Tangle - Iran's attack on Israel.

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

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 wide-reaching shadow war, Iran had never launched a direct attack on Israel until this weekend’s missile launches. The two former allies have been living with deep tensions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.You can read our most recent coverage of the war in Gaza here and here. 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 interview with Edwin Raymond. He is a recently retired NYPD lieutenant, civil-rights activist and author of the riveting new memoir An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America. You can view it here.Catch up on Episode 1 of our first ever limited podcast series, The Undecideds, before the next one comes out. We're following five voters — all Tangle readers — who are undecided about who they are going to vote for in the 2024 election. In Episode 1, we introduce you to those voters. Today’s clickables: Correction and notes (0:53), Quick hits (5:41), Today’s story (7:53), Right’s take (10:42), Left’s take (14:50), Isaac’s take (18:43), Listener question (23:28), Under the Radar (27:57), Numbers (28:51), Have a nice day (29:57)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our general admission tickets are now sold out; but we still have some VIP seats left for purchase to our New York City event on April 17th. Get them here. Tangle is looking for a part-time intern to work as an assistant to our YouTube and podcast producer. This is a part-time, paid position that would be ideal for a college student or recent college graduate looking to get real-world deadline experience in the industry. Applicants should have: Proficiency in Adobe Premiere — After Effects a plus. Minimum of one year of video editing (Adobe Premiere) Minimum of one year of audio editing and mixing (Any DAW) Good organizational and communication skills Understanding of composition and aesthetic choices Self-sufficiency in solving technical problems Proficiency in color grading and vertical video formatting (preferred, not required)To apply, email your resume and a few paragraphs about why you are applying to [e-mail] and [e-mail] with the subject line "Editor opening"The job listing is posted here. Preference will be given to candidates in the greater Philadelphia area. What do you think should be the response to Iran’s strike on Israel? Let us know!Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Jon Lall. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Will Kaback, Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and we've got a very important addition for you today. We're going to be talking about Iran's attack in Israel, the response to an Israeli strike on a building in Syria, which killed a couple Iranian generals a couple weeks ago. And Iran has been promising to respond. And that response came over the weekend. Before we jump in, it is a crazy week here in Tangle World. We are busy. Wednesday, we have our Tangle event in New York City. It's coming. Quick heads up. Again, I've been saying this for a few weeks.

We have not sold out our VIP tickets yet. The general admission for the event is sold out in New York. I'm recording this at like 9.30 in the morning, so I can't say for sure. But I think that if the VIP tickets are still not sold out, a few, a handful, maybe five, maybe 10, I don't know how many are left, but they're going to be released as general admission tickets. So we'll have this little last moment of a few tickets coming out to the public. If you are waiting for GA tickets, you forgot to get yours or whatever, and you want to come. It's Wednesday night, City Winery in Manhattan, 7.30. The show starts, doors open at six. I'd recommend getting there around 7 o'clock if you want good seats. The tickets are on City Winery's website. So whether you want VIP or if you want to check to see if any GA tickets were released by the time this podcast comes out,

I highly recommend clicking the link in our newsletter or the one in our episode description and going to check that out. Then on Thursday morning, I am right after the event. This was not planned, but just how it happened. I am going back to Philly, getting on a plane, flying to Vancouver to give a TED Talk on Friday morning, which is a dream come true. I mean, I'm thrilled. I'm a fan of TED. I think a lot of us, a dream come true. I mean, I'm thrilled. I'm a fan of TED. I think a lot of us, you know, people my age grew up watching TED Talk YouTube videos. I got invited to go to the big main TED conference and give a talk on Friday, the last day of the conference, which is a pretty cool kind of legendary day. A lot of the really famous TED Talks have happened on that day. So I'm super excited. I'm humbled by the invitation. There's not much for you to do. I

guess you could buy a live stream ticket to TED. I believe those are available online. You could go to the TED conference if you live in Vancouver or in the area, but hopefully there'll be a YouTube video of it coming out afterward. And yeah, I'm really excited. I'm pumped for the trip. It's going to be a wild week. I'm nervous. I'm looking forward to it. I am, yeah, all the feelings. So super exciting all around. Really cool, fun, exciting week in the Tangle world. We've got a couple special editions coming out for you this week.

