Tangle - Conversations with Tangle readers.

I’m Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”

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Reminder: We are taking a break from our daily newsletter until Monday, January 9th.

Instead, this week we will be releasing five interviews I conducted in December with randomly selected Tangle readers. Each interview will also be released on our podcast over the next five days.

Today's conversation is with Jamie Costello, a 39-year-old American woman from Maryville, Tennessee, who feels politically homeless. She is a disabled combat veteran who served in the Army for five years as a HUMINT collector/interrogator, and then as a defense contractor doing the same work for a little over five years. In our interview, we discuss her upbringing, what she experienced when she was deployed to the Middle East as an intelligence officer, and what she's doing now. You can listen here.

On Tuesday: Miriam Stein says she is a Gen X woman from Yucipa, California, and a mom of two teens who has been married for 25 years. She has a degree in environmental engineering and is a photographer. Miriam says she grew up Republican and voted Republican until around 2012, when she realized that she liked Obama and the candidates the GOP was putting forward no longer aligned with her beliefs. On Tuesday, we'll discuss her upbringing, her experience leaving the Catholic church, raising kids in today's world, and what she thinks of California's environmental laws.

On Wednesday: Bradley Pierce says he is a 40-year-old Christian, an attorney, a father of 10 and a husband of one. He is pro-parental rights, anti-abortion, and pro-self-defense. Bradley is also a home-school graduate who is now home-schooling his own kids. In this episode, we talk about raising 10 children, his work on parental rights, and his quest to abolish abortion.

On Thursday: Kristen (who sometimes goes by Jon) is from Des Moines, Iowa. They are a Christian, were raised Catholic in a moderate left household, and say the teachings of the church pushed them "wayyyyy far left." Kristen is a non-binary lesbian who just graduated college and moved states to start their first adult job as a software engineer.

On Friday: Rick McPherson is a 61-year-old maintenance technician at a steel mill in Butler, Pennsylvania. He is married with four children aged 28 to 40 and has three grandchildren. He's been a union member for over 35 years and is a lifelong Democrat who considers himself left-leaning but disenfranchised by both parties. In our conversation, we talk about the pros and cons of unions, what the politics of his steel mill are, what he thinks of Biden, and the way his world has changed in the last 20 years.

You can follow our podcast and listen to the episodes anywhere you get podcasts by going here.

Don't forget: We also released our best and worst stuff of 2022 last week.

We'll see you next week!

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