iHeartPodcast Awards Unveil 2025 Nominees (Exclusive)

23 hours ago 1

Normal Gossip, Call Her Daddy and Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang are among the titles in contention for the podcast of the year at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards.

The high-profile category also includes the podcasts Three, Giggly Squad, Hysterical, The Telepathy Tapes, Who Killed JFK?, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD and The Good Whale. Fans will vote on the winner starting Jan. 7 through Feb. 16.

New Heights, hosted by Jason and Travis Kelce, took home the prize of podcast of the year at the 2024 ceremony.

In addition to the 29 competitive categories, which span several genres, the iHeartPodcast Awards will also present three icon awards that honor podcasts and creators who have made groundbreaking contributions to the industry. Sarah Spain, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist and host of Good Game, will be honored with the 2025 Social Impact Award for her role in championing equity in sports coverage, equal pay for female athletes and greater investment in women’s sports infrastructure.

Dan Taberski will be honored with the Audible Audio Pioneer Award for his storytelling and investigative journalism, including with his latest podcast Hysterical and his previous work with Missing Richard Simmons and Surviving Y2K.

The 2025 Innovator Award will honor Daniel Alarcón for his work on The Good Whale, which follows the life of Keiko, the orca who gained fame as the star of Free Willy.

The awards show will take place March 10 at 7 p.m. CT at the ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, and also be live-broadcasted on select iHeartMedia Radio Stations, on the iHeartRadio app and on iHeartRadio’s YouTube Channel.

“Following our in-person return to SXSW last year, we’re thrilled to be bringing the iHeartPodcast Awards to an even bigger stage in 2025,” said Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio Group. “Podcasting is growing in both scale and influence every year, and SXSW brings a level of innovative spirit and excitement that makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the very best of our industry, while also looking towards the future.”

Full list of nominees:

Podcast of the Year:

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

Best Business & Finance:

Planet Money
How to Money
Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
The Ramsey Show

Best Comedy:

The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade
Normal Gossip
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy

Best Crime:

Three
Betrayal
Up and Vanished
CounterClock
Something Was Wrong

Best Pop Culture:

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:

Gastropod
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
Be My Guest with Ina Garten
The Recipe with Kenji and Deb
The Sporkful

Best Wellness & Fitness:

Huberman Lab
The Mel Robbins Podcast
10% Happier with Dan Harris
A Slight Change of Plans
We Can Do Hard Things

Best History

The Rest is History
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Throughline
American History Tellers
You’re Wrong About

Best Kids & Family:

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:

Song Exploder
Questlove Supreme
Popcast
The Wonder of Stevie
The Joe Budden Podcast

Best News:

The Journal.
The Daily
Up First from NPR
Pivot
Today, Explained

Best Fiction:

Hello From The Magic Tavern
Welcome to Night Vale
Impact Winter
The Magnus Archives
Midnight Burger

Best Sports:

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:

Hidden Brain
StarTalk Radio
Stuff To Blow Your Mind
Ologies with Alie Ward
Science Vs

Best Technology:

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
The Breakfast Club

Best Political:

Native Land Pod
The NPR Politics Podcast
Pod Save America
The Megyn Kelly Show
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

Best TV & Film:

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:

Radio Ambulante
Duolingo Spanish Podcast
Leyenda Legendarias
Mija Podcast
Escuela Secreta

Best Advice/Inspirational:

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Life Kit
Savage Lovecast

Best Beauty & Fashion:

Naked Beauty
The goop Podcast
Glowing Up
Breaking Beauty Podcast
Lipstick on the Rim

Best Travel:

Travel with Rick Steves
The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Zero To Travel Podcast
Women Who Travel
JUMP with Traveling Jackie

Best Green:

Unf*cking the Future
Environmental Insights: Conversations on policy and practice from the Harvard Environmental Economics Program
Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration
Threshold
TED Climate

Best Spirituality & Religion: