The Podcast Academy Announces Nominees for Second Annual Awards for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies)

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Podcast Academy, the preeminent professional podcast organization, has announced the nominees for its second annual Awards for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies). The Ambies, which will stream LIVE exclusively on Twitch at 6PM PT/9PM ET, will be co-hosted by Ross Mathews and Nikki Boyer (2021 Podcast of the Year Ambies-winner; Dying for Sex) on March 22 from The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. This year's Ambies are presented by Wondery with additional support from Audible, Audacy, PRX, Tenderfoot TV, The Hollywood Reporter, Apollo, Loeb & Loeb and IMDb.

The Ambies celebrate excellence in podcasting and elevate awareness and status of podcasts as a unique and personal medium for entertainment, information, storytelling, and expression. The ceremony will highlight 178 nominees across 25 categories with winners selected by every voting member of The Podcast Academy — in addition to a Governor's Award that will be announced at a later date.

Donald Albright, Chairman of the Podcast Academy and President & Co-Founder of Tenderfoot TV stated: "The Podcast Academy is proud to share that it received a 34% increase in submissions compared to its inaugural awards last year. As the medium continues to grow, we have decided to introduce two new categories: Best Indie Podcast and Best Podcast for Kids. The inclusion of these categories is a testament to our mission of supporting independent creators and recognizing areas of our expanding industry. Congratulations to all of our well-deserved nominees."

Nominee Highlights for the 2022 Awards for Excellence in Audio:

•     The Washington Post's Post Reports earned four nominations, the most for any podcast, while 9/12 (Amazon Music, Pineapple Street Studios, and Wondery), Believe Her (Lemonada & Spiegel & Grau), Billie Was a Black Woman (Paramount Audio & Spoke Media), Have You Heard George's Podcast? (George the Poet for BBC Sounds) garnered three nominations each.
•     The Podcast Academy introduced two new categories: Best Indie Podcast and Best Podcast for Kids.
•     There was a 34% increase in submissions year-over-year.
•     57% of Best Podcast Host nominees are women.
•     Best Performer in Audio Fiction nominees include Parvesh Cheena and Jessica McKenna (Melon's House Party), Marisa Grant (Date With Daddy), David Harbour (Aftershock), Rosamund Pike (Edith!), Kelly Marie Tran (Passenger List), Rainn Wilson (Radio Rental), and the cast of We Stay Looking (Terri J. Vaughn, Karrueche Tran, Marsai Martin, Kandi Burruss, Amin Joseph, Desi Banks, Kyla Pratt, Jason Weaver, Kev On Stage, Kway, Karlous Miller, Tristen Winger, Max Greenfield).

THE AMBIES 2022 FULL LIST OF NOMINEES:

Podcast of The Year (Sponsored by Audacy):
9/12
A Slight Change of Plans
Alligator Candy
Believe Her
Bill Simmons Podcast
Earth Eclipsed
False Idol
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
Hooked
The Imperfection

Best Business Podcast:
An Arm and a Leg
Business Wars
Masters of Scale
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Planet Money
The Indicator from Planet Money
The McKinsey Podcast

Best Comedy Podcast:
Best Friends
How Did This Get Made?
Nosy Neighbors
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: Ears Edition
The Sarah Silverman Podcast
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
Why Won't You Date Me with Nicole Byer

Best Documentary Podcast:
AMERICAN VETERAN: Unforgettable Stories
CBC Podcasts: Life Jolt
Embedded
Fiasco: Benghazi
On Our Watch
Post Reports
Stay Away From Matthew MaGill

Best Entertainment Podcast:
Back Issue
Even the Rich
New Rory & MAL
Song Exploder
The Boys: The Official Podcast
The Friendship Onion
The Plot Thickens

Best Fiction Podcast (Sponsored by Apollo):
Black Box
Orphan Black: The Next Chapter
Princess of South Beach
Tejana
The Miseducation of John Mark
The Zip Code Plays: Los Angeles
Treat

