The hidden tax Americans pay constantly — and how we can avoid it episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 26, 2026 · 31 MIN

The hidden tax Americans pay constantly — and how we can avoid it

from Apple News Today

From Apple News In Conversation: Americans spend billions of hours a year navigating government bureaucracy, whether filling out forms, waiting on hold, or standing in endless lines. Researchers call this hidden burden the “time tax.” In her new book, The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time — and How to Fix It, Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey argues all of this red tape is more than just annoying — it has real, lasting consequences for the country. Lowrey joins Apple News In Conversation host Shumita Basu to talk about who pays a disproportionate share of the time tax, why the system was designed to wear us down, and her ideas for how to fix it.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 26, 2026

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The hidden tax Americans pay constantly — and how we can avoid it

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