student podcast challenge

A student’s winning podcast looks back to a way of life she never knew

Avani Yaltho, this year's high school winner in NPR's Student Podcast Challenge, brought three generations of her family together to talk about their shared history.

NPR’s middle school champion: A moving podcast about Japanese incarceration

For the first time, NPR's Student Podcast Challenge has a returning champion: a California fifth grader who explored a dark chapter in U.S. history during World War II.

‘Monster Madness’: A sixth grader sent us this delightful podcast about Bigfoot

With help from his brother and some creative sound effects, an 11-year-old made us smile with his podcast. It's a finalist in this year's NPR Student Podcast Challenge.

Here they are: The best student podcasts in America

For the 2025 NPR Student Podcast Challenge, we've listened to nearly 2,000 entries from around the U.S., and narrowed them down to 11 middle school and 10 high school finalists.

Announcing the 2024 NPR College Podcast Challenge Honorable Mentions

Here are some of the best entries in NPR's 2024 College Podcast Challenge.

This award-winning podcast explores finding happiness as a young, single person

From hundreds of entries, our judges chose one student's intimate telling of the value of lifelong friendships and being single as the grand-prize winner of the NPR College Podcast Challenge.

March Madness begins for NPR’s College Podcast Challenge

Our 10 finalists for the best college podcasts in the country include students from some familiar schools, and a few surprises.