NPR Senior Podcast Challenge: Official Rules

NPR's Senior Podcast Challenge Official Rules

These are the rules for the 2026 NPR Senior Podcast Challenge: If you're looking for the College Podcast Challenge, click here , if you're looking for the 5th-12th grade competition rules click here .

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. OPEN ONLY TO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS AGE SIXTY-FIVE (65) OR OVER. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

1. SPONSOR. The NPR Senior Podcast Challenge (the "Contest") is sponsored by National Public Radio, Inc. ("NPR"), a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation with principal offices at 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 (the "Sponsor").

2. OVERVIEW. The Contest is a podcast submission contest where seniors sixty-five (65) and older can submit an audio file they have created for an opportunity to have the winning podcast discussed in a news segment that will appear on an episode of NPR's All Things Considered or Morning Edition. Up to eight (8) finalists will be chosen, of whom seven (7) will be awarded a trophy and NPR-branded merchandise (ARV $150), and one (1) Grand Prize Winner will win a trip to NPR Headquarters and will have their Submission featured on NPR across multiple platforms. By participating in this Contest, each participant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and to the decisions of the Sponsor and the judges selected by the Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters relating to the Contest. The Contest will operate as described below, on or about the stated dates:

● The Contest submission period begins at 12:00 a.m. ET on August 16, 2026, and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on November 30, 2026. To be eligible, submissions must be submitted in accordance with Section 4 of these Official Rules.

● The Contest judging period begins on December 1, 2026, and ends on or about January 15, 2027. Eligible submissions will be reviewed by up to two (2) panels of judges selected in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, and will be judged in accordance with Section 5 of these Official Rules. Eight (8) Finalists, including one (1) Grand Prize Winner (as described in Section 5 below) will be selected.

● Sponsors will attempt to contact each Finalist and the Grand Prize Winner, or an alternate if necessary, on or about January 15, 2027, and in accordance with Section 6 of these Official Rules.

● The Finalists and Grand Prize Winner will be publicly announced on or about February 1, 2027.

3. ELIGIBILITY. The Contest is open only to U.S. residents age sixty-five (65) and over (each an "Entrant"). Entrants may submit jointly with other Entrants. Each Entrant must be at least sixty-five (65) years of age at the time of entry. Void in all jurisdictions other than those stated above and where prohibited or restricted by law. This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

The following individuals are not eligible to enter: (a) employees, representatives, agents, directors, and officers of the Sponsor and its parent, subsidiary, or affiliated companies, member stations, and other parties involved in the administration of the Contest; and (b) each of the immediate family members or other persons living in the same household as such excluded individuals.

Entry constitutes each Entrant's certification that the Entrant meets the eligibility requirements set forth in these Official Rules. The Sponsor reserves the right to verify and confirm each Entrant's compliance with eligibility requirements. An Entrant may be required to submit further information to assist in the judges' verification of eligibility. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

4. HOW TO ENTER. To enter, an Entrant must submit an audio file featuring the Entrant(s) discussing a topic of her, his, or their choosing (the "Submission"). The Submission must be both "original" (as defined by copyright law) and unique (meaning it must have been created for the sole purpose of entering the Contest). Submissions must comply with the following requirements:

● Submissions must be between three (3) and eight (8) minutes in length.

● Submissions must be created specifically for the Contest.

● Submissions must be the original work of the Entrant(s).

● Submissions must not be generated, in whole or in material part, by artificial intelligence tools (including generative AI image, text, audio, or design tools). Incidental use of software features that include AI-assisted functionality (e.g., auto-cropping, spell-check, color correction, or file cleanup) that do not generate original creative content is permitted, provided that all creative concepts, designs, and expression in the Submission are the Entrant's own original work.

● Submissions must be uploaded by the Entrant to SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor (in any format acceptable to those platforms) with the ability to download the Submission enabled.

● Submissions must comply with, as applicable, SoundCloud's Terms of Use , Podbean's Terms of Use , or Anchor's Terms of Service .

● Submissions must not include any music created by anyone other than Entrant(s) as further described below.

● Submissions must not contain material that violates or infringes another's rights (including, but not limited to, material that violates privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights).

Submissions may be on any topic; however the following prompts are offered as suggestions:

● Adjusting to retirement or life on a fixed income.

● New adventures -- travel, learning opportunities, career opportunities, or artistic endeavors.

● Health concerns and the challenges of health care costs.

● Dealing with the loss of a spouse or partner.

● Stories of family history or reflections on a long life or career, or association with historical events.

● Original reporting on any topic that interests you.

Submissions may not include any material that infringes the intellectual property rights of any person. Please be respectful of copyright and trademark laws.

