The Signal Awards, which is in its fifth year of honoring podcasts, has revealed this year’s recipients, including “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” “Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky” and “Khloé in Wonder Land,” which are among the dozens of shows that have received a gold medal this year.
Others winning top prizes include “All There Is With Anderson Cooper,” “Served With Andy Roddick,” “Songwriter: Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” “Artist Friendly With Joel Madden” and “Angie Martinez IRL.”
Signal Awards chooses gold, silver and bronze prizes for each category, including best host, documentary, video podcast, indie podcast, writing, comedy, true crime, health & wellness, science, sports, music, kids, news & politics and more. Winners are selected by either a panel of judges or by listeners’ choice voting. This year, more than 94,000 unique voters cast 260,000 votes for the listeners’ choice prizes.
Among special recognition, “Criminal” host and co-creator Phoebe Judge will receive the Audio Icon Award, “recognizing an individual whose work has made a lasting contribution to podcasting.”
Also, Pablo Torre, host and executive editor of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” will receive the Special Achievement Award, “recognizing a host or producer whose work has stood out over the past year.”
Additionally, iHeartPodcasts has been named company of the year, while iHeartMedia’s Ruby Studios was recognized as the agency of the year.
Those honors will be presented at the Signal Awards Winners Party on Nov. 9 in Brooklyn, New York.
“Podcasting is no longer defined by a single format, platform or approach to storytelling and this year’s submissions make that evolution impossible to ignore,” said Jemma Brown, GM of The Signal Awards, in a statement. “Charts and download counts can only tell us what’s popular. At Signal, our role is to notice the creative risks that are quietly changing what everyone else makes next. This year’s winners offer a first look at podcasting’s next chapter.”
Here are this year’s Signal Awards winners:
Best Host
“Good Hang with Amy Poehler” (Spotify’s The Ringer) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“Engagement Party” (CNN) GOLD
“Seen on the Screen with Jacqueline Coley” (We Are Social) GOLD
“Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso” (Higher Ground) GOLD
“Big Lash Energy” (Big Lash Energy) SILVER
“Christiane Amanpour Presents: The Ex Files” (Global) SILVER
“I Said No Gifts!” (Exactly Right Media) SILVER
“Latino USA” (Futuro Media Group) SILVER
“Wild Card with Rachel Martin” (NPR) SILVER
“Psychopedia Podcast” (Psychopedia Pod LLC) BRONZE
“Roc Solid Podcast” (The Black Effect) BRONZE
“The Quanta Podcast” (Quanta Magazine) BRONZE
Documentary
“Cult Queen of Canada” (New Metric Media) GOLD
“More Muslim” (More Muslim) GOLD
“Paper Trail” (ProPublica) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“I Serve” (Foreign Policy) SILVER
“Lawless Planet” (Audible) SILVER
“The Knife: A True Crime Podcast” (Exactly Right Media) SILVER
“Under the Shadow” (The Real News Network) SILVER
Best Video Podcast
“All There Is with Anderson Cooper” (CNN) GOLD
“Take Your Shoes Off” (TYSO Productions) GOLD
“The Tamsen Show” (Tamsen Fadal Media) GOLD
“Wild Card with Rachel Martin” (NPR) GOLD
“Good Hang with Amy Poehler” (Spotify’s The Ringer) SILVER
“Living for the City” (Magnet Originals x Live Nation) SILVER
“Prof G Markets” (Prof G Media) SILVER
“The Why Files” (The Why Files) SILVER + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“Doha Debates Podcast” (Doha Debates) BRONZE
“In Proximity” (Higher Ground) BRONZE
“The Brad Weisman Show” (The Brad Weisman Show) BRONZE
“The Moynihan Report” (Osprey Studios) BRONZE
Indie Podcast
“Blank Check with Griffin & David” (Blank Check Productions) GOLD
“Bucket Podcast” (Bucket Podcast) GOLD
“Crows Feet Podcast” (Crows Feet) GOLD
“Flightless Bird” (Flightless Bird) GOLD
“Dead Pets” (Dead Pets, Wild Media Industries, LLC) SILVER
“Morning in the Garden” (Filoli) SILVER
“On the Pass with Gabriel Ornelas” (On The Pass) SILVER
“Trapped History” (Trapped History) SILVER
“True Weird Stuff” (Now Media, LLC) SILVER
“Everybody Knows But Me” (Companion) BRONZE
“Swindled” (Swindled) BRONZE + LISTENER’S CHOICE
Best Writing
“12 Years That Shook the World Season Four” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) GOLD
