Tangle

In my small attempt to live my values, I like to dedicate the first Friday edition of every new year to grading some of my previous writing. Here’s our process: About two months ago, I told my team to start looking through our archives and flag instances where we took a strong position on a defining story in the past year. I also sorted through reader criticisms, feedback, and suggestions about ar...

On December 29, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States,  passed away  at age 100. Carter served one term after defeating Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, then lost his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. Carter’s administration faced several distinct challenges, including double-digit inflation, energy shortages, and the Iran hostage crisis. His post-presidency was associat...

On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg  announced  that the company will end its fact-checking program across Instagram, Facebook and Threads, instead instituting a feature similar to X’s “ Community Notes ,” which crowdsources content reviews. The company will also  relax limitations  on controversial topics, like immigration and gender identity, and will allow for more politica...

In recent weeks, the H-1B visa program has  prompted  vigorous discussion about the U.S. immigration system, foreign workers, and the tech industry. The debate has proved divisive among supporters of President-elect Donald Trump and has sparked disagreement on the left. Most notably, tech entrepreneurs like Elon Musk voiced strong support for H-1B visas to help them access skilled intern...

In the early hours of New Year’s Day, a man  drove a pickup truck  into a crowd on New Orleans’s Bourbon Street,  killing  14 people and injuring 35 others. Additionally, the attacker reportedly  planted  multiple improvised explosive devices in the area, but they did not detonate. Investigators said the suspect appears to have been inspired by ISIS, a U.S.-designated...

In today's episode, Managing Editor Ari Wietzman talks with Jill Escher, an autism research philanthropist (Escher Fund for Autism), real estate investor who provides low-income housing for adults with developmental disabilities, former lawyer, and mother of two children with nonverbal autism. In this discussion, she highlights the increasing prevalence of autism, the frustrations with current res...

Today is Christmas Eve, which means the Tangle team is about to step into our annual holiday and New Year break. If you are new here — as many of you are — here's what you need to know: I believe in working hard, playing hard, and pacing ourselves. I know the media business is a difficult one, so I work myself to the bone and push my team to bring their best every day, too. But I also know that ma...

On Saturday, President Joe Biden  signed  a stopgap funding bill into law, averting a prolonged government shutdown after last-minute negotiations in the House and Senate. The continuing resolution (CR) is a scaled-down version of a bill that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released on Tuesday but scrapped a day later. The  new CR , called the “American Relief Act, 2025,” funds th...

In the last couple weeks, I've been accused of being "out of touch" more times than I ever have in my entire life. The criticisms have mostly been for "my take" on the murder of Brian Thompson and then my response to reader feedback on that take. As frustrating as the criticisms have been, I also realized the problem was partially my fault. While I've touched on the topic a lot, I've never written...

On Wednesday, House Republican leadership  scrapped  a bill to temporarily fund the government after President-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and House Republicans came out against the effort. The sudden change of course comes just days before current government funding runs out on Friday night, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has not indicated whether he will pursue a new bill to...

On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump  settled a defamation lawsuit  with ABC News over inaccurate statements made by news host George Stephanopoulos during a segment in March. As part of the settlement, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a "Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of...

On Thursday, President Joe Biden  announced  the largest single-day act of clemency in modern American history, commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were moved from prison to serve home-confinement sentences during the pandemic. Additionally, Biden pardoned 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.  Ad-free podcasts are here! Many listeners have been asking for an...

For several weeks, residents of New Jersey and other East Coast states have  reported  seeing possible drones flying over residential neighborhoods and restricted areas. While federal officials have stated that the aircraft do not pose a public safety risk, a lack of specificity in the response has created uncertainty about their origins and nature. Overall, UAPs have been reported in at...

Please enjoy this preview episode of our Sunday podcast. The full editions are available exclusively for premium podcast members. To become a member, please go to tanglemedia.supercast.com and sign up. In this episode, Isaac, Ari, and Jon talk about "Karens" and the whether we should appreciate them or not. They also discuss birthright citizenship, with Jon sharing his personal immigration story a...

On today's episode, Isaac responds to comments and criticism on our coverage of the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Tangle Editor Will Kaback sits in to read Isaac's response.  This is a preview of today's Friday edition that is available in full and ad-free for our premium podcast subscribers. If you'd like to complete this episode and receive Sunday editions, exclusive inter...

On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump gave his first network television interview since the election, speaking with NBC's Kristen Welker for Meet The Press. During the interview,  Trump said  he would seek to end birthright citizenship, possibly through executive action, calling the practice “ridiculous” and saying the U.S. is the only country that grants the right. Legal experts doubt...

On Monday, a Manhattan jury found Marine veteran Daniel Penny, 26,  not guilty  of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless street artist Penny placed in a chokehold on a New York subway car in May of last year. Previously, the more serious manslaughter charge  was dismissed  after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on the co...

Tangle Editor Will Kaback talked with Ambassador John Sullivan who gave a comprehensive overview of the current state of the Ukraine war, the implications for U.S. national security, and the challenges facing future administrations. They discussed the importance of supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, critiques the political rhetoric surrounding the conflict, and reflects on his experien...

On Sunday, ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  fled  the country and was granted political asylum in Russia. Assad's departure marks the end of his regime, a dramatic turn of events following a ten-day  offensive  by rebel forces starting with the capture of Aleppo on November 30. Editor’s note: The situation in Syria is one of the most complex geopolitical issues in the w...

On Wednesday, a gunman  shot and killed  UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in New York City. Police have yet to publicly identify the shooter or determine a motive, though they believe the attack was targeted. Despite these limited details, the incident has reignited debates about the United States’s healthcare system and  incited controversy  on social media,...

Please enjoy this preview episode of our Sunday podcast. The full editions are available exclusively for premium podcast members. To become a member, please go to tanglemedia.supercast.com and sign up. In this episode, Isaac, Ari, and Will discusses the recent murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, celebrating violence against perceived elites, the moral dilemmas of such reactions...

On today's episode, Managing Editor Ari Weitzman explores the evolution and current state of liberalism in the United States, particularly in the context of recent political events and the 2024 elections. He discusses the defining values of modern liberalism, including social protection, civil rights, foreign intervention, big government, and labor. This is a preview of today's Friday edition that...

On Wednesday, a majority of Supreme Court justices  signaled  that they were willing to allow states to pass laws limiting access to treatments prescribed for transgender teens. During over two hours of  oral arguments  in  United States v. Skrmetti,  a case challenging a Tennessee law banning gender transition surgeries and the use of puberty blockers and hormone the...

On Saturday, President-elect Trump  announced  the nomination of Kashyap "Kash" Patel as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Patel is a former federal prosecutor who served in the White House during Trump’s first term and is viewed as a strong ally of the president-elect. For Patel to take over the position, current FBI director Christopher Wray (who Trump also nomin...

On Sunday, President Joe Biden announced that he had issued a  full and unconditional pardon  of his son, Hunter, for any criminal acts between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024. The younger Biden was  convicted  earlier this year on felony gun charges and  pleaded guilty  to felony tax offenses; he was  set to appear  at sentencing hearings for those cas...