It’s a chaotic time but that doesn’t mean we should stop creating art. That’s why hundreds of audio producers from around the world set off on a Saturday morning in June to make a nonfiction audio story overnight as a part of our 8th Annual 24-Hour Radio Race.
From imagining a better future that centers on Black joy to escaping COVID-19, the stories this year were smart, insightful and representative of this historic moment.
In the end, we received more than 140 submissions. KCRW's editorial staff judged each one based on this year’s theme — time warp — plus the level of creativity, storytelling and technical skills.
It wasn’t an easy task but we narrowed down the batch. Here are your top 11 Radio Race finalists.
From here, our industry judges will choose three winning pieces. Our judges this year include Yowei Shaw, senior producer and correspondent at NPR’s Invisibilia, Bob Carlson, host and creator of KCRW’s UnFictional, Jane Marie, host of The Dream, John Asante, managing producer at Neon Hum Media, Benjamin Riskin, director of business development for audio at Endeavor Content.
Plus, there are L.A. and Social Butterfly Awards at stake. (And you don’t need to be a finalist to qualify.)
Thank you to our fantastic sponsors: Association of Independents in Radio (AIR), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), Blue Microphones, Otter.ai and Descript.
If you want to listen to all 140 submissions, here is the official playlist.