Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about the big in person Tangle event in Irvine CA next week. In order to find out more about that and to attend visit the link below in the description. We go on to talk more about the government shut down, the Overton window shift and some explicit language discussions. Tangle LIVE tickets are available! We’re excited to announce that our third installment of Tangle Live will be held on October 24, 2025, at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California. If you’re i...
Oct 18, 2025•1 hr 40 min
In late September, Senior Editor Will Kaback spoke with two experts on Russia, Ukraine, and the war. In part 2, Will spoke with Anne Applebaum , a staff writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the SNF Agora Institute and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Applebaum has also written several books on Russia and Ukraine and reported on the rise of autocracy and authoritarianism around the world. Tangle LIVE tickets are available! * We’re excited to annou...
Oct 17, 2025•22 min
In late September, Senior Editor Will Kaback spoke with two experts on Russia, Ukraine, and the war. First was Richard Sakwa, a professor emeritus of Russian and European Politics at the University of Kent at Canterbury and an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Sakwa has studied and written extensively on Russia and Vladimir Putin, including in his book Frontline Ukraine about the origins of the current war. This is part 1 of a 2...
Oct 17, 2025•22 min
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging the congressional map Louisiana adopted in 2022, the second time the court has considered the case. The challenge centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, which prohibits voting laws or districting practices that give members of a racial group less opportunity than others to elect candidates of their choice. During arguments, the court’s conservative justices signaled their support for narrowing or overturn...
Oct 16, 2025•30 min
Last Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the Nobel Prize winners for 2025. Each year, the committee chooses six recipients of its prestigious award for advancements in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics, and peace. This year’s Peace Prize recipient was María Corina Machado, one of the leaders of the opposition in Venezuela and founder of the center-right party Vente Venezuela. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy ou...
Oct 15, 2025•33 min
Chiles v. Salazar . On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a challenge to a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy,” or psychiatric treatment intended to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, for minors. A majority of justices appeared more sympathetic to the plaintiff, a licensed counselor practicing conversion talk therapy who says the law discriminates against her based on her views. Other justices indicated their support for sending the case back to a lowe...
Oct 14, 2025•33 min
Back in January, there was a tragic incident where an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. A few days after the crash, we published a special report on the incident. About a week later, we published a deep dive Friday edition about the crash, trying to make sense of how something like that could happen. And one of the people who I spoke to was David Soucie, who is CNN's air safety analyst. He's a former FAA safety inspector ...
Oct 11, 2025•19 min
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about their optimism with the peace deal in Gaza. Then Isaac puts Kmele in the hot seat and asks him questions about his interview with Megyn Kelly. The guys then talk about the Tangle audience and some of the backlash they receive daily from all sides of the political spectrum. Lastly they share their weekly grievances. Tangle LIVE tickets are available! We’re excited to announce that our third installment of Tangle Live will be held on October 24, 2025, at the Irvine...
Oct 11, 2025•1 hr 34 min
A few months ago, two of the most prolific podcasters of all time reached out to me with a simple message: We have an incredible story, and we think your audience at Tangle should hear it. The podcasters, Andy Mills and Matthew Boll, are sharp journalists with an eye for important investigations. Mills is the co-creator of The Daily at The New York Times, the most listened-to news podcast in the world, and he produced the successful limited series Rabbit Hole (on internet algorithms). Boll helpe...
Oct 10, 2025•36 min
On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas agreed to the first stage of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza. Precise details of the agreement are still being worked out, though the initial provisions took shape over night. Under the terms , within 24 hours, Israel will retreat to agreed-upon deployment lines — remaining in control of about half of Gaza; within 72 hours of Israel’s retreat, Hamas will release the remaining hostages. Israel will also return a multitude of imprisoned Palestini...
Oct 09, 2025•33 min
On Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the United States had struck a small boat in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, killing four people. Hegseth alleged that the boat was operated by the drug cartel Tren de Aragua and was trafficking narcotics to the United States. The strike is the fourth confirmed time the Trump administration has sunk a small craft it alleges was controlled by “narco-terrorists,” including a strike on September 2 that killed 11 and two others ...
Oct 08, 2025•30 min
On Friday, National Review published text messages from former Virginia House of Delegates member Jay Jones (D) sent to a Republican colleague — House Delegate Carrie Coyner — in 2022. In the messages, Jones expresses disdain for Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), then says that he would shoot Gilbert in a hypothetical scenario where he could kill either him or dictators Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler. Jones went on to suggest that he wanted Gilbert’s children to die from gun violence because it...
Oct 07, 2025•29 min
In recent weeks, President Donald Trump deployed Illinois National Guard troops to Chicago and attempted to mobilize the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, leading to arrests and clashes with protesters in the cities. In Chicago, hundreds of federal officers carried out a large-scale raid at an apartment building on Tuesday, leading to a reported 37 arrests of alleged unauthorized immigrants. In Portland, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deploying the Oregon Nat...
Oct 06, 2025•31 min
The first eight months of the second Trump administration have been headlined by several prominent cabinet members: Marco Rubio, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Scott Bessent and Pam Bondi, among others. These agency leaders have undertaken wide-ranging initiatives to carry out the president’s agenda, drawing regular coverage and analysis of their actions. But other department heads have also been shaping policies, implementing programs, and making consequential decisions — oft...
Oct 03, 2025•20 min
Ari, Kmele and Will talk about Kmele's interview with Megyn Kelly on The Fifth Column podcast, Will's piece on the Comey indictment, the government shut down and some conversation on the democrats stance on Trump. And, per usual, 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 and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall. This podcast was hosted by Ari Weitzman and edited and engineere...
