British Podcast Awards 2022: the winners

Press Release · Kennington, London, UK · July 25 2022

This article is at least a year old

On Saturday 23rd July, the 2022 British Podcast Awards powered by Audible took place in London’s Kennington Park. Elis James and John Robins hosted, bringing their signature wit and humour, and telling an anecdote of bumping into each other yesterday, both in search of a suit for today. They were joined by the biggest names in podcasting including Idris & Sabrina Elba, Pandora Sykes, Jamie Laing, My Dad Wrote a Porno, Poppy Jay, Jon Sopel, Diana Vickers, Kem Cetinay, RedHanded, The Receipts’ Tolani Shoneye and Dr Rupy.

One of the biggest awards of the night, the Podcast Champion, went to You, Me and the Big C. The award honours the work of Dame Deborah James, Rachel Bland, Lauren Mahon and their entire team, whose brilliant, honest, inspiring podcast has contributed hugely to public awareness and perception of cancer and cancer treatment, but has also been a source of solace for so many. The award was presented by Cariad Lloyd to Lauren Mahon, who said;

“Me and Deb had a little joke when Rachel died that I couldn’t just do the podcast by myself because I couldn’t call it ‘Me, Me and the Big C’. The podcast is our happy place. It’s a bit surreal to be standing here without both my girls. We knew this was a risk, that some of us would die when we started it, but we wanted to continue to champion it. There is more work to be done. I don’t know what it looks like, but the podcast has always been a service. Last time we won at these awards, we dedicated the award to Rachel. I’m so proud to say that this is for Dame Deborah Fucking James!”

The crowd was delighted when Idris Elba joined his wife Sabrina to present Best Wellbeing Podcast to none other than Effin’ Hormones, a podcast all about menopause. One audience member tweeted “Hearing Idris Elba say ‘menopause’ made my ovaries twitch”.

Coiled won Moment of the Year, a podcast that explores Black Afro Hair in all its forms and textures. Host and producer Leanne Alie and Sylvie Carlos collected the award. Decode took home both the Smartest Podcast and Best Entertainment Podcast awards. The show delves into the UK rap that matters, with two series so far dedicated to Skepta and Dave.

Jamie Laing took to the stage to present Dear Daughter with the award for Best Family Podcast. Jamie attended the event with fiancé Sophie Habboo; the pair host their own podcast NearlyWeds. Dear Daughter also won the prestigious Podcast of the Year award, previously won by VENT Documentaries in 2021, Brown Girls Do It Too in 2020, and George The Poet in 2019.

The Best Fiction Podcast award was presented to Soundworlds by Diana Vickers and Chiara Hunter of Ki & Dee: The Podcast, known for their viral songs including their most recent, ‘Anthem for Love Island 2022’. Jamie Morton and James Cooper of My Dad Wrote a Porno presented the Rising Star Award to Kirk Flash, who’s comedy podcast This Is Gay examines the darker side of modern gay life.

The BPA tent

The Spotlight Award, which recognises a podcast reaching the masses and was presented by Dr Xand, was awarded to British Scandal, in which hosts Alice Levine and Matt Forde tell the stories of the murkier side of the British elite, from Phone Hacking to Saville to Profumo.

Best Arts & Culture Podcast was awarded to James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds, whilst previous winner Poppy Jay (Brown Girls Do It Too) presented The Best Sex & Relationships Podcast award to Assume Nothing: Rape Trial. The podcast is narrated by Amybeth McNulty, of Stranger Things and Anne With an E, and explores a court case which caused Northern Ireland to find itself at the forefront of radical reform in the way rape trials are heard.

The only award voted for by the public, The Listeners’ Choice Award, saw over 60,000 votes cast. The top spot this year was won by RedHanded for a second time. The true crime podcast offers a weekly dose of murder, wit and 'WTFs’, hosted by Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala.