We are independent, non-partisan, and subscriber-supported, with a newsletter read by over 275,000 people in 55+ countries across the world and a podcast that reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners every month. Our audience is made up of conservatives, liberals, independents, and those who don't identify with any political tribe.
We have a newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, and live events.
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Why trust us?
If I were you, I wouldn't. Media outlets face all sorts of challenges today, from overt bias to corporate interests to the basic dereliction of good journalistic practices.
But we earn our readers' trust in a very simple way: By providing views from across the political spectrum in every single edition, and clearly labeling what is opinion and what isn't.
This is not "both sidesism" or giving equal weight to conspiracies and facts. Instead, we search the world for the best arguments we can about the debates of the day, and then we show them to you. Side-by-side. So you can decide.
Here is our "bias rating," according to AdFontesMedia:
And here is our rating from AllSides, another prominent media bias rater: "An independent review of Tangle in May 2022 conducted by AllSides Managing Editor Henry A. Brechter (Center bias) noted a strong effort to present both sides of issues in a non-sensational and respectful way." ... An AllSides October 2022 Small Group Editorial Review returned a bias rating of Center for Tangle, noting balanced story choice and word choice "to include perspectives from both the right and the left" with articles that "relied heavily on facts."
How do we do it?
The Tangle format is our special sauce. We have a Monday through Thursday newsletter that is free for everyone, and we put our Friday editions behind a paywall.
Whenever you get an email from us, here is what it will look like:
Today's topic: We tell you the biggest political news story of the day. The basic, indisputable facts in the most neutral language possible.
What the left, right and center are saying: We give you a round-up of three arguments from the left and three from the right, spanning from the center to more fringe of each side. This way, you get analysis from across the political spectrum.
My take: As an open-minded politics reporter, I’ll share my honest, unfiltered thoughts about those arguments. This is an act of transparency, so you know a little bit about the thought-process of the people providing you the news.
Your questions, answered: Almost every day, we answer a reader question.
Under the radar: One major news story that’s being drowned out by all the noise.
Numbers: The most interesting numbers from the last 24 hours.
Have a nice day: A good news story to wash it all down.
Plus... Every newsletter is about a 10-minute read. We are more in depth than a lot of newsletters, because we want our readers to embrace the nuance. But it won't take you more time than is necessary to consume our content.
Transparency... If we get something wrong, we’ll correct it at the top of the newsletter, and let you know how many corrections we've had since Tangle started. And if you write in to criticize something we published, there’s a good chance we’ll share your feedback with our readers!
Who runs this thing?
My name is Isaac Saul. I am a politics reporter who grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, one of the most politically divided counties in all of America. I have lived, studied, traveled and written all over the U.S., Bolivia, Canada, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Singapore and Thailand, among others.
After college, I helped build A Plus, a solutions journalism media outlet, alongside actor and entrepreneur Ashton Kutcher. I worked as an editor and politics reporter for A Plus while I freelanced all over. My work has appeared in just about every digital publication under the sun, and has also been cited by some of the "big names" like Fox News, The New York Times and The Washington Post.
In 2016, Yahoo News named me one of the 16 people whose writing shaped the 2016 election. In 2020, Forbes Magazine called me one of the 1,000 “upstart entrepreneurs redefining the American dream.” You can read more about my career as a reporter here or follow me on Twitter.
But it's not just me. Tangle is produced by a five-person team: Two full-time editors and researchers, a social media manager and advertising director, and a YouTube and podcast editor. We also have part-time editors and interns with educational and professional experience across the spectrum who all work on helping research and produce our content. And, of course, we include the opinions and feedback from readers in almost every newsletter.
I started Tangle because I recognized that the news industry was broken. My work was getting published in a lot of different places, and I realized people trusted it not based on what I was saying — but based on where I was saying it. Readers on the left would trust nothing I wrote if it showed up in a conservative-leaning news outlet, and vice versa. This is how I realized just how strong the information bubble was. So I had a concept I wanted to execute: A newsletter where no matter who you were you would encounter political opinions that you did not agree with. That seemed healthy to me. Then I launched Tangle as a side project, and as it grew I decided to quit my job and go "all-in" on building it out.
Today, our readers span the political spectrum: Roughly 40% of our readers self-identify as liberal, 30% self-identify as conservative, and the rest say they are independent or outside the left-right binary.
If you'd like to give it a shot, you can subscribe to Tangle for free here.
What subscribers say.
