Honorable Mentions from NPR’s College Podcast Challenge 2024

NPR College Podcast Challenge Celebrates Innovative Student Voices

The NPR College Podcast Challenge has wrapped up its fourth year, attracting nearly 300 submissions from students across more than 30 states and the District of Columbia. The competition, which encourages college students to share their unique stories via podcasting, has announced its winners and honorable mentions for 2024.

In March, NPR revealed the 10 finalists for this year’s challenge, and more recently, Jo Strogatz was announced as the grand prize winner for her compelling storytelling.

In addition to the finalists, NPR’s judges recognized 11 outstanding podcasts that captured compelling narratives. These honorable mentions include:

Adopted & Unspoken by Emily Cowherd from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.

Gaining Voice – A Teen’s Journey Navigating Mental Health and the Model Minority Myth by Lauren Tran-Muchowski, Sabrina Taing, and Lindsay Lazarski from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.

Immigration: The Strengthening of Character by Alejandra Quiroz from Miami Dade College, Miami, Fla.

Leaky Promises by Violet Mendelsund, Pippa Tsuki Carlson, and Adrien Wheaton-Schopp from Columbia University, New York, N.Y.

My Roommate’s Scandal by Aidan Keen from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Ill.

One of the Good Ones by Malcolm Bamba and LaRob K. Rafael from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio

PUGE: A new gospel choir with a long history by Isabel Jacobson, Maya Mukherjee, Theo Wells-Spackman, and Vitus Larrieu from Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

The Cost of El Sueño by Lia Portillo, Isabel Juarez Rubio, Natalie Mathews, Atziary Perez, Valentina Puac, Allison Florez Bermudez, and Juliana Nobles from Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, La.

Unrepresented: The complicated history of the 33 million missing votes in the 2024 election by Arundathi Nair from Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

Vinyl by Samantha Neiss from Minnesota State University, Mankato, Mankato, Minn.

What Stays With – Unforgettable Words by Juliana Mills, Jeffery Salinas, Kristine Mendoza, Kari Can, Evan Laurino, and Victoria Mills from San Diego City College, San Diego, Calif.

Congratulations to all participants for their remarkable storytelling efforts. NPR looks forward to more captivating narratives in its next challenge, set to return in the fall of 2025. For updates, subscribe to the newsletter or contact at studentpodcastchallenge@npr.org.