Sarah Marshall
iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: the 2022 winners

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Everyone’s favorite podcasts were celebrated during the 2022 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, as the very best in podcasting throughout the year and the most innovative talent and content creators in the industry were honored.

Some of this year’s winners included “SmartLess” for Best Comedy Podcast, “Scam Godess” for Best Crime Podcast, “The Daily” for Best News Podcast, Sam Sanders for Best Male Overall Host and Nicole Byer for Best Female Overall Host, among so many others.

Taking home the coveted title of Podcast of the Year, which was decided by the fans via voting on Twitter, is “You’re Wrong About” hosted by Sarah Marshall and Michael Hobbes. Also nominated in the category this year were “Code Switch,” “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” “Crime Junkie,” “Louder Than a Riot,” “Office Ladies,” “SmartLess,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “The Daily,” and “The Midnight Miracle”.

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Below, Podnews details more information about the winning entries.

    You're Wrong About
    Podcast of the Year (Socially Voted Category): You’re Wrong About
    True Crime
    From: Sarah Marshall
    Hosted by: Buzzsprout
    SmartLess
    Trailer Play trailerBest Comedy Podcast: SmartLess
    Culture
    From: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Scam Goddess
    Trailer Play trailerBest Crime Podcast: Scam Goddess
    True Crime
    From: Earwolf & Laci Mosley
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Song Exploder
    Best Music Podcast: Song Exploder
    Music
    From: Hrishikesh Hirway
    Hosted by: PRX
    The Daily
    Best News Podcast: The Daily
    News
    From: The New York Times
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    The Bill Simmons Podcast
    Best Sports Podcast: The Bill Simmons Podcast
    Sports
    From: The Ringer
    Hosted by: Megaphone
  • Best Overall Host: Sam Sanders (NPR), Nicole Byer (Team Coco)
  • How I Built This with Guy Raz
    Trailer Play trailerBest Business and Finance Podcast: How I Built This with Guy Raz
    Business
    From: Guy Raz | Wondery
    Hosted by: ART19
    Keep It!
    Trailer Play trailerBest Pop Culture Podcast: Keep It!
    Entertainment
    From: Crooked Media
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Doughboys
    Best Food Podcast: Doughboys
    Food
    From: Headgum / Doughboys Media
    Hosted by: ART19
    Therapy for Black Girls
    Trailer Play trailerBest Wellness & Fitness Podcast: Therapy for Black Girls
    Health & Fitness
    From: iHeartPodcasts and Joy Harden Bradford, Ph.D.
    Hosted by: Omny Studio
    Throughline
    Trailer Play trailerBest History Podcast: Throughline
    Documentary
    From: NPR
    Hosted by: Megaphone
    Story Pirates
    Trailer Play trailerBest Kids & Family Podcast: Story Pirates
    Kids & Family
    From: Story Pirates
    Hosted by: Megaphone
    Bridgewater
    Trailer Play trailerBest Fiction Podcast: Bridgewater
    Fiction
    From: iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild
    Hosted by: Omny Studio
    Ologies with Alie Ward
    Best Science Podcast: Ologies with Alie Ward
    Culture
    From: Alie Ward
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    There Are No Girls on the Internet
    Trailer Play trailerBest Technology Podcast: There Are No Girls On The Internet
    Culture
    From: iHeartPodcasts
    Hosted by: Omny Studio
    SmartLess
    Trailer Play trailerBest Ad Read: SmartLess
    Culture
    From: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Pod Save America
    Trailer Play trailerBest Political Podcast: Pod Save America
    News
    From: Crooked Media
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    How Did This Get Made?
    Best TV & Film Podcast: How did this get made?
    Reviews
    From: Earwolf and Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Radio Ambulante
    Trailer Play trailerBest Spanish Language Podcast: Radio Ambulante
    Society & Culture
    From: My Cultura, Radio Ambulante and iHeartPodcasts
    Hosted by: Omny Studio
    We Can Do Hard Things
    Trailer Play trailerBest Advice/Inspirational Podcast: We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
    Society & Culture and Education
    From: Glennon Doyle and Audacy
    Hosted by: Megaphone
    Forever35
    Trailer Play trailerBest Beauty and Fashion Podcast: Forever 35
    Arts
    From: Doree Shafrir & Elise Hu
    Hosted by: Acast
    Women Who Travel | Condé Nast Traveler
    Trailer Play trailerBest Travel Podcast: Women Who Travel
    Society & Culture
    From: Condé Nast Traveler
    Hosted by: PRX
    On Being with Krista Tippett
    Trailer Play trailerBest Spirituality and Religion Podcast: On Being with Krista Tippett
    Social
    From: On Being Studios
    Hosted by: Simplecast
    Living on Earth
    The Best Green Podcast: Living on Earth
    News and Science
    From: World Media Foundation
    Hosted by: Megaphone
    Inside Trader Joe's
    Trailer Play trailerBest Branded Podcast: Inside Trader Joes
    Arts and Health & Fitness
    From: Trader Joe's
    Hosted by: Libsyn
    Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein
    Trailer Play trailerBest Emerging Podcast: Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein
    TV & Film and Comedy
    From: Big Money Players Network and iHeartPodcasts
    Hosted by: Omny Studio
    Morbidology
    Best International Podcast: Morbidology
    True Crime
    From: Morbidology
    Hosted by: Spreaker
    My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
    Audible Audio Pioneer Award: My Favorite Murder
    True Crime
    From: Exactly Right Media – the original true crime comedy network
    Hosted by: Megaphone
  • Innovator Award: Descript
  • Force Multiplier
    Trailer Play trailerSocial Impact Award: Force Multiplier
    Business
    From: iHeartPodcasts
    Hosted by: Omny Studio

Podcast hosting companies

  • Megaphone hosted 11 winners
  • Simplecast 6
  • NPR 3
  • All others hosted either one or two.

Countries and Languages

Only one podcast was from outside the US - the winner of the international award. Morbidology’s host, Emily G. Thompson, is from Belfast in Northern Ireland. Similarly, only one podcast was in a different language than English; Radio Ambulante winning the Best Spanish Language Podcast. Excepting these two categories, all winners were US-based and English-speaking.

Gender split

Of the winning podcasts, not double-counting, we counted 24 male hosts, and 15 female hosts: a gender split of 38% female.

iHeart Podcasts

Only 4 podcasts this year were produced or distributed by iHeartRadio: the same as in 2021.

Indie/Non-Indie Podcasts

There isn’t a definition of “indie”; but out of the 29 winners, we counted nine podcasts who are not part of, or distributed by, a large media owner.


OPML icon The above list of podcasts is available as an OPML file for your podcast player


Companies mentioned above:
Audible logoAudibleiHeartRadio logoiHeartRadioMegaphone logoMegaphoneNPR logoNPRSimplecast logoSimplecastSmartLess

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