The biggest podcasts of the year were celebrated during the 2021iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, and the winners have been revealed!
This year's awards show may have looked a bit different, as the event was completely virtual, but many of podcasting's biggest stars and more celebrities appeared during the event, including Will Ferrell, Gwen Stefani, Questlove, Hillary Clinton and more. Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers of "Las Culturistas" and Obama's Other Daughters' Maame-Yaa Aforo, Ashley Holston,Shakira Ja'nai Payeand Yazmin Monet Watkins traded off on hosting duties throughout the night.
Taking home the title of Podcast of the Year, voted on by fans, was "Office Ladies," which is hosted by The Office's Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. This year's Podcast of the Year nominees included "Bunga Bunga,""Dolly Parton’s America,""Nice White Parents,""Office Ladies,""Reply All,""Stuff You Should Know,""The Breakfast Club,""The Daily,""The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos" and "Wind of Change,".
In their acceptance speech, Angela said of the win, "This is so awesome, we are so thrilled! Thank you for listening to the podcast. We've wanted to work together ever since The Office ended, and this is a dream come true for us." Jenna added, "We just absolutely love rewatching the show, and sharing our memories with you, and this award, it really, truly means a lot to us. We also wanna thank our team at Earwolf who helps us get the show off the ground each week, and thank you for voting for us!"
The 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards also presented 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; Baratunde Thurston was honored with the Social Impact Award, Serial Productions’ Sarah Koenig, Julie Synder and Neil Drumming received the Audible Audio Pioneer Award and QCODE was honored with the Innovator Award.
In addition to the Icon Awards, the first-ever Seneca Women Podcast Award was presented to Amena Brown for helping to amplify women's voices via her podcast "Her with Amena Brown."
2020 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Winners
Podcast of the Year: Socially Voted Category
“Bunga Bunga” (Wondery)
“Dolly Parton’s America” (WNYC Studios/OSM Audio)
“Nice White Parents” (Serial/The New York Times)
“Office Ladies” (Earwolf /Jenna Fischer/Angela Kinsey) - WINNER
“Reply All” (Gimlet)
“Stuff You Should Know” (iHeartRadio)
“The Breakfast Club” (iHeartRadio)
“The Daily” (The New York Times)
“The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos” (Pushkin Industries)
“Wind of Change” (Crooked/Pineapple Street Media/Spotify)
Social Impact Award: Baratunde Thurston - WINNER
Audible Audio Pioneer Award: Serial Productions - WINNER
Innovator Award: QCODE - WINNER
Seneca Women Podcast Award in partnership with P&G: Amena Brown - WINNER
Best Business & Finance Podcast:
“Business Wars” (Wondery)
“Earn Your Leisure” (Independent)
“Freakonomics” (Freakonomics Radio & Stitcher)
“How I Built This” (NPR)
“Pivot” (New York Magazine) - WINNER
Best Comedy Podcast:
“Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco/Earwolf)
“Office Ladies” (Earwolf/Jenna Fischer/Angela Kinsey)
“The Read” (Loud Speakers Network) - WINNER
“Smartless” (Independent)
“Fake Doctors, Real Friends” (iHeartRadio)
Best Crime Podcast:
“Crime Junkie” (AudioChuck) - WINNER
“Criminal” (PRX/Radiotopia)
“Deep Cover: The Drug Wars” (Pushkin Industries)
“Forgotten: Women of Juarez” (iHeartRadio)
“My Favorite Murder” (Exactly Right)
Best Pop Culture Podcast:
“Bitch Sesh” (Earwolf/Casey Wilson/Danielle Schneider)
“Las Culturistas” (Big Money Players/iHeartRadio)
“Pop Culture Happy Hour” (NPR) - WINNER
“Still Processing” (The New York Times)
“The Read” (Loud Speakers Network)
Best Food Podcast:
“Burnt Toast” (Food52)
“Gastropod” (Independent)
“Home Cooking” (Samin Nosrat/Hrishikesh Hirway) - WINNER
“Spilled Milk” (Molly Wizenberg & Matthew Amster-Burton)
“The Sporkful” (Dan Pashman/Stitcher)
Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast:
“Happier with Gretchen Rubin” (Gretchen Rubin/The Onward Project)
“On Purpose with Jay Shetty” (Jay Shetty & Kast Media)
“Sleep with Me” (Dearest Scooter & Night Vale Presents)
“Ten Percent Happier” (ABC News)
“Therapy For Black Girls” (Joy Harden Bradford/iHeartRadio) - WINNER
Best History Podcast:
“Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History” (Dan Carlin)
“Noble Blood” (iHeartRadio)
“Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries) - WINNER
“Slow Burn” (Slate)
“Throughline” (NPR)
Best Kids & Family Podcast:
“But Why: A Podcast For Kids” (Vermont Public Radio)
“Hank The Cowdog” (QCODE & HTC Productions)
“Smash Boom Best” (APM)
“Story Pirates” (Gimlet)
“Wow In The World” (NPR) - WINNER
Best Music Podcast:
“Bobbycast” (The Nashville Podcast Network)
“Broken Record” (Pushkin Industries)
“Disgraceland” (Jake Brennan)
“Dolly Parton’s America” (WNYC & OSM Audio) - WINNER
“Song Exploder” (Hrishikesh Hirway)
Best News Podcast:
“Pod Save America” (Crooked Media) - WINNER
“The Daily” (The New York Times)
“The Journal.” (The Wall Street Journal/Gimlet)
“Today, Explained” (Vox)
“Up First” (NPR)
Best Fiction Podcast:
“Blood Ties” (Wondery) - WINNER
“Borrasca” (QCODE)
“Dirty Diana” (QCODE)
“The Left Right Game” (QCODE)
“Welcome To Night Vale” (Night Vale Presents)
Best Sports Podcast:
“All The Smoke” (The Black Effect) - WINNER
“Fantasy Footballers” (Fantasy Football)
“Pardon My Take” (Barstool Sports)
“The Bill Simmons Podcast” (The Ringer/Bill Simmons)
“The Herd with Colin Cowherd” (iHeartRadio)
Best Science Podcast:
“Hidden Brain” (NPR)
“Invisibilia” (NPR)
“Radiolab” (WNYC Studios) - WINNER
“Science Vs.” (Gimlet)
“Stuff To Blow Your Mind” (iHeartRadio)
Best Technology Podcast:
“Rabbit Hole” (The New York Times) - WINNER
“Recode by Vox” (Recode)
“Reply All” (Gimlet)
“TED Radio Hour” (NPR)
“Waveform” (Studio71)
Best Ad Read:
“Comedy Bang Bang” (Earwolf / Scott Aukerman)
“Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco/Earwolf)
“Hollywood Handbook” (Earwolf)
“Office Ladies” (Earwolf / Stitcher) - WINNER
“Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
Best Overall Host – Male:
Conan O’Brien (Team Coco/Earwolf) - WINNER
Dax Shepard (Armchair Umbrella)
Jonathan Van Ness (Earwolf/Stitcher)
Michael Barbaro (The New York Times)
Questlove (iHeartRadio)
Best Overall Host – Female:
Ashley Flowers (Parcast)
Brene Brown (Parcast)
Michelle Obama (Higher Ground/Spotify)
Nicole Byer (Headgum) - WINNER
Nora McInerny (APM)
Best Political Podcast:
“FiveThirtyEight Politics” (FiveThirtyEight/538/ABC News, Nate Silver)
“NPR Politics” (NPR) - WINNER
“Pod Save America” (Crooked Media)
“Political Gabfest” (Slate)
“Stay Tuned with Preet” (Cafe)
Best TV & Film Podcast:
“Fake Doctors, Real Friends” (iHeartRadio)
“How Did This Get Made?” (Earwolf/Paul Scheer/June Diane Raphael/Jason Mantzoukas/Stitcher)
“Office Ladies” (Earwolf/Jenna Fischer/Angela Kinsey)
“Rewatchables” (The Ringer/Bill Simmons)
“You Must Remember This” (Karina Longworth) - WINNER
Best Spanish Language Podcast:
“Duolingo Spanish Podcast” (Duolingo)
“La Nota Roja” (Imperative Entertainment/Blue Guitar)
“Leyendas Legendarias” (Sonoro/All Things Comedy) - WINNER
“Radio Ambulante” (NPR)
“Spanish Aqui Presents” (Earwolf /Spanish Aqui Presents)
Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast:
“Dear Prudence” (Slate)
“Dear Sugars” (WBUR/The New York Times)
“Terrible, Thanks For Asking” (APM)
“Unlocking Us with Brene Brown” (Parcast) - WINNER
“Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel” (Esther Perel Global Media/Gimlet)
Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast:
“Articles of Interest” (Avery Trufelman/99% Invisible) - WINNER
“Beauty Needs Me” (Independent)
“Blamo!” (Independent)
“Dressed: The History of Fashion” (iHeartRadio)
“Forever 35” (Independent)
Best Travel Podcast:
“Escape” (WEBVID)
“Extra Pack of Peanuts” (Independent)
“JUMP with Traveling Jackie” (Independent)
“Let’s Go Together” (Travel & Leisure)
“Travel with Rick Steves” (Rick Steves) - WINNER
Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast:
“Calm It Down” (Independent)
“Doing Great with Vicky Vox” (Earwolf & Vicky Vox)
“Elevation with Steven Furtick” (Independent) - WINNER
“On Being with Krista Tippett” (Independent)
“Whoa That’s Good Podcast” (Independent)
Best Green Podcast:
“America Adapts” (Independent)
“Broken Ground” (Southern Environmental Law Center)
“Citizens’ Climate Lobby” (Citizens’ Climate Lobby)
“Costing The Earth” (BBC Radio 4)
“How To Save A Planet” (Gimlet) - WINNER
Best Branded Podcast:
“Bring Back Bronco” (Ford)
“Hackable?” (McAfee)
“Humans Growing Stuff” (ScottsMiracle-Gro) - WINNER
“Inside Trader Joe’s” (Trader Joe’s)
“The Only Way Is Through” (Under Armour)