Tangle - The whole point of Tangle

Episode Date: June 22, 2022

A message from Isaac about what this is and why we do it. Plus, some quick hits from yesterday's news.You can read today's podcast here.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and produced by Trevor Eichhorn. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, 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 where you get views from across the political spectrum. to the Tangle podcast, the place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. On today's episode, we are going to be doing something a little bit different. I'm going to be talking about the whole point of Tangle, and I'm going to tell you a quick story, and then I'll give you some of the news of the day. So on a typical day, about 10 to 30 Tangle subscribers drop off from our mailing list every day, which is basically the written version of this podcast.

This is all part of running a newsletter, a media business. The goal is to just add more subscribers than you lose every day. And I've been fortunate to see that Tangle has done that consistently over the last three years. It's why we've grown. But yesterday there was some unusual action in that space. I noticed that about a couple hundred readers unsubscribed from the newsletter, which is a lot more than usual. When someone leaves Tangle and they unsubscribe from the newsletter, they get a brief automated email that says, did you mean to unsubscribe?

This happens because people often accidentally click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email. I also do this because it gently invites people to share some feedback about our product and helps us improve it. If you reply to that email, it goes straight to my inbox. So I was shocked to see some of the responses that came in yesterday. Among them, readers, generally readers on the right, were objecting to my position on the drag show controversy that

we covered yesterday. The responses included things like this. I unsubscribe because I disagree with your take on the drag queen issue, one reader wrote. People don't always realize when they need help, and if pundits become too politically correct to speak the truth to obvious issues of mental illness, then our society devolves to the lowest forms. Another person wrote, today's article related to drag shows specifically geared toward children was the last straw for me. I cannot understand how this can be justified in any way. You're not unbiased, another reader said, and your views on the drag show show just that. and your views on the drag show show just that. One reader wrote in, in all caps and in all Spanish,

to let me know that I was an imbecile who lived in an iry tower before describing a lewd sexual act they were going to do to me, which is one way to teach me a lesson about my purported support for the sexual corrupting of children. It was one of the few times I regretted having some Spanish skills. Cancellations are normal. Negative feedback is also normal. I get it every day. But I was surprised by these emails and the number of people canceling for two specific reasons. For one, I didn't think my position on the drag show controversy was all that radical. There are times when I take a hard stance in my take of Tangle, and I know I'm about to piss a lot of people off. I usually clear my afternoon and brace myself for the anticipated blowback. I've written a few times before about Tangle issues that have caused waves of people to unsubscribe, like when I defended Joe Rogan and a bunch of people on the left bailed,

or more recently when I wrote about Florida and Disney and a bunch of people on the left bailed, or more recently when I wrote about Florida and Disney and a bunch of people on the right unsubscribed. In both of those instances, I expected it. I felt strongly about my view, I knew the topics were sensitive, and I knew about half my readership was really going to hate my position. I've promised readers I will be honest about what I think and my take, so when this happens, all I can do is hold my breath and press send. In this case, though, I wasn't expecting the blowback at all. If I were to give my take from yesterday's issue, the tangle treatment, and try to summarize it, it would essentially be this. Drag queens and drag shows are related but different things. Some of the videos of children at drag show performances do look inappropriate to me, and those provocative performances have no place in schools. There

are well-meaning parents objecting to them. That does not mean all drag queen interactions with kids are inappropriate, and it definitely doesn't mean all drag queens are sexual perverts, as some folks seem to think. If a cheerleader performing a similar act wouldn't bother you, then a drag queen shouldn't either. That's it. There were some well-reasoned criticisms that came in about the issue. For instance, one reader who did not unsubscribe wrote in and said this, and in fact implicitly dismissed, an objection to drag shows that I believe is widely held. Many parents have traditional views of sexuality and want to raise their children accordingly. Leaving aside how overtly sexual the content of a given drag show is, and whether children

should be shielded from it, it's certainly meant to normalize homosexuality. This isn't a bias that the parents need to reflect on. It's a conscious belief, correct or incorrect, but one with a great deal of sociological, historical, religious, and philosophical heft behind it. One can make a case that the state has an interest in promoting tolerance among the citizenry, and that can be accomplished by educating to accept everyone's rights as citizens and human beings to not be molested. It doesn't have to mean telling kids that what their parents and pastors and Bible say we now know to be wrong. In fact, it seems obvious that any damage caused to social harmony by the absence of Heather has two mommies from the reading list is speculative,

