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?

Columbus Day has always been a controversial holiday in the United States. In this video, Sigrid goes back in time to get some historical background, which sheds a new light on its significance.

Most Americans don't realize how Columbus Day came to be a national holiday, but it actually doesn't have that much to do with Christopher Columbus, and we might even recognize a connection to present-day events. To recall something Mark Twain once supposedly said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

The European Union has been in the news a lot lately, so let's take a look at what it's all about. What is a "union" and what's the purpose of this one?

Let's have a look at which countries are members of the European Union and where they are on the map.

Every day, we get information from lots of different sources. But how do we know what is true and what is "fake news?" In this 3-part series we explore different kinds of information and misinformation.