iHeartMedia announces nominees for the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards

New York NY, USA—iHeartMedia, the No. 1 commercial podcast publisher globally, today announced the nominees for the 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards on Friday, January 17 at 8 p.m. PT held at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles. Fans across the country will also be able to tune in to the second annual live awards event via a LiveXLive stream and on iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide. The event will honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2019 and will span 30 categories, celebrating the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the booming podcasting industry.

Podcasts nominated for Best Podcast of the Year include “The Daily,” “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “My Favorite Murder,” “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend,” “Revisionist History,” “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” “The Dropout,” “The Shrink Next Door” and “The Read.” Additional nominees include podcasts from all creators, distributors and platforms with a panel of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries determining the winners across categories including Music, Comedy, Crime, News, Sports & Recreation, Food, Business & Finance and more. Podcast fans themselves will once again decide the winner of the “Best Podcast of the Year” award through social voting on Twitter now through January 10. More information can be found at iHeartPodcastAwards.com.

In addition, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will present three Icon Awards to pay tribute to the creators, organizations and podcasts that have made groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture. The winners for the 2020 Pioneer Award, Social Impact Award and Innovator Award will be announced at a later date.

Last year’s winners of the inaugural iHeartRadio Podcast Awards included Slate’s “Slow Burn” for Podcast of the Year; “Up and Vanished” for Best Crime Podcast; “The Joe Rogan Experience” for Best Comedy Podcast; Marc Smerling, host of “Crimetown” and “The RFK Tapes,” for Podcast Innovator; “Fantasy Footballers” for Best Sports Podcast; and Dax Shepard and Monica Padman of “Armchair Expert with Dax Shephard” for Breakout Podcast of the Year, among many other categories and winners. The 2019 event featured appearances by award nominees, celebrity presenters and other special guests including Mike Tyson, Dax Shepard, Jillian Michaels, Jana Kramer, Topher Grace, Dr. Drew, Becca Tilley, Scheana Shay, Dean Unglert, Vanessa Grimaldi, Jake Brennan, Charlamagne Tha God, Holly Frey and more. NPR was also honored with the first-ever iHeartRadio Podcast Pioneer Award.

This year’s category finalists (by alphabetical order) are:

Best Podcast of the Year (Socially Voted Category)

• “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco & Earwolf)
• “My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark” (Exactly Right)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
• “Stuff You Should Know” (iHeartRadio)
• “The Daily” (The New York Times)
• “The Dropout” (ABC News)
• “The Joe Rogan Experience” (Independent)
• “The Read” (Loud Speakers Network)
• “The Ron Burgundy Podcast” (iHeartRadio)
• “The Shrink Next Door” (Wondery/Bloomberg)

Best Comedy Podcast

· “Comedy Bang Bang” (Earwolf & Scott Aukerman)

· “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco & Earwolf)

· “My Dad Wrote A Porno” (Independent)

· “The 85 South Show” (Independent)

· “The Joe Rogan Experience” (Independent)

· “The Read” (Loud Speakers Network)

· “The Ron Burgundy Podcast” (iHeartRadio)

Best Crime Podcast

• “Crime Junkie” (audiochuck)
• “Hit Man” (iHeartRadio)
• “Man In The Window” (L.A. Times/Wondery)
• “Root of Evil” (TNT & Cadence 13)
• “The Clearing” (Pineapple Street Media/Gimlet)
• “The Shrink Next Door” (Wondery/Bloomberg)
• “White Lies" (NPR)

Best Music Podcast

• “All Songs Considered” (NPR)
• “Bobbycast” (iHeartRadio)
• “Broken Record with Malcolm Gladwell, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam” (Pushkin Industries)
• “DISGRACELAND” (iHeartRadio)
• “expediTIously with Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris” (PodcastOne)
• “Song Exploder” (Radiotopia)
• “Sound Opinions” (WBEZ Chicago)

Best News Podcast

• “Pod Save The World” (Crooked Media)
• “Post Reports” (The Washington Post)
• “The Daily Zeitgeist” (iHeartRadio)
• “The Daily” (The New York Times)
• “The Journal” (The Wall Street Journal & Gimlet)
• “Today, Explained” (Vox)
• “Up First” (NPR)

Best Sports & Recreation Podcast

• “30 For 30” (ESPN)
• “Fantasy Footballers” (Independent)
• “Knuckleheads” (The Players’ Tribune)
• “Pardon My Take” (Barstool Sports)
• “Sports Wars” (Wondery)
• “The Bill Simmons Podcast” (The Ringer)
• “The Herd w/ Colin Cowherd” (iHeartRadio & FOX Sports Radio)

Best Overall Host - Male

• Aaron Mahnke (iHeartRadio)
• Bill Simmons (The Ringer)
• Glynn Washington (WNYC)
• Jonathan Van Ness (Earwolf / Stitcher)
• Malcolm Gladwell (Pushkin Industries)
• Marc Maron (Independent)
• Roman Mars (Radiotopia)

Best Overall Host - Female

• Amanda Seales (Starburns Audio)
• Anna Sale (WNYC)
• Holly Frey (iHeartRadio)
• Jenna Wortham (The New York Times)
• Kelly McEvers (NPR)
• Nora McInerny (American Public Media)
• Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)

Best Business & Finance Podcast

• “Business Wars” (Wondery)
• “How I Built This with Guy Raz” (NPR)
• “Marketplace” (American Public Media)
• “The Chris Hogan Show” (Ramsey Network)
• “The Indicator from Planet Money” (NPR)

