2025 iHeartPodcast Awards: Celebrating the Best in Podcasting
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As the podcasting landscape continues to flourish, the excitement builds for the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, set to return live from SXSW in Austin, Texas. This year’s awards promise to be an unforgettable celebration of creativity and innovation in podcasting, recognizing the most outstanding shows and creators in the industry.
The seventh annual iHeartPodcast Awards will honor the top podcasts in America, as determined by your votes. With over 20 categories, including Crime, Comedy, Music, Sports, Technology, and more, the awards showcase a diverse array of talent and storytelling.
Podcast of the Year Nominees
This year’s nominees for Podcast of the Year include:
- Normal Gossip
- Three
- Giggly Squad
- Call Her Daddy
- Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
- Hysterical
- The Telepathy Tapes
- Who Killed JFK?
- Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
- The Good Whale
Icon Awards
In addition to the main categories, the iHeartPodcast Awards will also feature special Icon Awards to recognize exceptional contributions to the podcasting community:
- Social Impact Award: Sarah Spain (Good Game with Sarah Spain)
- Audible Audio Pioneer Award: Dan Taberski (Hysterical, Headlong, 9/12)
- Innovator Award: Daniel Alarcón (Radio Ambulante, The Good Whale)
Categories and Nominees
The awards will honor excellence across various categories, with nominees including:
Best Business + Finance Podcast
- Planet Money
- How to Money
- Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF
- Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
- The Ramsey Show
Best Comedy Podcast
- The Nikki Glaser Podcast
- Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
- Normal Gossip
- Bad Friends
- Call Her Daddy
Best Crime Podcast
- Three
- Betrayal
- Up and Vanished
- Counterclock
- Something Was Wrong
Best Pop Culture Podcast
- Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
- The World’s First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster
- Still Processing
- Keep It!
- Pop Culture Happy Hour
Best Food Podcast
- Gastropod
- Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
- Be My Guest with Ina Garten
- The Recipe with Kenji and Deb
- The Sporkful
Best Wellness + Fitness Podcast
- Huberman Lab
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- 10% Happier with Dan Harris
- A Slight Change of Plans
- We Can Do Hard Things
Best History Podcast
- The Rest Is History
- Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
- Throughline
- American History Tellers
- You’re Wrong About
Best Kids & Family Podcast
- Good Inside with Dr. Becky
- Koala Moon – Kids Bedtime Stories & Meditations
- Smash Boom Best: A Funny, Smart Debate Show for Kids and Family
- Story Pirates
- Wow in the World
Best Music Podcast
- Song Exploder
- Questlove Supreme
- Popcast
- The Wonder of Stevie
- The Joe Budden Podcast
Best News Podcast
- The Journal.
- The Daily
- Up First from NPR
- Pivot
- Today, Explained
Best Fiction Podcast
- Hello from the Magic Tavern
- Welcome to Night Vale
- Impact Winter
- The Magnus Archives
- Midnight Burger
Best Sports Podcast
- New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
- The Herd with Colin Cowherd
- The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
- The Bill Simmons Podcast
- All the Smoke
Best Science Podcast
- Hidden Brain
- StarTalk Radio
- Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Ologies with Alie Ward
- Science Vs
Best Technology Podcast
- Presented by Lenovo
- All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
- Hard Fork
- Better Offline
- Darknet Diaries
- TED Radio Hour
Best Ad Read
- Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
- Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (Sometimes)
- My Brother, My Brother and Me
- SmartLess
- Office Ladies
Best Overall Host
- Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy)
- Jamie Loftus (Sixteenth Minute [of Fame])
- Sabrina Tavernise (The Daily)
- Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast)
- Dan Taberski (Hysterical)
Best Overall Ensemble
- We Can Do Hard Things
- My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
- Handsome
- Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
- Pivot
Best Political Podcast
- Native Land Pod
- The NPR Politics Podcast
- Pod Save America
- The Megyn Kelly Show
- Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Best TV + Film Podcast
- Films to Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein
- Two Ts in a Pod with Teddi Mellencamp and Tamra Judge
- How Did This Get Made?
- The Rewatchables
- Blank Check with Griffin & David
Best Spanish Language Podcast
- Radio Ambulante
- Duolingo Spanish Podcast
- Leyendas Legendarias
- Mija Podcast
- Escuela Secreta
Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast
- Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- On Purpose with Jay Shetty
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
- Life Kit
- Savage Lovecast
Best Beauty + Fashion Podcast
- Naked Beauty
- The Goop Podcast
- Glowing Up
- Breaking Beauty Podcast
- Lipstick on the Rim
Best Travel Podcast
- Travel with Rick Steves
- The Atlas Obscura Podcast
- Zero to Travel
- Women Who Travel
- Jump with Traveling Jackie
Best Green Podcast
- Unf*cking the Future
- Environmental Insights
- Green Dreamer
- Threshold
- TED Climate
Best Spirituality/Religion Podcast
- Elevation with Steven Furtick
- Oprah’s Super Soul
- Whoa That’s Good Podcast
- Bible in a Year with Jack Graham
- Transformation Church
Best Branded Podcast
- NerdWallet’s Smart Money (NerdWallet)
- Into the Mix (Ben & Jerry’s)
- Symptomatic (Novartis)
- You Can’t Make This Up (Netflix)
- Mind the Business: Small Business Success Stories (Intuit QuickBooks)
Best Emerging Podcast
- Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce
- So True with Caleb Hearon
- Hysterical
- Wild Card with Rachel Martin
- Shell Game
Best International Podcast
- The Business of Doing Business with Dwayne Kerrigan (Canada)
- Mamamia Out Loud (Australia)
- Between Two Beers Podcast (New Zealand)
- The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett (United Kingdom)
- Las Alucines (Mexico)
Countdown to the Awards
With just 2 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes, and 32 seconds remaining until the live event, the anticipation is palpable. The 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards will be hosted by Jack O’Brien and Miles Gray of The Daily Zeitgeist podcast, honoring the most innovative and influential voices in podcasting.
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