
Freakonomics Radio
The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge
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.
Speaking breakdown
Dialog switches167
Avg turn18s
Longest speech2m 2s
Host questions56
Guest questions22
Top words
sludge64healthcare32care25health23firms19
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