2025 Podcast (All Newsroom Sizes) Finalists
Emily Hanford, Christopher Peak, Curtis Gilbert, Andy Kruse, Kate Martin, Olivia Chilkoti, Carmela Guaglianone, Chris Julin, Derek Ramirez, Tom Scheck & Jane Helmke
American Public Media | APM Reports
Sold a Story
Comments From the Judges:
“A terrific public service follow-up to earlier journalism in this podcast series; ‘solutions’ journalism done right — shows a solution not through rose-colored glasses but with lots of nuance. Excellent blend of authoritative hosting by Emily Hanford alongside classroom and school tape and interviews. Offered something original in education reporting, good summation of history.”
“The audio craft here was exceptional. Following the arc of the program — from classroom instruction to policy debate — felt immersive and deliberate. Hearing the children themselves, listening to how they were actually being taught, grounded the reporting in something tangible. The series handled a complicated subject — the science of reading, persistent myths about which students can succeed and the resources required to do it well — with clarity and depth. It was reported with rigor and produced with intention — I felt this was a masterful use of information and audio.”
Ilya Marritz, Molly Rosen, Kristin Nelson, Katya Rogers, Jared Paul & Tom Colligan
The Boston Globe & WNYC’s On the Media
The Harvard Plan Season Two
Comments From the Judges:
“The podcast has high production value, crisp, strong writing. He got around the fact that he didn’t have interviews with the main characters by interviewing a lot of other people who could speak about them and effectively using archival tape and original interviews – the podcast had suspense and propulsion.”
“What holds, first, is the structure — two lives moving in parallel, then quietly diverging. That tension does the work. It pulls you in before you even realize you’re being led. This was a compelling listen. The storytelling felt deliberate and immersive, especially in how it traced the evolution of research culture before and after COVID — and mapped those shifts onto DEI debates, Harvard’s leadership, and the NIH. Those connections were clear, and more importantly, earned. Following that throughline across the two central figures gave the narrative weight and cohesion.”
Emily Siner, Camellia Burris, Meribah Knight, Miriam Kramer, Joshua Moore & Daniel Potter
Nashville Public Radio & Tennessee Lookout
The Debt
Comments From the Judges:
“This story felt both inventive and unexpectedly resonant. What struck a chord for me was the throughline between Tennessee State Rep. Harold Love Jr. and his father — how decades-old advocacy transformed the present fight for increased state financial backing for Tennessee State University. That generational continuity gave the piece weight — it reinforced that underfunding isn’t episodic, but structural and rooted in race.”
“This was a really ambitious project – there’s resonance in today’s news for it and the reporters got great voices – clearly did some deep reporting. I’m super impressed with this as a piece of journalism. ‘The Debt’ does a good job using a specific case – Tennessee State University – as a means to zoom out on a larger issue. And TSU is a good case to place the primary focus due to it being a more inconspicuous place for the reporters to go answer questions about government funding, equity, and DEI by following the money trail through the budget of TSU – or lack thereof.”
