Whales rarely sing more loudly than war.

In the fight for finite reader attention, big stories win: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and rare protests in China. But this news, while important, can overshadow good stories — about whales passing their songs to each other across oceans, lyric poetry at M.M.A. fights or the fading art of embalming.

So like we have in years past, the Morning team asked editors around the Times newsroom for the articles, podcasts and videos that didn’t get the attention they deserved this year. These are their selections.

Enjoy these 25 stories:

• The world’s longest-running tattoo business draws saints in Jerusalem.
• Try the “joy workout.”
• Raccoons are like high school students: The shy ones come out ahead in the long run.
• Motorcycles race at impossible angles on a carnival’s Wall of Death. (We loved these photos.)
• A case for falling back in love with the Walkman.
• “I believe in Jesus, guns and babies”: More than 100 Republican midterm ads used firearms to galvanize voters.
• A poetry festival celebrating a fading language drew stadium-size crowds in India.
• New York City officials released a video on how to survive a nuclear attack. It was poorly received.
• YouTubers are highlighting the vanishing role of Black people in horse racing.
• These charts show how far the Supreme Court has shifted to the right.
• Rock climbing is drawing tourists to Malawi.
• A professor spreads the hashtag #yes2meat, pushing back against climate science. The meat industry is funding his work.
• A police chief is pushing to take over a public library in a central California farming town.