PREVIEW: The Friday Edition. - Your questions, answered.

Summary

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Tangle Podcast – PREVIEW: The Friday Edition. - Your questions, answered.

Host: Isaac Saul
Date: July 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This Friday mailbag edition of Tangle features host Isaac Saul and a rotating cast of Tangle editors and writers fielding listener and reader questions on current political topics. The team dives into community questions on Rubio's performance as Secretary of State, Hurricane Helene’s recovery, Texas’s Bible reading law, and media accountability. The episode emphasizes Tangle’s core values: independent, transparent engagement across the political spectrum and direct interaction with its audience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rubio’s Tenure as Secretary of State

Question from Paul, Tampere, Finland
Respondent: Isaac Saul
Timestamp: [03:28]

• Metrics for Evaluation: Saul notes that Rubio should be evaluated on U.S. alliances, foreign entanglements, treaties, and trade deals.
• Negative Outcomes:
  • Describes Rubio’s first 18 months as “a disaster.”
  • U.S. “stumbled into another war we can’t seem to get out of” and Gaza ceasefire is “in name but not in reality.”
  • Relations with Israel deteriorate; war in Ukraine drags on.
  • Rubio advocated U.S. aid cuts with “many thousands of deaths,” for “a rounding error in our budget.”
  • “Paris Climate Accords: leaving was a mistake (in my view).”
  • State Department reorganization led to low morale and chaotic evacuations—“harrowing stories.”
• Positive Achievements:
  • Brokered “billions of dollars” in new trade deals.
  • Secured critical mineral supply chains.
  • 5 NATO allies increasing defense to 5% of GDP.
  • “Operation to capture Maduro in Venezuela... executed to near perfection.”
  • Brought home 175 hostages, including 100+ Americans.
  • AI policy leadership, credited with India-Pakistan negotiations.
• Contextual Fairness:
  • “Rubio’s been dealt a pretty tough hand.” Not always clear what’s his fault versus Trump administration’s policy.
  • “It’s honestly hard to say” how much responsibility is Rubio’s versus bigger forces.
  • Overall: “My assessment leans more negative than positive. But I still believe he is a competent appointee... and there’s plenty of time left for him to notch some more achievements.”
• Notable Quote:
  • “Is the world safer and more stable since Rubio took over? It seems to me definitively not.” (Isaac Saul, 05:13)
  • “I still believe he is a competent appointee who understands the role he was tapped for, and there’s plenty of time left for him to notch some more achievements.” (Isaac Saul, 07:10)

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2. Hurricane Helene Recovery Progress

Question from Robert, Montana
Respondent: Isaac Wood
Timestamp: [10:12]

• Personal Context: Wood is from East Tennessee and speaks to both local experience and national attention.
  • “I’m sometimes frustrated by how quickly the rest of the nation moved on.”
• Disaster Response Timeline (“110100 rule”): 1 day response → 10 days relief → 100 days recovery.
  • Response: About two weeks.
  • Relief: 140 days.
  • Recovery: “1,400 days for recovery. That’s almost four years.”
• Current Status:
  • “Most people are not heavily affected by lasting damage. But that’s not true for everyone.”
  • As of March, 100+ people remain homeless due to the storm.
  • Recent funds: $34M for Tennessee farmers, $18M for North Carolina debris cleanup, $700M proposed in NC for disaster recovery, $197M in FEMA grants.
  • The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway remains partially closed.
• Notable Quote:
  • “A region’s got to climb, or in this case, muck out its own mountains.” (Isaac Wood, 10:33)

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3. Texas Bible Curriculum Law

Question from Rachel, Nyack, NY
Respondents: Will Kbach & Audrey Moorhead
Timestamps: [13:49] (Will), [16:59] (Audrey)

