Tangle

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  rev...

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, subsequ...

“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...

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  subs...

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 Secr...

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 fr...

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), in...

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 i...

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 liste...

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 pr...

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...

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 Yo...

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...

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...

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...

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 Bide...

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 L...

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 i...

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...

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...

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...

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...

On Tuesday, July 29, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin  released  the agency’s proposal to rescind a determination that previous administrations had used to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Both the Obama and Biden administrations used the determination, called  the endangerment finding , to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fo...

On Sunday, a group of Democratic lawmakers in Texas  left the state  to deny the Republican-controlled state House the quorum necessary to vote on a new congressional map designed to give the GOP five additional seats in the U.S. House next year. In late July, President Donald Trump  spearheaded  the plan to redraw Texas’s Congressional map, years in advance of the typical dece...

On Friday, President Donald Trump  fired  the commissioner of labor statistics for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Erika McEntarfer, after the agency released a lower-than-expected July jobs report and revised May's and June's numbers downwards. The BLS  reported  that nonfarm payrolls increased by 73,000 in July, below Dow Jones’s  estimated gain  of 100,000 jo...