What happens when an important river like the Mississippi starts drying up because of lack of rain? We find out in this segment.

This is a special report about 2022's word of the year, which is "gaslighting." As with many new words, or old words with new usage, this word of the year has an interesting story. Sigrid fills us in.

When the U.S. Congress convened in January 2023, the gavel that had been held by the Democrats had to be handed over to the Republicans. This task fell to Hakeem Jeffries, who first gave a speech and had some fun with it, which is why we'd like to share it with you. But first a little background information.

Sigrid focuses on three topics that Hakeem Jeffries discussed in his speech, and how he had fun with words while getting his point across. She explains some of the terms you might not be familiar with and presents the first segment of the speech.

In the last part of Jeffries' speech, he goes through the letters of the alphabet with pairs of words (with rather opposing qualities) in order to describe some principles of the Democratic Party. The speech is affectionately known as the ABCs of Democracy.

Both the Mississippi River and the Colorado River have a huge impact on the lives of millions of Americans. While there have been severe droughts leading to a lack of drinking water, there have also been floods because of quickly melting snow.

It's been a stormy and fiery year in the United States, both weather-wise and in the government.

What's the difference between "clean" and "dirty" energy? Sigrid reports on different kinds of energy and discusses trends in heating our homes.

A first for the United States: A jury found a former president guilty of a serious crime in New York. Here are some details and plenty of new words to learn!

From the TV series Soap. In this clip, Jodie (Billy Crystal) steals Bob, and Chuck freaks out! For those of you that don’t know the series, Jodie is gay and Chuck is his step-brother. Chuck is a ventriloquist and his dummy is named Bob. Chuck believes Bob is a real person.

Let's find out more about an American activity aimed at school kids: the spelling bee. What is it and how does it work?

Sigrid talks about "The Elementary Spelling Book" by Noah Webster, which was the basis for the American English dictionary and a big part of the development of spelling bees in the United States.

Sigrid explains how a spelling bee normally proceeds. There are fixed rules and there are options.

In recent years, we've seen an increase in the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes due to global warming. But how and why do hurricanes form? Sigrid provides a basic explanation of this phenomenon.

We continue to explore the phenomenon of hurricanes. Why are they so dangerous? And do they serve any purpose?