Signal Awards Crown 2025 Winners, Honoring the Podcasts and Creators Defining Culture

Press Release · New York, NY, USA · via Signal Awards · October 14 2025

The Signal Awards, which recognize the podcasts that define culture, today announced the Winners of its fourth annual honors.

This year’s winners represent an extraordinary range of voices, genres, and production styles — from ‘IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’ and ‘The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart’, to ‘Baby, This is Keke Palmer’, ‘Scam, Inc.’ from The Economist, ‘The Mel Robbins Podcast’, and ‘The Rest Is Classified’ from Goalhanger. Other notable winners include ‘The Wonder of Stevie’ (Audible), ‘All There Is with Anderson Cooper’ (CNN), ‘Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud’ (Vox Media Podcast Network), and ‘Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird’ (Vox Media Podcast Network), underscoring the diversity and creative range that define today’s podcast landscape.

The Signal Awards are reviewed by the Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective of the industry’s architects, trailblazers, and innovators. New Academy members for 2025 include Latif Nasser (Radiolab), Steve McLendon (YouTube), Valentina Bojanini (TED), Tiffany Faure (Spotify), Ney Alvarez (Al Jazeera), Christiana Brenton (FlightStory) and more.

This year, the awards experienced unprecedented participation as the Listener’s Choice campaign drew more than 385,000 public votes cast by upwards of 127,000 voters, marking a 126% increase over 2024. With a growing international cohort of creators and submissions from the U.K., Australia, Canada, Germany, Qatar, and beyond, the Signal Awards Winners reflect not just individual achievements, but the maturation of podcasting itself as a mode of creative expression.

Each year, the Signal Awards also bestow a series of Awards of Distinction, recognizing individuals and companies whose work has made a lasting impact on the podcast industry. Previous recipients include Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers of 'Las Culturistas’ and Esther Perel of 'Where Should We Begin?

Ashley Flowers, creator and host of the no. 1 true crime podcast in the world ‘Crime Junkie’ and founder of award-winning media company Audiochuck, will receive the Audio Icon Award. The award celebrates a creator whose work has transformed podcasting and inspired a generation of listeners. A two-time New York TImes Bestselling author, Flowers is recognized for reshaping the true crime genre and building a powerhouse podcast media company with one of the most passionate fan communities in audio.

Hasan Minhaj of ‘Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know’ has been awarded the inaugural Cultural Impact Award for the significant impact of the podcast since its launch in 2024. The award is a celebration of not only the caliber of guests on the show, but also the topically urgent dialogues Hasan brings forward as host.

The Special Achievement Award is presented to Brian Reed and Robyn Semien for ‘Question Everything’, honoring creators whose work has pushed the boundaries of the medium. The podcast created by two veteran This American Life Journalists reckons with the purpose, ethics and the definition of journalism itself.

The Podcast Company of the Year award is awarded to iHeartPodcasts, recognized as the organization earning the most Signal Awards in 2025. The title highlights iHeart’s ongoing leadership in supporting diverse creators and shaping the future of podcasting worldwide.

“This year’s Signal Award winners illuminate how audio is shaping discourse,” said Jemma Rose Brown, General Manager of The Signal Awards. “From investigative work that exposes truth, to personal essays that make the intimate universal, and cultural commentary that reframes how we see the world — this year’s winners remind us why podcasting has become not just relevant, but essential.”

Among those earning dual honors with both a Signal Gold selected by the Judging Academy and a Listener’s Choice Award, which is selected by public votes are:

‘The Wonder of Stevie’ (Audible) Best Host
‘Baby, This is Keke Palmer ‘(Wondery) Interview or Talk Show
‘The Mel Robbins Podcast’ (143 Studios) Best Guest
‘The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart’ (The Weekly Show) Best Host for and Individual Episode
‘Scam, Inc.’ (The Economist) Money & Finance
‘Club Shay Shay’ (Shay Shay Media) for Athletes Shaping Culture
‘99% Invisible’ (SiriusXM) Documentary
‘The Moth Radio Hour’ (The Moth) Commute Podcast
‘Charlie’s Place’ (Atlas Obscura) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Other notable winners of Signal Gold include:

‘All There Is with Anderson Cooper’ (CNN) Best Video Podcast
‘Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud’ (Vox Media Podcast Network) Most Innovative Video Podcast
‘Next Question with Katie Couric’ (iHeartPodcasts) Best Host in News & Politics
‘The Colin and Samir Show Best Video Podcast’
‘Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird’ (Vox Media Podcast Network) Sports
‘The Rest Is Classified’ (Goalhanger) Best Video Podcast Co-Host Team
‘Pablo Torre Finds Out’ (Meadowlark Media) Sports
‘Liberty Lost’ (Wondery) Documentary
‘Suave Season Two’ (Futuro Media Group) Documentary
‘Proxy with Yowei Shaw’ (PRX) Conversation Starter
‘Our Ancestors Were Messy’ History

Indie standouts such as ‘Debt Heads’, ‘Hyperfixed’, ‘Señora Sex Ed’, and ‘Things That Go Boom’ also took home top honors, which underscores Signal Award’s ongoing commitment to championing diverse voices and original points of view.

The Winner’s Party, presented by ESPN 30 for 30 Podcasts, will take place on November 10th at Public Records in Brooklyn, NY, uniting creators, producers, and industry leaders to celebrate this year’s achievements.

About The Signal Awards

The Signal Awards is mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Now in its third year, entrants to The Signal Awards are reviewed by The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium. The Signal Awards set a standard for editorial excellence by honoring the organizations, artists, mavericks, brands and storytellers who are shaping the podcast industry.