The World Is (Still) Drowning in Sludge

679. Why Does Vanderbilt Keep Winning?

It’s a hard time to run a university: public trust is low, political pressure is high, and finances are fragile. But Daniel Diermeier, who trained as a political scientist, has Vanderbilt humming. How? He says the key is choosing magnets over wedges.   * SOURCES: * Daniel Diermeier [https://www.vanderbilt.edu/chancellor/biography-diermeier/], chancellor of Vanderbilt University.   * RESOURCES: * "Higher Ed’s New Crisis Managers [https://www.chronicle.com/article/higher-eds-new-crisis-managers]," by Lee Gardner (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2026). * "Professors Need to Diversify What They Teach [https://www.persuasion.community/p/we-analyzed-university-syllabi-theres]," by Jon Shields, Yuval Avnur, and Stephanie Muravchik (Persuasion, 2025). * "A Call for Constructive Engagement [https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructive-engagement]," (American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2025). * "2020 Statement on Anthropology and Human Rights [https://americananthro.org/advocacy-statements/2020-statement-on-anthropology-and-human-rights/]," (American Anthropological Association, 2020). * The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness [https://amzn.to/43Yzf5w], by Michelle Alexander (2010). * "Kalven Committee: Report on the University’s Role in Political and Social Action [https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/KalvenRprt_0.pdf]," (The University of Chicago, 1967).   * EXTRAS: * Sign up here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMQ0RUWCXYQNI0sdz2kj46nOL-diutRkjJ8WxJIXp0n2EHaA/viewform] to pre-screen our new video show. * "'A Low Moment in Higher Education [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/a-low-moment-in-higher-education/],'" by Freakonomics Radio (2024). * "'If We’re All in It for Ourselves, Who Are We?' [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/if-were-all-in-it-for-ourselves-who-are-we/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2024). * "Do Boycotts Work? [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/do-boycotts-work/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2016). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.   * SOURCES: * Benjamin Handel, [https://www.benjaminhandel.com/] professor of economics at UC Berkeley. * Neale Mahoney, [https://nmahoney.people.stanford.edu/] professor of economics at Stanford University. * Richard Thaler, [https://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/richard-thaler] professor of economics at The University of Chicago.   * RESOURCES: * "Selling Subscriptions, [https://nmahoney.people.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj23976/files/media/file/mahoney_subscriptions.pdf]" by Liran Einav, Ben Klopack, and Neale Mahoney (Stanford University, 2023). * "The ‘Enshittification’ of TikTok, [https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/]" by Cory Doctorow (WIRED, 2023). * "Dominated Options in Health Insurance Plans, [https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20190312]" by Chenyuan Liu and Justin Sydnor (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2022). * Nudge: The Final Edition [https://amzn.to/4iIjWDN], 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? [https://eml.berkeley.edu/~bhandel/wp/JEP_Frictions.pdf]" by Benjamin Handel and Joshua Schwartzstein (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2018). * "Adverse Selection and Switching Costs in Health Insurance Markets: When Nudging Hurts, [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17459/w17459.pdf]" by Benjamin Handel (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011).   * EXTRAS: * "Sludge [https://freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/sludge/]," series by Freakonomics Radio (2025). * "People Aren’t Dumb. The World Is Hard. (Update) [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/people-arent-dumb-the-world-is-hard-update/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2024). * "All You Need is Nudge, [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/all-you-need-is-nudge/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2021). * "How to Fix the Hot Mess of U.S. Healthcare, [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-fix-the-hot-mess-of-u-s-healthcare-ep-456/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2021). * "Should We Really Behave Like Economists Say We Do? [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/should-we-really-behave-like-economists-say-we-do/]" by Freakonomics Radio (2015). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

