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Student Podcast Challenge Student Podcast Challenge invites students from around the country to create a podcast and compete for a chance to have your work featured on NPR.
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Student Podcast Challenge

Eden Alonso-Rivera of Grandville, Mich. is the 2024 Student Podcast Challenge high school winner for her podcast "A Relationship Behind Bars," about her father's incarceration.

Eden Alonso-Rivera of Grandville, Mich. is the Student Podcast Challenge 2024 high school winner for her podcast "A Relationship Behind Bars" about her father's incarceration. Alfield Reeves for NPR hide caption

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Alfield Reeves for NPR

'You're not alone:' A teen podcaster sends message to kids with incarcerated parents

Eden Alonso-Rivera of Grandville, Mich. is the high school winner of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge. Her winning entry, "A Relationship Behind Bars," is about her father's incarceration.

Turner/Lee - SPC HS Winner

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Lilla Lanivich, 14, and her service dog, Lopez, outside their family’s home in Rochester Hills, Mich. This year’s middle school winner of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge tells how her golden retriever, Lopez, helped restore her independence.

Lilla Lanivich, 14, and her service dog, Lopez, outside their family’s home in Rochester Hills, Mich. This year’s middle school winner of the NPR Student Podcast Challenge tells how her golden retriever, Lopez, helped restore her independence. Emily Elconin for NPR hide caption

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Emily Elconin for NPR

Chronic illness shattered this teen's life. Her service dog helped get it back

The middle school winner of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge tells how her golden retriever, Lopez, changed her life.

Carrillo/SPC MS Winner

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The Monsters We Create

Professor Emily Sendin of Miami Dade College (L) presents Michael Vargas Arango (R) with the winner certificate from the NPR Podcast Challenge. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR hide caption

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Eva Marie Uzcategui/Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR

The Students' Podcast

The Monsters We Create

Grand Prize winner of the 2023 NPR College Podcast Challenge

The Monsters We Create

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Dear Little Sister
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The Students' Podcast

Dear Little Sister

This moving podcast – a finalist in NPR's College Podcast Challenge – is a love letter of sorts, from big sister to little sister. Trinity Chase Hunt, a junior at the University of Delaware, shares phone calls and reads out loud letters she's written to her sister, Jewel, who recently moved away to join the U.S. Army. In Dear Little Sister, Trinity reflects on her relationship with Jewel and how her sister's departure has, in ways, has brought them closer.

Dear Little Sister

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The Fluid Dynamics of Coffee
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The Students' Podcast

The Fluid Dynamics of Coffee

"Imagine how much more efficient your life could be if you knew exactly the fastest way to stir your coffee?" Robert Lakatosh, a sophomore at Tennessee Tech University, admits in his podcast that his discovery may not change lives. Yet, in his dynamic, humorous entry – a finalist in NPR's College Podcast Challenge – he goes all out, and takes his curiosity to the school's physics lab.

The Fluid Dynamics of Coffee

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Here are our 10 best college podcasts in America
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Here are our 10 best college podcasts in America

In its third year, NPR's College Podcast challenge received more than 500 entries from all around the U.S. We've listened to them all and narrowed it down to 10 finalists.

Here are our 10 best college podcasts in America

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A college student in her 60s shares wisdom when it comes to reinventing oneself

Joan Steidl, who recently retired, shares her reinvention takeaways. She has a podcast about confronting the generational divide, takes comedy workshops and went back to college to study journalism.

A college student in her 60s shares wisdom when it comes to reinventing oneself

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The Jackson water crisis through a student journalist's eyes

Georgianna McKenny, 17, is the high school grand-prize winner in NPR's fifth-annual Student Podcast Challenge. Imani Khayyam for NPR hide caption

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Imani Khayyam for NPR

Short Wave

The Jackson water crisis through a student journalist's eyes

In this special episode, we hear from the high school grand prize winner of NPR's Student Podcast Challenge: Georgianna McKenny. A rising senior at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, the 17-year-old rings an alarm on the water crisis in Jackson, through the lens of young people. Emily, who was one of the judges of this year's contest, talks to Georgianna about her winning podcast and their shared love for storytelling.

The Jackson water crisis through a student journalist's eyes

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Living with an eating disorder, a teen finds comfort in her favorite Korean food

Budae jjigae or army stew is a Korean fusion stew that incorporates American style processed food. Lauren Migaki/NPR hide caption

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Lauren Migaki/NPR

Living with an eating disorder, a teen finds comfort in her favorite Korean food

Grace Go, a 17-year-old rising senior at Mercer Island High School outside Seattle, is the winner of the first-ever Best Mental Health Podcast Prize from NPR's Student Podcast Challenge.

Living with an eating disorder, a teen finds comfort in her favorite Korean food

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The Sunday Story: The kids have something to say

Georgianna McKenny, 17, the high school grand-prize winner in NPR's fifth-annual Student Podcast Challenge, with her English teacher, Thomas Easterling. Imani Khayyam for NPR hide caption

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Imani Khayyam for NPR

Up First from NPR

The Sunday Story: The kids have something to say

What can middle and high school students teach us? What do they care about? And how do they observe their communities and themselves?

The Sunday Story: The kids have something to say

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Entries from NPR's Student Podcast Challenge explore mental health

This year, for the first time, NPR's Student Podcast Challenge offered a special prize for the best student podcasts about mental health. The finalists had important things to say.

Entries from NPR's Student Podcast Challenge explore mental health

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