Will Kbach’s Analysis

• Details of Law:
  • “Bible-oriented editions are fairly substantive”—New Testament for elementary, Jesus’s sermons for middle, Job and others for high school.
  • Parents can opt out, but students may still be assessed.
  • “Texas has... adopted optional curriculum for elementary school students that incorporates biblical instruction and mandating that public schools display the Ten Commandments.”
• Constitutional Concerns:
  • Acknowledges possible church-state issues, possibly “establishing a favored religion.”
  • “Church and state shall be completely separate is not something that’s written explicitly in the First Amendment, but... this gives the appearance of establishing a favored religion.”
• Balanced Perspective:
  • Sees educational value in learning about the Bible’s influence but says, “If Texas had instead required religious texts for the purpose of learning more about America’s origins and ideals and from a range of major religions... it would have been much more defensible.”
• Notable Quote:
  • “I think it should be controversial to teach kids only about the Bible.” (Will Kbach, 16:41)

Audrey Moorhead’s Perspective

• Not Frightened:
  • “I definitely don’t see the new curriculum as frightening at all, and I even understand why someone might emphasize Christianity more than other religions.”
• Cultural Foundation Argument:
  • U.S. society is “largely shaped by Protestant Christianity. The King James Bible specifically is the single most influential text in our history.”
• Curricular Literacy Value:
  • Reading the Bible is akin to reading “Little Women” or “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”—texts with Christian themes.
  • “Understanding biblical stories also better prepares American citizens to critique the Bible’s influence if they’re so inclined.”
• Final Take:
  • Sees benefits: “Students will better understand the society they live in and the texts that have influenced it.”
• Notable Quote:
  • “The basic outcome of our public education system ought to be the formation of good citizens. Whatever you think about the Bible, it’s indisputable that it is as fundamental to our societal formation as the Declaration of Independence...” (Audrey Moorhead, 17:46)

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4. Media Accountability and Bias

Question from Marsha, Virginia
Respondent: Isaac Saul
Timestamp: [21:02]

• Premise Considered:
  • Agrees that media bias exists, but questions, “Is the press not held accountable for lying...?”
• Current Landscape:
  • Trust in media “at an all time low,” media organizations folding, new audience loyalty shifts (“Tangle are stealing audiences...”).
• Accountability in Practice:
  • “I also think individual reporters are regularly held to account... journalists are often fired, suspended, or face public scrutiny.”
  • Main issue is “how much people in the commentary or analysis space get things wrong... and rarely if ever self correct.”
  • Advocates for more “humility and acknowledgment of analysis gone astray.”
• Free Press Boundary:
  • Confirms importance of free press: “We don’t want the government aggressively enforcing what kinds of lies or mistakes constitute a crime.”
• Notable Quote:
  • “Writers are a lot like economists and weathermen in that way. It doesn’t matter how many times they’re wrong, they always seem to get another chance to be wrong.” (Isaac Saul, 22:25)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “I can’t get over Paul from Finland using ‘y’all’ over and over again. I assume this must be an expat.” (Isaac Saul, 03:32)
• “A region’s got to climb, or in this case, muck out its own mountains.” (Isaac Wood, 10:33)
• “If Texas had instead required religious texts for the purpose of learning more about America’s origins and ideals and from a range of major religions... it would have been much more defensible.” (Will Kbach, 16:25)
• “You’re better able to critique the Bible’s influence if you’re familiar with its contents.” (Audrey Moorhead, 19:32)
• “We don’t want the government aggressively enforcing what kinds of lies or mistakes constitute a crime.” (Isaac Saul, 24:20)

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Important Timestamps

• [03:28] – Isaac Saul on evaluating Rubio’s Secretary of State tenure
• [10:12] – Isaac Wood updates on Hurricane Helene’s recovery
• [13:49] – Will Kbach on Texas Bible law
• [16:59] – Audrey Moorhead responds to Bible law debate
• [21:02] – Isaac Saul on media accountability

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Tone & Style

Maintaining Tangle’s hallmark blend of independent analysis, moderate skepticism, and open engagement, the panelists respond thoughtfully and candidly—often admitting complexity and nuance, and welcoming challenges from listeners.

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Summary

This episode showcases Tangle’s commitment to robust dialogue, critical self-evaluation, and audience interaction. From foreign policy to disaster recovery, church-state debates, and media trust, questions are answered with context, transparency, and a spirit of respectful disagreement. The team’s varied voices enrich the conversation, while memorable quotes and concrete facts ground their perspectives for listeners seeking clarity in today’s partisan landscape.

