Isaac Saul
{{short description|American journalist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Isaac Saul
| image =
| caption = Saul in 2021
| birth_place = Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
| education = Pennsbury High School
| alma_mater = University of Pittsburgh
| occupation = Journalist
| website = {{URL|http://www.readtangle.com/}}
}}
Isaac M. Saul ({{IPAc-en|s|ɔː|l}}) is an American journalist. His work has appeared in publications including CNN, The Huffington Post, TIME Magazine,{{Cite magazine|title=YOLK Solar Cow: The 100 Best Inventions of 2019|url=https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/5733126/yolk-solar-cow/|access-date=January 14, 2021|magazine=Time|language=en-us|archive-date=November 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129015117/https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2019/5733126/yolk-solar-cow/|url-status=live}} the Independent Journal Review{{Cite web|title=Isaac Saul, Author at IJR|url=https://ijr.org/author/isaacsaul/|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=IJR|language=en-US|archive-date=March 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327173834/https://ijr.com/author/isaacsaul/|url-status=live}} and The Daily Mail. Outside of his work with newspapers, in 2020 he founded Tangle, an online newsletter which aims to give nonpartisan coverage of current events.{{Cite web |last=Brother |first=Nate |date=December 6, 2023 |title=Transylvania Hosts Journalist Isaac Saul in Creative Intelligence Series. |url=https://transyrambler.com/2023/12/06/transylvania-hosts-journalist-isaac-saul-in-creative-intelligence-series/ |access-date=December 8, 2023 |website=The Rambler |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Saul was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He first became interested in journalism during his time at Pennsbury High School in Pennsylvania, and got his first job in news while he was an undergraduate student in nonfiction writing at the University of Pittsburgh.{{Cite web |title=Isaac Saul |url=http://www.isaacsaul.com/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115211129/http://www.isaacsaul.com/ |archive-date=January 15, 2021 |access-date=January 13, 2021 |website=Isaac Saul |language=en}}
Career
Saul later began work at The Huffington Post, which he left in 2014, and later worked for A Plus.{{Cite web |last=Avilucea |first=Isaac |date=August 2, 2023 |title=Tangle founder hosts high court chat in Philly |url=https://www.axios.com/local/philadelphia/2023/08/02/tangle-founder-hosts-high-court-chat-in-philly |website=Axios}} During the course of his career as a reporter, Saul has covered issues mainly related to American politics{{Cite web|last1=Saul|first1=Isaac|date=September 28, 2016|title=I Wrote That I Despised Hillary Clinton. Today, I Want To Publicly Take It Back.|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-wrote-that-i-despised-hillary-clinton-i-take-it-back_b_12220124|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=January 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121232844/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/i-wrote-that-i-despised-hillary-clinton-i-take-it-back_b_12220124|url-status=live}} and sports.{{Cite web|last1=Saul|first1=Isaac|date=January 20, 2014|title=What Richard Sherman Taught Us About America|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-richard-sherman-taught-us_b_4631980|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=February 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218063909/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-richard-sherman-taught-us_b_4631980|url-status=live}} His reporting on an encounter that he had with a controversial lawyer named Aaron Schlossberg was featured in a live broadcast on CNN in 2018.{{Citation|title=Reporter describes encounter with NYC lawyer - CNN Video|date=May 18, 2018 |url=https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/05/18/new-york-attorney-racist-rant-history-jewish-protest-saul-sot-ctn.cnn|access-date=January 13, 2021|archive-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124010837/https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/05/18/new-york-attorney-racist-rant-history-jewish-protest-saul-sot-ctn.cnn|url-status=live}} He has also worked as an opinion editor for several major magazines and published several editorials stating his opinions on specific political candidates.{{Cite web|title=Isaac Saul {{!}} HuffPost|url=https://www.huffpost.com/author/isaac-saul|access-date=August 14, 2021|website=www.huffpost.com|language=en}} Other topics he has covered include religion.{{Cite journal |last=Van den Terrell |first=Emma |date=2015 |title=Agnost-a-What? |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12115-015-9887-1 |journal=Society |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=201–202 |doi=10.1007/s12115-015-9887-1 |s2cid=255515099 |via=EBSCOHost|url-access=subscription }}
