A recap of the conversation-starters.
I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, ad-free, non-partisan politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from the right and left on the news of the day.
I’m on my honeymoon this week, so I’ve scheduled a few posts for you while I’m gone.
Today’s post is a brief look back at five of the most controversial Tangle editions we’ve published. I have gauged “controversy” by a mixture of data and personal experience: the editions that drove the most responses, comments, shares, tweets, and also the ones that seemed to drive the strongest emotions. They are a mix of Friday editions and regular Tangle newsletters.
— The shooting of Daunte Wright. In this edition, we tried to summarize some of the most popular arguments about police reform and police violence. The reactions were strong, which prompted an entire follow-up edition featuring reader feedback and criticisms.
— The Equality Act. In February, we covered The Equality Act, a piece of legislation that touched on LGBTQ issues, religious freedom, and divisive topics around trans issues. Much like the edition about Daunte Wright, this one prompted so much feedback and criticism that I published an entire Google document collecting reader responses.
— Confessing my sins. In this Friday edition, I wrote about my teenage years, and the language I used to use that I’ve now seen get other people “canceled.” I reflected on my own growth and how the current culture around redemption could improve. Once again, there was so much thoughtful criticism that I shared it with readers.
— Reviewing Trump’s presidency. This was definitely one of the most responded-to newsletters I’ve ever written. In it, I did my best to grade Trump’s presidency based on a few focus points: the accomplishments and failures of his presidency, what he promised to do, set against what he actually did, the state he left the country in, and how his actions could change the future of politics and the Republican Party in particular.
— Breonna Taylor’s justice. In this issue, I reflected on the death of Breonna Taylor, and also wrote publicly for the first time about my own criminal behavior in the past. While the issue was “controversial” in that it prompted a lot of responses, I was also interested to see that it drew a lot of people together: readers on the right and left both wrote in and commented expressing agreement or support for what I published.
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