Tangle

On today's Sunday podcast, Isaac shares some arguments about why Israel might be wise to pursue this invasion in Rafah. Then Isaac and Ari talk about lab grown meat, Kristi Noem shooting her dog, a little bit of a wealth tax convo, and and how much Philadelphia sports fans suck. You can watch our latest video, Isaac's interview with former Congressman Ken Buck (CO-04) ⁠here⁠ . Check the ne...

For episode 3 , our focus shifts from Donald Trump toward President Joe Biden. Much has been made in the media about his age and memory and whether he’s cognitively capable of handling another term. But an unanticipated performance at the State of the Union reignited his base and left many questioning that narrative. And while Donald Trump faces a jury of his peers in court, the court of public op...

The Rafah invasion. On Monday, Israeli forces began striking targets in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. During the course of the war, over a million Gazan refugees fled to the Rafah region to shelter from Israel's incursion in the north. Several Hamas battalions have also fled south to Rafah and maintained a stronghold there, which Israel says it is aiming to dismantle with its latest push. Yo...

Trump’s pick for vice president. Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump headlined the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat in Florida, an event that doubled as a showcase of Trump’s potential running mates . These attendees — dubbed “special guests” — included Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), Sen. Tim Scott (SC), Sen. J.D. Vance (OH), Gov. Doug Burgum (ND), Gov. Kri...

A global wealth tax. Late last month, G20 ministers from Brazil, Germany, Spain, and South Africa signed a motion and published an opinion piece in The Guardian calling for a global tax of 2% on the world's 3,000 billionaires. The proposal is to raise roughly €250 billion (or $270 billion) a year to fight against global poverty, and has also been backed by the head of the International Monetar...

Florida’s ban on lab-grown meat. On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill that bans lab-grown meat in the state, describing the bill as an effort to "save our beef" and protect cattle ranchers. The bill, S.B. 1084 , made it unlawful to "manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for sale, or distribute cultivated meat."  You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here...

Isaac and Ari talk about the ongoing protest on college campuses, the value of the electoral college, and Donald Trump's flip-flop on mail-in voting. Plus, in this week's Airing of Grievances, Ari wants more work and the saga of Isaac's W key on his computer comes to an end. You can watch our latest video, Isaac's interview with former Congressman Ken Buck (CO-04) ⁠here⁠ . Check th...

Reclassifying marijuana. On Tuesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland submitted a proposal for a White House review to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous controlled substance, moving it from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III .  You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . You can watch our latest video, Isaac&#39...

Biden's Title IX changes. Earlier this month, the Biden administration released new Title IX rules designed to protect LGBTQ students and reversed a number of Trump-era policies related to how schools can respond to allegations of sexual assault on college campuses or in K-12 schools. You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day”...

The NPR controversy. On April 9, National Public Radio's longtime business editor Uri Berliner published an essay in The Free Press titled "I've Been at NPR for Over 25 Years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust." Berliner detailed his experience at the network, castigating it for a leftward lurch that has left many of its longtime listeners disenchanted and moving on to o...

Trump's immunity case. On Thursday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. United States. During arguments, the court appeared ready to side at least partially with former President Donald Trump's lawyers, who argued he has absolute immunity from criminal charges for acts taken in his official capacity as president. Reminder: The case stems from Special Counsel Jack Smith's...

Isaac and Ari talk about Isaac’s experience at TED 2024, some advice on how to interact with Ari if you meet him in person, and an introduction to the Tangle Live event at City Winery on April 17th, followed by the recording of the event, in full and uncut. You can watch our latest video, Isaac's interview with former Congressman Ken Buck (CO-04)  here . We just released the next episode of ou...

A couple of weeks ago, we sent Tangle News YouTube and podcast editor Jon Lall to the home of former Representative Ken Buck (R-CO). Buck, who recently retired from the House of Representatives, was enjoying his first few days of free time since leaving Congress. Long known as one of the most outspoken members of his party, Buck had been making waves in the news for criticizing the state of Congre...

The homelessness case before the Supreme Court. During oral arguments on Monday, the Supreme Court seemed divided on City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, a case about local and state restrictions on people camping and sleeping in public places. You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . Watch our latest YouTube video, an...

Campus protests. Over the last week, protests on elite college campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza have boiled over, with hundreds of students arrested or suspended, and clashes between protestors and counter-protestors hitting a fever pitch. You can read today's podcast ⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ , our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠ . Watch our latest YouTube video,...

FISA reauthorization. On Saturday night, President Biden signed legislation reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the controversial warrantless surveillance program whose renewal had been held up by bipartisan concerns. Minutes after it lapsed at midnight on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a deal to vote on a package of amendme...

The House foreign aid and TikTok bills. On Saturday, the House of Representatives passed three separate foreign aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, totaling $95 billion. The House also passed a bill that will ban TikTok from app stores if ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns it, does not sell the app to a U.S. company and also allows the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukr...

House Speaker Mike Johnson. In a closed-door meeting of Republican legislators on Monday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced a new plan for voting on foreign aid that will split the $95 billion foreign aid package passed by the Senate into four different bills. The House would then vote on the bills funding Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan separately, with a fourth bill addressing other...

Every now and again, we have so many reader questions in the backlog that we decide to devote a full edition to address them. Today is one of those days. I love reader mailbag editions because they give us a chance to cover a variety of topics in one newsletter. It can also be fun to answer questions that are a little more personal, or a little outside our standard U.S. politics realm (we love tho...

In episode 2 , The Undecideds primarily talk about Trump’s legal troubles. How do they feel about his alleged crimes? How would him being convicted - or exonerated - change the way they vote? What about his claims he should have immunity as president? You’ll hear how they consider these major themes of the race, and also what they made of Haley dropping out and Biden’s State of the Union Address....

Donald Trump's trial. On Monday, jury selection began in Manhattan for former President Donald Trump's trial for allegedly falsifying business records, commonly referred to as the "hush money" case. The allegations brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are that Trump orchestrated a scheme to influence the 2016 election by identifying and purchasing negative informati...

Iran's attack on Israel. On Saturday, Iran launched 170 drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles toward Israel. Iran had been promising the attack for two weeks since Israel’s bombing of an Iranian consulate building in Syria that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals. Despite years of Iran's proxies attacking Israel in a...

Isaac and Ari talk about Isaac’s recent trip to Bali, Biden’s new student debt forgiveness plan, a pro-Palestine protest at dinner event for UC Berkeley students, and whether Justice Sotomayor should retire. Plus, Ari finally has a grievance that Isaac agrees with. Watch our latest YouTube video, an interview with Edwin Raymond. He is a recently retired NYPD lieutenant, civil-rights activist and a...

The economy. In the last week, the government made two big announcements on the economy. First, on Friday, the Department of Labor reported that the economy added 303,000 jobs in March, though full-time unemployment decreased slightly. The total jobs added far surpassed economists' predictions that roughly 200,000 jobs would be added. Additionally, unemployment held steady at 3.8%, continuing...

President Biden's new student loan cancellation plan. On Monday, President Biden unveiled a new plan that could erase some or all of the college loans for up to 30 million borrowers . The plan comes less than a year after the Supreme Court blocked a broader effort that would have forgiven an average of $20,000 for roughly 40 million Americans. Today, around 43 million Americans own about $1.7...