Nearly 1,500 podcasts came from 42 states and the District of Columbia. NPR's education team spent the summer listening to every entry in the eighth year of its Student Podcast Challenge, and it has now named its middle- and high-school finalists for 2026.
Next, a judging team will review the finalists. Grand prize winners will be announced in the coming weeks, and their podcasts will air on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other NPR programs. Winners and honorable mentions in the fourth-grade category come later. NPR said thousands of students, teachers, parents and sponsors took part.
What Students Chose to Examine
This year's special prompt asked students to explore what it means to be an American in the year marking the nation's 250th anniversary. Other themes ranged from memory and family histories to intergenerational advice and grief.
Civics prompted some of the most direct work. A group of fifth graders at Hewlett Elementary School in Hewlett, N.Y., made "Civics in Our Schools," asking classmates and teachers, "What do you really know about our country?" They also learned from an expert how to engage people. Livie Courser of Upper Arlington, Ohio, brought the national question closer to home in "Leaving Greece." She interviewed her grandfather about leaving his small village on Crete for America. "It was very difficult for him and his family, and he had many chores after school," she says.
In California, middle schoolers at High Tech Middle Media Arts in San Diego made "I.C.E. Out." Increased I.C.E. activity in 2026 led them to investigate why the agency was created, research its history and conduct interviews.
Screens, AI and the Classroom
Technology in school ran through the entries. Students examined AI, cell phone bans and screen-time concerns. Eleanor Deutsch, a fifth grader in Avon Lake, Ohio, noticed she used a computer more than ever at school. In "The Device Debate," she interviews students, parents and administrators about the benefits and drawbacks, then proposes alternatives, including paper and pencil.
Miles Jackman of Albuquerque, N.M., took on AI in "Artificially Intelligent." He investigates how the technology, pervasive in school, influences students' work.
Anna Su of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md., turned to the public payroll. Her podcast, "The Government Exodus: Why Federal Workers Resign," examines why hundreds of thousands of federal employees voluntarily left their jobs in 2025. Her mother stayed. Su interviews former federal workers about why they made the choices they did.
Family, Mentors and Resilience
Many finalists found their subjects at the kitchen table or on the sidelines. Charles Post of Los Altos, Calif., interviewed his junior varsity football coach, who has struggled with health complications, and quoted a lesson from him: "They say life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it."
Allen Mondragon of Cicero, Ill., lost his father four years ago. "Death ended his life, but it didn't end his impact," he says. He is working to become the man his father believed he could be. Lucas DeVries of Chanhassen, Minn., spoke about his brother Jacob, who has Down syndrome: "People often think they understand Down syndrome, but a lot of times, they really don't."
A group in Cumming, Ga., interviewed a favorite teacher and her former students to learn what makes her special. Cora Walsh of Rockville Centre, N.Y., talked with her mother and tutor about dyslexia. "People with dyslexia can be amazing in so many ways," she says.
NPR says it doesn't offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone making such an offer or request isn't an NPR employee and doesn't represent NPR, it says.
Why This Matters: Given an open microphone in the nation's 250th anniversary year, these students kept returning to a few durable things: family, teachers and mentors, work, and how well citizens understand their own country. Their questions about AI, phone bans and screen time suggest families and schools are weighing the costs of classroom technology, and at least one finalist proposes paper and pencil as an alternative. The finalist on federal resignations points to a workforce question with public-sector implications. Hundreds of thousands of employees left voluntarily in 2025, and a student felt the subject was worth investigating. The civics entries carry their own point: if a fifth grader asks what classmates really know about their country, the answer matters for the next generation of voters. The broader lesson is that students who do their own reporting can ask hard questions without a mandate from above.