Saul's work in reporting drew particular praise during the challenges to the 2020 US presidential election, when he helped to discredit some of the conspiracy theories and allegations of voter fraud around the election. As part of this effort, he published a running thread of tweets in which he challenged his readers to find an instance of alleged voter fraud that he could not disprove, a project which received external media coverage.{{Cite web |last=Conley |first=Julia |date=November 13, 2020 |title=Trump campaign presents 238 pages of ridiculous GOP poll watcher affidavits |url=https://www.salon.com/2020/11/13/trump-campaign-presents-238-pages-of-ridiculous-gop-poll-watcher-affidavits_partner/ |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=Salon |language=en}} Saul publicly condemned a number of the fraud claims that he had to respond to, saying that "new lies just kept pouring in", and expressed concern that some of the conspiracy theories were wrongly accusing poll workers of committing election fraud, which could put the lives of these workers in danger.{{Cite web |last=Fisher |first=Anthony L. |title=Voter-fraud debunking journalist Isaac Saul talks about his viral election thread and why the conspiracy theories put poll workers in danger |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/voter-fraud-debunked-isaac-saul-viral-election-thread-conspiracy-theories-2020-11 |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}} In the end, he had challenged over 32 different conspiracy theories within the first week after the election results were announced.{{Cite web|date=November 15, 2020|title=32 Republican 'Election Fraud' Claims, Debunked by Isaac Saul|url=https://trumpfile.org/election-fraud-claims-debunked-by-isaac-saul/|access-date=March 27, 2021|website=TrumpFile.org|language=en-US|archive-date=December 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202192105/https://trumpfile.org/election-fraud-claims-debunked-by-isaac-saul/|url-status=live}}
Also in conjunction with the 2020 election, Saul drew coverage for betting $15,000 with a friend that Joe Biden would be inaugurated as president, a bet which he won.{{Cite web|title=STF Special: Betting $15,000 In Gold On The Future Of The Republic|url=https://www.spreaker.com/user/ultiworld/stf-interview-with-ike-saul|access-date=August 14, 2021|website=Spreaker|language=en}}
In 2024, Saul gave a TED talk in Vancouver on the subject of bipartisan communication and the use of language to signal partisan identity in modern political discourse.{{Cite web |date=2024-04-19 |title=Connectors: Notes on Session 11 of TED2024 {{!}} TED Blog |url=https://blog.ted.com/connectors-notes-on-session-11-of-ted2024/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |language=en-US}}
''Tangle''
In July 2019 Saul began a politics newsletter called The Shuffle which was later renamed to Tangle.{{Cite web|last=Saul|first=Isaac|title=Two years (!!!) of Tangle...|url=https://www.readtangle.com/p/two-years-of-tangle|access-date=August 14, 2021|website=www.readtangle.com|date=July 29, 2021 }} The newsletter continued to expand in readership over the coming months, eventually becoming read in as many as thirty countries.{{Cite web|title=Isaac Saul|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/isaac-saul/|access-date=August 14, 2021|website=Forbes|language=en}} On April 19, 2021, Saul announced that he had quit his job as a newspaper editor to work on Tangle full-time.{{Cite web|last=Saul|first=Isaac|title=So, I quit my job today...|url=https://www.readtangle.com/p/quit-my-job-today|access-date=August 14, 2021|website=www.readtangle.com|date=April 19, 2021 }} Tangle has received substantial media coverage focused on the success of its subscriber-based model{{Cite web |last=Academy |first=NBCU |date=October 11, 2023 |title=How Substack Journalists Are Growing Their Audiences |url=https://nbcuacademy.com/substack-newsletter-journalism/ |access-date=November 17, 2023 |website=NBCU Academy |language=en-US}} and its efficacy in bridging political divisions.{{Cite news |last=Waldmeir |first=Patti |date=May 30, 2022 |title=Two Americans talk across the political divide |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/dae86868-7bd2-4280-8e57-287717f0f9dc |access-date=November 17, 2023}} In 2023, the first live Tangle event, on the state of the Supreme Court, was hosted in Philadelphia. As of March 2025, Tangle is believed to have more than 325,000 subscribers in over 55 countries, generating over $2.25 million in revenue every year.{{Cite web |date=2021-10-04 |title=About us. |url=https://www.readtangle.com/about/ |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=Tangle |language=en}}
