Freakonomics Radio
Insurance forms that make no sense. Subscriptions that can’t be cancelled. A never-ending blizzard of automated notifications. In this update of a 2025 episode, Stephen Dubner discovers where all this sludge comes from — and how much it’s costing us.
- SOURCES:
- Benjamin Handel, professor of economics at UC Berkeley.
- Neale Mahoney, professor of economics at Stanford University.
- Richard Thaler, professor of economics at The University of Chicago.
- RESOURCES:
- “Selling Subscriptions,” by Liran Einav, Ben Klopack, and Neale Mahoney (Stanford University, 2023).
- “The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok,” by Cory Doctorow (WIRED, 2023).
- “Dominated Options in Health Insurance Plans,” by Chenyuan Liu and Justin Sydnor (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2022).
- Nudge: The Final Edition, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein (2021).
- “Frictions or Mental Gaps: What’s Behind the Information We (Don’t) Use and When Do We Care?” by Benjamin Handel and Joshua Schwartzstein (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2018).
- “Adverse Selection and Switching Costs in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts,” by Benjamin Handel (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011).
- EXTRAS:
- “Sludge,” series by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
- “People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Update)” by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
- “All You Need is Nudge,” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
- “How to Fix the Hot Mess of U.S. Healthcare,” by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
- “Should We Really Behave Like Economists Say We Do?” by Freakonomics Radio (2015).
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332. Why the Trump Tax Cuts Are Terrible/Awesome (Part 2)
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331. Why the Trump Tax Cuts are Awesome/Terrible (Part 1)
Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explains the thinking behind the controversial new Republican tax package — and why its critics are wrong. (Next week, we’ll hear from the critics.) Hosted by…
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330. Extra: Ray Dalio Full Interview
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329. The Invisible Paw
Humans, it has long been thought, are the only animal to engage in economic activity. But what if we’ve had it exactly backward? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our…
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328. Extra: Mark Zuckerberg Full Interview
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the Facebook founder and C.E.O., recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and…
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327. Extra: Carol Bartz Full Interview
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former C.E.O. of Yahoo, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and…
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326. Extra: Jack Welch Full Interview
Stephen Dubner’s conversation with the former longtime C.E.O. of General Electric, recorded for the Freakonomics Radio series “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.” Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our…
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325. How to Train Your Dragon Child
Every 12 years, there’s a spike in births among certain communities across the globe, including the U.S. Why? Because the Year of the Dragon, according to Chinese folk belief, confers power, fortune, and more. We…