{"podcast":{"title":"The Economics of Everyday Things","slug":"the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128","podcast_index_feed_id":5976128,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/ob9OSBIN","website_url":"https://freakonomics.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/d02ab162-92b1-40d0-9d90-caab30ce394f/c15d5fc4-14ba-4630-a045-4f31e591fbd2/3000x3000/3000x3000-eoet.jpg?aid=rss_feed","author":"Freakonomics Network","episode_count":202,"summary":"Who decides which snacks are in your office’s vending machine? How much is a suburban elm tree worth, and to whom? How did Girl Scout Cookies become a billion-dollar business? In bite-sized episodes, journalist Zachary Crockett looks at quotidian things and finds amazing stories. To get every show in the Freakonomics Radio Network without ads and a monthly bonus episode of Freakonomics Radio, start a free trial for SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-27T06:18:55.991038+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128"},"episode":{"title":"38. Junk Mail","slug":"38-junk-mail","published_at":"2026-05-11T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128/38-junk-mail","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128","url":"https://freakonomics.com","audio_url":"https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/51058430-d98f-4830-b949-5d9a371523ce/episodes/4f9afae3-7c05-4bef-a886-5bcc733a6699/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=51058430-d98f-4830-b949-5d9a371523ce&awEpisodeId=4f9afae3-7c05-4bef-a886-5bcc733a6699&feed=ob9OSBIN","summary":"Why does the mailman bring us so many catalogs, credit card offers, and pizza coupons? Because his job depends on it. Zachary Crockett checks the mailbox. This episode was originally published on February 25th, 2024.","meta_description":"Why does the mailman bring us so many catalogs, credit card offers, and pizza coupons? Because his job depends on it. Zachary Crockett checks the mailbox.…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1082,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128/episodes/38-junk-mail/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-economics-of-everyday-things-5976128/38-junk-mail.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}