NPR Names Honorable Mentions for 2026 Student Podcast Challenge

NPR has released its list of honorable mentions for the 2026 Student Podcast Challenge, recognizing additional standout entries beyond the competition's finalists.

The honorable mentions were selected from a pool of nearly 1,500 entries submitted by students from schools across the United States as part of this year's competition, which invites young people to create original audio podcasts.

While the finalist podcasts advance to further consideration for the competition's top honors, the honorable mentions list is intended to acknowledge additional entries that NPR staff and reviewers felt merited recognition for their creativity, storytelling or production quality.

Encouraging student audio storytelling

The Student Podcast Challenge, now an established annual event for NPR, aims to encourage students to explore audio journalism and storytelling. Both the finalist and honorable mention selections are typically shared publicly to highlight the range and quality of student submissions.

NPR has not yet announced the overall winners of this year's competition.