meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Freakonomics Radio

The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge

Freakonomics Radio

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.532.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner. Some news you may have missed, Congress is considering the unsubscribe

0:10.1

act, a bill that would make it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. But as you are

0:15.4

probably not surprised to learn, the bill is moving slowly. Why? Well, there's an episode about that. We first published it

0:24.4

a little over a year ago. I thought it might be nice to play it again now as a bonus episode.

0:28.8

We have updated facts and figures where needed. As always, thanks for listening.

0:43.3

I have a story to tell you, and I'm curious if anything like this has ever happened to you.

0:49.3

I recently got a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles, saying it's time to renew my driver's license.

0:52.9

This is a letter that no one looks forward to receiving.

0:57.0

In many places, the DMV is famously hard to deal with. Long lines, confusing protocols, etc., etc.

1:01.0

But as I read the letter, I see there is a loophole that if you are a member of AAA,

1:07.0

the American Automobile Association, which I happen to be, then you can renew your license

1:12.2

at their office and even better. You can set up an appointment ahead of time. That was exciting.

1:19.1

So I made my appointment online, put it in my calendar, got all my documents together,

1:24.6

and I showed up on the right day, the right time, and found, to my surprise, a long

1:30.0

line of people waiting for what looked to be just two or three clerks. I asked a couple

1:34.7

people online what time their appointments were for, and they said they didn't have appointments.

1:39.4

They had just walked in. And so I, being an optimist, I thought maybe there's a separate line for appointments.

1:47.2

So I asked around and one helpful AAA employee told me that, no, the line is the line, is how he put it.

1:55.7

And how long do you think that line will take? I asked. Oh, probably just two hours, maybe three, he said.

2:02.9

I had pictured myself buzzing in with my appointment, being done in 15 minutes, maybe 30. Even an hour would have been okay, but two hours or three, that I could not swing.

2:15.1

So the next time you hear about a guy being arrested for driving with

2:18.2

an expired license, that will be me. What happened at AAA surprised me, especially because after

...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.