“Tangle is restoring my trust in news and media. Any good argument looks at both sides. Any good news source looks at both sides and digests an objective viewpoint for its viewers. Tangle does this in every report.” — Alexis, Kansas City, Kansas
“My favorite read of the day. Tangle is reflective, nuanced, and self-aware. It challenges my beliefs and broadens my horizons. Reading Tangle makes me feel better informed about the country and world.” — Adam, San Francisco, California
“Tangle is the rational, reasoned read that helps me focus on the signal of current events rather than the noise.” — Michael, Buda, Texas
“Dangerously close to becoming the highlight of my day.” — Pranav, New York, NY
“Tangle is the best discovery I've made in the last month. Isaac Saul has the remarkably unique ability to summarize what both sides of the political aisle are saying in his own words, in a fair and charitable way. Tangle is a daily read for me because it helps me avoid the confirmation bias of just listening to what 'my side' is saying, helping me to draw my own conclusions in a more informed way.” — Josh, Charlotte, NC
“As a right-leaning, Libertarian, Trump supporter I catch myself only listening to ideas I want to believe. I find the Tangle arguments that lean left are well reasoned and thought out, allowing me to broaden my thought processes.” — Todd, Manchester, NH
“The Tangle newsletter is my favorite email of the day. When it arrives, I stop what I’m doing and dive in. For the first time in a long time I enjoy reading the news again.” — Jennifer, Paducah, KY
“Hands down the best daily news wrap-up out there.” — Scott, Los Angeles, CA
“The only newsletter I’m reading daily.” — Brendan, Madison, WI
“The political reporting you want. Good, not flowery, writing. Facts where the story is. Analysis in a separate place. Both sides presented without the spin makers doing the presenting.” — Michelle, San Francisco, CA
"I love reading Tangle every day and it has become my foremost source of news. It's important for me to keep up with it as a CFP and financial consultant because I speak with clients daily about their investments, coronavirus, politics, and the economy.” — Sean, Morristown, NJ
“I’ve recommended Isaac Saul’s newsletter Tangle to family, friends and coworkers. It’s refreshing, it’s honest and it provides a different lens for opposing viewpoints.” — Andrew, Tampa Bay, FL
What about industry leaders?
“Ike Saul’s bipartisan newsletter is so worth the subscription. I am always genuinely excited when it hits my inbox.” — Jill Thaw, Senior Editor for The Athletic
"I don't want any partisans on the program to analyze the election, because it's a waste of your time... I want independent people, so we follow a website called Tangle News. Independent. We don't agree with them a lot of times, but that's okay, they are coming at it from a point of view non-ideology." — Bill O'Reilly from BillO'Reilly.com
"I truly believe that the more people read Tangle News, the less polarized and contemptuous of each other we’d be." — Zach Elwood, author of How Contempt Destroys Democracy
“My friend and chronic comrade-in-arms Isaac Saul has built an incredible politics newsletter from scratch. It dives deep into 2020 (and the many narratives underpinning it) every day. All those hours and all that work have resulted in something special.” — Cate Matthews, Senior Editor for TIME Magazine
“Talking politics without personal bias is tough. That’s why we let Tangle do it for us.” — The Hustle
"Most of my news consumption makes me feel like I'm getting yelled at. Tangle reduces the temperature and gives me information in a relaxed, level-headed way from a variety of perspectives. It's pretty rare that reading the news makes me calmer. But Tangle makes me calmer. It makes me feel like I can take a breath." — Will Leitch, Founding Editor of Deadspin, a contributing editor at New York Magazine
“Tangle helps me be a better citizen -- understanding the facts of the day's most pressing issue, understanding it from multiple perspectives, and learning about issues that might otherwise slip by me. It's my daily must-read.” — Sean McComb, 2014 National Teacher of the Year
“Tangle is worth my time. Isaac catches me up on key national and political news stories percolating on the Internet, explaining the details that often pass me by when news is chaos.” — Laura McGann, Politics Editor for Vox
“My new favorite newsletter to follow is @TangleNews by the wonderful @Ike_Saul. It helps me stay up-to-date with the day's big complicated story — and also encourages me to check my biases. Highly recommend.” — Brendan Harvey, Founder of Good Good Good Newspaper
“Excellent resource for anyone looking to understand U.S. politics -- impeachment, 2020 presidential campaign, etc -- in smart yet easily digestible daily emails.” — Ben Van Heuvelen, Editor-in-Chief of Iraq Oil Report
“Really love this idea from my friend @Ike_Saul. A smart political newsletter that's heavy on reader interaction and answering questions, and adds a dose of positivity to the political grind.” — Jonathan Tamari, national politics reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer
Contact:
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