iHeartRadio Podcast Awards 2021 (virtual) — all the nominees here

iHeartRadio announces today that its Podcast Awards program will continue in 2021, in a virtual format. In past years the January event was staged at the iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank, CA. (See our in-person coverage of the 2020 awards HERE.)

The 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will be on January 21, streamed multiply on iHeart’s Facebook and YouTube locations, the iHeartRadio app (naturally), and broadcast or streamed on some iHeartMedia radio stations and virtual sites.

Podcast fans themselves will decide the winner of the Podcast of the Year award by voting on Twitter through December 31, 2020. This year’s Podcast of the Year nominees include “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.” (Go HERE for info and to vote.)

Here is the complete list of categories and finalists:

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)
• “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)

Best Business & Finance Podcast:

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

Best 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)

Best 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)

Best 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)

Best 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)

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)

Best History Podcast:

• “Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History” (Dan Carlin)
• “Noble Blood” (iHeartRadio)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)
• “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)

Best 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)

Best 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)

Best Fiction Podcast:

• “Blood Ties” (Wondery)
• “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)
• “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)
• “Science Vs.” (Gimlet)
• “Stuff To Blow Your Mind” (iHeartRadio)

Best Technology Podcast:

• “Rabbit Hole” (The New York Times)
• “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)
• “Revisionist History” (Pushkin Industries)

Best 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)

Best Overall Host – Female:

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

Best 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)

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)

Best 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)

Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast:

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

Best 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)

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)

Best 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)

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)

Best 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)

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