Transcript

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[Isaac Saul]

Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. But what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. [e-mail] WashingtonWise from executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, a place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking and a little bit of my take. And today a lot of other people's takes. We're doing a mailbag edition. That's right. We've got reader and listener questions stacked up to the ceiling and we have to get through some of them. So today we're letting you guys take us to task and we're answering all the questions that have come in. And I'm going to be joined by a huge cast of Tangle editors and writers who are going to read some answers to your questions today. Just a quick note about these mailbag additions. We genuinely want to be a source of trustworthy news and thought provoking analysis and robust community engagement. So part of that commitment is that we try to interact with the community anywhere we can. In the comments section via our subtext texting service, our Reddit subreddit page, our staff email live events. As part of all that, we like to answer your questions. And over time, even when we try to answer, you know, a few questions a week in the podcast or the newsletter, the number of questions we get just climbs and climbs and climbs. So every now and then we do these mailbag additions. And our hope is that by doing them, we just can engage your guys interests and curiosities directly, give you opportunities to hold us to account for past views, make sure that we're responding to criticism, all that good stuff. And that's what today is about. So I'm going to kick things off and then I'm going to pass it over to some staff members and editors to answer some of your questions. But I'm excited to jump in.

[Unidentified Tangle Host]

First up, we have a question from

[Isaac Saul]

Paul in Tampere, Finland. Paul said, as I recall, it seems like y' all were fairly optimistic about Rubio as Secretary of State. I also seem to remember you've been disappointed in how completely he has seemed to lose his backbone and succumb to Trump's whims, even when they fly in the face of diplomacy. So just in general, I'm curious, how do y' all feel about Rubio's performance as Secretary of State so far? Um, okay. First of all, I can't get over Paul from Finland using y' all over and over again. I assume this must be an expat. But thank you, Paul, for the question. This one is directed at me, I think, mostly because I was the one who wrote and spoke about Rubio at length. So let me say first, to judge his performance, I think you have to define the role and decide what metrics you're using. The Secretary of State is the government's chief foreign affairs officer, fourth in line to the presidency, and basically acts as the number one advisor on treaties, international agreements, alliances, foreign aid, and all manner of international crises like war. To that end, I think assessing the strength of our alliances, the status of our foreign entanglements, and the nature of trade deals and treaties we've joined or left is a good way to evaluate Rubio's tenure so far. And through that lens, I think I could pretty easily Frame Rubio's first 18 months as Secretary of State as a disaster. We've somehow stumbled into another war we can't seem to get out of, and the ceasefire negotiations have been embarrassingly predictable and unsustainable. The war in Gaza has ended in name but not in reality, and our relationship with Israel seems to be deteriorating. The war in Ukraine rages on. At the same time, Rubio advocated for USAID cuts that have credibly contributed to many thousands of deaths, all to save the kind of money that constitutes a rounding error in our federal budget. And while plenty of people want us to leave the Paris Climate Accords, I personally think that decision was a mistake. A simple question. Is the world safer and more stable since Rubio took over? It seems to me definitively not. Amid all this, Rubio has also led a reorganization of the State Department, cutting its Washington staff by 15%. Reporting since then depicts a department with low morale, marred by overtime hours and an overwhelming plate of work with several diplomatic crises abroad. When we had to evacuate Americans from the Middle east ahead of the Iran war, for instance, many stranded Americans were confronted with chaos or a recording telling them, please do not rely on the US Government for assisted departure or evacuation at this time. There are currently no United States evacuation points. Those stories were genuinely harrowing. Now it's not all bad. Rubio's done plenty of subjectively and objectively good things. He led talks that produced billions of dollars of new trade deals, secured critical mineral supply chains, and helped facilitate trillions of dollars of investments from Gulf allies into the US though those are now at risk. With his push, five NATO allies are projected to increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP by the end of next year. The military operation to capture Maduro in Venezuela, which he was a proponent of, was executed to near perfection. He helped bring home 175 hostages from abroad, including more than 100Americans. He's pushing AI policy that could turn into a global AI governance approach and is widely credited for helping negotiate an end to the India Pakistan conflict. I also think in Rubio's defense, he's been dealt a pretty tough hand. There is a literal meme now about him having seemingly every job in the administration and behind the scenes reporting has shown he's tried to war Warren Trump about the consequences of the Iran war. How much are these negative outcomes the product of his own failures versus the nature of the White House he's working for and of navigating a war he didn't seem keen to take on? It's honestly hard to say. So overall my assessment leans more negative than positive. But I still believe he is a competent appointee who understands the role he was tapped for, and there's plenty of time left for him to notch some more achievements. We'll be right back after this quick break.

