Good morning, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to a very special Tangle podcast.

This is kind of like in the spy movies, you know, where it's like if you're listening

to this recording, I've died.

This is a message kind of like that, except I'm alive and well, I hope.

I'm recording this on January 9th. and if you are listening to this recording,

it means that something very special has happened.

My wife probably just gave birth to our first child.

One thing I've realized from a career in covering the news is that staying so plugged in often evokes

these feelings of negativity.

At Tangle, we try to combat this in small ways, like with our Have a Nice Day section at the

end of every newsletter and podcast.

We also make a conscious effort to write about solutions and problem solvers, not just

dysfunction and corruption.

But today, I'm excited to share this unambiguously good and happy news about the birth of my child.

And I'm sharing this with you all, not just because I'm overjoyed and forever changed,

but because it will impact some things here at Tangle in the coming weeks and

months. So I recorded this message to you guys, obviously before my baby came, and I have

turned it over to our podcast editor, John, and asked him to publish this whenever I alerted them

that the baby arrived. So this means everybody is good and healthy and the baby's here.

And I just want to say a couple things.

First, since I write about our country's political and cultural landscape for a living,

I want to share one quick observation from my time supporting my wife through her pregnancy.

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