KPCC's 2015 Public Radio Bracket Madness: Round 3 — Serial vs. This American Life and more!

Round 2 is in the books, and we're down to the top 8 in KPCC's Public Radio Bracket Madness! Go vote in Round 3 here (including for the dream match of This American Life vs. Serial), and read about the Round 2 results below!

Close calls

• Snap Judgment vs. Strangers: In the Western conference, Strangers and Snap Judgment clawed it out, but the newer upstarts at Strangers are advancing with help from a strong last-minute surge. They'll be facing 99% Invisible, who trounced KPCC's own The Frame in Round 2. (We assume our colleagues are currently plotting. "Next time, Roman Mars. Next tiiiiiime!")
• Freakonomics Radio vs. On The Media: In the Upper Northeast, the match between On The Media and Freakonomics Radio came down to the wire. On The Media has been on their social media game, but it looked like it might not be enough to take out the number wizards at Freakonomics Radio. With less than half an hour before the deadline, the voting flipped from a Freakonomics lead to On The Media — but now they have to take on last year's winners, the masters of editing (and, you know, good radio) over at Radiolab.

Notable new matches

• This American Life vs. Serial: In case you've been wondering if these two shows would come to blows in this year's Bracket Madness, now is the time. This American Life took down 2014 runner-ups Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, and Serial took out the folks doing it by the numbers at Marketplace (alternately: Looks like STORMY WEATHER for Marketplace... if you listened, you'd get it). Will Bracket Madness Season 1 winner This American Life move on to the finals, or will their creation destroy them like a tale of mad science gone bad?
• Invisibilia vs. All Things Considered: Another new show on the block, Invisibilia set their sights on public radio veteran Fresh Air and put Terry Gross (and frequent guest host Dave Davies) down. They're on to face one of the shows most identified with public radio: All Things Considered, who eliminated the money minds at Planet Money in Round 2. In another case of new versus old but strong, both shows will have their work cut out for them.

There are two ways for you to vote:

• Vote on our special Public Radio Bracket Madness page
• Vote in the matchups embedded below (Note: This option may be more mobile-friendly)

Round three voting is open now and will remain open until 12 p.m. Pacific on Friday (March 27). Here's the schedule for the rest of the bracket (all times are Pacific):

• Top 8: Tuesday, March 24 at 2 p.m. until Friday, March 27 at 12 p.m.
• Final 4: Friday, March 27 at 2 p.m. until Tuesday, March 31 at 12 p.m.
• Championship match: Begins Tuesday, March 31 at 2 p.m.

Note: Times have been updated.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 7 (the day after that other March Madness bracket ends).

Go ahead and campaign for your favorites in the comments below, on our Facebook page or on Twitter with the hashtag #KPCCMadness. Feel free to talk up your favorites and poke fun at everyone else, just keep it friendly — this is public radio after all. (Click here to see a full-size version of the brackets!)

West

Central

Upper Northeast

Lower Northeast