iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2021 Nominees Unveiled

Next January, iHeartMedia is bringing back the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards for the third year in a row, with the company announcing the full list of nominees in 27 categories.

The virtual awards event, to be broadcast Jan. 21, 2021, will be recorded from multiple locations as nominees won’t be able to attend in person because of the pandemic. The 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will stream on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages and broadcast across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio App.

Podcast fans will again decide the winner of the Podcast of the Year award through voting on Twitter through Dec. 31, 2020. This year’s Podcast of the Year nominees include Wondery’s “Bunga Bunga,” “Dolly Parton’s America,” “Nice White Parents,” “Office Ladies,” “Reply All,” “Stuff You Should Know,”  “The Breakfast Club,” The New York Times’ “The Daily,” “The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos” and “Wind of Change.”

Nominees in other categories will be selected by a judging panel “comprised of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries,” according to iHeartMedia.

In addition, the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will present three Icon Awards to pay tribute to creators, organizations and podcasts that have made groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture. Baratunde Thurston will be honored with the 2021 Social Impact Award, Serial Productions’ Sarah Koenig and Julie Synder will receive the 2021 Audible Audio Pioneer Award and QCode will be honored with the 2021 Innovator Award.

Executive producers for the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman and Conal Byrne for iHeartMedia and Deviants Media Studio founder Ivan Dudynsky and Buzz Chatman. Amazon’s Audible has signed on as a sponsor of this year’s kudofest.

Here’s the full list of iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2021 nominees (in alphabetical order):

 Podcast of the Year (Fan-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)
• “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)

Business & Finance Podcast

• “Business Wars” (Wondery)
• “Earn Your Leisure” (Independent)
• “Freakonomics” (Freakonomics Radio & Stitcher)
• “How I Built This” (NPR)
• “Pivot” (New York Magazine)

Comedy Podcast

• “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco/Earwolf)
• “Office Ladies” (Earwolf/Jenna Fischer/Angela Kinsey)
• “The Read” (Loud Speakers Network)
• “Smartless” (Independent)
• “Fake Doctors, Real Friends” (iHeartRadio)

Crime Podcast

• “Crime Junkie” (AudioChuck)
• “Criminal” (PRX/Radiotopia)
• “Deep Cover: The Drug Wars” (Pushkin Industries)
• “Forgotten: Women of Juarez” (iHeartRadio)
• “My Favorite Murder” (Exactly Right)

Pop Culture Podcast

• “Bitch Sesh” (Earwolf/Casey Wilson/Danielle Schneider)
• “Las Culturistas” (Big Money Players/iHeartRadio)
• “Pop Culture Happy Hour” (NPR)
• “Still Processing” (The New York Times)
• “The Read” (Loud Speakers Network)

Food Podcast

• “Burnt Toast” (Food52)
• “Gastropod” (Independent)
• “Home Cooking” (Samin Nosrat/Hrishikesh Hirway)
• “Spilled Milk” (Molly Wizenberg & Matthew Amster-Burton)
• “The Sporkful” (Dan Pashman/Stitcher)

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)

 History Podcast

• “Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History” (Dan Carlin)
• “Noble Blood” (iHeartRadio)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
• “Slow Burn” (Slate)
• “Throughline” (NPR)

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)

Music Podcast

• “Bobbycast” (The Nashville Podcast Network)
• “Broken Record” (Pushkin Industries)
• “Disgraceland” (Jake Brennan)
• “Dolly Parton’s America” (WNYC & OSM Audio)
• “Song Exploder” (Hrishikesh Hirway)

News Podcast

• “Pod Save America” (Crooked Media)
• “The Daily” (The New York Times)
• “The Journal.” (The Wall Street Journal/Gimlet)
• “Today, Explained” (Vox)
• “Up First” (NPR)

Fiction Podcast

• “Blood Ties” (Wondery)
• “Borrasca” (QCode)
• “Dirty Diana” (QCode)
• “The Left Right Game” (QCode)
• “Welcome To Night Vale” (Night Vale Presents)

