The first Blender podcast aired on January 14, 2011. To celebrate 52 uninterrupted episodes, our four hosts -- Grant Podelco, Daisy Sindelar, Bruce Jacobs, and Pavel Butorin -- look back at their favorite stories, interviews, and musical selections from the past year.

An up-close-and-personal look at the human rights situation in Uzbekistan, plus the tale of the torture inflicted on a 15-year-old newlywed Afghan girl.

In this year-ender edition of The Blender, we look at three hot spots, Afghanistan, Belarus, and Azerbaijan and talk to our service directors about the major developments of 2011.