Best History Podcast:
Black Cowboys
Human Resources
Making Gay History — The Podcast | Season 9: "Coming of Age During the AIDS Crisis"
Mogul
Slow Burn: The L.A. Riots
Telling Our Twisted Histories
Throughline

Best Indie Podcast (Sponsored by TenderfootTV):
AFTERSHOCK
An Arm and a Leg
Because I Said So!
Earth Eclipsed
FOR BLOOD OR JUSTICE
Walzon Prime
What Happened in Skinner

Best Interview Podcast:
70 over 70
Billie Was a Black Woman
I WEIGH
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Profoundly Pointless
The Problem with Jon Stewart
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast:
Dope Labs
Music Blocks
Overheard at National Geographic
Road to Resilience
Ted Radio Hour
The Extortion Economy
Twenty Thousand Hertz

Best News Podcast:
60 Minutes
Consider This
Post Reports
Start Here
The Journal
The Times
Up First

Best Original Score and Music Supervision:
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
The Duolingo French Podcast
Operation Midnight Climax
Carcerem
Great Grief
Gravity
9/12

Best Performer in Audio Fiction (Sponsored by Audible):
Aftershock – David Harbour
Date With Daddy – Marisa Grant
Edith! – Rosamund Pike
Melon's House Party – Parvesh Cheena & Jessica McKenna
Passenger List – Kelly Marie Tran
Radio Rental – Rainn Wilson
We Stay Looking – Full Cast Including: Terri J. Vaughn, Karrueche Tran, Marsai Martin, Kandi Burruss, Amin Joseph, Desi Banks, Kyla Pratt, Jason Weaver, Kev On Stage, Kway, Karlous Miller, Tristen Winger, Max Greenfield and more.

Best Personal Growth / Spirituality Podcast:
Great Grief
Life Kit
Making Space with Hoda Kotb
Meditative Story
Money Moves with Toni Tone
SOL Affirmations with Karega with Felicia
The Happiness Lab

Best Podcast for Kids:
African Folktales with Miss Jo Jo
Imagine This
Music Blocks
Nice to Meet You
Operation Ouch! The Podcast of Everything
The Big Fib
The Vivo Songbook

Best Podcast Host:
Crime Show – Emma Courtland
Human Resources – Moya Lothian-McLean
It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders – Sam Sanders
Jemele Hill Is Unbothered – Jemele Hill
King of The World: An American Muslim Story – Shahjehan Khan
Revisionist History – Malcolm Gladwell
Why Won't You Date Me with Nicole Byer –    Nicole Byer

Best Politics or Opinion Podcast:
Billie Was a Black Woman
Can He Do That?
Pod Save the World
Post Reports
Skullduggery
Stay Tuned with Preet
The Messenger

Best Production and Sound Design (Sponsored by PRX):
Iowa Chapman and the Last Dog
King of The World: An American Muslim Story
Not Past It
The 11th: Time Machine — The Score
The Bering
The Turning: The Sisters Who Left
Twenty Thousand Hertz

Best Reporting:
Stolen: The Search for Jermain
Un(re)solved
The Turning: The Sisters Who Left
544 Days
Believe Her
Post Reports
9/12

Best Scriptwriting, Fiction:
Edith! – Gonzalo Cordova, Travis Helwig
Hit Job – Broadway Video
Soft Voice – James Bloor
The Burned Photo – Nicole Exposito, Jeremy Novick, Kwynn Perry
The Imperfection – Alexander Kemp
The Lamb – Tad Safran
We Stay Looking – Kindsey Young, Chris Sanford, Phylicia Mpasi

Best Scriptwriting, Nonfiction:
Death At the Wing – Brian Steele, Adam Mckay, Raghu Manavalan, Jody Avigan
Have You Heard George's Podcast? – George the Poet
HiberNation – Mallika Rao
Radiotopia Presents: S***hole Country – Afia Kaakyire
Southlake – Antonia Hylton, Mike Hixenbaugh, Frannie Kelley, Reid Cherlin, Julie Shapiro, Michelle Garcia
Storytime with Seth Rogen –    Seth Rogen, Richard Parks III, Frida Perez
Throughline – Rund Abdelfatah, Ramtin Arablouei, Julie Caine, Laine Kaplan-Levenson

