Tangle

The latest 2024 polls. One year out from the 2024 presidential election, former President Donald Trump is polling ahead of President Joe Biden in five of the six swing states expected to determine the election outcome. The numbers come from the latest New York Times and Siena College poll released over the weekend, which showed Trump with a lead in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylva...

Sam Bankman-Fried's conviction. On Thursday, the FTX founder was convicted of stealing billions of dollars from customers of his crypto exchange, marking one of the largest financial fraud convictions in U.S. history. After a short deliberation, a New York federal jury convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced. He was also found guilty of money laundering and defrauding investors an...

The mass shooting in Maine. On Wednesday, October 25, an Army reservist killed 18 people and injured 13 others at a bowling alley and bar in Lewiston, Maine. After a two-day manhunt, the shooter was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found at the recycling facility where he worked. Editor's note: Tangle does not name mass shooters because of the well-documented contag...

The United Auto Workers deal. On Monday, General Motors and United Auto Workers struck a deal that ended the union's six-week series of strikes aimed at Detroit’s Big Three automakers. The deal with GM came after Ford reached a deal last Wednesday and Chrysler-owned Stellantis struck a deal with workers over the weekend. You can read our previous coverage of these strikes here . You can read t...

Mike Pence. On Saturday, Mike Pence announced the end of his 2024 presidential campaign during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas. The announcement drew audible gasps from the crowd, which had gathered to hear a campaign speech, and was followed by a standing ovation . You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story here , and today’s “Have a nice day”...

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN). The third-term Minnesota congressman announced that he will be running in the Democratic primary, issuing an unusual challenge to a sitting president of his own party. We were able to get an exclusive interview with Rep. Phillips  just hours after his announcement, which we've shared a preview of after "My take" in today's podcast. For the full intervie...

Mike Johnson (R-LA). Yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives elected Johnson their new Speaker. His election ended three weeks without a Speaker, and came after Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Tom Emmer (R-MN) all failed to win a full floor vote after being nominated by the party. Johnson unified the party, winning the votes of all 220 Republicans in attendance, wh...

The guilty pleas in Georgia. In less than a week, three of Trump’s former associates have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the Georgia election interference case and pleaded guilty to charges brought by District Attorney Fani Willis. You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , today’s Under the Radar story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ .  You can also check out our...

The U.S. deficit. In the current fiscal year, the U.S. deficit has effectively doubled from $1 trillion to $2 trillion. You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , today’s Under the Radar story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ .  You can also check out our latest YouTube videos, a recording of the “My Take” from Tuesday’s Israel piece ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ and an interview with Christoph...

Donald Trump's gag orders. Former President Trump has been put under gag orders in two separate trials where he is a defendant. In a civil fraud trial on Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump $5,000 and floated the idea of jailing him for defying a partial gag order that required him to remove a social media post criticizing the judge's law clerk.  You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠her...

The Gaza hospital explosion. On Tuesday, reports broke that the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, founded in 1882 by the Anglican church, had been the site of a major explosion. The hospital has about 80 beds , but was being used to house civilians during Israel's aerial bombardment of Gaza. Video footage reviewed by The New York Times showed “scores of bodies strewn across the hospital’s courtyard,” sug...

Jim Jordan. The Ohio Republican failed to win the requisite votes to become Speaker on Tuesday, leaving his future in doubt and the House of Representatives in a state of paralysis. Jordan’s nomination for House Speaker began after a handful of Republicans ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earlier this month, citing broken promises on spending and for working with Democrats to pass a continuing re...

Student loans. Earlier this month, student loan repayment restarted for the first time in three years. Shortly thereafter, President Biden announced an additional $9 billion in student debt cancellation, a move that impacted roughly 125,000 borrowers. The administration says approximately 3.6 million Americans have now received $127 billion of student debt relief, and the Biden administration is n...

The protests in the United States. All across the U.S., pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protests have been roiling college campuses and cities, with high tension leading to political fallout and occasional violence. You can read the pieces by Jonathan Katz here and here . You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , today’s Under the Radar story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠⁠here⁠⁠...

RFK Jr. Earlier this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he will be running for president as an independent and is no longer seeking the Democratic nomination. The 69-year-old longtime environmental lawyer and activist has spent much of his career fighting pollution and pushing to rein in the power of corporations. More recently, he has sparked controversy for decrying the U.S. commitment to the...

Biden's border wall. Last week, the Biden administration said that it was waiving 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow new border wall construction. The move is Biden’s first use of executive power to pave the way for more barriers along the border, something that was a common tactic during the Trump administration. You can read today's podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ , today’s Under the Radar story ⁠...

The attack on Israel. Over the weekend, Hamas militants executed a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, killing over 900 people and wounding more than 2,500. Over 250 people were found dead at a music festival in southern Israel near Gaza, with witnesses saying they fled for their lives as gunmen opened fire on them Saturday morning. Israel says more than 150 civilians and soldiers have been taken...

Today's Friday edition is a personal essay about something that happened to me last week. If you're a new subscriber, please note we'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday (we’re off Monday for the federal holiday) with our typical edition. You can read more about the great Lew Irwin here and you can buy his book, Deadly Times , here and here . You can read today's podcast here and yo...

The Amazon and Google lawsuits. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ⁠ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon ⁠ , accusing the company of monopolizing the online retail space. The FTC alleges that Amazon, worth $1.3 trillion, prevents its sellers from offering their products more cheaply on other platforms, forces sellers to use its warehouses and delivery services, and sometimes infla...

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to remove McCarthy as Speaker, marking the first time in American history that a sitting Speaker of the House has been removed. McCarthy said on Tuesday night he will not run for Speaker again. The interim Speaker of the House, also called the speaker pro tempore, is Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a close ally of McCarthy. McHenry said...

Dianne Feinstein and Laphonza Butler. On Thursday night, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein died at her home in Washington, D.C., at the age of 90. With Feinstein's death, Democrats now hold a Senate majority of 50-49. On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced he would appoint Laphonza Butler, the president of EMILY's List, to fill her seat. You can read today's podcast he...

The non-shutdown. In a dramatic few hours on Saturday, Congress avoided a government shutdown as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) passed a stopgap funding measure with the support of moderate Republicans and all but one House Democrat. The bill passed 335-91 in the House, with about half of Republicans voting against it. It then passed the Senate 88-9 hours later. President Biden signed the mea...

For all the talk about how broken some parts of our democracy are, very few people are actually doing something meaningful about it. Nick Troiano is one of those people. Through his work as Executive Director of Unite America, Troiano is attempting what most people probably don't even imagine to be possible: To solve gerrymandering and political polarization. We spoke with Nick about what he t...

The second Republican debate. On Wednesday night, seven Republican candidates for president participated in the second Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. You can read today's podcast ⁠here⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . You can also check out our latest YouTube video ⁠here⁠ . Today’s clickables: Quick hits (1:22), Today’s stor...

Rupert Murdoch steps down. On Thursday, 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch announced he was stepping down from his role as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp, two of the largest and most influential media holdings in the world. He also owns several large conservative news outlets and founded the Fox broadcast network. Murdoch sold many of his media assets to Walt Disney Co. in 2019, but is still an influ...