Ambitious people are a dime a dozen. Most people doubt themselves. All of us — in some shape or form — are stuck in la-la land.

One of the most difficult yet useful skills is the ability to balance your aspirations with reality. A pessimist and an idealist both miss the point. The point is to have optimism about your future but look at the state of society, your environment, and your circumstances without rose-colored glasses.

Read more at The Ladders.

The beginning of the year is a great time to set some new financial goals. And time is money, so what better way to load up on the best personal finance advice than a podcast on the go? There’s a wealth of smart, entertaining money podcasts out there right now, just waiting to be discovered. Many offer great practical insights, but some of the best share relatable stories of the struggles and triumphs we face when it comes to matters of the bank account. Ahead, we rounded up a diverse portfolio of 12 money-related podcasts that will have you ready to take on your 2020 goals in no time.

Read more at Refinery 29.

You probably deserve a raise this year, but the catch is that you'll have to ask for it. This is a turnoff for many professionals who find talking about money to be uncomfortable. In fact, a 2018 PayScale report found that only about one in three professionals surveyed have ever asked for a raise at their current place of work. Other professionals may think it's better to wait until their boss informs them they will be getting a raise, but the reality is that most companies don't do this anymore. If you want a raise, you have to bring it up yourself.

The first step in learning how to ask for a raise is to do your homework. You don't want to approach your superiors with an arbitrary number. You want to go to them with solid information based on your area and industry. It's helpful to use sites like Glassdoor and Indeed to get an idea of average salary numbers. You can also check job listings for positions similar to yours to see if they list the current salary range and, if they don't, compare the requirements of those positions to yours to get a sense of where you fall in terms of qualifications and job titles.

Read more at US News.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said the White House is working on a new round of tax cuts, confirming President Donald Trump's remarks earlier in the week that a proposal will be released within 90 days.

Speaking Thursday morning from the World Economic Forum's annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, Mnuchin told CNBC that Trump "has asked us to start working on what we call 'Tax 2.0.'" Mnuchin's remarks come just a few months out from what is expected to be a contentious presidential election in November.

Read more at US News.

It was a horrifying death for the 39 Vietnamese nationals found in the back of a trailer in an industrial park in Essex, in October last year. The story shone a light on the subterranean world of people smuggling and human trafficking, reports Cat McShane, specifically the thriving route between Vietnam and the UK.

Ba is slight for 18. His body shrinks into a neat package as he recalls his experiences. We're sitting in a brightly lit kitchen, a Jack Russell dog darting between us under the table. Ba's foster mum fusses in the background, making lunch and occasionally interjecting to clarify or add some detail to his account of his journey here from Vietnam. She wants to make sure his story is understood.

Read more at BBC News.

US President Donald Trump's position on climate change has been in the spotlight again, after he criticised "prophets of doom" at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

At the event, which had sustainability as its main theme, and activist Greta Thunberg as its star guest, Mr Trump dismissed "alarmists" who wanted to "control every aspect of our lives" - while also expressing the US's support for an initiative to plant one trillion trees.

Read more at BBC News.

Concerns are growing that the recently-detected coronavirus may spread. Dr Rosalind Eggo explains.

Read more at BBC News.

You carefully pack your suitcase, lug it to the airport and hand over a small fortune for a couple of kilos of excess. You then wave it down the conveyor belt, set off through departures with a smile and… the baggage handlers immediately dispatch it to the wrong side of the globe.

While this is a stereotype, travel often enough and one day it will come true. And while some lost baggage is caused by poor airline organisation (or sheer bad luck), according to industry insiders, there is another reason baggage gets lost – and it could be all your fault.

Read more at Dmarge.

While humans have gotten pretty good at destroying the Earth, nothing we’ve ever made has had the destructive force of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-PG) extinction event. Some 65 million years ago, three-fourths of all plant and animal life on Earth was suddenly made extinct, altering the course of the planet’s evolution. In September 2019, in a bit of CSI: Entire Planet, scientists got the most-detailed look yet at what happened in the aftermath of the K-PG event, reconstructing precisely how the Age of Dinosaurs came to a swift, fiery end.

Read more at Inverse.