Tangle Podcast Summary

Episode: PREVIEW — The Friday Edition — Your Questions, Answered. Enjoy!

Host: Isaac Saul
Date: November 14, 2025

Overview

This special Friday edition of the Tangle podcast offers a listener mailbag episode, where the Tangle team answers questions submitted by their audience. True to their independent, non-partisan mission, the hosts and editors tackle topics spanning media bias, abortion access since Dobbs, the nuances of covering historical fascism, immigration’s impact on jobs, and the complexities behind recent autism statistics. The episode features responses from Isaac Saul (host), Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kbach, and Associate Editor Audrey Moorhead.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Approach to Minimizing Personal Bias in Reporting

[04:35] Ari Weitzman - Managing Editor

• Question: How do you avoid poisoning the well with your own bias when writing opinion pieces?
• Ari’s Process:
  • Starts with an initial gut reaction but doesn't stop there.
  • Deliberately exposes himself to more perspectives and information before crystallizing an opinion.
  • Example: In writing about the Trump administration’s National Guard deployment, Ari’s perspective evolved after seeing how the administration’s arguments developed.
  • Quote:

    "You come in with a bias, you read more. Then your opinion shifts to encompass the validity of different viewpoints." (Ari, 04:20)

[05:38] Will Kbach - Senior Editor

• Will’s Method:
  • Reads a broad range of materials, notes framing and factual disputes.
  • Tracks how his own position changes throughout research.
  • Only writes after assessing these changes.

2. Effects of Dobbs Decision on Women's Health

[06:16] Audrey Moorhead - Associate Editor

• Question: What are the effects of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, specifically on women’s health, and what happened in the Adriana Smith case?
• Key Findings:
  • Dobbs resulted in a patchwork of state laws: complete bans (12 states), “hostile” laws (14 states), limited or protected access elsewhere.
  • Maternal mortality rates are up to double in restrictive states, disproportionately affecting women of color.
  • Abortion restrictions also lead to greater difficulty accessing contraception, miscarriage, and broader maternity care.
  • Some states protect non-abortion interventions (e.g. miscarriages, ectopic pregnancy).
• Adriana Smith Case:
  • Media coverage blamed abortion laws, but the real issue was a 2007 Georgia law about advance directives and life support for pregnant women, not Dobbs.
  • Smith’s case was about life support protocols following brain death, not a direct result of abortion restrictions.
  • Quote:

    "Smith's case presents a genuinely unsettling picture of the way medical advancements have created fraught questions... but these questions aren't predicated on abortion access." (Audrey, 10:35)

  • Update: Smith’s baby, named Chance, was born and remains in the NICU.

3. Historical Hypotheticals: Reporting on the Rise of Nazi Germany

[14:27] Isaac Saul - Host

• Listener Question: Could Tangle have predicted or called out the Nazi regime if covering Germany in the 1920s-30s?
• Isaac’s Response:
  • Acknowledges it's an impossible question, as even German contemporaries largely missed the warning signs.
  • Notes that open antisemitism was commonplace at the time, making some Nazi views less shocking then than now.
  • Thinks Tangle’s “My Take” format would allow for direct, moral stances.
  • Candid Reflection:

    "There's an element of hubris to imagine that I would have seen something so many contemporary thinkers missed." (Isaac, 16:40)

  • Recognizes that moral clarity is easier with hindsight.

4. Immigration and Impact on American Jobs

[17:47] Will Kbach - Senior Editor

• Question: Do illegal immigrants take jobs from American citizens?
• Will’s Evidence-Based Breakdown:
  • Immigration affects native-born workers variably:
    • Creates both competition (especially among low-skill or less-educated workers) and new job opportunities.
  • No strong evidence that overall wages or jobs are hurt long-term; in many sectors, unauthorized workers meet critical needs (agriculture, hospitality).
  • Quote:

    "Undocumented workers often work the unpleasant, backbreaking jobs that native born workers are not willing to do." (Will Kbach quoting Brookings, 19:45)

  • Deporting unauthorized workers would likely cause job shortages and raise prices.

5. Interpreting Autism Data: Profound vs. Non-Profound

[22:26] Ari Weitzman - Managing Editor

• Question: Conflicting reports on whether profound autism rates are increasing.
• Clarification:
  • Both the absolute number of those with profound autism and non-profound autism have risen, but non-profound cases have risen faster.
  • The LA Times focused on the proportion among autism cases (profound stayed stable or declined); Tangle cited the rise in the general population.
  • Consulted Dr. Maureen Durkin, whose study was cited by both sides, to confirm the interpretation.
  • Quote:

    "Both rates of profound and non profound autism have increased between 2000 and 2016, although the rate of non profound autism has increased at an appreciably higher rate." (Ari, 25:35)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Bias in Reporting:

  "My first reaction to a story is almost never the full opinion that I end up having."
  (Ari, 04:10)

• On Historical Coverage of Fascism:

  "The hard truth is that antisemitism was so commonplace in Europe that these ideas were less offensive or alarming..."
  (Isaac, 16:00)

• On Immigration and Jobs:

  "The jobs are out there, but many U.S. citizens just don’t want those specific jobs."
  (Will, 19:45)

• On Autism Statistics:

  "So even though the LA Times and Tangle seem to be saying different things, both statements can actually be true."
  (Ari, 24:30)

Important Timestamps

• [02:33] – Isaac Saul introduces the episode and the mailbag format.
• [04:35] – Ari explains handling bias in reporting.
• [06:16] – Audrey details Dobbs decision effects and clarifies Adriana Smith's case.
• [14:27] – Isaac answers how Tangle might have covered rising Nazism.
• [17:47] – Will provides a nuanced answer on immigration and job competition.
• [22:26] – Ari untangles conflicting reports on autism diagnosis trends.

Episode Format & Tone

• Tone: Thoughtful, earnest, reflective, and analytical.
• Style: Conversational but carefully reasoned. The team references research, consults experts, and owns up to nuance and ambiguity.
• Approach: Offers multiple perspectives, clarifies misapprehensions, and reframes listener questions to provide deeper understanding.

Conclusion

This Tangle episode is an exemplar of non-partisan, audience-driven political journalism. The hosts invite listeners to interrogate assumptions, reflect on their approach to tough topics, and engage with complex data responsibly. For those seeking clarity on contentious debates—from abortion law to immigration to media accuracy—this episode models careful, good-faith discussion over polarized rhetoric.