Because of all the travel, we're sort of trying to plan some stuff that's maybe not tied to breaking news. So we've got a reader mailbag coming up later in the week that I'm really excited about. And we also have another episode of our Undecided podcast coming out this week. So super thrilled about that. And yeah, just want to give you an update on where things are. The Tangle team, Sans Magdalena, who's meeting me in Vancouver for the TED Talk, are currently descending on New York in the East Coast. So super pumped about that as well to get some time in person with everybody.

And yeah, don't forget to get your tickets to the event if you haven't yet. Come to New York, the best city on earth, and we're going to have a blast. It should be a really interesting night. I do have a correction to jump into before we get to the quick hits today. I do have a correction to jump into before we get to the quick hits today. You're going to hear more about this in the reader mailbag. This is, you know, I take responsibility for anything that gets published and tangled. This correction happened when I was in Bali. Ari is going to take some ownership over the correction in the reader mailbag later this week because somebody asked a question about it.

And I respect his candidness and how he's owning this, but I'm an editor and was an editor on the edition, so I take ownership over the fact that I missed it. A few readers wrote in the pushback on a statement that we made supporting a claim from Senator Bernie Sanders that workers are earning less now in inflation-adjusted income than they were in 1955. We did that in our edition on the 32-Hour Workweek. Sanders may have been referring to a productivity-adjusted income, but that isn't what we said. We wrote that, quote, average inflation-adjusted income has decreased since 1955, and we linked to a few different sources to cobble together support for that claim. It was not accurate. It wasn't even close to accurate. We regret the error and that it took

us this long to address it. We're going to be breaking it down, like I said, in the special mailbag edition later this week. This is our 106th correction in Tangle's 244-week history and our first correction since April 12th. We track corrections and place them at the top of our podcast in an effort to maximize transparency with our listeners. All right, with that long preamble out of the way, we're going to jump in with some quick hits. First up, former President Trump's trial for falsifying business records begins in Manhattan today. The trial involved alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, and one other woman. Trump, the first former president to ever stand trial on a criminal case, has denied allegations since they first surfaced in 2018. Number two,

the Biden administration announced it would be canceling the student loan debt of another 277,000 borrowers through income-driven repayment plans. $153 billion of student debt has now been forgiven under Biden. Number three, in the latest New York Times Siena College poll, President Biden's approval rating improved slightly, and former President Donald Trump now leads him by just the 46 to 45 margin. Number four, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a bill that would have banned transgender medical treatments for minors like surgery and hormone replacement therapy. And number five, today is tax day in the United States, and the IRS is expecting millions of Americans to file and pay their taxes at the last minute. This is your reminder here on Dangle. Don't forget, today is tax day in the last minute. This is your reminder here on Dangle. Don't forget, today is tax day in the United States.

Iran tonight launched a swarm of drones at Israel as air defenses lit up the sky and exploded over Jerusalem. Iran says the attack is revenge for an airstrike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus nearly two weeks ago that killed seven members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, including two top commanders. For the last several minutes, we've seen these flares streaking all across the skies over Jerusalem. And now, for the first time, we're hearing the air raid sirens.

We are closely monitoring Iranian killer drones that are en route to Israel sent by Iran. This is a severe and dangerous escalation. Our defensive and offensive capabilities are at the highest level of readiness ahead of this large-scale attack from Iran. 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, the IRGC, including two generals. Despite years

of Iran's proxies attacking Israel in a wide-reaching shadow war, Iran has never launched a direct attack on Israel until this weekend's missile launches. The two former allies have been living with deep tension since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An Israeli military spokesman said that of the more than 300 drones and missiles Iran launched, Israel intercepted 99% of them. Several ballistic missiles reached Israeli territory, causing minor damage to an airbase, while a 7-year-old girl in a Bedouin Arab town in southern Israel was seriously injured. Israeli officials were still investigating

whether her injuries were directly related to the attack. Israeli Rear Admiral Daniel Higari called Israel's defense a significant strategic success. U.S. officials had been warning Iran would strike for more than a week, and had already moved warships into position in preparation. President Biden, who returned to the White House from Delaware when signs of the attack were imminent, said U.S. forces helped shoot down some of the drones. Images of Israel's Iron Dome, along with the Israeli and U.S. military intercepting the drones and rockets, went viral on social media. British and Jordanian forces also shot down some of the incoming drones. Jordan said it was acting in self-defense. In an apparent effort to prevent any further exchanges, Iran said their response to Israel's strike on effort to prevent any further exchanges, Iran said

their response to Israel's strike on the consulate was now over, and said there would be no further response unless Israel attacked it again. According to two Israeli officials, Israel's war cabinet members were urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a military response, but he opted against it after a phone call with President Biden because there was limited damage. However, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galan said the confrontation with Iran was not over yet. Leaders across the globe are urging Israel and Iran to avoid any further escalation. Israel's strike in Syria and Iran's response mark another example of how the war in Gaza has expanded throughout the region. Israel is also fighting Hezbollah on its border with Lebanon in the north, Houthi rebels from Yemen have been attacking ships in the Red Sea, and Iran's proxies

have been targeting some U.S. bases in Iraq. While we often include perspectives from abroad on issues like this one, today we're just going to focus on U.S. commentary from the right and the left, and then my take. You can read our most recent coverage of the war in Gaza with links to previous editions in today's episode description. We'll be right back after this quick commercial break. First up, we'll start with what the right is saying. The right suggests Biden's foreign policy approach emboldened Iran. Some say Israel should retaliate and the U.S. should support them in doing so. Others suggest that Israel has more to gain by leveraging the attack to strengthen its alliances. National Review's editor said the strike shows the failure of Biden's doctrine of

don't. Though President Biden did the right thing by deploying American assets to assist Israel's defensive response, the reality is that things never would have gotten to this point had it not been for his accommodating policies toward Iran and months of chastising Israel, the editor said. While President Biden pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal and re-established U.S. deterrence against Iran by ordering the killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, Biden and his team, many of the same people responsible for Obama's failed policies, sought to resurrect the deal. Once again, in doing so, they tried to downplay Iran's bad behavior and funneled tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Iran.

Since October 7th, whenever Biden has been asked about the possibility of Iran getting involved in the fighting, he has simply said, don't, without offering any explanation of what would happen if it did. What Iran has seen from the U.S., sadly, has been weakness, the editor said. Any action by the Biden administration to prevent Israel from doing what must be done after months of warning Iran, don't, would only further embolden Iran, leading to more frequent and ambitious attacks and inviting the very regional conflict Biden is desperate to avoid. In the New York Post, Mark Dubowitz and Benem Ben-Telebu argued the attack opens the door for Israel to hit back hard. For Iran's normally cautious supreme leader, this was a risky step.

By crossing a red line of a direct attack against Israel from Iranian soil, he opened the door for Jerusalem to hit back hard. Potential targets include leadership and military assets inside Iran, oil refineries, which are the lifeblood of his regime, and his rapidly expanding nuclear weapons program, Dubowitz and Tellebleu wrote. Now, the Biden administration must do more by providing Israel with ballistic missile defense support, as the two forces have practiced for decades. Washington also should provide all the military supplies the IDF needs to respond to this aggression and unwavering political support to see Israel through this critical time. Israel is a formidable military power with extensive military assets. It has a multi-layered air defense system that can shoot

down drones and crews and ballistic missiles. But the IDF can not only play defense, it will be under pressure to respond directly to Iranian aggression with its powerful air, naval, and cyber capabilities. If not, this could normalize Iranian direct attacks against Israel, Dubowitz and Taleblu said. The Islamic Republic has been at war with Israel for decades, but Iran's supreme leader now has crossed an Israeli red line that he may come to regret. In the New York Times, Brett Stevens wrote, for Israel, revenge should be a disserve cold. It's no secret that Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war for decades. The weekend attack is notable for two reasons, its directness and its ineffectuality, Stephen said. That should drive home a clear lesson to Iran's leaders. There are no technological

match for the Jewish state, especially when the United States is lending a hand. If Israel decides to respond to the attack with direct strikes on Iran, perhaps against oil installations, nuclear sites, or military infrastructure, it isn't likely to miss its targets. As a matter of self-defense, Israel has every moral and legal right to respond in kind, and then some. But if right is one consideration, prudence is another, Stevens wrote. Iran's attack and the Biden administration's laudable participation in Israel's defense is an opportunity for Benjamin Netanyahu to mend frayed ties in Washington and other Western capitals by showing restraint. Among other things, it can help move the House of Representatives finally to vote for the Ukraine-Israel military assistance package that the Senate approved in February.

It also buys Israel time to destroy what remains of Hamas's military forces in Gaza. All right, that is it for the rightist hang, which brings us to what the left is saying. The left hopes Israel's successful defense against the attack will mark the end of the immediate hostilities. Some argue Biden needs to play an active role in preventing an Israeli counterattack. Others say Netanyahu can use this moment to pursue peace in the region. In the Washington Post, David Ignatius said, A stunning victory with the shield creates an opening for Israel. A good defense is the best offense is a truism in sports. Israel demonstrated that this precept might apply to modern warfare as well.

