Isabel Coello wins PodWoman Award 2025

This has been machine-translated from Spanish.

On the occasion of the PodWoman 2025 celebration, the benchmark event on women and podcasting taking place on 18 October in Madrid, the organisation announces that journalist Isabel Coello (above, left) has been recognised with the PodWoman Award 2025, an accolade that distinguishes women who inspire, lead and amplify other voices in the audio industry.

Journalist and sound creator Isabel Coello receives the PodWoman Award 2025 for her work on La Casa Grande, a documentary podcast that explores with sensitivity and depth the violence in intimate relationships and the recovery process of the women who have suffered it.

The award seeks to recognise the enormous merit of bringing to independent podcasting a format that, unfortunately, is hard to find outside large media outlets.

This is how the winner, Isabel Coello, values it: 'I am very grateful that an independent project, made with few resources and without platforms behind it, is being awarded, because it encourages and drives other independent creators. I attended previous editions of Podwoman when I was starting my podcast, and being here this year as an awardee is a lovely full-circle moment.'

'La Casa Grande’ is an 8-episode podcast that documents the day-to-day of a pioneering centre for battered women (which sadly ended up closing). A project that combines journalism, memory and sound storytelling with a gender perspective.

Isabel Coello began her career in radio, where she has worked as EFE correspondent in Nairobi and in the European humanitarian aid department, experiences that have shaped her global outlook, her commitment to human stories and social issues, with a special focus on women and silenced problems.

With 'La Casa Grande’, her first podcast, Coello wanted to put the qualities that make the medium great—such as closeness, emotion and narrative depth—at the service of a journalistic chronicle aimed at raising awareness about violence. To do this, she took a sabbatical year and took on the direction, script and narration of this independent project.

'Isabel Coello demonstrates that narrative and documentary podcasting can be a tool for social transformation. Her work is an example of independence, depth and respect, and puts the spotlight where it is most needed: on women’s voices,' highlights Maria Santonja, director of PodWoman and producer at Ekos Media.

Since its release, this audio documentary has been acclaimed by both critics and audiences, and has received awards such as the Ondas Global Podcast Award for Best Script (2025), the Ortega y Gasset Prize 2025, and the IX Journalism Award against Gender Violence (audio), establishing itself as one of the most influential proposals in the Spanish-language audio landscape. It has also been a finalist in the Gabo Awards and the International Women Podcast Awards, consolidating itself as one of the most respected voices in current audio journalism.

Now, the PodWoman Award joins this well-deserved list of recognitions: 'For me it is an honour to receive this award from a festival dedicated to promoting female talent and stories with women as protagonists. There are stories of women marked by pain that are difficult to tell without leaving them unprotected. But, because of the intimacy it generates, I believe that the podcast has that incredible ability to enter spaces where other media or formats cannot reach. Hence its enormous journalistic potential to tell complex phenomena with rigour and depth, dissecting like a scalpel and making us reflect as a society,' explains Isabel Coello about this recognition.

The PodWoman Award 2025 will be presented during the closing gala of PodWoman 2025, next Saturday 18 October at 7 p.m., at Zenit The Studio (Madrid), in an event that will bring together the leading figures in the sector.

Isabel Coello will also participate as a speaker giving a masterclass in which she will share her experience writing, producing and narrating 'La Casa Grande’.

During the day the results of the PodWoman 2025 Study will be presented, round tables will be held with sector leaders such as Eli Romero, Mimi XXL, Silvia Cruz and Emma Estrena, among many others. In addition, masterclasses, networking activities and the live podcast of 'Hate People’ by Carmen Romero and Bianca Kovacs will be organised. Tickets are already on sale at www.podwoman.com, with a launch promotion for the first 100 attendees.

The event can also be followed via streaming at www.podwoman.com.

The meeting, organised by Ekos Media with sponsorship from iVoox and support from the Ministry of Culture and Sport through the Next Generation EU funds, will bring together more than 300 creators, professionals and brands in the audio field.