Recognition
In 2016, Yahoo! News named Saul as one of the 16 people who had had the greatest influence on the 2016 US election.{{Cite web|title=16 people who shaped the 2016 election: Isaac Saul|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/16-people-who-shaped-the-2016-election-isaac-saul-175336283.html|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=www.yahoo.com|date=October 17, 2016 |language=en-US|archive-date=September 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919085147/https://www.yahoo.com/news/16-people-who-shaped-the-2016-election-isaac-saul-175336283.html|url-status=live}} He also made the Forbes "Next 1000" list of "upstart entrepreneurs redefining the American dream".{{Cite web|title=Forbes Next 1000 2021|url=https://www.forbes.com/next1000/|access-date=March 27, 2021|website=Forbes|archive-date=March 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327062454/https://www.forbes.com/next1000/|url-status=live}} His media company Tangle won two Shorty Awards in 2024: Winner in the News & Media category and Audience Award in the same category.{{Cite web |title=Tangle News: A Model of Balanced, Independent Media - The Shorty Awards |url=https://shortyawards.com/9th-impact/tangle-news-a-model-of-balanced-independent-media |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=shortyawards.com}} Additionally, Saul was featured in a 2024 episode of This American Life, which described how reading Tangle had saved the marriage of a politically divided couple.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-25 |title=A Small Thing That Gives Me a Tiny Shred of Hope |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/845/a-small-thing |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=This American Life}}
Personal life
Outside of his work, Saul is a former competitive ultimate frisbee player. He won multiple Pennsylvania state championships while playing for his Pennsbury High School team, he won two national championships with the University of Pittsburgh team, and he won a national championship with the Pride of New York (PoNY) club team in New York City.{{Cite web|last1=Pollock|first1=Simon|date=October 23, 2018|title=PoNY Dismantles Revolver To Win National Title|url=https://ultiworld.com/2018/10/23/pony-dismantles-revolver-win-national-title/|access-date=January 14, 2021|website=Ultiworld|archive-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209210526/https://ultiworld.com/2018/10/23/pony-dismantles-revolver-win-national-title/|url-status=live}} He has also played for the New York Rumble.{{Cite web|last=comments|first=Charlie Eisenhood in News with 6|date=June 9, 2014|title=NY Rumble's Isaac Saul To Join AUDL's Empire After MLU Season|url=https://ultiworld.com/2014/06/09/ny-rumbles-isaac-saul-join-audls-empire-mlu-season/|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=Ultiworld|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115094040/https://ultiworld.com/2014/06/09/ny-rumbles-isaac-saul-join-audls-empire-mlu-season/|url-status=live}} Saul has traveled around the world for his work, and spent five months studying in a yeshiva while living in Jerusalem after college.
In January 2025, Isaac and his wife Phoebe had their first child; a baby boy{{Cite web |date=2025-01-21 |title=Some very good, extremely happy news (for once). |url=https://www.readtangle.com/some-very-good-extremely-happy-news-for-once/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Tangle |language=en}} named Omri.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-07 |title=My thoughts on parenting and politics after 6 weeks of fatherhood. |url=https://www.readtangle.com/my-thoughts-on-parenting-and-politics-isaac-saul/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Tangle |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://readtangle.com Tangle official site]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saul, Isaac}}
Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni
Category:Pennsbury High School alumni