ON OUR MINDS SEASON 6: Podcast and Audio Storytelling

Reporting Labs’ award-winning podcast, On Our Minds, explores the teenage experience, produced and hosted by teenagers themselves.

Season 6 will explore hyperlocal stories about cities, towns and neighborhoods. Think: audio essays about unique traditions, sound tours of cool locations, personal stories about life-changing moments and insightful interviews with local legends. We want to hear a story that reveals what makes your community feel alive and how that energy shapes the people who live in it.

Opportunities for students:

• Apply to be one of our new podcast hosts. Deadline to apply: October 31
• Produce an audio story or interview. Deadline to pitch an idea: December 19
• Submit original music to our theme song contest. Deadline to submit: Feb 6

Students can produce an audio story during the fall or spring semesters. The deadline to pitch a story idea is December 19th. Episodes will be released in Spring 2026.

1. Let us know you want to produce an audio story and pitch us your idea by filling out the On Our Minds Season 6 Student Producer Form anytime between Sept 1–December 19 (the earlier the better)
2. SRL producers will review submissions and meet with selected student producers to give feedback and mentorship through the production process.
3. Rough cuts and scripts are due between October 3 – January 30 (SRL producers will help students set an exact deadline).
4. Final cuts and scripts are due between Oct 17 – February 13 (SRL producers will help students set an exact deadline).

• Audio Storytelling Toolkit
• NPR Audio Training
• How to Record a Podcast (Level-Up Video)
• How to Record a Podcast (One-Pager)

Listen to this example of an audio story about place (Ginger's subway story) with a friend or classmate. Discuss what you heard:

• What captured your attention?
• What sounds did you hear?
• What details stood out to you?
• What mood were you left with?

• COMPLETE THIS PROJECT ON YOUR OWN OR FILL OUT THE STUDENT PRODUCER FORM TO LET US KNOW YOU WANT TO PRODUCE A STORY FOR ON OUR MINDS.

MAKE SURE YOU AND YOUR SUBJECTS AGREE TO AND UNDERSTAND THIS PROJECT. Make sure anyone featured in your story understands that it may be included in a series by PBS News Student Reporting Labs and will be available to the public. Ask them how they'd like to be identified in the piece and remind them to only say what they feel comfortable sharing with a wide audience. Also, make sure you and everyone under 18 signs an SRL RELEASE FORM.

START PLANNING AND PRE-PRODUCTION: Ask the following questions to yourself or others in your community when coming up with your story idea:

• Where do you find happiness in the place that you live?
• What is unique or surprising about the way people live, work or play in your community?
• What do people misunderstand about where you're from? What story could tell the truth about it, instead?
• What wisdom is hiding in your community? Who holds it and how it is passed on?
• What does it sound like when you step outside your door? What stories are behind those sounds?

The best stories are ones that bring the listener somewhere and get them invested in a person or people that they've never met before. Think about what sounds and details you can include in your audio story to make your listener feel like they've been transported to your location and feel close to your subject(s). All good stories also REVEAL something – think about how SURPRISE, CONFLICT and CHANGE will feature in your story. You want to leave your listener with the impression that they've gone somewhere, something has happened, and someone has been changed in the process.

Once you've filled out the Student Producer Form and heard back from an SRL producer, or if you're doing this project on your own, follow these production steps:

• PLAN. Whether you're telling a personal story or bringing us on an sound tour of your favorite place, make a plan for what you're going to say and the sounds you're going to record. Write a script and practice reading it. If you plan to interview someone, draft questions that will provoke them to tell you the stories that you want to hear.
• RECORD. Start recording yourself, your environment or your interviews with others (refer to How to Record a Podcast One-Pager and How to Record a Podcast Level-Up for tips). Remember you will be editing your story so it’s OK if you mess up, start and stop, or talk about things you later decide not to use.
  • If you have a mic, use it! :)
• TRANSCRIBE your interview or audio diary. You can use sites like Otter.ai or transcription functions in Adobe Premiere or Audition to help generate a transcript. Then HIGHLIGHT the best parts, called soundbites.
• SCRIPT. Start a document (preferably a shared Google doc) and arrange your soundbites and audio scenes into the order you want for your story.
• EDIT your audio story using any audio or video software or app. Please do not add music.
• CELEBRATE! The act of telling your own story or being the one to help someone else tell theirs is profound. Share your work far and wide and be proud!