Tangle

The bump-stock ban. On Friday, a divided Supreme Court struck down a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, the gun attachment used to make semi-automatic weapons fire at a rate similar to fully automatic firearms. The court  broke 6-3 along ideological lines , with all three liberal justices in dissent. In the majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas emphasized that Congress has not enacted a law to...

The Supreme Court’s abortion pill ruling . On Thursday, the court  unanimously rejected  a lawsuit brought by pro-life medical groups and doctors that aimed to restrict access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medication abortions. The justices did not rule on the merits of the arguments, instead dismissing the case because the plaintiffs lacked standing, or a legal right to sue....

On today's episode, Ari shares a ghost story, Isaac and Ari talk about Project 2025, the latest inflation report and the partisan views around it, and as always, the Airing of Grievances. You can catch our latest YouTube video, an interview with Alyssa Cass and Pat Rosenstiel, and their efforts to make the popular vote the official decision in electing the US President, here . We were previously p...

The latest economic indicators. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for May, which showed an increase of  3.3% from a year earlier , slightly slower than April’s 3.4% rate. On a month-to-month basis, prices remained the same for the first time since July 2022. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2...

Israel's hostage rescue. On Saturday, Israel  rescued four living hostages  from inside the Nuseirat refugee camp in Central Gaza. The hostages were freed eight months after they were kidnapped by Hamas militants who had crossed the border into Israel. All four — Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv — were abducted from the Nova music festival in Southern Israel on...

New York’s congestion pricing pause. On Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D)  paused a plan  to implement a “congestion” toll on motorists entering Manhattan below 60th Street. The toll, scheduled to go into effect on June 30, was intended to relieve gridlock, improve air quality, and provide roughly $1 billion a year to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to modernize t...

Hunter Biden's trial. On Friday, federal prosecutors  rested their case  against Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s son, who is facing three felony charges related to a 2018 firearm purchase he allegedly made while using drugs. You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . You can catch our latest YouTube video,...

On today's episode, Isaac and Ari hold the inaugural Tangle Congressional Draft. Each of them take turns selecting sitting members of Congress to make their own dream team Congress. discussing their reasoning behind each pick. And as always, they finish strong with the Airing of Grievances. YouTube comments are usually a place to find complaints, anger, and division. But on our latest video —&nbsp...

Biden’s new border policy. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to temporarily shut down all asylum requests at the southern U.S. border when the seven-day average of daily encounters at official ports of entry tops 2,500 per day. The measure grants authorities the power to quickly deport migrants caught crossing illegally or turn them back to Mexico, with exceptions for unacc...

Dr. Anthony Fauci’s congressional testimony. On Monday, Dr. Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and former chief White House medical advisor, sat for a three-and-a-half hour hearing before the  special House subcommittee  investigating the origins of Covid-19.  You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” st...

Mexico's new president. Over the weekend, Claudia Sheinbaum became Mexico's first female president in a landslide victory . Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and longtime activist for the political left, will take the helm from her mentor and outgoing president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (also known as AMLO). She is not just Mexico’s first female president, but the first woman to win a national elec...

Biden’s new rules for Ukraine. On Thursday, Politico reported that the Biden administration had permitted Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to carry out strikes inside Russia, though only near the area of Kharkiv. The significant shift in U.S. policy on the Ukraine-Russia war comes after the start of Russia’s surprise offensive in the Kharkiv province in early May. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city...

On today's episode, Ari returns from his travels and Isaac couldn't be more thrilled, especially with Ari's mic choice. They talk about their predictions on the Trump verdict (this was recorded about 2 hours before the verdict and aged really well...), 2024 election predictions, a listener question about our podcast series, The Undecideds, and as always, the Airing of Grievances. YouTube comments...

The Trump verdict. On Thursday, former President Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a “hush money” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The jury deliberated for two days to find Trump guilty, making him the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime. You can read our previous coverage of the trial here .  You can...

Louisiana’s abortion pill law. Last Friday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R) signed a bill classifying two abortion-inducing medications as controlled substances whose possession without a prescription will be punishable by 1-5 years in prison . The measure applies to mifepristone and misoprostol , the drugs used in medication abortions, and will take effect on October 1. You can find our previo...

South Carolina's congressional map. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that South Carolina could use a congressional map that a lower court had deemed unconstitutional. The court’s conservative majority found that the federal district court had erred when it determined the map unconstitutionally sorted voters primarily based on their race (also known as racial gerrymandering)....

The latest in the Israel-Hamas war. On Monday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged a "tragic mistake" after a strike in Rafah killed at least 45 Palestinians sheltering in a tent camp, according to local officials. Israel initially claimed the strike hit a Hamas installation and killed two senior militants, though it announced an investigation into the incident shortly after ne...

I spoke with Haviv Gur, an Israeli analyst who  — in my humble opinion — is one of the deepest thinkers covering Israel, Palestine, and the conflict between the two. Gur disagrees strongly with my call for a ceasefire , and his arguments are the best I’ve heard. He spoke at length about how a ceasefire would harm Palestinians more than Israelis, the issues motivating Hamas, the state of...

The Daniel Perry pardon. Last Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) pardoned Daniel Perry, a former U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in Austin, Texas, in 2020. Abbott’s decision came shortly after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended a full pardon for Perry. Perry’s firearm rights will be fully restored as part of the pardon...

The helicopter crash in Iran. On Sunday, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and six others crashed near Jolfa, Iran. After an extensive search and rescue effort, the crash site was located on Monday morning and Raisi, Abdollahian, and all other occupants of the helicopter were pronounced dead. Vice President Mohammad Mokhber will serve...

The CFPB ruling. On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected a conservative-led challenge to the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In a 7-2 ruling, the justices concluded that the CFPB's funding did not violate the Constitution, reversing a lower court decision. Justice Clarence Thomas broke with Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, whom he typically aligns with, to w...

The Samuel Alito controversy. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that an American flag was hanging upside-down outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for several days shortly after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.  You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . In our latest Yo...

Ari is on the road coaching the University of Vermont’s frisbee team in college nationals (Go Ari!). So this week, Isaac is going to do some mini coverage on ten topics that have been on his mind. Buckle up. You can watch our latest video, Isaac's interview with former Congressman Ken Buck (CO-04) ⁠here⁠ . Check the next episode of our new podcast series, The Undecideds . In episode 3, our foc...

Biden's China tariffs. On Tuesday, President Biden announced major new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment, covering $18 billion worth of Chinese imports. The largest tariffs are on imports of electric vehicles, quadrupling the proportion of the tax from 25% to 100%. You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Und...

The latest in Donald Trump’s New York trial. This week, Trump's one-time personal lawyer Michael Cohen testified in the former president’s trial for allegedly falsifying business records, commonly referred to as the "hush money" case. Cohen’s testimony comes a week after adult film star Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, took the stand to describe her alleged relationship w...