ARKAST Podcast Festival 2025 Winners

The Arkansas Podcast Collaborative (ARKAST) successfully hosted the 2nd Annual ARKAST Podcast Awards on Saturday, November 23rd, 2025, culminating a weekend celebration of podcasting talent from Arkansas and the surrounding region. The event recognized outstanding achievements across 31 categories, spotlighting both creative excellence and technical skill within the growing podcast community.

The awards ceremony, held as the closing event of the ARKAST Podcast Festival, celebrated a diverse array of content, from news and politics to history, comedy, and the highly competitive true crime genre.

Ti King, Host and ARKAST Organizer, commented on the success of the event:

“The energy and talent displayed this year were truly phenomenal. These awards are a testament to the passionate, high-quality audio storytelling coming out of the flyover states. We are incredibly proud to provide a platform that celebrates this community, and we look forward to seeing how these winners continue to shape the podcast landscape.”

All winners will receive an official ARKAST Podcast Award statuette. The Arkansas Podcast Collaborative is already planning for the 3rd Annual ARKAST Podcast Festival in 2026.

Full list of 2025 winners

• Arts: BoozyBee

Comedy: Patrick and the People

Comedy
From: Patrick Beam
 

Business: Women in Industry Podcast

Business
From: The Communications Group
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators
• Education: Psych’d! (with Hannah and Cari)

Entertainment: Unexplained America

True Crime
From: Unexplained America the Podcast
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators

Games and Hobbies: Dads After Dark

Leisure
From: Drew and John
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators4.8 ★

Trailer Fiction: Purgatory, Missouri

Fiction
From: Stuart Pearson
Hosted by: Captivate

Trailer Government: Arkansas Inc.

Business
From: Arkansas EDC
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators4.9 ★
• Organization: Humanity Matters Podcast

Health: You’re not alone with Townsend

Health & Fitness and Education
From: Townsend
Hosted by: Podbean

Trailer History: Underview Podcast

News
From: Mike Rusch
Hosted by: Buzzsprout5.0 ★

Kids and Family: Tiger Talk EAST at John Tyson Elementary

Education
From: EAST at John Tyson Elementary School
Hosted by: Buzzsprout4.8 ★

Trailer Travel: Vanishing Postcards

Society & Culture
From: Evan Stern
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators4.9 ★

Music: The Music List

Music
From: The Music List
Hosted by: RSS.com

Politics: As The World Turns and Burns

News and Government
From: Patrick Lynch
Hosted by: RSS.com

Trailer LGBTQ: Tomorrow’s A New Day

Fiction
From: SQN
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators

Trailer Spiritual: Holy Ghost Stories

Religion & Spirituality and History
From: Justin Gerhardt
Hosted by: Transistor5.0 ★

Science: Aiming for the Moon

Leisure
From: Aiming for the Moon
Hosted by: Buzzsprout5.0 ★

Trailer Sports: The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly

Sports
From: Sport & Story
Hosted by: Libsyn4.8 ★

Culture: People of Northwest Arkansas

Travel
From: Danielle Schaum and Danielle Keller
Hosted by: Buzzsprout4.8 ★

Trailer TV and Film: Put Your Books Down

Culture
From: Natalie Sanderson & Angela Bingham
Hosted by: Libsyn5.0 ★

Trailer True Crime: The Cult Next Door

True Crime
From: The Cult Next Door
Hosted by: Spreaker4.7 ★

Trailer Documentary: Hell and Gone

True Crime
From: iHeartPodcasts
Hosted by: Omny Studio4.3 ★

Community: District 3 Podcast

News
From: Irvin Camacho
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators

Trailer Male Hosted: Career Pathways

Business and Education
From: Pat Lynch
Hosted by: RSS.com
• Female Hosted: Psych’d! (with Hannah and Cari)

Young Pod: Emerie Johnson (Tiger Talk: EAST at John Tyson Elementary)

Education
From: EAST at John Tyson Elementary School
Hosted by: Buzzsprout4.8 ★
• Podcast Production: KILT Studio - Lyon College

Podcaster: Lisa Ponson (Unexplained America)

True Crime
From: Unexplained America the Podcast
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators
• Podcast Producer: Cheyanne Anderson (KILT Studio at Lyon College)

Rising Star: Janette Perez (Tiger Talk: EAST at John Tyson Elementary)

Education
From: EAST at John Tyson Elementary School
Hosted by: Buzzsprout4.8 ★

Social Impact Podcaster: Irvin Camacho (District 3 Podcast)

News
From: Irvin Camacho
Hosted by: Spotify for Creators

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