[Unidentified Tangle Host]

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[Isaac Wood]

I'm Contributing Editor Isaac Wood and this question comes from Robert in Montana. How has the recovery been from Hurricane Helene? Almost two years later, I'm wondering whether the region that was impacted is still feeling the effects. Here's my answer. Thank you for this question. I started as a Tingle editor a few months ago and I live in Johnson City, Tennessee. Hurricane Helene was the closest I've been to a natural disaster. I wasn't directly harmed, but I have connections with several of the communities that were most heavily impacted. Over the last two years or so, I've felt a tension. I'm sometimes frustrated by how quickly the rest of the nation moved on. And yet I completely understand that the whole country can't be locked into a regional tragedy forever. At the end of the day, a region's got to climb, or in this case, muck out its own mountains. Still, it means a lot when someone from across the country asks about how things are going. The first few months were devastating and miraculous. I'm sure you've seen stories of people helping each other out in surprising ways, but it really was unbelievable to watch people come together to donate, organize and distribute supplies. Mucking out flooded basements is hard work that neighbors did diligently for each other. And countless families in the region are grateful for volunteers, construction workers, plumbers and electricians who donated their time and expertise to rebuild homes. But nearly two years later, the work is far from over. Disaster response falls into three response or rescue, relief and recovery. Response includes search operations and other emergency services to get people to safety. Relief is distributing supplies and getting people back to a livable situation. And recovery is the rebuilding process. I interviewed a nonprofit leader for a story I reported about the relief efforts, and he told me about the 110100 rule, a general rule of thumb that estimates that for every one day of response, relief takes 10 days and recovery takes 100 days. It's not an exact science, but the response stage for Hurricane Helene in the worst parts of east Tennessee and western North Carolina took about two weeks, 14 days for response, 140 days for relief and 1,400 days for recovery. That's almost four years. And in this case, that rule bears out on a day to day basis. Most people are not heavily affected by lasting damage. But that's not true for everyone. As of March this year, Blue Ridge Public Radio reported that over 100 people in the Asheville area are still enduring homelessness caused by the storm. In April, Tennessee announced a $34 million program for farmers and forest landowners to rehabilitate damaged land. And North Carolina is putting $18 million in grants toward cleaning up debris left over from the cleanup process. The scenic Blue Ridge Parkway is still not completely open. Just last week, the Federal Emergency management agency, or FEMA, announced $197 million in public assistance grants going towards Hurricane Helene and other disasters. North Carolina's proposed budget, awaiting the governor's approval, includes $700 million toward disaster recovery programs. All that money will be going towards more recovery efforts, which means there's still a lot of work to do in the region.

[Will Kbach]

