Members of Congress are enjoying their first, full Christmas recess since President Obama took office. Over the last five years, the legislative branch has delayed its holiday break or returned early for major votes over Christmas and New Year's, on divisive issues like health care, the fiscal cliff and unemployment benefits. In 2013, Congress managed to fight its battles earlier in the year. Gregory Downs, professor of history at the City University of New York, reviews of the highlights of the year in Congress and looks ahead to changes in 2014.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has freed one of his most significant political rivals, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the famed Russian oil tycoon, oligarch and Kremlin critic, who has been in prison for 10 years. Putin cited "humanitarian principles" for the unexpected pardon. The move comes just ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Joining The Takeaway to discuss Putin's sudden change of heart is Bob Amersterdam, former defense attorney for Mikhail Khodorkovsky who was at his trial ten years ago.

Yesterday President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of eight federal inmates for crack cocaine offenses. Each inmate has been imprisoned for at least 15 years, and six were sentenced to life in prison. Aside from the eight lucky ones, 500,000 people remain behind bars across the U.S. for drug violations. Joining The Takeaway to explain Obama's decision is Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

With medical marijuana legal in 20 states and recreational pot legal in Washington and Colorado, the national conversation around marijuana is changing rapidly. And many are wary about what this means for teens. Roger Roffman, a Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington School of Social Work, helps us wade through this shifting culture around marijuana and what it means for adolescents. Alex Szablya Ramdin, a Washington state parent of two kids, weighs in on how the conversation is changing.

This week a federal judge ruled the National Security Agency's surveillance programs were unconstitutional. What are the odds that a challenge to the NSA's data collection intelligence program will reach the Supreme Court? Pretty good, but how will it get there and when? Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for our partner The New York Times, joins The Takeaway to explain.

After days of anti-government protests in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country would come to the aid of its neighbor to the tune of $15 billion. But the news of the deal was not enough to send protesters home. Borys Potapenko, Vice Chair of the International Conference in Support of Ukraine, has been closely monitoring the developments in Ukraine from Detroit.

Scientists say that more than 20,000 plants and animals are on the brink of disappearing forever. How do we decide which species to save? Christine Dell'Amore, News Editor for NationalGeographic.com, will help us answer that question tomorrow. In the meantime, The Takeaway has a challenge for you. Here you'll find three photos of three very different creatures—a giant panda, a grey-faced elephant shrew and an American burying beetle. If you could only save just one, which would you pick? Vote in our poll.

Brian Cox, a leading British physicist and science broadcaster on the BBC, says scientists need to realize that if they don't step up like Galileo to argue against distortion and myth they will lose the war for truth—even if they win the battle of being correct. "We're trying to understand the natural world and the world that is out there—that has nothing to do with whether you're a Democrat or a Republican," he says. Professor Cox joins The Takeaway to explain why it is so important to make science apolitical. 

Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who helped Edward Snowden break news of the NSA’s mas surveillance apparatus, has found himself in the middle one of the year’s biggest news stories. In this second half of a two-part interview with The Takeaway, Greenwald shifts his focus from national security issues to the meaning of responsible journalism. “The public will ultimately judge what it is that I do just like anybody else who’s acting in a way that affects public life, and I think that’s how it should be,” he says.

The Takeaway's Host John Hockenberry talked with Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who worked with leaker Edward Snowden to reveal the cache of classified NSA documents. Being involved with the leaks has forever changed Greenwald’s life. In a special two part interview, The Takeaway talks with Greenwald about everything from the safety of the United States to possible solutions to curb the NSA’s secretive surveillance plans. Here is a transcript of this interview.

“I think what we did made the threat much, much worse, and at the same time, destroyed many of the freedoms that we’ve all been taught define what the United States is all about,” says the investigative journalist.

Peter O'Toole, the Hollywood legend who was made famous in his title role in Lawrence of Arabia, died on Saturday at the age of 81. He was born in Ireland and raised in England, but he came to be known around the globe. "Ireland, and the world, has lost one of the giants of film and theater," said Irish President Michael Higgins. O'Toole's acting career began on stage in England as a teenager, later moving on to television roles in the 1950s and then the big screen. Today The Takeaway remembers Peter O'Toole.

More than 6 years ago, Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent, disappeared in Iran. He has been presumed to be a hostage of some kind, a designation that the U.S. government has not taken issue with. But now it turns out that Levinson may actually be a casualty of a CIA operation gone wrong. Tim Weiner is a former reporter for our partner The New York Times and author of "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA" and "Enemies: The History of the FBI." He joins The Takeaway to discuss Levinson's case.

What has gotten into John Boehner? The normally pliant Speaker looks like he has had enough of rigid Tea Party conditions and attitudes. He fears that these newest members of Congress, and the organizations that back them, are taking the GOP brand over the deep end—and he's fed up with it. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's D.C. Correspondent, helps us understand the sudden shift in Speaker Boehner's perspective.

In October, an early blizzard killed tens of thousands of cattle in South Dakota and Nebraska. Ordinarily after this kind of turmoil farmers can expect disaster relief funding through the Farm Bill—but this year that relief is in limbo. Joining The Takeaway to discuss the importance of the Farm Bill is Gary Cammack, a South Dakota Republican state representative and a rancher who lost more than 100 of his own cows and calves in the storm.