Have you ever gotten into an impassioned argument in the shower with a sparring partner who... wasn't actually there?

How about replaying a dinner party conversation from weeks ago but this time, you know exactly what to say and you're saying it... to yourself?

Whether the dialogue is in our heads or said aloud, many of us talk to ourselves, even if we don't realize it. But oftentimes the habit is seen as strange — especially if there are others around.

We get into why so many of us talk to ourselves, and what the benefits of self-talk.

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The Federal Reserve has begun cutting interest rates after two years of rate hikes to the highest levels in decades.

It meets again this week to decide whether to cut them again, or keep them as is.

High interest rates made the cost of borrowing high, meaning that car loans, credit card debt, and mortgages cost exponentially more than before the pandemic.

We discuss how the Fed's decision to lower rates affects the economy.

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Last week, the House passed a bill to create 63 new permanent judgeships. Case backlogs and delays have had many lawmakers saying we need more federal judges. If the bill did become law, President-elect Donald Trump would have 22 new seats to fill. The legislation originally had bipartisan support, but President Joe Biden vowed to veto it, with the support of many Democrats.

In his first term, Trump put more judges in place than almost any president in history. Biden has made his mark too, surpassing that number. As of last week, he had also put more judges of color on the bench than any of his predecessors.

Federal judges almost always serve life terms, meaning each of these picks can have lasting consequences for Americans.

We look back and look ahead at our federal judiciary.

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Bill Browder is a financier turned anti-corruption campaigner. He made his fortune in post-Soviet Russia before falling afoul of Putin.

We last spoke to him back in 2018. Back then, few imagined Russia would dare carry out a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But Browder wasn't one of them.

Now, with Donald Trump's return to the White House just weeks away, the newly knighted Browder tell us world leaders must act. He joins us to explain why Putin remains such a huge threat to Ukraine and the world.

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The alleged shooter of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Luigi Mangione, was apprehended this week in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee at a local McDonald's phoned authorities claiming to have recognized him from photographs provided by New York police.

President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 1,500 Americans this week. According to his administration, it's a single-day record.

After rebels took control of the Syrian capital of Aleppo, President Bashar al-Assad fled the country and has been granted asylum in Russia. Now, the world is asking what's next for the country and for the region.

The rebels have also dealt a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions in Europe and the Mediterranean. His forces' main point of entry to the sea was tied to the Assad dynasty. Russia's military presence on the Syrian coast is now in jeopardy.

We cover all these stories and more during the News Roundup.

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There are few books in the world that most people have heard of. There are even fewer so recognizable that are 500,000 words long.

That's right, we're talking about the dictionary.

The Oxford English Dictionary is the longest English variant of its kind in the world. But many of those who made significant contributions to its creation went unknown for years — until now. These included hundreds of women, people without formal educations, and patients in mental institutions.

In other words, the people who helped make the OED were as diverse as the words in it. We discuss how the Oxford English Dictionary came to be and how our relationship to the dictionary has changed.

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Pasteurization is the process that rids milk of bacteria. But more people are opting for unpasteurized milk, also known as raw milk. In May, sales of raw milk rose more than 20 percent compared to the year before. That's according to Nielson IQ, a market research firm.

But consuming raw milk comes with significant risks.

In late November, California regulators recalled some raw milk products after detecting bird flu virus. And last week, the USDA ordered testing across the nation's milk supply over bird flu concerns — an issue that began back in March.

Although both the CDC and FDA caution against the consumption of raw milk, the product is being pushed by some right-wing conservatives. One of the most prominent proponents of raw milk is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald Trump's pick to serve as secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services.

We discuss why people are drinking raw milk despite the risks.

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2024 was, in many ways, a year of elections.

Both home and abroad.President-elect Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November. He won a second term in office and will be headed back to Washington come January.

Across the globe, an election took place in India in seven stages starting in the spring and ending in June. Voters in Pakistan and Indonesia also went to the polls. European governments in France, Slovakia, the U.K. all saw switch ups. Germany, a financial powerhouse in the E.U., called a snap election for early 2025.

We discuss the democratic elections around the world and what the outcomes reflect when it comes to the wishes of voters.

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Over the past year, the Chinese government has stepped up its cyber operations, focusing not just on espionage or stealing intellectual property, but on hacking to bolster geopolitical goals.

U.S. authorities and institutions are used to digital aggression from the likes of Russia. But are now freshly reconsidering the objectives and capabilities of one of the country's other eastern rivals.

We discuss those goals and how China using cyberspace to achieve them. We also discuss the latest from Russia.

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$10 billion. That's how much money was taken from Americans in fraud schemes last year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Many of those crimes – specifically those involving imposters – often start with a phone call or a text and a made-up claim. Victims can hand over thousands of dollars. And they often feel ashamed about being duped by these criminals.

How do we let go of the stigma around being scammed? And what's being done about the increasingly elaborate ways scammers are stealing people's money?

The Washington Post's Michelle Singletary helps us answer
those questions.

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