At Spotify, we want to equip student creators with the tools and resources needed to harness their creativity and shape the future of audio. Our NextGen program, which is sponsored by the Creator Equity Fund (CEF), is designed to infuse, activate, and grow podcast culture on college campuses across the country.
Spotify NextGen recently partnered with Howard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones, Knight Chair in Race and Journalism, to create a special podcasting course. The result is 1619: The College Edition, a dynamic, three-episode series produced entirely by the class. In the podcast, the students apply their unique lens to what they learned from studying Professor Hannah-Jones' book, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, and make compelling connections to the ways that slavery still impacts lives today.
Kristin Jarrett, Lead, Equity Diversity & Impact at Spotify, said, The NextGen program brings podcast culture directly to college campuses and encourages educators to take an audio-first approach to their curriculum. In partnering with HBCUs around the country, Spotify is addressing the access gap to the audio industry by providing the next generation of audio storytellers with resources and skills needed to kickstart a career in audio. We're proud of the partnership with Howard University, and of the student-produced podcast that was made during the semester-it exemplifies the power of podcasts as a meaningful way to share stories and experiences that may otherwise go unheard.
To celebrate the launch of the podcast, Spotify NextGen held a listening party on April 16 on Howard University's campus. Howard's 2024 NextGen Scholar, Karys Hylton-a sophomore journalism major-was also notified of her $10,000 Spotify NextGen scholarship live at the event.
NEXT
The listening party was the second time bringing the 1619: The College Edition podcast creators to the main stage. Nikole Hannah-Jones and Kristin Jarrett joined Howard student scriptwriter Rachel McCain at the Podcast Movement Evolutions conference in Los Angeles last month for a panel moderated by Tristan O'Donnell, Senior Creative Strategist at Spotify.
For the Record sat down with Professor Hannah-Jones to discuss the impact of the course, the importance of a younger generation's perspective, and how storytelling drives policy.
What does it mean for the audio industry to invest in and support underrepresented voices through initiatives like NextGen? Our communities are flush with talent but low on resources. It's critical for the audio industry to invest in order to reach new and important voices whom we would otherwise not hear from.
The 1619 Project won you the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2020 and an Emmy for the docuseries just earlier this year. How does it feel to share-and expand on-this work with a younger generation of Black students? As a professor, I always feel that I learn as much from my students as they do from me, so it has been such a joy and inspiration to create the next iteration of this work with the young people I teach. Their perspective on stories brings a vitality and insight that is unique to them but critical for the rest of us, and I love that this podcast echoes my own work-even as it pushes it forward.
How would you describe the relationship between storytelling and social justice? How do you use storytelling as a tool for advocacy? Narrative drives policy. So, if we want to change our society, we have to create the narratives that reveal why social justice is necessary and the roadmaps for how it can be achieved. I use storytelling as a tool for advocacy-by using narrative to inform us on the histories that allow us to understand how inequality was created, by revealing the real people who bear the consequences of this inequality, and by creating the urgency for us to act.
What's one piece of advice you would give your 18-year-old self? Stop comparing yourself to others. You have your own path. And every struggle you have faced, and will face, is preparing you to one day step into your power.
Who are some creators that inspire you? If you could collaborate with any of them, who would you choose and why? I'm inspired by so many creators across many realms. I'd love to collaborate with Pharrell Williams because of his artistry in fashion and music, as well as his activism, and Lanny Smith, who created the fabulous Black-owned athletic wear company Actively Black. I'm also inspired by artists such as Bisa Butler and by writers such as Ta-Nehisi Coates and Isabel Wilkerson, who are all Howard alumni Just too many to name.
What podcasts are you listening to right now? I love listening to Throughline, Higher Learning, and Small Doses. And one of my all-time favorites is investigative podcast In The Dark.
Check out 1619: The College Edition to hear Howard voices unpack a mix of history, culture, and contemporary issues.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
At Spotify, we want to equip student creators with the tools and resources needed to harness their creativity and shape the future of audio. Our NextGen program, which is sponsored by the Creator Equity Fund (CEF), is designed to infuse, activate, and grow podcast culture on college campuses across the country. 
