As states adopt phone bans, a debate emerges on what to do next.
Tangle
Isaac Saul
4.7 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 17 September 2025
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the academic year gets underway, a growing number of U.S. states have enacted laws banning or restricting cell phone use in schools. 17 states and Washington, D.C. implemented new rules this year, joining several other states with existing restrictions. Scores of school districts and individual schools have also enacted their own policies. These laws range from incentives for schools to curtail phone use to prohibitions only in classrooms to outright bans for the entire school day, with different rules for different age groups.
Ad-free podcasts are here!
To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!
You can read today's podcast here, our “Under the Radar” story here and today’s “Have a nice day” story here.
Take the survey: Do you support banning smartphones in schools? Let us know.
Disagree? That's okay. My opinion is just one of many. Write in and let us know why, and we'll consider publishing your feedback.
You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.
Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.
This podcast was written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.
Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Kendall White, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You can buy a house, but you can't buy home. |
| 0:06.3 | You can be surrounded and still be alone. |
| 0:10.2 | Introducing the man, the myth, the legend. |
| 0:14.3 | Mr. John Batiste, everyone. |
| 0:16.6 | Hello, my new album, Big Money, is out right now. |
| 0:21.5 | Mama said, boy, don't you be no dummy, everybody chasing that big, big money. |
| 0:26.2 | Big money! |
| 0:29.5 | The dreaded CV scrolling, the never-ending interviewing. |
| 0:34.6 | If recruiting is a bit of a nightmare, try building a dream team that works in perfect harmony. |
| 0:43.0 | Post your vacancy on Guardian Jobs. It'll be seen by millions of like-minded people looking for top |
| 0:48.8 | roles in education, charity, public sector, sustainability and more. Search Guardian jobs recruiters and get £100 off your |
| 0:56.3 | next post. Quote podcast at the checkout. Teas and C's Apply. Hi everyone. It's Jamie and Sophie from |
| 1:02.3 | Nearly Parents and we are currently sponsored by Etsy where you can find original items from small shops. |
| 1:07.8 | Okay, so as a business owner myself, I love knowing that Etsy has such a great community |
| 1:13.1 | as sellers. It's so important. And the items I'm buying have been made designed and handpicked |
| 1:17.2 | by real people. Etsy has all sorts of cool stuff from handmade jewelry and vintage jackets to |
| 1:22.0 | handcrafted leather bags. It is also great for baby items with real people behind the shops that sell everything from cute nursery decor to tiny little personalised jumpers. |
| 1:32.5 | Shop the Etsy app. Special starts on Etsy. |
| 1:41.3 | From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. |
| 1:50.8 | Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, |
| 2:00.7 | the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking, and a little bit of my take. |
| 2:05.2 | I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and it is Wednesday, September 17th. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Isaac Saul, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Isaac Saul and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.