Sports Podcast

• “All The Smoke” (The Black Effect)
• “Fantasy Footballers” (Fantasy Football)
• “Pardon My Take” (Barstool Sports)
• “The Bill Simmons Podcast” (The Ringer/Bill Simmons)
• “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” (iHeartRadio)

Science Podcast

• “Hidden Brain” (NPR)
• “Invisibilia” (NPR)
• “Radiolab” (WNYC Studios)
• “Science Vs.” (Gimlet)
• “Stuff To Blow Your Mind” (iHeartRadio)

Technology Podcast

• “Rabbit Hole” (The New York Times)
• “Recode by Vox” (Recode)
• “Reply All” (Gimlet)
• “TED Radio Hour” (NPR)
• “Waveform” (Studio71)

Ad Read 

• “Comedy Bang Bang” (Earwolf / Scott Aukerman)
• “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” (Team Coco/Earwolf)
• “Hollywood Handbook” (Earwolf)
• “Office Ladies” (Earwolf / Stitcher)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)

Overall Host – Male

• Conan O’Brien (Team Coco/Earwolf)
• Dax Shepard (Armchair Umbrella)
• Jonathan Van Ness (Earwolf/Stitcher)
• Michael Barbaro (The New York Times)
• Questlove (iHeartRadio)

Overall Host – Female

• Ashley Flowers (Parcast)
• Brené Brown (Parcast)
• Michelle Obama (Higher Ground/Spotify)
• Nicole Byer (Headgum)
• Nora McInerny (APM)

Political Podcast

• “FiveThirtyEight Politics” (FiveThirtyEight/538/ABC News, Nate Silver)
• “NPR Politics” (NPR)
• “Pod Save America” (Crooked Media)
• “Political Gabfest” (Slate)
• “Stay Tuned with Preet” (Cafe)

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)

Spanish Language Podcast 

• “Duolingo Spanish Podcast” (Duolingo)
• “La Nota Roja” (Imperative Entertainment/Blue Guitar)
• “Leyendas Legendarias” (Sonoro/All Things Comedy
• “Radio Ambulante” (NPR)
• “Spanish Aqui Presents” (Earwolf /Spanish Aqui Presents)

Advice/Inspirational Podcast

• “Dear Prudence” (Slate)
• “Dear Sugars” (WBUR/The New York Times)
• “Terrible, Thanks For Asking” (APM)
• “Unlocking Us with Brene Brown” (Parcast)
• “Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel” (Esther Perel Global Media/Gimlet)

Beauty & Fashion Podcast

• “Articles of Interest” (Avery Trufelman/99% Invisible)
• “Beauty Needs Me” (Independent)
• “Blamo!” (Independent)
• “Dressed: The History of Fashion” (iHeartRadio)
• “Forever 35” (Independent)

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 Steeves)

Spirituality & Religion Podcast

• “Calm It Down” (Independent)
• “Doing Great with Vicky Vox” (Earwolf & Vicky Vox)
• “Elevation with Steven Furtick” (Independent)
• “On Being with Krista Tippett” (Independent)
• “Whoa That’s Good Podcast” (Independent)

 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)

Branded Podcast

• “Bring Back Bronco” (Ford)
• “Hackable?” (McAfee)
• “Humans Growing Stuff” (ScottsMiracle-Gro)
• “Inside Trader Joe’s” (Trader Joe’s)
• “The Only Way Is Through” (Under Armour)

Last year’s iHeartRadio Podcast Awards winners included “The Dropout” (ABC News) for Podcast of the Year; “Man in the Window” (L.A. Times/Wondery) for Best Crime Podcast; “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” (Team Coco/Earwolf)) for Best Comedy Podcast; “30 For 30” (ESPN) for Best Sports and Recreation Podcast; Nora McInerny (American Public Media) for Best Overall Host – Female, and Aaron Mahnke (Lore) for Best Overall Host – Male.

In addition, the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards honored the New York Times’ “1619” podcast with the Icon Social Impact Award, NPR’s “Life Kit” with the Icon Innovator Award and Tenderfoot TV’s Payne Lindsey and Donald Albright with the Icon Audible Audio Pioneer Award.