In neutering an Iranian barrage, Israel showed that in combat the shield can be as powerful as the sword, Ignatius said. Israel has felt weak and embattled since Hamas's October 7th terrorist attack and increasingly isolated internationally as it tried to crush Hamas and its lairs underneath a desperate Palestinian civilian population. But the symbolic imagery reversed Saturday night. While criticizing Netanyahu's mistakes on Gaza and pressing for de-escalation and humanitarian assistance, Biden has also made good on his pledge of ironclad support for Israel's defense in crisis, Ignatius added. Some Israelis will doubtless want to go harder on the offensive now that Iran's

rocket attack has been routed. But perhaps the show of force will create an opportunity for defusing a conflict that had, until this weekend, seemed damaging and demoralizing for Israel. After Saturday night's fireworks, that momentum may have shifted. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across

Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. In the Daily Beast, David Rothkopf wrote that the U.S. must pull out all the stops to avoid a regional war. Iran launched an attack on Israel Saturday that was apparently designed by Iran to be both dramatic

and ineffective. It was dramatic because in the long decades of enmity between the two countries, Iran had never directly launched an attack from Iran against targets in Israel, but it was also deliberately ineffective, employing tactics and utilizing weapons that were almost certain to be stopped by the sophisticated air defenses of Israel and its allies like the United States, Rothkopf said. In short, while Saturday's onslaught may have been more messaging than attack, how it is received by the Israelis will determine how damaging it really becomes. That is why, in the days ahead, the focus of the Biden administration and the international community will be on persuading Israel not to enter an escalatory spiral, Rothkopf wrote. Netanyahu's long been

an extreme Iran hawk, and Iran's backing of Hamas isn't the only reason it's gotten more extreme. Expect the Bayan team to work hard, along with its allies, to seek to stop further regional destabilization and potential escalation. In The Atlantic, Graham Wood asks what will Netanyahu do now? After its drones and missiles were swatted down like flies, Iran is now suggesting that the two countries call it a tie. This tie is an astonishing Israeli win. It is an operational triumph because it demonstrated that swarming attacks from a sophisticated adversary are not effective against Israel over the long ranges, Wood said. The attack is also a gift to the hapless Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's

prime minister, whose incompetence was universally acknowledged just a day ago. Now, after botching the response to the worst terrorist attack in Israel's history, Netanyahu's government gathers credit for having repelled the most significant Iranian attack in Israel's history. But just because Netanyahu could decide to do nothing precipitous doesn't mean that he will, Wood said. If Netanyahu behaves uncharacteristically, he could reach out to Israel's Arab allies and to its international critics and try to reboot Gaza negotiations and bring home the Israeli hostages who are still alive. This reminder that Israel's enemies are not limited to Hamas and that Israel owes debts to its Arab friends who wish to see Gazans return to their homes, and who also not-so-secretly also wish Israel could somehow eliminate Hamas without fuss once

and for all, could catalyze a new Israeli reaction to the conflict. Alright, that is it for the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So first and foremost, I'm glad virtually everyone is okay. One seven-year-old in critical condition is terrible, but any more Israeli injuries or deaths wouldn't just compound the tragedy of the war we've been witnessing. They'd increase the likelihood of a self-sustaining round of increasingly violent attacks. Second, I'm incredibly impressed by the Iron Dome system and the coordinated effort by Israel and its allies, most notably the U.S., to destroy the barrage. Of all the kinds of military technology I can think of, defensive systems like the Iron Dome are undoubtedly my favorite. They harm no one. They solely protect. If systems like it

proliferated across the globe, they'd make attacks like the one Iran just levied a pointless endeavor. One can dream. Now, of course, we wait with bated breath to see what Israel does. Iran has given them a simple off-ramp, articulating clearly they have no intention of conducting another attack so long as Israel lets things rest where they are. While Iran's saying it doesn't make it true, an end to these exchanges is in its best interest, so in this case, I don't doubt the sincerity of the message. I pray that the Israeli war cabinet, quote, takes the win and lets things lie as they are. Remember, the attack was in direct response to Israel's strike in Syria, a major escalation itself. The facility Israel struck has a disputed diplomatic status, but consulates like it are typically off-limits

