Calling all students! NPR’s student podcast challenge returns returns for 2025: How much do you need? How much should you take into account?
And, as we said above, for more tips, advice and the latest updates on this year’s contest, make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter. Students, we can’t wait to hear your stories. Good luck!
And we really do listen to every single entry. So whether it’s you and your friend’s podcast, a class assignment or a passion project you’re finally putting together, we’re excited to hear from you and listen to whatever you got for us.
Yes! If you would like, you can submit as many entries as you want. Just make sure each of your podcast entries are (1) between three and eight minutes in length and (2) don’t use copyrighted audio. We wouldn’t want any of your work to be disqualified.
The rules that students must follow remain the same, which is to keep the show between three and eight minutes.
“Pre- recorded music can’t be used.” Entrants may include live performances of public domain songs or non-copyrightable rhythm elements if it is relevant to the story. For avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of these Official Rules, “public domain” does not mean “publicly available”; it means that copyright has expired and the material is no longer under copyright protection. If the entrant isn’t sure if the music is copyrighted or not, they should not include it.
Source: Calling all students! NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge returns for 2025
What Do Students Tell Us About the Night? Ask Them How to Show Them: The Student Podcast Challenge for a New Story to Share with NPR
Here are a few questions we get over and over again each year. For any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].
It all started with a small idea back in 2018, when NPR’s education team wanted to know what was really going on in the minds of young people. We wanted to hear about the things that keep students up at night, and how they’re dying to tell their stories. So we created the Student Podcast Challenge, an opportunity for students all around the country to record their stories and share them with NPR.
PBS News Student Reporting labs has a couple good resources, one of which is an audio narrative toolkit.
And, it’s worth pointing out that several of our past winners (including both our middle and high school winners in 2023) were first-time podcasters, so you can do it, too!
Our judges are going to pick a grand prize winner. The NPR Ed team will come to your school and interview you and your teacher for a story on NPR’s flagship program, Morning Edition or All Things Considered.
If you’re parents or school teachers, leave the microphone! There shouldn’t be a podcasts produced or edited by adults. The entries should be original work by students (see FAQ section below). We had to disqualify some entries last year for clearly breaking this rule.
Again, you can choose any topic you wish to explore. It doesn’t have to be a big important subject – just anything that excites you! If you aren’t sure about your idea, run it by your friends, teachers and family. When you ask them what part of your story they like the most, try to point out that part they do not like.
10 Books We Love (The Yule Log as a Musical Instrument and the Movie The Room Next Door), and Stop-Gap Bill: Failed Possibly Government Shutdown UKraine Russia War-Syria
If you are looking to read young adult novels, these are 10 that should be on your list. The books are part of this year’s Books We Love series.
Jazz Night in America has a new holiday edition featuring The Yule Log by George Burton, a Philadelphia-born pianist.
The cookbook covers the food traditions of two groups of people who straddle the lowest rungs of South India’s ancient caste system. Some dishes include ingredients you might not traditionally find in your kitchen. There are some recipes in the book.
đź“ş TV: The new ensemble dark comedy No Good Deed follows several couples and families that get tangled up in the sale of a home that holds a secret. Lisa Kudrow, Ray Romano, Luke Wilson and more are in the cast.
The Room Next Door is a movie that looks at death and its relation to life. It follows Martha, who asks her friend Ingrid to accompany her during her last days after a cancer treatment failed.
Source: GOP stop-gap bill fails, bringing potential shutdown closer. And, NPR’s guide to dance
The Up First Newsletter: Stop-Gap Bill Fails to Pass a Senate-Independent Defense Measure in Ukraine’s War-Syria
Good morning. The newsletter you’re reading is Up First. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Federal agencies will run out of money tonight at midnight after House Republicans weren’t able to pass a stop-gap funding measure yesterday. In response to President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for a new bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson created a plan B proposal. Plan B did not work last night. The original plan was derailed when Trump and his top advisers, including Elon Musk, demanded that Congress kill the deal.
The eastern region of the country has one of the fiercest battles in the world. It’s a transportation hub and a coal mining center. An independent estimate finds that over 3,000 soldiers in Russia’s army have been killed or wounded trying to capture it — so far unsuccessfully.
Source: GOP stop-gap bill fails, bringing potential shutdown closer. And, NPR’s guide to dance
How to Dance in the Presence of a General Relative and a Regime: A Compositional Composition for the Transition from Bashar Al-Assad to the Revolution
The rebel group that toppled former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime now faces the challenge of replacing it. They’ve set up an interim government. Many people are waiting on what the group HTS will do compared to Assad. The country has a lot of ethnic and religious groups.
You are correct if you think you can’t dance. You don’t need shoes or skills if you can dance. Great music is a plus, though. This comic has a step-by-step guide with advice from experts on how to move with confidence.