Best Society and Culture Podcast:
Billie Was a Black Woman
Cheat!
Ear Hustle
Heavyweight
Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay
Into America
Storytime with Seth Rogen

Best Sports Podcast:
Crushed
False Idol
Goats: On the Bump by Ross Stripling
Spinsters
The Greatness with Kareem Maddox
The Lead
The Long Game

Best True Crime Podcast (Sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter):
Believe Her
Confronting: Columbine
Criminal
Do You Know Mordechai?
Firebug
Over My Dead Body: Fox Lake
Suspect

Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast:
Call Your Grandmother
Lovers and Friends with Shan Boodram
Making Space with Hoda Kotb
My Body, My Podcast
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Really Good Shares
We Can Do Hard Things

NOMINATIONS BREAKDOWN BY PODCAST

•     544 Days – 1
•     60 Minutes – 1
•     70 Over 70 – 1
•     9/12 – 3
•     A Slight Change of Plans – 1
•     African Folktales with Miss Jo Jo – 1
•     Aftershock – 2
•     Alligator Candy – 1
•     AMERICAN VETERAN: Unforgettable Stories – 1
•     An Arm and a Leg – 2
•     Back Issue – 1
•     Because I Said So! – 1
•     Believe Her – 3
•     Best Friends – 1
•     Bill Simmons Podcast – 1
•     Billie Was a Black Woman – 3
•     Black Box – 1
•     Black Cowboys – 1
•     Business Wars – 1
•     Call Your Grandmother – 1
•     Can He Do That? – 1
•     Carcerem – 1
•     CBC Podcasts: Life Jolt – 1
•     Cheat! – 1
•     Confronting: Columbine – 1
•     Consider This – 1
•     Crime Show – 1
•     Criminal – 1
•     Crushed – 1
•     Date With Daddy – 1
•     Death At the Wing – 1
•     Do You Know Mordechai? – 1
•     Dope Labs – 1
•     Ear Hustle – 1
•     Earth Eclipsed – 2
•     Edith! – 2
•     Embedded – 1
•     Even the Rich – 1
•     False Idol – 2
•     Fiasco: Benghazi – 1
•     Firebug – 1
•     FOR BLOOD OR JUSTICE – 1
•     Goats: On the Bump by Ross Stripling – 1
•     Gravity – 1
•     Great Grief – 2
•     Have You Heard George's Podcast? – 3
•     Heavyweight – 1
•     HiberNation – 1
•     Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay – 1
•     Hit Job – 1
•     Hooked – 1
•     How Did This Get Made? – 1
•     Human Resources – 2
•     I WEIGH – 1
•     Imagine This – 1
•     Into America – 1
•     Iowa Chapman and the Last Dog – 1
•     It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders – 1
•     Jemele Hill is Unbothered – 2
•     King of The World: An American Muslim Story – 2
•     Life Kit – 1
•     Lovers and Friends with Shan Boodram – 1
•     Making Gay History — The Podcast | Season 9: "Coming of Age During the AIDS Crisis" – 1
•     Making Space with Hoda Kotb – 2