under international law. Iran is also known for attacking similar places, so while it's true that such a strike is just an extension of the way Iran fights these little proxy battles, it's also true that Israel's initial strike was probably a violation of international law. As I've argued before, we should hold Israel to an incredibly high standard, and I have no problem saying their strike in Syria crossed the line. In that light, this was a fairly proportionate and expected response to Israel's strike in Syria, which upended relative peace in Damascus, and Israel should let things lie. The Middle East is already teetering on the edge, and the best way to stabilize it is for Israel to take this

opportunity to hit pause. As I've been expressing for months, one of my greatest concerns about the war in Gaza is how much potential it has to spread across the region. Israeli reporter Barak Ravid summed up the current state of affairs like this, quote, Israel situation report, Gaza war stuck, no hostage deal in sight, Iran and proxies prepare for attack on Israel. This was before the attack. Hezbollah continues to shell the north, West Bank burning after murder of 14-year-old settler by Palestinians and pogroms by settlers, increasing international isolation, end quote. Things are not getting better. They are getting worse. But that isn't all on Israel either. Iran plays a major role in much of this violence, terrorism, and instability across the Middle East. The last thing I want to do is portray

Iran as a victim here. They are not. If anything, they are the main perpetrator. They almost certainly helped organize the October 7th attacks and have been destabilizing this region for decades. It is more than disheartening to watch some Westerners cheer on Iran, a regime that brutalizes, oppresses, and starves its own people all in the name of a global jihad. It is one of the most wealthy, powerful, and organized enemies of not only Israel, but of the United States too. That it has come out of the shadows with a direct attack on Israel like this marks a major turning point, and one that should make the entire world nervous. As I've said before, Israel's incursion into Gaza hasn't just created a humanitarian crisis for Gazans. It is making Israel and Jews across the globe less safe by causing so much

disruption, isolation, and tension that Israel's enemies are acting out in force. Iran is not going to sit on its hands when Israel bombs a consulate building in Syria and kills its top generals. No country would, nor can they be expected to. These kinds of acts are endangering Israelis, who knew a response was coming, and spent Saturday night rushing into bomb shelters. Lastly, we should remember that Israel didn't scuttle Iran's aerial response by itself. It also got help from its Arab partners like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. We're not in 1967 anymore. The world has changed. And right now, Israel is not just in a position of military strength, but as a rare and

valuable diplomatic opportunity. Everyone should be insisting that Israel use its position to look for an off-ramp from the road to a broader war, as the alternative would truly be the worst-case scenario. We'll be right back after this quick break. right back after this quick break. All right, next up is our reader question. This is from Leela in Warwick, Rhode Island. Leela said, do you support trans rights, men self-identifying as women, at the expense of women's sex-based rights in sports, prisons, locker rooms, bathrooms, shelters, awards, and scholarships. Okay, so this is obviously a can of worms to open in a reader question, but I'm going to try and do

it. These are all pretty different issues that I think should have different answers, which actually I think is my answer. Broad responses to questions like these are not helpful. In that sense, sports are a great microcosm, which was the first thing you asked about, so I'm going to address it. Every sport itself is a different situation. As I said during the Leah Thomas controversy, I think it is very obvious that there are instances where certain trans women are going to have unfair advantages over cisgender women in certain sports and competitions. fair advantages over cisgender women in certain sports and competitions. I think there are also instances where that advantage is much less clear, or actually non-existent. Which is why I think the

governing bodies of the sports themselves should handle these situations, not the federal government or even major collegiate groups like the NCAA. But every sport is different. Every level of every sport is different. Every individual is different. Both sides loathe to admit it, but the annoying truth is that there isn't an easy blanket answer here. This issue is just complicated. For instance, if an 8th grade boy goes through a gender transition during puberty and begins identifying as a girl, and then wants to play with all the girls in an after-school recreational league softball program. Do I care at all? No. And I don't think anyone really should. We should prioritize helping those kids navigate what is almost assuredly a difficult time,

especially during puberty, an impossible time for everyone. Now, say there is a Division I men's track athlete who races with the men his freshman year, and then his sophomore year of college begins identifying as a woman. Do I think this athlete, by virtue of self-identification alone, should be able to just switch divisions and begin racing against women? Definitely not, and I don't think anyone really should. Based on how we know men's and women's track athletes compare, we could be pretty sure that this athlete would have an unfair advantage to dominate the division, unfairly taking opportunities away from other women. I play Ultimate Frisbee. I've played competitive Ultimate Frisbee my entire adult life. Ultimate is a very progressive space, and the community

