SCOOP'S Christmas Special: Mistletoe Mysteries, News Highlights & Our Favorite Reads of 2025

SmartHERNews

Jenna Lee

News, Education

4.9 • 660 Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

00:00 Welcome to the Christmas Party

00:17 Starbucks Fail

03:32 The Mystery of the Mistletoe

08:22 Crime Stories Update

13:30 Healthcare Subsidies Debate

19:43 Jeffrey Epstein Investigation Update

25:58 Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in Ongoing Investigations

26:49 Reflecting on the Story's Future

27:03 Document Releases and Public Reactions

27:58 Transition to Book Recommendations

28:35 Top Reads of 2025: Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

31:54 Top Reads of 2025: The River's Daughter by Bridget Crocker

33:26 Top Reads of 2025: Born Lucky by Leland Vittert

35:19 Top Reads of 2025: My Own Magic by Anna Kloots

37:41 Top Reads of 2025: All The Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

39:56 Viewer Book Recommendations and Reflections

43:36 Holiday Reflections and Closing Remarks

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Scoop, where you get the Scoop on this week's news. My name is Jenna, and this is Smarter News.
0:11.4	Well, hi, everybody. Welcome to Scoop. It is our Christmas party. We're going to do a little bit of a news broadcast
0:21.6	and a little Christmas party. So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope you have
0:27.0	something delicious in front of you, some sort of hot chocolate with something fancy on top.
0:32.6	I went into Starbucks yesterday with my two sons. And I was trying to order something fun and failing at it miserably.
0:39.4	And, you know, the barista was looking at me like, what are you trying to do, lady?
0:43.2	I was like, can we just do like a little ginger, like little something gingerbread, but not too
0:48.3	much? And then could we, you know, because my brain's going. I'm like, I can't have that much
0:52.7	sugar, you know? I mean, this whole year has been about protein and not eating a lot of sugar.
0:58.3	So I can't totally abandon that. But can't we have a little bit of fun? I need like a light on the fun
1:03.5	option for Starbucks. Like a dash of fun. Not too crazy, but like something to make you feel a little special.
1:11.9	So wherever you are, I hope you have something special in front of you, something delicious.
1:16.5	If we were together, we would have one of those office spreads, you know, where everyone brings
1:21.6	their favorite dish. Maybe we can do that next year so we can share some recipes.
1:25.3	But I just wanted it to have a little moment before the
1:28.4	Christmas holiday to gather. We're going to throw in a little bit of news just to get you caught up
1:32.6	on a few different things. But next to me, I have a stack of books because this was a request
1:36.7	from our insiders to share our top reads of 2025. I got really excited about that and also
1:43.1	realize how disorganized my personal library is because
1:47.0	I've been walking around the house trying to find books. There's books all over our house.
1:51.7	My kindergartner has a reader that sent home. They have a special book based on their reading
1:57.0	level and it was sent home. And I guess one was sent home. I got a note from his
	...

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