Guest presenters at the live ceremony included well known podcast personalities Annaleigh Ashford and Melissa Moore, Cam Jordan, Chelsea Handler, Dennis Quaid, Ed Helms, Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, Joe Manganiello, Kyle MacLachlan, Sarah Spain, Sophia Bush, and others.
The night featured a variety of appearances by award nominees, celebrity presenters and special guests including winners Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff from “My Favorite Murder,” presenters Annaleigh Ashford and Melissa Moore, Cam Jordan, Chelsea Handler, Dennis Quaid, Ed Helms, Joe Manganiello, Kyle MacLachlan, Social Impact Award winner Sarah Spain and Sophia Bush.
iHeart is sending around an extensive highlight list, which we are pleased to present in full detail below for high-stamina readers.
- Hosts Jack O’Brien and Miles Gray of “The Daily Zeitgeist” podcast opened the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards with their signature humor, setting the tone for the evening.
- Joe Manganiello and his dog Bubbles presented the first iHeartPodcast Award of the night Best Overall Ensemble to “My Favorite Murder” and hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, who expressed their gratitude for being part of the podcast industry and the other nominees, saying, “it feels really cool to be in a club with you guys.”
- Melissa G. Moore, host of the “Happy Face” true crime podcast, and actress Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Melissa in the upcoming television adaptation on Paramount+, presented the Best Crime Podcast to “Betrayal.” Host Andrea Gunning accepted the award and recounted how the brave women who share their stories on the show are the ones to be admired.
- “SNAFU” host Ed Helms presented the Social Impact Award to Sarah Spain, host of the “Good Game” podcast and Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist, who thanked iHeart for trusting her “veteran voice” for the iHeart Women’s Sports Network and encouraged people to continue jumping on the women’s sports bandwagon without any shame for being late. “Join us, because even though we’ve been here for a long time, I’m pretty sure we’re just getting started,” she said.
- Ed Helms then returned to present the award for Best Overall Host to Mel Robbins from “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” who accepted her award via video and highlighted the versatility of podcasting and how at a time “where the world feels overwhelming and kinda dark, I think it’s cool that people are turning to positive programming.”
- Actors and “Not Today, Pal” hosts Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler presented the Best Science Podcast to “Ologies with Alie Ward,” who started her speech by giving facts about racoons and possums “in case you’re on Hinge and need something to say,” before thanking the podcasting industry for letting her be exactly herself. “Everything is interesting if you give it enough context, everything is funny if you’re honest enough – and be nice to scientists – it’s a bad time,” she said at the end of her speech.
- Early winners Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark from “My Favorite Murder” returned to present Best Business and Finance to “Planet Money.”
- Actor and podcaster Kyle MacLachlan, who will be launching the new iHeartPodcast “What Are We Even Doing” on the Elvis Duran Podcast Network, presented the Audible Audio Pioneer Award to Dan Taberski, who reminisced on the full-circle moment of winning an award at SXSW early in his career and how that encouragement helped him have confidence to keep going.
- Social Impact Icon honoree Sarah Spain and eight-time Pro Bowler and host of “Off the Edge” Cam Jordan highlighted the versatility of international podcasting while presenting the Best International Podcast award to “The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett” from the United Kingdom.
- Host Miles Gray raised a glass of Wild Turkey bourbon to toast several winners of the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, including Best Pop Culture Podcast “The World’s First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster” and Best Ad Read “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.”
- Actress and host of “Drama Queens” and “Work in Progress” Sophia Bush presented Best Travel Podcast to “JUMP with Traveling Jackie,” who reminisced on starting her podcast 11 years earlier and talked about what it takes to have an independent podcast.
- “Broken Record” host Justin Richmond and “Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF” host Vivian Tu presented Best Technology Podcast Presented by Lenovo® to “Hard Fork,” who expressed their love for technology with hesitation for where it’s going.
- “Happy Face” actor Dennis Quaid presented the Innovator Icon Award – and the Best Spanish Language Podcast Award — to Daniel Alarcón, who expressed his thanks on behalf of the entire “Radio Ambulante” team.
- Filmmaker Payne Lindsey and “Wrongful Conviction” host Lauren Bright Pacheco presented Best News to “Pivot” with journalist Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway, which was accepted by a member of their team.
- “Dear Chelsea” host Chelsea Handler presented Podcast of the Year to “Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang,” who thanked their fans for voting, with Matt Rogers saying, “That’s really why we do it, to keep you guys laughing and hopefully inform you with our half-informed takes.”