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NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge

The annual Student Podcast Challenge is will be accepting entries for middle school – high school contest is open for podcast submissions for 2025. The national judges will choose winners in three categories: grade four, grades five through eight, and grades nine through 12.

Eligible: GRADES 4-12
(Teacher involvement is required.)
Deadline for submissions is May 2, 2025.

As in the past, entries must be submitted by a teacher, educator, or mentor who is 18 years or older. And don’t forget all the tips, advice and lesson plans we’ve compiled over the years – more on that below. Especially the rules around the maximum length of eight minutes, and about the use of music.  After years of listening to student podcasts, we’ve learned that shorter is better.


Getting started? Check out these resources:


    Teacher & Student Resources

    Listen to Other Student Podcasts

    Listen to Grand Prize Winner for the 2024 High School Podcast Challenge:

    Learn more by listening to some of the podcasts at the Special Series NPR Podcast Challenge Page.

    Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands On-Demand

    Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America. 

    American Masters: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands is available on-demand through 9/1/2024

    The film explores the life, career, art and legacy of the African American contralto and civil rights pioneer in her own words using archival interview recordings. Marian Anderson’s singing and speaking voice are heard throughout the documentary, providing new understanding of the woman behind the music.

    Spotlighting Anderson’s voice and point of view, the documentary draws from 34 cassette tapes of interviews recorded in the 1950s, when she was preparing to write her memoir, “My Lord, What a Morning,” and other archival interviews. Anchored by key performances in her career,  American Masters – Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands shows how her quiet genius and breathtaking voice set the stage for Black performers in classical music, and a louder voice for civil rights. Additionally, with unprecedented access to the Marian Anderson Estate, the documentary draws on rare audio recordings, photographs and personal correspondence to and from family and friends, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes.

    American Masters: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands • WXXI-WORLD

    Discover an international singer who captivated royalty in Europe and defied the conscience of 1939 America. 

    American Masters: Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands airs Monday, February 17 at 2 p.m. on WXXI-WORLD.

    The film explores the life, career, art and legacy of the African American contralto and civil rights pioneer in her own words using archival interview recordings. Marian Anderson’s singing and speaking voice are heard throughout the documentary, providing new understanding of the woman behind the music.

    Spotlighting Anderson’s voice and point of view, the documentary draws from 34 cassette tapes of interviews recorded in the 1950s, when she was preparing to write her memoir, “My Lord, What a Morning,” and other archival interviews. Anchored by key performances in her career,  American Masters – Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands shows how her quiet genius and breathtaking voice set the stage for Black performers in classical music, and a louder voice for civil rights. Additionally, with unprecedented access to the Marian Anderson Estate, the documentary draws on rare audio recordings, photographs and personal correspondence to and from family and friends, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Josephine Baker and Langston Hughes.

    Great Performances at the Met: Dead Man Walking • WXXI-TV

    Experience Ivo van Hove’s production of composer Jake Heggie’s opera in its Met premiere.

    Great Performances at the Met: Dead Man Walking airs Friday, March 15 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

    Experience Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove’s production of composer Jake Heggie’s opera based on a true story. With a libretto by Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, famed soprano Joyce DiDonato stars as Sister Helen alongside bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as the death row inmate Joseph De Rocher. The cast also features Latonia Moore as Sister Rose, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s 2000 premiere, plays De Rocher’s mother. Based on Sister Helen’s real-life memoir about the fight for the soul of a condemned murderer, Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts this Metropolitan Opera premiere. Grammy winner Rhiannon Giddens hosts the broadcast.

    Photo: Ryan McKinny and Joyce DiDonato • Credit: Provided by PBS

    Roadtrip Nation: Being You On-Demand

    Watch the Trailer of Being You above. 1 in 5 individuals in the U.S. struggles with math, writing, focus, and organization—but many people with learning and attention issues feel alone. They don’t have to. Follow three young people with learning and attention issues as they travel the country to seek advice from TV host Howie Mandel, ice sculptor John Rodrigues, and many more who have harnessed their differences for success. 

    Watch the Full Film

    About the Episode: Being You follows the transformative journey of three young people—Stephanie, Noah, and Nicole—as they travel cross-country to find others who, like them, learn differently and have used that difference to build lives doing what they love.

    Stephanie, 22, is fresh out of college in San Francisco, a feat people told her she’d never accomplish. Diagnosed with nonverbal processing disorder as a child, she felt isolated from her peers; it wasn’t until college that she realized there are other people like her, and discovered the power of her unique perspective. Eighteen-year-old Noah just graduated from high school in Baltimore, and heads to college next year, where he wants to major in computer science. He’s never been very vocal about his dyslexia and ADHD, and he’s looking for mentors who can help him see that the world beyond high school is big and full of possibilities. Nicole, a 23-year-old from Pittsburgh who loves video games and eSports, has been hard at work in an office job since getting her degree in business, marketing and digital media. She recently quit her 9-to-5 job and wonders whether it’s possible to work in a field that truly interests her.

    Diagnosed with dyspraxia and dyslexia, she wants to get past labels and be free to be herself. Along their journey, they meet with diverse individuals living with LAIs, including entertainer Howie Mandel, Eye to Eye co-founder and chief empowerment officer David Flink, and Attention Deficit Disorder Association president Evelyn Polk Green, and discover that these individuals are not only coping, but thriving. Also watch on the PBS App.

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