Honorable Mentions from NPR: NPR

The College Podcast Challenge, now in its third year, received nearly 500 applications from students in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Last March, we announced our 10 finalists and earlier this month, we shared the story of Michael Vargas Arango, big winner of the 2023 competition.

Beyond these nominations, we also received 22 podcasts that caught our attention and which, according to our judges, had a strong story to tell. Here are the honorable mentions.

650 words by Audrey Auerbach Nelson

Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.

A hairy situation by Jane Teran

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

All I want for Christmas is an eco-friendly tree by Amanda Maeglin

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

brown sheep by Isaac Wetzel

Belmont University, Belmont, Tennessee.

Contourers by Aisha Wallace-Palomares

University of California, Berkeley

Cheese Chicanerie by Jake Silva

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York

Colorism in the Pilipinx community by Malaya Mosqueda

San Jose State University, San Jose, California.

Find freedom by Ngan Siu Mei

University of Texas at Austin

How We Live: The Student-Athlete Edition by Atavya Fowler

Miami Dade College

It’s time to be real by Pari Goel

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Juan once upon a time by Juan Miguel Manalo

Miami Dade College

Love beyond belief by Jack Lindner

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Palm leaves by Suraj Singareddy

Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Puzzles: do they still play with our minds? by Yasha Mikolajczak

University of Missouri-Columbia

Riding against hatred with Homos by Audreyanah McAfee

University of California, Berkeley

Sidelined by Jack Ottomano

Pennsylvania State University

SOS 204 Parking by Juanita Hurtado Huerfano

University of Colorado, Boulder

The history of the silent disco by Sam Kohn, Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein and Jacob Sarmiento

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California.

The sleep study by Morgan Barela

California State University, Long Beach

Yellow wallpaper: an audio adaptation by Diego Vazquez, Avery Meurer and Timo Nelson

University of Texas at Austin

Two breeders from Mining for the Climate by Juan Manuel Rubio, Nate Otjen, Alex Norbrook, Grace Wang and Max Widmann. With Rebecca Buck and Lisa Stroup

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

The bells of the UT tower: a musical tradition by Shaunak Sathe

University of Texas at Austin

Congratulations to all ! Thanks again for sharing your stories with us. We loved listening to every minute of it. We hope to hear from you this fall.

NPR’s College Podcast Challenge will return in fall 2024. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.