All material must be original to the persons who create the podcast.

Pre-recorded music may not be used. Entrants may include live performances of public domain songs or non-copyrightable rhythm elements if it is relevant to the story. For avoidance of doubt, for the purposes of these Official Rules, "public domain" does not mean "publicly available;" it means that copyright has expired and the material is no longer under copyright protection.

We encourage Entrants to err on the side of excluding music if the Entrant is not sure whether the music is copyrighted or not. Entries will be disqualified if they contain materials that appear to infringe copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights of others.

Songs or chants made up by Entrants are acceptable as long as they are performed live on the recording and Entrant notes in Entrant's submission form that the song/chant was composed by Entrant. By submitting an entry, you affirm that you own all the rights to any and all musical content in your submission, including but not limited to: the right to reproduce, distribute, and publicly perform.

For examples of what is and is not public domain work, you may visit https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain .

An Entrant must upload a publicly viewable and downloadable Submission to SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor between 12:00 a.m. ET on August 16, 2026, and 11:59 p.m. EDT on November 30, 2026.

Each Entrant will be required to sign-in to SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor to post a Submission; if an Entrant does not already have a SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor account, that Entrant will be required to create one.

After uploading the Submission, an Entrant must complete the submission form available at https://npr.formstack.com/forms/senior_podcast_challenge (the "Submission Form").

On the Submission Form, each Entrant must provide: an explanation of the Submission (limited to 200 words); Entrant's name, e-mail address, and phone number; a link to the Submission hosted on SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor; a certification that Entrant meets the eligibility requirements stated in Section 3 above and agrees to these Official Rules; and a certification that Entrant agrees that (a) the Entrant will participate in recorded interviews with NPR or NPR member station journalists if the Entrant's Submission is selected as a Winner; and (b) Sponsor and the Sponsor's member stations may use the Submission and any recordings of interviews conducted with the Entrant, on a worldwide, perpetual, gratis and royalty-free basis in any media and for any purpose.

By completing the Submission Form, each Entrant agrees to be bound by NPR's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Each Entrant must comply with all Submission requirements. Entry is not complete until an Entrant has uploaded the Submission to SoundCloud, Podbean, or Anchor and submitted a complete Submission Form.

An Entrant must completely and accurately submit all required information to enter, and must timely cooperate with all requests for additional information or documents that the Sponsor may request in order to verify eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.

The Sponsor's clock is the official timekeeping device for the Contest. The Sponsor is not responsible for late or unsuccessful attempts to enter.

Incomplete, corrupted, untimely, or unintelligible Submissions or Submission Forms will be disqualified. If for any reason an Entrant's entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, that Entrant's sole remedy is another entry in the Contest to the extent the submission of an additional entry is deemed feasible by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion.

The Sponsor reserves the right to determine, in its sole discretion, which entries have satisfied the entry requirements and to disqualify any Submission it believes is not consistent with the spirit and theme of the Contest.

AN ELIGIBLE ENTRANT MUST SUBMIT AN ENTRY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES. NO OTHER METHOD OF SUBMISSION WILL BE ACCEPTED.

5. JUDGING. Judging will begin on or about December 1, 2026, and will end on or about January 15, 2027. There will be two (2) rounds of judging. Initially, all Submissions that meet the requirements listed in Section 4 above will be reviewed by a panel of preliminary judges selected in the Sponsor's sole discretion, that will consist primarily of members of NPR's Society & Culture Desk (the "Preliminary Judges"). The Preliminary Judges will judge Submissions on the following criteria:

Does the Submission tell a compelling story or teach us something new and important? Is it structured in a way that makes sense and keeps listeners engaged? Can we easily follow the story you're telling or the information you're explaining? Have you spent time editing — cutting out unnecessary information or repetition and making sure the main ideas come through clearly?

We want to listen to this Submission and hear your voices. Do we hear the unique voices of you and your community? Does it have personality, or does it make us want to "fast forward"? Does it make us laugh or cry or leave us deep in thought — FEEL something? That's what we're looking for.

We're not judging you on how fancy your equipment is and we don't expect you to be an expert on recording and editing sound, but we hope you'll try. Some Submissions may use sound, or audio, in creative ways. Others may be more of an interview format. If you use sound, does it add to the story you're telling? Did you layer the audio and narration? These are some of the things we'll be looking for.

The Preliminary Judges will select approximately eight (8) Submissions as "Finalists". A panel of at approximately ten (10) judges, including NPR staff and industry experts selected by the Sponsor in its sole discretion (the "Final Judges") will then judge these Finalists and select one (1) "Grand Prize Winner" based on the same criteria as was used by the Preliminary Judges.