Best Pop Culture Podcast

• “The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast” (iHeartRadio)
• “Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe” (PodcastOne)
• “Pop Culture Happy Hour” (NPR)
• “Talk Is Jericho” (Westwood One)
• “The Breakfast Club” (iHeartRadio)

Best Food Podcast

• “Doughboys” (HeadGum/Doughboys Media)
• “Gastropod” (Independent)
• “The Splendid Table” (American Public Media)
• “The Dave Chang Show” (The Ringer & Majordomo Media)
• “The Sporkful” (Dan Pashman & Stitcher)

Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast

• “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” (Gretchen Rubin/The Onward Project)
• “Last Day” (Lemonada Media)
• “Life Kit” (NPR)
• “Therapy For Black Girls” (Independent)
• “Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel” (Esther Perel Global Media/Gimlet)

Best History Podcast

• “1619” (The New York Times)
• “Lore” (Independent)
• “Mobituaries with Mo Rocca” (CBS)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
• “Stuff You Missed In History Class” (iHeartRadio)

Best Kids & Family Podcast

• “#MOMTRUTHS with Cat & Nat” (Independent)
• “Brains On!” (American Public Media)
• “Story Pirates” (Gimlet)
• “The Longest Shortest Time” (Stitcher)
• “Wow In The World” (NPR)

Best Fiction Podcast

• “Blackout” (Endeavor Audio & QCODE)
• “Carrier” (QCODE)
• “Limetown” (Two-Up)
• “Passenger List” (Radiotopia)
• “Welcome To Night Vale” (Night Vale Presents)

Best Science Podcast

• “Hidden Brain” (NPR)
• “Invisibilia” (NPR)
• “Science Vs” (Gimlet)
• “StarTalk Radio” (Independent)
• “Stuff To Blow Your Mind” (iHeartRadio)

Best Technology Podcast

• “TechStuff” (iHeartRadio)
• “This Week In Tech” (Independent)
• “Reply All” (Gimlet)
• “Recode Decode” (Recode)
• “Vergecast” (The Verge)

Best Ad Read

• “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard” (Armchair Umbrella)
• “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco & Earwolf)
• “Pod Save America” (Crooked Media)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
• “The Ron Burgundy Podcast” (iHeartRadio)

Best Political Podcast

• “Intercepted” (The Intercept)
• “NPR Politics” (NPR)
• “Pod Save The People” (Crooked Media)
• “Political Gabfest” (Slate)
• “The Ben Shapiro Show” (The Daily Wire)

Best TV & Film Podcast

• “Binge Mode” (The Ringer)
• “How Did This Get Made?” (Earwolf)
• “Rewatchables” (The Ringer & Bill Simmons)
• “Straight Up with Stassi” (Radio.com)
• “The Bechdel Cast” (iHeartRadio)

Best Spanish Language Podcast

• “El Cine De LoQueYoTeDiga” (LoQueYoTeDiga)
• “El Show de Piolín” (Eduardo “Piolín” Sotelo | reVolver Podcasts)
• “Nadie Sabe Nada” (Cadena SER)
• “Radio Ambulante” (NPR)
• “TED en Español” (TED)

Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast

• “Call Her Daddy” (Barstool Sports)
• “Dear Prudence” (Slate)
• “Death, Sex & Money” (WNYC)
• “Life Kit” (NPR)
• “Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations” (OWN)
• “Terrible, Thanks For Asking” (American Public Media)
• “Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer” (HeadGum)

Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast

• “Dressed: The History of Fashion” (iHeartRadio)
• “Fat Mascara (At Will Media)
• “Forever35” (Independent)
• “Naked Beauty” (Independent)
• “The Cut On Tuesdays” (Gimlet)

Best Travel Podcast

• “On She Goes” (Independent)
• “Overheard at National Geographic” (National Geographic)
• “She Explores” (She Explores)
• “The Wild” (KUOW)
• “Travel with Rick Steves” (Independent)

Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast

• “A Little Juju Podcast” (Independent)
• “Almost 30” (Independent)
• “Elevation with Steven Furtick” (Elevation Church)
• “On Being with Krista Tippett” (On Being Studios)
• “The Joel Osteen Podcast” (Independent)

Best Green Podcast

• “Climate One” (The Commonwealth Club)
• “Drilled” (Critical Frequency)
• “Sustainability Defined” (Independent)
• “Terrestrial” (KUOW News and Information)
• “Warm Regards” (Independent)

Best Branded Podcast

• “Camp Monsters” (REI Co-Op)
• “Going Through It” (MailChimp)
• “NBC’s Songland” (NBC)
• “Spit” (23&Me)
• “Trained” (Nike)

The 2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards is part of iHeartMedia’s roster of incredibly successful, nationally recognized events including the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, the nationwide iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Concert Tour, iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, iHeartCountry Festival, iHeartRadio ALTer Ego and iHeartRadio Wango Tango.

Select category winners will be announced during the live show and stream filled with unique celebrations at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles. For more information visit iHeartPodcastAwards.com.

Executive producers for the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman and Conal Byrne for iHeartMedia and Augie Max Vargas.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia is the number one audio company in the United States, reaching nine out of 10 Americans every month – and with its quarter of a billion monthly listeners, has a greater reach than any other media company in the U.S. The company’s leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms including more than 850 live broadcast stations; streaming music, radio and on demand via its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices including smart speakers, digital auto dashes, tablets, wearables, smartphones, virtual assistants, TVs and gaming consoles; through its influencers; social; branded iconic live music events; and podcasts as the #1 commercial podcast publisher globally. iHeartMedia also leads the audio industry in analytics and attribution technology for its marketing partners, using data from its massive consumer base. iHeartMedia is a division of iHeartMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: IHRT). Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.