Freakonomics Radio

The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge

June 24, 2026·54 min·5-min readnarrativedocumentary
Podzilla Summary (5 min)
TLDR
Sludge, defined as the unnecessary friction that makes everyday tasks harder, is a pervasive and costly problem across industries — especially in healthcare and digital subscriptions — where it often serves as a strategic tool to retain customers or ration care. The episode argues that wh

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Guest

N

Neale Mahoney

narrative on Freakonomics Radio

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Stephen DubnerRichard ThalerBenjamin HandelNeale MahoneyCory Doctorow

Books

Nudgeby Richard Thaler, Cass Sunstein

Research & Papers

Research on subscription cancellations using credit card data

Topics

Digital MarketingEconomics

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