•     Masters of Scale – 1
•     Meditative Story – 1
•     Melon's House Party – 1
•     Mogul – 1
•     Money Moves with Toni Tone – 1
•     Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin – 1
•     Music Blocks – 2
•     My Body, My Podcast – 1
•     New Rory & MAL – 1
•     Nice to Meet You – 1
•     Nosy Neighbors – 1
•     Not Past It – 1
•     On Our Watch – 1
•     On Purpose with Jay Shetty – 1
•     Operation Midnight Climax –1
•     Operation Ouch! The Podcast of Everything – 1
•     Orphan Black: The Next Chapter – 1
•     Over My Dead Body: Fox Lake – 1
•     Overheard at National Geographic – 1
•     Passenger List – 1
•     Planet Money – 1
•     Pod Save the World – 1
•     Post Reports – 4
•     Princess of South Beach – 1
•     Profoundly Pointless – 1
•     Radio Rental – 1
•     Radiotopia Presents: S***hole Country – 1
•     Really Good Shares – 1
•     Revisionist History – 1
•     Road to Resilience – 1
•     Skullduggery – 1
•     Slow Burn: The L.A. Riots – 1
•     Soft Voice – 1
•     SOL Affirmations with Karega with Felicia – 1
•     Song Exploder – 1
•     Southlake – 1
•     Spinsters – 1
•     Start Here – 1
•     Stay Away From Matthew MaGill – 1
•     Stay Tuned with Preet – 1
•     Stolen: The Search for Jermain – 1
•     Storytime with Seth Rogen – 2
•     Suspect – 1
•     Ted Radio Hour – 1
•     Tejana – 1
•     Telling Our Twisted Histories – 1
•     The 11th: Time Machine — The Score – 1
•     The Bering – 1
•     The Big Fib – 1
•     The Boys: The Official Podcast – 1
•     The Burned Photo – 1
•     The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: Ears Edition – 1
•     The Duolingo French Podcast – 1
•     The Extortion Economy – 1
•     The Friendship Onion – 1
•     The Greatness with Kareem Maddox – 1
•     The Happiness Lab – 1
•     The Imperfection – 2
•     The Indicator from Planet Money – 1
•     The Journal – 1
•     The Lamb – 1
•     The Lead – 1
•     The Long Game – 1
•     The McKinsey Podcast – 1
•     The Messenger – 1
•     The Miseducation of John Mark – 1
•     The Plot Thickens – 1
•     The Problem with Jon Stewart – 1
•     The Sarah Silverman Podcast – 1
•     The Times - 1
•     The Turning: The Sisters Who Left – 2
•     The Vivo Songbook – 1
•     The Zip Code Plays: Los Angeles – 1
•     Throughline – 2
•     Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller – 1
•     Treat – 1
•     Twenty Thousand Hertz – 2
•     Un(re)solved – 1
•     Up First – 1
•     Wait Wait Don't Tell Me – 1
•     Walzon Prime – 1
•     We Can Do Hard Things – 1
•     We Stay Looking – 2
•     What Happened in Skinner
•     Why Won't You Date Me with Nicole Byer – 2

