Trixie Mattel to host The Podcast Academy's fourth annual awards for excellence in audio on March 26 in LA

The Podcast Academy, the preeminent professional podcast organization, announced today that season 3 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Trixie Mattel will host its fourth annual Awards for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies) on March 26 at the JW Marriott LA Live Los Angeles. TPA also unveiled that it will bestow upon Malcolm Gladwell the esteemed Governors Award, which recognizes a podcast or individual for the compelling influence they’ve had on the industry. Additionally, TPA will honor pop-culture podcaster, Ira Madison III with the Impact Award, which recognizes an individual or podcast that has made a significant, positive effect on its listeners.

The show will be live-streamed on The Podcast Academy’s YouTube channel - watch here from 6.00pm PT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBGu0bbnrAU

The Ambies celebrate excellence in podcasting and elevate awareness and status of podcasts as a unique and personal medium for entertainment, information, storytelling and expression. The ceremony will highlight 192 nominees across 27 categories with winners to be selected by every voting member of The Podcast Academy (TPA). Community Building Sponsor Wondery will highlight TPA’s Mentorship Program at the Ceremony. Full list of the 2024 nominees may be found here.

“On behalf of The Podcast Academy, we are thrilled to honor Ira Madison III with the Impact Award and Malcolm Gladwell with the coveted Governors Award,” said Donald Albright, chairperson of TPA. “As a writer and podcaster, Ira is an authentic voice for the industry. He alongside his team have created unique content that spans pop-culture to politics while amplifying underrepresented voices. Furthermore, we are beyond privileged to recognize Malcolm Gladwell with the Governors Award. He’s been instrumental in shaping the medium with innovative content that has, and will continue to have, a lasting effect.”

Trixie Mattel is an American singer, actor, drag queen and recognized “Skinny Legend.” She is also a Billboard Heatseekers #1 charting recording artist (One Stone, 2018), a wildly successful touring act, and one half of a comic duo with Katya on YouTube (“UNHhhh” & Netflix’s “I Like To Watch"). The New York Times best-selling author is also the co-host of the popular podcast with Katya called “The Bald And The Beautiful,” which received the 2021 Queerties Award for Best Podcast in 2021. She stars in her own Discovery+ reality renovation show “Trixie Motel” and released her double LP ‘The Blonde and Pink Albums’ to acclaim from Rolling Stone, Billboard, People, Vogue, NPR and more, as well as a performance slots on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Stagecoach Festival, and Austin City Limits.

Ira Madison III is a cultural critic, TV writer, and host of the Crooked Media award-winning podcast “Keep It.” His work has been featured in GQ, Vulture, The Cut, and MTV News. As a television writer, he’s written for “Uncoupled,” “Q-Force,” “Nikki Fre$h,” and “Daybreak.” His debut essay collection Pure Innocent Fun will be published by Random House in early 2025.

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audiobook and podcast production company that produces the podcasts “Revisionist History,” “Against the Rules with Michael Lewis,” “The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos,” and “Broken Record.”