Hi, this is Senior Editor Will Kbach. I am answering a question from Rachel in Nyack, New York, and Rachel says, I'd appreciate a pie on this frightening new Law in Texas forcing Texas schoolchildren to read the Bible as part of the 2030 elementary school curriculum. Here's what I wrote In June, the Texas State Board of Education, an elected executive agency currently controlled 10 to 5 by Republicans, approved a new mandatory reading list for public school students which will take effect in the 20302031 school year. The Bible oriented editions are fairly substantive. In elementary school, students will read passages about Jesus in the New Testament. In middle school they will read several of Jesus sermons, and in high school they will read portions of the Book of Job along with other Bible passages. Parents will be able to opt their children out of any instruction on the Bible, but the students may still be tested on that material. Beyond this new reading list, Texas has made several moves to incorporate biblical teachings into public schools schools, including adopting optional curriculum for elementary school students that incorporates biblical instruction and mandating that public schools display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, something that Louisiana has also done. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call these moves frightening. Texas is of course a deeply religious state and 67% of Texans identify as Christian. Am I surprised that a state with that makeup would choose representatives who support measures like this? Not at all. Do I think kids will be indoctrinated against their will as a result of this reading list? Probably not either, at least not more than any required school reading can indoctrinate. That said, I completely understand the opposition to this move, and I feel it partially myself. Church and state shall be completely separate is not something that's written explicitly in the First Amendment, but a government mandating that one specific religion be taught to public school students certainly gives the appearance of establishing a favored religion, which is more of a clear constitutional affront in the context of the other moves that Texas has made to incorporate religious materials primarily tied to Christianity into public school education. It's hard for me to avoid the conclusion that the state is attempting a form of proselytization. Still, it's probably good for students to have some biblical education in order to better understand the United States and its founders. If Texas had instead required religious texts for the purpose of learning more about America's origins and ideals and from a range of major religions beyond Christianity, it would have been much more defensible and valuable. As someone who didn't grow up religious, I think I would have benefited from learning more about the key figures, teachings and materials from Christianity, as well as Judaism, Islam, and others. Now, I know defenders of the new curriculum argue that it shouldn't be controversial to teach kids about the Bible, and I agree with that. But I think it should be controversial to teach kids only about the Bible.

[Audrey Moorhead]

This is Associate Editor Audrey Moorhead, and I had a slightly different view from Will's first of all, I don't dispute any of his analysis of the Texas Legislature's intent in passing the new Bible text requirement. The sum total of legislators statements, other actions regarding the role of religion in public life, and even the list of approved Bible translations to me does paint a picture of a legislature that probably hopes introducing the Bible into schools will proselytize young Texans. And like Will, I'd like to see curricula that foster a better understanding of all religions, not just Christianity. That said, I definitely don't see the new curriculum as frightening at all, and I even understand why someone might emphasize Christianity more than other religions. Is it frightening to ask students to read Little Women, a classic American coming of age novel that also happens to be an explicitly Christian moralizing text featuring long passages that reference the Bible? Is it frightening to ask students to read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. S letter from a Birmingham Jail, in which one of our most illustrious civil rights leaders draws inspiration from the books of Exodus and Daniel, or the story of the crucifixion? Is it frightening to ask students to read the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, the letters of the Founding Fathers, or the treatises of John Milton and Mary Wollstonecraft, all of which build their moral and philosophical universes on the basic foundation of biblical stories? Living in the United States of America means living in a society wherein the Bible and in a nation largely shaped by Protestant Christianity. The King James Bible specifically is the single most influential text in our history, informing our literature and our politics. And I hold no illusions that every American student needs to be as much of a literature nerd as I am. But the basic outcome of our public education system ought to be the formation of good citizens. Whatever you think about the Bible, it's indisputable that it is as fundamental to our societal formation as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, many other foundational texts, which is not as true of other religious texts like the Quran or the Mahabharata. Furthermore, to be fair, many secular figures in history, including some of the Founding Fathers have read the Bible dispassionately and come away with an understanding of its moral lessons without necessarily converting to its religious beliefs. I think the more likely outcome of Texas's Bible curriculum is simply students who better understand the society they live in and the texts that have influenced it. And as a final note, understanding biblical stories also better prepares American citizens to critique the Bible's influence if they're so inclined. You're better able to grasp the significance of Darwin's theory of evolution if you're familiar with how his contemporaries saw the world. You're better able to understand how Southern slave drivers justified their own horrific actions if you've encountered the stories they read and believed, and you're better able to combat their arguments. So while I understand where critics of this new curriculum are coming from, I think they're missing the significant benefits that it could offer foreign.

