Blocked and Reported

Live with Katie Herzog & Ben Ryan

February 6, 2026

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  • Benjamin Ryan detailed his entry into covering gender medicine issues, stemming from his skepticism toward the backlash against Jesse Single's 2018 *The Atlantic* piece and a subsequent aggressive confrontation with activist Alejandra Caraballo on Twitter. 
  • The Trump administration is employing authoritarian tactics, including potential HHS policy changes threatening Medicaid funding for hospitals providing gender transition treatments to minors and FTC fraud investigations using billing code scrutiny, which contrasts with the coercive tactics previously associated with the 'woke left.' 
  • The first destransitioner lawsuit discussed involves a patient named Foxvarian who sued her psychologist, Kenneth Einhorn, and surgeon, Simon Chin, for a double mastectomy performed rapidly after a late-onset gender dysphoria presentation at age 15, highlighting concerns over the speed of medical affirmation without deeper psychological reflection. 

Segments

Live Stream Initiation & Banter
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The live stream began with technical checks and casual discussion about clothing and home backgrounds.
  • Summary: The hosts confirmed they were live while monitoring initial viewer counts. One host joked about wearing cashmere to honor Pacific Northwest lesbian style. Another host expressed appreciation for seeing guests’ home backgrounds rather than blurred screens.
Ben Ryan’s Beat Origin
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(00:02:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Benjamin Ryan’s focus on gender medicine reporting originated from skepticism toward the backlash against Jesse Single’s 2018 The Atlantic article.
  • Summary: Ryan’s initial involvement stemmed from knowing Jesse Single from prior editorial work and deciding not to take the widespread criticism of Single’s reporting at face value. A key moment was tweeting support for research into detransitioning, which provoked an aggressive response from Harvard Law School’s Alejandra Caraballo. Ryan views this aggressive reaction as evidence that the opposing side lacks strong arguments.
Status of Youth Gender Medicine
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(00:05:31)
  • Key Takeaway: Federal policy threats, particularly the potential loss of Medicaid payments for hospitals treating minors, are causing pediatric gender clinics to close across the US.
  • Summary: The Trump administration’s HHS policy threatens to forbid Medicaid payments for hospitals providing gender transition surgeries or treatments to individuals under 19, which is described as a ‘death knell’ for these clinics. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles closed its clinic following this threat, and other institutions like Rady Children’s in California are facing legal pressure from state Attorneys General for closing services. Providers are also being scrutinized for using alternative diagnosis codes, such as ’endocrine disorder, not otherwise specified,’ instead of gender dysphoria codes.
Authoritarianism vs. Coercion Critique
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(00:09:30)
  • Key Takeaway: The Trump administration’s use of federal government authority to enforce policy is fundamentally different and more authoritarian than the ‘woke left’s’ coercive social tactics.
  • Summary: The speaker contrasts the ‘woke left’s’ coercive social pressure with the Trump administration’s use of state power, such as threatening FBI action or using FGM statutes against care providers. The segment notes that activist Glenna Goldis, fired by NY AG Letitia James for being gender-critical, subsequently joined the FTC to investigate fraud in gender care. The argument against excusing current actions because ’those guys were worse’ is dismissed as a flimsy justification for lowering standards.
First Destransitioner Lawsuit Details
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(00:10:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Foxvarian’s lawsuit against her surgeon and psychologist highlights a rapid transition timeline for a patient whose gender dysphoria onset occurred post-puberty.
  • Summary: Foxvarian sued surgeon Simon Chin and psychologist Kenneth Einhorn following a double mastectomy at age 16. Her case is characterized as a ‘ROGD case’ because her dysphoric onset occurred at 15 and a half, after puberty began, contrasting with historical patterns. The psychologist, Dr. Einhorn, was criticized for immediately supporting her request for top surgery just two months after she socially transitioned, leading to the surgery four months later.