The New York Times announced its Fourth Annual Student Podcast Contest. The Contest opened on April 8, 2021, and will accept submissions through May 18, 2021.

In our Fourth Annual Podcast Contest, we invite teenagers to submit original podcasts of five minutes or less. Your creation can be about anything that interests you, in any form that you like. Our favorites will be featured on The Learning Network.

Students ages 11 to 19 anywhere in the world attending middle or high school can participate. If you can answer YES to either of these two questions, then you can use the Student Submission form:

Are you a middle or high school student residing in the United States or the United Kingdom who is 13 to 19 years old?

Are you a middle or high school student residing in any country outside the United States or the United Kingdom who is 16 to 19 years old?

If you are a middle or high school student who answers “no” to both of those questions, then please ask an adult to submit on your behalf. Adults can use an individual submission form if they are submitting on behalf of one student. An adult who is submitting entries on behalf of more than one student can use the bulk submission form. The adults can be either a teacher or a parent.

Rules include:

Create a podcast that produces a complete listening experience with a clear beginning, middle, and ending.

Beginnings often draw the listener in or provide context. Endings often provide a summary, ask a question or tease the next segment.

You can use any podcast format or genre.

Popular podcast formats include interviews, conversations, nonfiction storytelling and fiction storytelling. Popular genres include comedy, true crime, news documentary, history, radio, theater, and sports. But you can choose from unlimited format and genre.

Podcasts must be five minutes or less.

Please check the length of your audio file. (Just to be very clear, 5:01 is longer than five minutes.)

Your podcast must be original for this contest.

We want students to be inspired by our contests and have an opportunity to reach a wider audience for their work. If you have already published a piece, then come up with something else to submit.

Use appropriate language.

Assume your listeners are New York Times readers. No explicit language, please.

To see the full list of rules, and all the details that go with them, please visit the New York Times website that is about their Fourth Annual Student Podcast Contest. Their post includes resources for teachers and students.