while the damage caused by its inclusion is right before our eyes. Your stated goal is to present the best arguments on both sides of an issue. I'm not so vain as to think that the above argument is the best, but it's at least as good as some that you included, and its absence is unfortunate. That criticism is fair. It's respectfully delivered, and even if I think there are some huge flaws in it, which I do, I agree with this reader that that view is widely held, and I also agree that it wasn't properly represented in my newsletter. I think David Marcus's piece we shared came close, but it wasn't explicit. This person wrote in to make a point I do not agree with,

and now their feedback is in the podcast. That's how Tangle works. Which brings me to the second thing that shocked me about the responses. works. Which brings me to the second thing that shocked me about the responses. It just felt like people still don't get it. The whole point of Tangle is to read or hear views you don't agree with. I kept thinking to myself as I read the feedback, why would you unsubscribe because I said something you didn't agree with? Then I realized I haven't ever written something that explicitly made this point, a piece I could point to that describes what Tangle is all about, so I figured it was time I should. The entire point of Tangle is to get you out of your bubble. The problem that we are solving is that most politically engaged people live in

self-defined, tech-curated news bubbles where they mostly see well-articulated beliefs and ideas that reinforce the perspectives they already have. Even when they break these bubbles, they land in highly polarized news spaces. Politicians and pundits on both sides work hard to elevate the worst arguments and say they're representative of the other side's perspective. Since most of us don't really know what people on the quote-unquote other team actually think, it makes this obfuscation even more effective. A good litmus test for this question is something I often ask our listeners. When was the last time you changed your mind on a political issue?

If you struggle to think about something recent, there are two likely possibilities. One, you are right about everything. Two, you are not being exposed to good arguments that challenge your currently held beliefs, or you are but you're unwilling to be open-minded about everything. Two, you are not being exposed to good arguments that challenge your currently held beliefs, or you are but you're unwilling to be open-minded about them. I'll let you decide which you think is more likely. All of this is to say I'm not trying to convince you of what to think. 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 6 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. Each day, we try to find three opinions on the right and left, each spanning from the center to the most partisan, so you are getting a wide range of views from across the political spectrum on whatever debate we're covering. That means my take is one of seven opinions included in every podcast. It exists because when I started Tangle, my advisory group of friends, family, and random test readers said it would make it a lot more

interesting if I also shared what I thought. And when I started sharing, people seemed to like hearing from someone who was trying to address the arguments presented in the newsletter or podcast in an authentic way. It made Tangle unique. That's why when you get to what I believe or what I have to say, it's very clearly marked my take. If you don't like it, please don't leave. I'd rather have you write me an angry email. I'll probably reply. I may even share it in the newsletter or podcast. If you do like what I said, great. You can let me know that too.

Those emails are always nice. And if you're reading Tangle or listening to Tangle and you change your mind on something, then I definitely want to hear from you. But please remember why we are here. I am not trying to moderate your views. I'm not trying to hold hands, bring everyone to the center, and pretend we all agree. As I've said before, I think centrism is an ideology of its own, and a rather poor one.

I'm trying to do something even more basic and fundamental. I'm trying to tell you that you don't actually know the best arguments out there yet, so you couldn't possibly have a holistic, well-informed opinion yet either. Tangle is about exposure, not coercion. It's about expanding the debate, not agreeing on the conclusion. You can land where you land. I'm just trying to make sure you actually get a chance to fly on the plane. I'm also not claiming I'm unbiased. Tangle is unbiased because it is balanced. We explain issues with neutral language then present a wide range of articles on those issues. Of course I have biases. We all do. Anyone who has experienced consciousness has biases. The whole premise of my newsletter is that we are all too entrenched in these biases,

and I'd have to be foolishly arrogant to somehow believe I'm exempt from that rule. What I do entangle each day is explore and challenge my biases by consuming a whole lot of content I don't agree with. That's why I regularly change my mind, admit when I'm wrong, and try to clearly articulate to readers why I believe something that I believe. It's also why my political views end up all over the place. It's why I get accused of being a closet Republican or another woke liberal. Sometimes I agree with the right. Sometimes I agree with the left. And sometimes, like yesterday, I just genuinely think news coverage across the spectrum has lost the plot. And sometimes it's not my biases that are the problem. It's yours. Yesterday, for example, while a bunch of

readers on the right were unsubscribing, a lot of readers on the left were writing in upset with me too. Some said I had rose-colored glasses on about the Republican bigotry. Others questioned why I give credence to the idea we should keep drag shows out of school when it's clearly about LGBTQ hate. Some were very angry I covered the topic at all, insisting I'm just allowing Republicans to drive the narrative. What do I take away from that feedback? That all those people who are upset should be reading Tangle. That it's good they are here, and good this product exists. That even if it makes them mad every now and again, there will be days when they agree with me or learn something new or see an argument they hadn't yet heard. And that, more than anything, is why I hope they keep reading,

and it's why I hope you keep listening. All right, we'll be back tomorrow with our normal Tangle podcast format. In the meantime, if you want to support our work and stick it to the haters, go to readtangle.com membership to become a subscriber, subscription to keep this project going. We're going to quickly jump in to some of our coverage, some of our standard daily stuff before we let you go. First up, in the midterms yesterday, there were some pretty significant results. In Alabama's Senate primary runoff, Katie Britt defeated Representative Mo Brooks. Former President Trump had endorsed Brooks last year, but retracted his endorsement after Brooks' campaign struggled.

Trump then threw his support behind Britt, a favorite of the Republican establishment. The endorsement divided many Trump supporters, but Britt ultimately prevailed by a wide margin. You can read more about her story with a link in today's newsletter. Meanwhile, in Georgia, Mike Collins, a pro-Trump and America First candidate, defeated the Trump-endorsed Vernon Jones in a House race for Georgia's 10th congressional district. In the 6th district, Jake Evans, who was also endorsed by Trump, also lost to Rich McCormick, a physician who has questioned the results of the 2020 election. There is a link in today's newsletter with more info on those races as well. All right, that is it for some of the midterm results from yesterday, which brings us to our quick hits. Senate negotiators release an advance of the tax

of a gun reform bill that would prevent people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from purchasing a gun for five years, create incentives for states to enact red flag laws, increase resources for mental health, and expand background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21. Number two, President Joe Biden called for a three-month federal gas tax holiday. Number three, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that Maine cannot exclude religious schools from taxpayer-funded state tuition aid programs, saying it violates the First Amendment. Number four, the Texas Public Safety Chief released new information on the abject failure in Uvalde,

detailing how police could have stopped the shooter three minutes after it began, but waited almost an hour to breach an unlocked door. Number five, election officials from Georgia and Arizona testified under oath yesterday about pressure they received from the Trump administration to take action to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Number six, 1,000 people were killed and another 1,500 were injured in an earthquake in southern Afghanistan yesterday. All right, that's it for our quick hits. Our story that matters today, the Biden administration is attempting to use the Federal Drug Administration to cut back on the amount of nicotine the tobacco industry can put in cigarettes. The agency proposed

a new rule that would place a maximum nicotine level on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The plan will attempt to reduce the level of nicotine to non-addictive levels, an unprecedented move in the public health fight to end tobacco use. Since the FDA can't outright ban cigarettes, it is instead hoping to create standards that make them less attractive to people. It faces strong opposition from tobacco groups and libertarian-leaning consumer freedom groups. Axios has the story, and there's a link to that in today's newsletter. All right, last but not least, I have a nice day story for today's unusual podcast. Texas, the new home of Tesla, says it is planning to build charging stations for electric cars

every 50 miles on most interstates. The plan will allow the state to support 1 million electric vehicles with dozens of new stations to allow easier long-distance travel. Around 129,000 people have electric cars in Texas, and the state has been a leader in producing oil, wind, and solar energy. Now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the plan should ensure that every Texan can access the infrastructure they need to charge an EV. Funding for the project is coming from the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year, which will allocate $408 million to Texas for the purpose of

expanding its electric vehicle charging network. CBS Austin has the story, and there's a link to it in today's newsletter. All right, everyone, that is it for the podcast like i said we'll be back tomorrow with our more usual offering but you know i had to address this stuff from yesterday it felt pretty important to me if you want to support our work once again readtangle.com membership to become a subscriber that's a good way to help us out help us weather the storm when we get some controversy like we just did uh the other thing to do is just to share Tangle. Tell your friends about it. Send this podcast to people.

Give us a five-star rating. Whatever you got to do, just get the word out. We'll be back same time tomorrow. Peace. Our newsletter is written by Isaac Saul, edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle's social media manager, Magdalena Bokova, who also helped create our logo. The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn, and music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, subscribe to our newsletter or check out our content archives at www.readtangle.com. Thanks for watching! 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 Thank you.