Baltimore Symphony Orchestra assistant conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush discusses his top classical moments of the year, including the aria "Men Don't Break" from Terence Blanchard's opera "Fire Shut Up in My Bones. And, during their service, Avalisa Ellicott and Paula M. Neira both feared getting kicked out of the military for being transgender. They join us to discuss a notable year for American military veterans identifying as transgender.

We remember the lives of Alicia Ugartechea and Usha Subrahmanyam, two mothers who were lost to COVID-19 this year. And, we look back at life in Russia these past three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union with Masha Gessen, staff writer at The New Yorker.

A Winter Olympics like no other is coming in February. And a few new sports will debut, including something called the monobob. Cynthia Appiah, a member of the Canadian bobsled team, explains. And, as the year draws to a close, Here & Now security analyst Jim Walsh looks back at some of the most significant foreign policy developments in 2021.

In this excerpt of an "Endless Thread" podcast, hosts Amory Sivertson and Ben Brock Johnson talk with singer Rick Astley, whose video for the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" has become the internet meme we call "Rick-Rolling." And, U.S. labor movements captivated headlines this year. Harley Shaiken, professor and labor economist at the University of California Berkeley, reflects on the year in labor.

For many of us, 2021 was hard — but we wanted to know about glimmers of happiness. We heard from listeners about what challenges they faced and what moments of joy from 2021 they'll hold onto heading into 2022. And, Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, reflects on COVID-19 in 2021.

This year, scientists learned more about COVID-19 as the virus continued to circulate and mutate. The cicadas emerged from underground, and Perseverance landed on Mars. Laura Helmuth, editor in chief of Scientific American, talks about the year in science. And, climate change is forcing the insurance industry to adapt and come up with new products. We dive into one experiment: a policy to insure nature against extreme storms, specifically a coral reef in Mexico.

Chef Kathy Gunst shares her daughter's recipe for moussaka – a blend of sauteed ground lamb with spices layered with thin slices of potatoes and eggplant and then blanketed in a rich, cheesy bechamel sauce. And, a tiny non-profit has produced a high-tech tool called Heat Seek to record apartment temperatures. As Jon Kalish reports, the idea is to help tenants force their landlords to fix ongoing heat issues.

Jackson Browne's "Downhill From Everywhere" has received a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. We revisit our conversation with Browne from July. And, this year's real estate market was a wild ride marked by low inventory, bidding wars and prices surging to historic highs. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, shares housing market predictions for 2022.

Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst and host of "Jill On Money," joins us to discuss tax season, savings and more financial tips to get ahead before the start of the new year. And, scientists warn as the climate changes, we can expect more frequent and powerful storms to disrupt the electric grid. But as WBUR's Bruce Gellerman reports, two environmental justice communities in Massachusetts are preparing for the worst and planning for a more resilient energy future.

When someone suffers a brain injury and loses the ability to speak, read and communicate, typically after a stroke, that condition is known as aphasia. KJZZ's Jill Ryan reports how singing is one way to help bring back the language and create a social community. And, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear joins us to discuss the latest on recovery from this month's deadly tornadoes.