NOMINATIONS BREAKDOWN BY DISTRIBUTOR

•    ABC Kids listen – 1    
•    ABC News – 1
•    ABF Creative – 1 
•     Adonde Media, Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix – 1 
•     Afia Kaakyire and Radiotopia from PRX – 1 
•     Amazon and Top Right Corner – 1
•     Amazon Music, Pineapple Street Studios, and Wondery – 2 
•     Amazon Studios with At Will Media and Tim Kash – 1 
•     Antaeus Theatre Company – 1 
•     Apple TV+ Original podcast produced by Busboy Productions – 1
•     Apple TV+ Original podcast, produced by Campside Media – 1 
•     Awfully Nice, Dreamville Studios – 1 
•     BISS Podcasts – 1 
•     Black Love Inc – 1 
•     Blue Wire Podcasts – 1 
•     Broadway Video – 1 
•     Broccoli Productions – 2 
•     C13Features – 1 
•     Cadence13 – 1 
•     CAFE studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network – 1 
•     Campside Media and Audible Originals – 1 
•     Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – 1 
•     CBS News – 1 
•     Chalk & Blade – 1 
•     Colorado Public Radio – 2 
•     Comedy Central & iHeartRadio – 1 
•     Criminal & Vox Media Podcast Network – 1 
•     Crooked Media – 1 
•     C-Space Media – 1 
•     Defacto Sound – 2 
•     Doha Debates and Foreign Policy – 1 
•     Duolingo – 1 
•     Earwolf – 5  
•     Editaudio – 1 
•     FOR BLOOD OR JUSTICE – 1 
•     FRONTLINE PBS – 1 
•     GBH Educational Foundation – 1 
•     Gen Z Media – 3 
•     George the Poet for BBC Sounds – 3 
•     Gimlet Media, Spotify – 4 
•     Gimlet Media, Spotify, ZSP Media – 1 
•     Gimlet, Spotify, Crooked, A24 – 1 
•     Glass Podcasts – 1 
•     Headspace Studios – 1 
•     Hrishikesh Hirway and Radiotopia from PRX – 1 
•     Hyperobject Industries & Three Uncanny Four – 1 
•     iHeart Media – 2 
•     iHeartRadio – 2 
•     iHeartRadio, Don't Try This at Home LLC – 1 
•     iHeartRadio, Superb Entertainment – 1 
•     Jam Street Media – 1 
•     Joe Godley and Will Manning – 1 
•     Kast Media – 2 
•     Lemonada & Spiegel & Grau – 3 
•     Los Angeles Times – 1 
•     Making Gay History – 1 
•     Maverick TV / Listen – 1 
•     Mazama Entertainment – 1 
•     McKinsey Global Publishing – 1 
•     MIT Technology Review – 1 
•     More Sauce/Stitcher – 1 
•     More Sauce/Stitcher/SXM – 1 
•     Mount Sinai Health System – 1 
•     Muck Media and National Geographic – 1 
•     National Geographic Partners – 1 
•     NBC News Audio – 4 
•     Nick VinZant – 1 
•     Nomadic Engine – 1 
•     North Carolina Public Radio – 2 
•     NPR – 12 
•     Paramount Audio & Spoke Media – 3 
•     Pineapple Street Studios – 4 
•     Pineapple Street Studios, Amazon Music & Wondery – 1 
•     Prologue Projects – 1 
•     Public Road Productions – 2 
•     Pushkin Industries – 3 
•     QCODE – 1 
•     QCODE and Vertigo Entertainment – 1 
•     QCODE, Crooked Media – 2 
•     Radiotopia – 1 
•     Radiotopia from PRX – 1 
•     Realm – 1 
•     Record Edit Podcast – 1 
•     Religion of Sports / PRX – 3 
•     Reverb Production – 1 
•     Rifelion, LLC – 2 
•     Rococo Punch and iHeartRadio – 2 
•     Shane Salk Productions LLC – 1 
•     Slate – 1 
•     Somethin' Else – 1 
•     Sonoro, MyCultura – 1 
•     Sonoro, Telemundo – 1 
•     Spotify – 2 
•     Team Coco – 2 
•     Tenderfoot TV – 1 
•     Tenderfoot TV, Raedio, HBO – 2 
•     Terre Innue – 1 
•     The Lunar Company – 2 
•     The Ringer, Spotify Studios – 2 
•     The Wall Street Journal and Gimlet Media, a Spotify Studio – 1 
•     The Washington Post – 5 
•     truth.media – 1 
•     Turner Classic Movies – 1 
•     Unbothered Inc. and Spotify – 2 
•     United Talent Agency – 1 
•     USG Audio – 3 
•     WaitWhat – 2 
•     Wolf at the Door – 2 
•     Wonder Media Network – 1 
•     Wondery – 4 
•     Wondery & Campside Media – 1 
•     Wondery & The Athletic – 1 
•     Yahoo News – 1

ABOUT THE PODCAST ACADEMY
Founded in February 2020, The Podcast Academy is a non-profit professional membership organization that celebrates excellence in podcasting and elevates awareness of podcasts as an indispensable medium for entertainment, information, and creative expression. It values individual and organizational creators alike, of all backgrounds and means, and defines achievement through the values of quality, creativity, innovation, inclusion, and impact. The Podcast Academy provides community, professional development, and industry connections through inclusive, dynamic programming. For more information about The Podcast Academy, please visit http://www.thepodcastacademy.com and follow/like/subscribe on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Linkedin.

# # #

Press Assets:
Ross Mathews press photo; Courtesy: Ross Mathews
Nikki Boyer press photo; Courtesy: Nikki Boyer
The Ambies logo; Courtesy: The Podcast Academy

Media Contact

Michele Cobb, The Podcast Academy, 2135077829, [email protected]

SOURCE The Podcast Academy