Tangle

On Monday, 18 Americans returned to the United States from a cruise ship where passengers had contracted a rare strain of hantavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) transported the passengers to specialized quarantine facilities in Nebraska and Georgia; one American tested positive for the virus. As of Tuesday afternoon, three deaths — a Dutch couple and a German woman — nine confirmed cases and two more suspected cases have been linked to the cruise ship outbreak. Health officials say the risk to the general public remains low.The modern moon race.For more than 50 years, no human has set foot on the lunar surface. But now, the United States, China, Russia, and others are all planning to return — not just to visit, but to stay. In our latest video, Associate Producer Aidan Gorman explores why the world’s great powers are suddenly dead set on getting back to the moon, and how the race could shape the future beyond Earth.https://youtu.be/j-6etWMgNv0?si=uSqf6nN9saY_RfzGAd-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: How much is your social circle discussing the current hantavirus outbreak? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Ari Weitzman and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

Over the past week, the United States and Iran have exchanged communications over plans to end the war between the countries, though talks have yet to produce a breakthrough. On Monday, President Donald Trump said the pause in fighting is on “life support,” calling Iran’s most recent response to a U.S. peace proposal unacceptable. Separately, the Strait of Hormuz remains mostly closed to commercial traffic, with the U.S. and Iran exchanging fire in the waterway last week. Help us reach 100,000.The Tangle Instagram has grown into a valuable source for breaking news and political analysis that tens of thousands of followers rely on. Soon, that number will tip into six figures (shoutout Russell Nystrom, our social media editor!). Unlike many other news organizations or influencers, we don’t buy followers. We grow the channel organically — and we’re currently sitting at approximately 91,000 followers, with an internal goal of reaching 100,000 by the start of summer. So… if you haven’t already — and are looking for a dependable breaking-news source to complement the newsletter’s in-depth analysis — please consider giving us a follow!Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: How do you think negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are going? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down a redistricting measure recently passed by voters that would have allowed the legislature to adopt a new congressional map designed to give Virginia Democrats a 10–1 advantage in the U.S. House. In a 4–3 decision, the court found that the process of putting the measure on the ballot violated the state constitution, affirming a county judge’s ruling. The decision will keep the current map — under which Democrats have a 6–5 advantage — in place for the 2026 midterms, though state Democrats said they will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!Your criticism, Isaac’s response.“When an article takes off, I write a follow-up piece addressing those criticisms and questions. I do this because I think engaging with our audience is an important way to gain trust and an important exercise in humility and intellectual honesty.” — Tangle Executive Editor Isaac SaulOn Friday, we published a roundup of feedback to Isaac’s recent report exploring potential corruption in the second Trump administration. Isaac offered his response to some of the most common criticisms he received and answered a few questions his piece prompted. You can read it here.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Under the radar” story ⁠here⁠. and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

Last week, I published an exhaustive 6,000-word essay on the self-dealing and potential corruption of President Donald Trump’s second administration.I shared clips of the article on X, and it went viral. The initial feedback from readers within and outside the Tangle community overwhelmingly asked us to drop the paywall on the piece. After a few hours, we did.Since then, we’ve been inundated with comments, criticism, and questions. Usually, when an article takes off like this, I write a follow-up piece addressing those criticisms and questions. I do this because I think engaging with our audience is an important way to gain trust and an important exercise in humility and intellectual honesty. I often engage with feedback by quoting specific readers and then responding directly to what they said in a Q&A format. That’s exactly what I’m doing today.Ad-free podcasts are here!To unlock the rest of this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!Here is the piece Isaac is responding to: Corruption in the Trump administration?“After reviewing the evidence of the first 15 months of President Trump’s second term, I believe the president is profiting off the office and making foreign policy decisions based on business interests to a level we’ve never seen or even conceived of before, and apparently nothing is being done to stop it.”Gold phones, Qatari planes, Syrian golf courses, cryptocurrency schemes, ballroom donations. Market moves, board seats, lawsuits dropped, lawsuits threatened. Pardons, prosecutions, profits, profits, profits… This past Friday, Executive Editor Isaac Saul waded through all of it in a thorough exploration of the charges of corruption against President Donald Trump.In case you missed it, you can read the piece here. We’ve also decided to make this Friday edition open to everyone, so please share it with anyone you think would be interested!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Tuesday, Indiana held primary elections for the 2026 midterms. The state Senate primaries were closely watched after President Donald Trump supported challenges against incumbent Republican state senators in response to their opposition to a mid-decade redistricting plan last December. Six Trump-backed candidates defeated incumbent lawmakers, while another won an open-seat primary. Only one incumbent opposed by the president, Greg Goode of Terre Haute, has won their election. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!Our latest Suspension of the Rules.This week, Isaac, Ari, and Kmele discuss today’s newsletter topic: party primaries, Indiana, and gerrymandering. Things also get heady as they discuss whether billionaires should exist and unpack a ChatGPT criticism of last Friday’s edition on corruption in the Trump administration (which you’ll read more about tomorrow). To go deep on today’s story, preview tomorrow’s or just hear a debate over the wealth disparity, check out the latest Suspension of the Rules!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think will be the future of gerrymandering in the United States? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Monday, May 4, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on a lower court’s order that mifepristone, a drug commonly used in early-term abortions, can only be prescribed and dispensed in person. The order pauses the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’s decision to prevent the drug from being accessed by mail. In a brief order, Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees appeals from the 5th Circuit, paused that court’s order until May 11, restoring telehealth access to the drug and giving challengers until May 7 to respond.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!Do Americans see each other as immoral?Back in March, the headline was everywhere: “Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad,” the title of a 25-country study from the Pew Research Center. Associate Editor Lindsey Knuth interviewed one of the study’s coauthors, Jonathan Evans, and Pew’s associate director of global attitudes research, Laura Silver, to talk about Americans’ national pride, partisan differences, and the state of professional polling. You can listen to the interview here.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ todays “Under the radar” story ⁠here⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: How do you think the Supreme Court should rule on the challenge to remote mifepristone prescriptions? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Audrey Moorehead and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

Back in March, the headline was everywhere: “Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad,” the title of a 25-country study from the Pew Research Center. Associate Editor Lindsey Knuth interviewed one of the study’s coauthors, Jonathan Evans, and Pew’s associate director of global attitudes research, Laura Silver, to talk about Americans’ national pride, partisan differences, and the state of professional polling.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was hosted by Lindsey Knuth and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Thursday, April 30, the House of Representatives passed legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and end the department’s 76-day shutdown, the longest shutdown in U.S. government history. The House of Representatives and the Senate each had passed separate bills to end the shutdown; on Thursday, the House approved the Senate’s legislation in a voice vote under suspension of the rules, and President Donald Trump signed the bill into law the same day.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!Isaac on Breaking Points.Executive Editor Isaac Saul’s Friday report on allegations of corruption in the second Trump administration has driven a massive response across the Tangle community — and among those who are newly discovering his work. This morning, Isaac went on Breaking Points with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti to discuss the piece. You can check out the interview on their YouTube channel at 3:00 PM ET.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think will be the impact of the DHS shutdown? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Will Kaback and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.