has a very progressive posture compared to other sports towards trans players moving through divisions. One cool feature of Ultimate is that, on top of men's and women's divisions, it also has a mixed-gender competition at both the rec league and the most competitive levels. So, I've played mixed-gender Ultimate many times, i.e. men and women on the field at the same time, with men usually covering men and women usually covering women, but people often switching. I've had many trans women and trans men as teammates. I've watched trans women and trans men cover each other and other cisgender men and women switch onto who they're covering and just play and it works. There is an openness and level of fairness that people abide by. We all understand

nobody is switching their genders to win a recreational league ultimate frisbee championship. With scant expectations, the fairness of play has not been impeached, while the community has been able to give space for trans players to participate and feel welcomed. It's a win-win. Nobody is that upset by it, certainly not me. My personal experiences have provided an interesting example of how sport can bring people together and be an escape from politics, work, and all the other stuff that plagues our day-to-day stress. Now, not only are the stakes lower in a primarily amateur sport like Ultimate and the gender

relationships on the field already unique, but the attitudes of the participants are much more uniform on this issue, which makes it much easier. Regardless, I think Ultimate should provide its own rules, and other sports can, and might have a very good reason to, act differently. Between the Division I track athlete example and the 8th grade softball example and the Ultimate Frisbee example are an ocean of iterations. Depending on the circumstances of the person, the sport, the level of play, or the questions of fairness, my answer might change. That is true for all the examples you laid out, and that's why I don't feel comfortable just saying yes or no to your question. All right, that is it for today's reader question. A quick reminder,

if you ever want to write into Tangle, you can do that by writing to me, Isaac, I-S-A-A-C, Reminder, if you ever want to write into Tangle, you can do that by writing to me, Isaac, I-S-A-A-C, at readtangle.com. All right, next up is our under the radar section. President Biden announced $6.4 billion in grants to Samsung to expand chip production in the Austin, Texas area. The Biden administration is focused on a major investment in semiconductor chips used in everything from phones to cars, all in an effort to reduce reliance on Taiwan and China. Samsung already has a facility in Taylor, Texas, and will use the money to upgrade that facility and build another. The initiative is funded by the Bipartisan Chips Act of 2022. Despite semiconductors being invented in the United States, only about 10% of them are

manufactured here. The New York Times has the story, and there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, next up is our numbers section. The approximate number of active duty personnel in the Iranian armed forces is 580,000, according to a 2023 assessment by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The approximate range in miles of Iran's ballistic missiles, enough to reach any target in the Middle East, is about 1,200. The estimated funding that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad receive from the Iranian government each year is $100 million, according to a 2020 U.S. State Department report. The approximate number of voters in last month's Iranian parliamentary elections was 25 million, the lowest turnout in an Iranian election since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The percentage of Iranians who say their preferred system of government is an Islamic republic is now just 22%, a reminder the Islamic republic is their current system. That's according to a 2022 poll from Gaman Institute. And the percentage of Americans who say they consider Iran to be the United States' greatest enemy in 2023 was just 2%, according to Gallup. In 2024, that number is 9%. All right, and last but not least, our have a nice day section. Using the River Mercy in the Bay of Liverpool, Liverpool's city region has entered phase three planning to build the largest tidal power plant on Earth. Harnessing the power of Liverpool, Liverpool's city region has entered phase three planning to build the largest tidal power plant on earth. Harnessing the power of tides in Liverpool Bay

is an idea that dates back to 1924, and the government utility Mercy Tidal Power believes that they can use the tides to power one million homes while also protecting the city from flood waters, all without disturbing the local ecosystem. I think that we have a unique opportunity to harness the power of our greatest natural assets, our river and our people, to deliver a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future for our children, said Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotterham. Good News Network has this story and there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's podcast. As always, if you want to support our work,

go to reetangle.com forward slash membership. Don't forget, Tangle event this Wednesday. Keep an eye out for a late game ticket release. We're sold out. We still have VIP tickets you can go buy right now, but we're going to put some of them in the GA pool, assuming that they haven't sold out over the weekend as well, which as I record this, I honestly don't know. So either way, go check out citywinery.com. Look for our event on Wednesday. There's a link to it in the episode

description and today's newsletter, and we will be back here tomorrow. Have a good one. Peace. Peace. who is also our social media manager. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go to readtangle.com and check out our website. We'll be right back. travel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for

ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at FluCellVax.ca.