678. Who Gets to Choose a “Good Death”?

New York is the latest state to legalize medical aid in dying. Stephen Dubner speaks with the governor who signed the law, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, a death doula — and an ethicist who thinks the very idea is wrong.   * SOURCES: * Kathy Hochul [https://www.governor.ny.gov/about-governor-hochul], governor of New York. * Suzanne O'Brien [https://doulagivers.com/meet-suzanne/], death doula, founder of Doulagivers Institute. * Al Roth [https://web.stanford.edu/~alroth/], economist at Stanford University. * Daniel Sulmasy [https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014TpfuAAC/daniel-p-sulmasy-phd], physician, philosopher, director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.   * RESOURCES: * Moral Economics: From Prostitution to Organ Sales, What Controversial Transactions Reveal About How Markets Work [https://amzn.to/4ek4g8A], by Al Roth (2026). * "New York Moves to Allow Terminally Ill People to Die on Their Own Terms [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/nyregion/assisted-suicide-medical-aid-in-dying.html]," by Grace Ashford (New York Times, 2025). * The Good Death: A Guide for Supporting Your Loved One through the End of Life [https://amzn.to/44fxsJm], by Suzanne O'Brien (2025). * The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia [https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691140971/the-future-of-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia], by Neil Gorsuch (2009).   * EXTRAS: * "Make Me a Match (Update) [https://freakonomics.com/podcast/make-me-a-match-update/]," by Freakonomics Radio (2023). * Sign up here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMQ0RUWCXYQNI0sdz2kj46nOL-diutRkjJ8WxJIXp0n2EHaA/viewform] to pre-screen our new video show. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

677. Can Backgammon Save Us from Ourselves?

It brings strangers together. It teaches probability, strategy, and emotional control. It has even helped N.F.L. teams win the Super Bowl. Stephen Dubner explores why this ancient game is having a renaissance. (Part two of a series, “We Are All Gamers Now. [https://freakonomics.com/we-are-all-gamers-now/]”)   * SOURCES:  * Remington Davenport [https://www.nycbackgammon.club/], founder of NYC Backgammon Club. * Frank Frigo [https://frankfrigo.com/], game strategy expert & two-time world backgammon champion. * Masayuki "Mochy" Mochizuki [https://www.bkgm.com/articles/Simborg/zMochy/index.html], professional backgammon player. * Marc Olsen [https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-brockmann-olsen-71456349/], C.E.O. of Backgammon Galaxy. * Robert Wachtel [https://www.backgammonchronicles.com/about-the-author], author and professional backgammon player.   * RESOURCES: * The Backgammon Chronicles: A Pro's Adventures on Tour Volume 1 [https://amzn.to/4xGkh1R], by Robert Wachtel (2019). * In the Game Until the End [https://www.amazon.com/Game-until-End-Analysis-Generation/dp/0989549658], by Robert Wachtel (1993) * "Tric Trac, Clic Clac [https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1930-09-06/flipbook/015/]," (The New Yorker, 1930). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This Is Your Brain on Pollution (Update)

As the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations, we revisit a 2022 episode that explored the hidden cost of an invisible threat: air pollution.   * SOURCES: * Angela Duckworth [https://angeladuckworth.com/], psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. * Michael Greenstone [https://michaelgreenstone.com/], economist at the University of Chicago, director of the Energy Policy Institute, co-director of the Climate Impact Lab. * Stephan Heblich [https://sites.google.com/view/stephanheblich/about], economist at the University of Toronto. * Andrea La Nauze [https://sites.google.com/site/andrealanauze/], economist at Deakin University. * Steve Levitt [https://freakonomics.com/author/steven-levitt/], professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago. * Edson Severnini [https://sites.google.com/site/ersevernini/], economist at Boston College.   * RESOURCES: * "Most Polluted Cities [https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities]," (American Lung Association, 2026). * "Air Pollution and Adult Cognition: Evidence from Brain Training [https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/730390]," by Andrea La Nauze and Edson Severnini (Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2025). * "Air Pollution and Student Performance in the U.S. [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30061/w30061.pdf?utm_campaign=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&%3Butm_medium=PANTHEON_STRIPPED&%3Butm_source=PANTHEON_STRIPPED]," by Michael Gilraine and Angela Zheng (NBER Working Papers, 2022). * "Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: new WHO data [https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data]," (World Health Organization, 2022). * "Evolution of the Clean Air Act [https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act]," by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (2020). * "The Death of U.K. Coal in Five Charts [https://ourworldindata.org/death-uk-coal]," by Hannah Ritchie (Our World in Data, 2019). * "The Colour of Pollution [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/05/27/the-colour-of-pollution]," (The Economist, 2014). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.