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From gun control and immigration overhaul to changes to taxes and entitlements, 2013 seemed like a year when big things could be accomplished in Congress. Whatever the cause of the logjam, big-ticket items that once seemed possible at the beginning of the year fell by the wayside.

For the third interview in our year-end conversations about the future, Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep talks about climate change with Andrew Steer of the World Resources Institute.

Russian artist Viktor Ivanov has created a teddy bear out of chicken meat, covered in chicken skin, with olives for eyes. British chef Simon Hulstone uploaded a photo of the meaty teddy and tweeted that he intends to serve it to his kids for Christmas dinner.

A well-respected consumer advocacy organization in Germany claims that Ritter Sport's popular chocolate product contains synthetic aroma. It has ignited a fierce court battle. But Ritter Sport says the aroma is natural, extracted from plants like dill or vanilla.

Jang Song Thaek, who was a key adviser and regent to his nephew — leader Kim Jong Un — was executed on Dec. 12. Intelligence agencies believe he refused to cede control of lucrative business interests, including fishing grounds. Jang was arrested after a gun battle between his forces and the army.

A new law lets adopted people in Ohio see their original birth certificates — but opponents say it comes at a cost to the birth parents. Guest host Celeste Headlee takes on the topic with law professor Carol Sanger, birth mother Jodi Hodges, and advocates Adam Pertman and Betsie Norris.

Another deadline for the Affordable Care Act has been pushed back. Guest Host Celeste Headlee speaks to Kaiser Health News reporter Mary Agnes Carey and Washington Post reporter Sarah Kliff and what the decision means and how the healthcare rollout is going across the country.

In a nation that takes its elves and other mythical creatures seriously, a proposed road is being held up. A court is considering both the environmental impact and the potential effect on elves who are said to have a church in the highway's projected path.

Students thinking about the road ahead for transportation imagine everything from flying cars and hovercraft to crowdsourced car design and driverless vehicles. A key part of planning, says one expert, is that changes must not only make life better for commuters, they must also be done in a way "that this planet can support."

More than 38 percent of the U.S. population lives in a state in which same-sex marriage is legal. That's a much more revealing number than the figure usually discussed: 18 states plus Washington D.C. In the coming years, that number is expected to increase dramatically.