained and has not been charged with any crimes....
Last week, we released a documentary on the 72 hours we spent with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) . Immediately, questions started coming in about what happened behind the scenes — what you didn’t see on camera, how the shoot came together, and what our impressions were about different elements of what we saw. We wanted to respond to those questions, and also follow up on the story since there was so much that we weren’t able to fit in the video. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can do that here...
It's a new day and a new name for the Sunday podcast. Literally. We are moving our fan favorite podcast from Sundays to Fridays, and giving it a new name. SUSPENSION OF THE RULES. Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk the latest with Trump, Putin and Zelensky. They also get into it about a very interesting report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Lastly, they pivot to a deep discussion about medical assistance in dying, specifically referring to a very intense article from The Atlantic about Canadi...
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed reports that the Trump administration is working on a deal with Intel that would grant the U.S. government a 10% stake in the computer technology company. The possible agreement, first reported on August 14, may involve converting roughly $10.86 billion in federal grants issued to Intel during the Biden administration into equity in the company, though the exact mechanism for doing so is unclear. Tangle LIVE tickets are available...
In a social media post last Monday, August 11, President Donald Trump announced that he was nominating economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Earlier this month, Trump fired the previous commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, after the agency released a weaker-than-expected July jobs report and revised May's and June's numbers downwards. Tangle LIVE tickets are available! We’re excited to announce that our third installment of Tangle Live will be held on October 24, 2025, a...
On August 11, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum mobilizing the District of Columbia National Guard to Washington, D.C. and an executive order placing the city’s police department under federal control. Approximately 800 D.C. National Guard troops were deployed to the city after the announcements. The president said he intended to restore public safety in the capital because the local government had “lost control” of crime. Trump also suggested that he would consider similar actions in o...
On Friday, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met face-to-face for the first time in Trump’s second term at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the future of the war in Ukraine. While Trump described the meeting as “productive,” he shared minimal details from the discussions, and the White House has not announced any new agreements. Ukraine was not part of the discussions; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with Trump in Washing...
It's a new day and a new name for the Sunday podcast. Literally. We are moving our fan favorite podcast from Sundays to Fridays, and giving it a new name. SUSPENSION OF THE RULES. Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about the rebrand and the challenges in coming up with a good podcast name. They also discuss the intricacies of gerrymandering and its implications on the political landscape, and the role of artificial intelligence, particularly ChatGPT, in today's society. They explore both its potential b...
On July 25, French President Emmanuel Macron said France will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September. The next week, on July 30, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain will also recognize a Palestinian state unless “the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.” Tangle LIVE tickets ...
Today, we’re releasing Isaac’s interview with economist Noah Smith; it’s the third time Noah has sat down for an interview with Tangle, and it’s a fascinating conversation on the outlook for the U.S. debt and deficit in the wake of the One Big Beautiful Bill becoming law. By the way: If you are not yet a podcast member, and you want to upgrade your newsletter subscription plan to include a podcast membership (which gets you ad-free podcasts, Friday editions, The Sunday podcast, bonus content), y...
This episode delves into EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's controversial proposal to rescind the "endangerment finding," a crucial determination used by previous administrations to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It explores the differing perspectives from the left and right on this deregulation, its potential legal challenges, and the host's take on its likely limited impact. Additionally, the episode provides updates on the Cambodia-Thailand border conflict and highlights significant caregiving statistics and environmental data.