[Isaac Saul]

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[Isaac Saul]

All right, next up is a question from Marsha in Virginia. Marcia said, why isn't the press held accountable for when they lie about a story, twist the facts to push their agenda, and continue to add this massive divide that we have in our country. If one is to swear to tell the truth in court, knowing if they lie, it's perjury. Why isn't the press held to the same standards? I find the press only does this with political things involving political people and it's constant hate. This is why I don't watch the news, CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, etc. Yes, there is the freedom of the press to express yourself, but why can't the mainstream media, TV and print just give the facts and truth without bias and pushing their agendas? So this is an interesting question because I agree with its thrust, but I'm stuck on the premise. Is the press not held accountable for lying about stories or twisting facts to their agenda? Today, trust in the media is at an all time low. This obviously has a huge impact on the business as many legacy media organizations are folding and many new media organizations fail shortly after launching. Even the ones succeeding face huge headwinds. Fox News is no longer trusted by half the country because of an overt right leaning bias. CNN is no longer trusted by half the country because of an overt left leaning bias. Organizations like the New York Times that make mistakes get pilloried by the public. Places like the Washington Post lose subscribers en masse when readers suspect their editorial shifts are designed to appease the President. The result is a media landscape where new challengers like Tangle are stealing audiences from competitors and many new audiences are being built on principles like viewpoint diversity and transparency. Also like Tangle, to put it simply, I think media organizations are paying the price for failures of the past right now in this moment. I also think individual reporters are regularly held to account. If a journalist makes a big mistake, they are often fired, suspended, or face serious public scrutiny. To me, the media lacks accountability, not for overt lies or journalistic misconduct. It's simply how much people in the commentary or analysis space get things wrong, engage in bad faith arguments, and rarely if ever self correct. Writers are a lot like economists and weathermen in that way. It doesn't matter how many times they're wrong, they always seem to get another chance to be wrong. I don't think commentators should be fired for bad takes, but more humility and acknowledgment of analysis gone astray would help. That's one reason I do my regular roundups of bad takes and things I was wrong about. Of course, some of this is just intentional. Many, many pundits are openly partisan, as in they are specifically trying to advance the agenda of the left or right, blue or red, Democrat or Republican, in which case they write with motivated reasoning, knowing beforehand the conclusion they want to get to and then working backwards from there. It's a frustrating thing to witness, but it's also a prime example that being a public writer is an effective way to influence our polit. If you're asking about more serious repercussions like jail time or fines, well, that's a bit more complicated. As I wrote last week, a free press is critical to our nation's success, and in America, the free press is worth preserving. Journalists, writers and commentators should be free to prognosticate, mouth off, get things wrong, etc. That is different from libeling someone, but I don't think libel is really all that common. More often than not, news outlets or opinion columnists make mistakes within the confines of what is legal, and the bar for proving libel should be high. The last thing we want is the government aggressively enforcing what kinds of lies or mistakes constitute a crime and which don't.

[John Wall]

Hey everybody, this is John, Executive producer for Tangle. We hope you enjoyed this preview of our latest episode. If you are not currently a newsletter subscriber or a premium podcast subscriber and you are enjoying this content content and would like to finish it, you can go to readtangle.com and sign up for a newsletter subscription. Or you can sign up for a podcast subscription or a bundled subscription which gets you both the podcast and the newsletter and unlocks the rest of this episode as well as ad free daily podcasts, more Friday editions, Sunday editions, bonus content, interviews and so much more. Most importantly, we just want to say thank you so much for your support. Working hard to bring you much more content and more offerings. So stay tuned. I will join you again for the daily podcast. For the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day y'.

[Isaac Wood]

All.

[John Wall]

Peace.

[Isaac Saul]

Our Executive Editor and founder is me, Isaac Saul and our Executive Producer is John Wall. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Top. Our editorial staff is led by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman with Senior Editor Will Kbach and Associate Editors Audrey Moorhead, Lindsey Knuth and Bailey Saul. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our [e-mail].

[Audrey Moorhead]

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Mom, your finger's blocking the camera or

[John Wall]

laptops to write that essay.

[Isaac Wood]

How many EM dashes would you like?

[John Wall]

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