Oct 03, 2025•1 hr 18 min
On Monday, President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a new plan to end the war in Gaza. The president’s 20-point proposal outlines a series of actions to end the war between Israel and Hamas — including Hamas’s release of 48 hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners imprisoned by Israel — as well as a demilitarization plan, rebuilding framework, and governance structure for Gaza after the war. Prime Minister Netanyahu has endorsed the ...
Oct 02, 2025•29 min
On Wednesday at 12:01 AM ET, federal funding lapsed, shutting down non-essential government services. The shutdown follows weeks of protracted negotiations between Republicans and Democratic leaders — and President Donald Trump — to pass a bill to extend funding; the sides were unable to reach a deal before the midnight deadline. Democrats conditioned their support on extending healthcare subsidies and reversing cuts to Medicaid and other health programs, while Republicans have so far declined t...
Oct 01, 2025•31 min
On Sunday, an attacker drove a pickup truck into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) chapel in Grand Blanc, Michigan, subsequently opening fire on churchgoers and setting the building on fire. At least four people were killed and eight others wounded, and the suspect was killed by law enforcement responding to the scene. Grand Blanc police confirmed Monday afternoon that all churchgoers had been accounted for, and it does not expect to find more victims. Officials have not identi...
Sep 30, 2025•28 min
On Thursday, The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the indictment of former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey for allegedly false statements he gave during congressional testimony related to the Trump–Russia probe. The indictment includes two counts , which together carry a potential five-year prison sentence. Prosecutors initially considered bringing a third count related to a separate alleged false statement, but that count was rejected by th...
Sep 29, 2025•31 min
A revolution is brewing. If it were a pot of water, I’d say it’s been on the stove for seven or eight minutes. It’s not quite boiling and bubbling and bursting, but the water is hot. The pot is hissing, and the stainless steel is shimmering. It won’t be too long before it boils over. Signs of this revolution are everywhere: On the front pages of The New York Times, in niche corners of the internet, among my closest friends and family. It’s a backlash, really — one that began quietly and tentativ...
Sep 26, 2025•10 min
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk about free speech being restored with Jimmy Kimmel's return. They then get into more detail about Trump's UN speech and his stance with Ukraine which then evolves into a deeper conversation about the Trump administration's general posture over all. Last but not least, some very Vermont oriented grievances. 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 Produce...
Sep 26, 2025•1 hr 27 min
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump delivered an address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York sharply critical of the international organization and member countries over immigration, climate policy, and other issues. The president also touted his efforts to resolve global conflicts, suggesting that the UN was hindering his push for peace. After his speech, President Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, then posted on Truth Social that he believes Ukraine can ...
Sep 25, 2025•29 min
Ari Weitzman catches up with Jill Escher, head of the Escher Fund for Autism, about the recent press releases which claim that Acetaminophen use by pregnant woman may be associated to an increased risk of neurological conditions such as autism and ADHD in children. For more information on this topic and Jill Escher visit her website at: https://www.jillescher.com/ Ad-free podcasts are here! To unlock the rest of this episode and more follow the link below: To listen to this podcast ad-free, and ...
Sep 24, 2025•12 min
On Monday, President Donald Trump, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other Trump administration officials announced a pair of actions the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will take to address the increase in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. First, the FDA will update the warning labels for acetaminophen — the active ingredient in pain relievers like Tylenol — to note a potential association between the ingredient and neurological cond...
Sep 24, 2025•30 min
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation adding new requirements for H-1B visas , which grant temporary work authorization to noncitizens in specialty occupations. The new rules compel new applicants to pay $100,000 to apply for the visa (with exceptions granted by the secretary of Homeland Security) and directs the secretary of State to ensure compliance with the new regulations. The $100,000 fee will begin to apply at the start of the next H-1B lottery cycle in March 2026. A new...
Sep 23, 2025•29 min
On Wednesday, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show indefinitely in response to comments the host made in his comedy monologue, which discussed the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the political ideology of his suspected shooter. Kimmel’s remarks prompted significant backlash from the right and drew a rebuke from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, who suggested his agency could take regulatory action against ABC. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to th...
Sep 22, 2025•32 min
Isaac, Ari, and Kmele talk together in person about their thoughts on the recent firing of Jimmy Kimmel and the recent threats against our constitutional right to free speech. They then reflect on the sheer beauty of their current location together in Vermont for a Tangle staff retreat. 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...
Sep 21, 2025•1 hr 1 min
I’ve watched with a lot of interest and trepidation as readers and listeners responded to my initial thoughts on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Over the last week, while I’ve been processing the event and its aftermath with the country, I’ve been poring over that feedback. Some of it was frustrating to read and some of it was compelling; some of it, I thought, merited a response, while other pieces of feedback seemed to stand fairly and well on their own. Today, I’m going to share a wide ran...
Sep 19, 2025•14 min
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 11–1 to cut interest rates by 0.25% to 4%–4.25%, their first rate cut in nine months. The central bank’s policymakers cited the weakening labor market as the basis for the cut but noted that they are still concerned about potential inflation. However, the committee signaled that they are likely to approve two more rate cuts this year. Ad-free podcasts are here! To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subsc...
Sep 18, 2025•29 min
As the academic year gets underway, a growing number of U.S. states have enacted laws banning or restricting cell phone use in schools. 17 states and Washington, D.C. implemented new rules this year, joining several other states with existing restrictions. Scores of school districts and individual schools have also enacted their own policies. These laws range from incentives for schools to curtail phone use to prohibitions only in classrooms to outright bans for the entire school day, with diffe...
Sep 17, 2025•29 min
