SXSW EDU 2025: SRL screens documentary, hosts podcasting workshop, and invites student reporters to interview authors and influencers
March 19, 2025
By: Anthony Payne
It’s become a tradition for PBS News Student Reporting Labs to ring in the spring season by heading down to the Austin Convention Center in Texas for SXSW EDU. This four-day conference is a space to come together and discuss the future of teaching and learning. We heard from some forward-thinking speakers, led workshops and interviews, and screened SRL’s Run, Hide, Fight documentary as part of the SXSW EDU film program.
And we weren’t alone. We brought nearly 20 Austin ISD journalists with us to cover the event, including students from Eastside High School accompanied by their teacher Adrian Croom, and students from McCallum High School, led by David Winter. We were also joined by Tara Bordeaux from Austin ISD and Ben Kramer from Austin PBS.
If you couldn’t join us, fear not! Here’s a breakdown of our highlights from each day at SXSW EDU and some resources from our sessions.
Day 1: Author Interviews
The Austin ISD students got started by filming some great conversations with a few of the conference’s panelists, including librarian Mychal Threets, Young Sheldon actress and author Raegan Revord, and young adult fiction writer Nic Stone.
Nic Stone got real about the nature of the publishing industry, shared the mnemonic she uses to break down her writing process (“I Only Eat Raspberries”), and spoke on our shared responsibility to make sure community is available to everyone.
“With the stuff that I create I hope that it engenders real-life connection,” said Stone. “We need each other. We do.”
Tune into these interviews—and learn the meaning behind Stone’s raspberry diet—in the new season of On Our Minds, which explores the theme “Who Inspires You?” On Our Minds season 5 drops April 16, wherever you get your podcasts.
Day 2: Mic Check: Podcasting with SRL, NPR, and the Bell 
Our second day at SXSW EDU consisted of an audio storytelling workshop, led by former On Our Minds host and current UT Austin student Tyler Pullum, along with SRL’s lead podcast producer Briget Ganske, and our friends from NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge and The Bell. They broke down the difference between writing for print and radio, what to keep in mind when finding your voice, recording, and editing tips for a pro-quality final product.
In case you missed it: We have a series of audio storytelling toolkits available on Storymaker. They’re super easy to follow and offer direction to help novice and advanced podcasters alike.
Fight the FOMO: The SRL team also hosts storytelling workshops independently and at conferences throughout the year, across the country. Subscribe to our newsletter and get notified when we’re coming to your neighborhood!
Day 3: Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun
To a full house of over 300 attendees, we screened our documentary Run, Hide, Fight: Growing up under the gun. Created in partnership with students across the country, Run, Hide, Fight explores how gun violence affects young Americans, and how they’re leading the fight for a safer future.
Student producer Ethan Rodriguez flew in from Philadelphia to talk about his experience making a segment for Run, Hide, Fight. Ethan shared that while it was difficult to delve back into his memories of losing classmates to gun violence, the process was ultimately cathartic for him. He hopes that his work mediamaking can help future generations of Philadelphia kids feel safer.
“Speaking at SXSW EDU was an opportunity of a lifetime!” said Ethan. “This experience only strengthened my love for media education and reminded me of why I make media in the first place. Media programs like SRL are extremely impactful to students, and I know I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the support provided by SRL over the years.”
The screening was followed by a Q&A, where attendees asked questions and shared their experiences with gun violence. It sparked a passionate discussion about the future of gun safety and offered a sense of community through shared experiences.
Inspiring the next generation of active citizens
How do we encourage young people to actively participate in democracy? To answer this question, SRL founder and Executive Director Leah Clapman joined Lindsey Galvao of GBH Education and Emma Humphries of iCivics for a panel on the potential of media in civics education. Panelists suggested digital strategies to help students combat misinformation, build media literacy, and plotted a roadmap to encourage engagement in civil discourse.
Check out this list of civics education resources from GBH, iCivics, and PBS News Hour that you can use to incorporate civics lessons into your classroom.
Along with some BTS content, Austin ISD students also conducted person-on-the-street interviews, and rounded out their SXSW EDU experience learning from different panelists, editing their footage, and getting to know some like-minded storytellers through collaboration.
“I had never been in an environment like that before,” McCallum freshman Wren Vanderford reflects. “SXSW EDU was one of the highlights of my year, and I got to bond with so many people. I’m so lucky I got to spend this [time] with them.”
It’s always a great time attending this event with awesome educators and students from Austin. They had a lot to teach each other, and we’re proud that the SRL community runs so deep across the country.