“Cult Queen of Canada” (New Metric Media) GOLD
“Smarter Than Cancer” (CitizenRacecar) GOLD
“Being Jewish with Jonah Platt” (Soul Evolution Media LLC) SILVER + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“Disgraceland — Patti Smith: How True Crime Helped the ‘Godmother of Punk’ Survive” (Exactly Right Media) SILVER
“Killer Psyche with Candice DeLong” (Treefort Media) BRONZE
Comedy (Shows)
“Big Age” (Audible) GOLD
“Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake” (Sony Music Entertainment) GOLD
“Erazno y La Chokolata” (reVolver Podcasts) SILVER
“Straightiolab” (iHeart Media) SILVER
“Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast” (Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast) BRONZE
“Take Your Shoes Off” (TYSO Productions) BRONZE + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“The Downside With Gianmarco Soresi” (Shark Party Media) BRONZE
True Crime (Limited Series & Specials)
“Two-Faced: John of God” (Exactly Right Media) GOLD
“Valley of Shadows” (Pushkin Industries) GOLD
“Sixth Bureau” (Bloomberg) SILVER
“Arachnid: Hunting the web’s darkest secrets” (TVO Media Education Group) BRONZE
“L’ombre du doute — Le mystère Marilyn” (Radio-Canada) BRONZE + LISTENER’S CHOICE
Health & Wellness (Shows)
“The Tamsen Show” (Tamsen Fadal Media) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“WebMD Health Discovered Podcast” (WebMD) GOLD
“NEJM Intention to Treat: The Race Equation” (The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)) GOLD
“YoggNation: The Spirit of Gratitude Podcast” (YoggNation LLC) GOLD
“Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta” (CNN) SILVER
“Código Vital” (reVolver Podcasts) SILVER
“No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie” (No Magic Pill with Blake Mycoskie) SILVER
“NowIncluded Unfiltered with Tiffany Whitlow” (Acclinate) SILVER
“The Itch Podcast” (Allergy & Asthma Network) SILVER
“The Path with Becky Quick” (CNBC) SILVER
“I’m Aware That I’m Rare: the phaware podcast” (Phaware Global Association) BRONZE
“Mayo Clinic Aging Forward” (Mayo Clinic) BRONZE
Science (Shows)
“Are We Doomed?” (NuanceTales) GOLD
“Quirks & Quarks” (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) GOLD
“Smarter Than Cancer” (CitizenRacecar) GOLD
“Tumble Science Podcast for Kids” (Tumble Media) GOLD
“Dope Labs Podcast” (MegaOhm Media LLC, Lemonada Media and iHeartPodcasts) SILVER
“Halteres Presents” (Halteres Associates) SILVER
“Pick Your Poison podcast” (Pick Your Poison podcast) SILVER
“Science Friday” (Science Friday) SILVER + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“That’s Absurd Please Elaborate” (That’s Absurd Please Elaborate) SILVER
“The Quanta Podcast” (Quanta Magazine) SILVER
“From First Principles” (From First Principles) BRONZE
Sports (Shows)
“Good Game With Sarah Spain” (iHeartPodcasts) GOLD
“Served with Andy Roddick” (Served Media LLC) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“What Do You Collect? Podcast” (What Do You Collect? Podcast) GOLD
“Sources Tell Jeff Passan” (The Volume) SILVER
“Bleav in Fantasy Basketball & Your Sports Media” (Bleav) BRONZE
“The Soccernomics Podcast” (The Soccernomics Podcast) BRONZE
Music (Individual Episodes)
“SongWriter: Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten” (SongWriter) GOLD
“Sound Advice: Subtronics” (SoundCloud) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“The World of Gustav Mahler: The Rückert Lieder — Episode 6: ‘If You Love for Beauty’” (Aaron Cohen Productions) GOLD
“Raising Young Musicians with Grammy Award Winner Jason Mraz” (TOOTRiS) SILVER
“The Almanac of Rap: Rap Snacks feat Bun B” (Areya Media and Okayplayer) SILVER
“Rock That Doesn’t Roll: The Story of Christian Music: The World’s Most Outrageous Jesus Freak (ft. Nina Hagen)” (PRX) SILVER
“DJ Hesta Prynn’s Music is Therapy” (For Fire Music Inc) BRONZE
Kids (Shows)
“Dogood Detectives” (Gen-Z Media) GOLD
“Folktales from Sudan” (Independent self-produced) GOLD
“Live from Mount Olympus: Apollo & Artemis” (Onassis USA) GOLD
“Story Pirates Podcast” (Story Pirates) GOLD
“If Objects Could Talk” (J. Paul Getty Trust) SILVER
“Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories” (Happiest Limited / Sleepiest) SILVER
“Ruby, Tooth Fairy Detective” (Quadricorn Media) SILVER
“Terrestrials” (WNYC) SILVER
“The Wild and Kind Kids Podcast” (Wild and Kind Kids) SILVER
“History Snacks” (Everhart Productions) BRONZE
“Newsicle: Smart News for Curious Kids — a daily kids’ news podcast” (Newsicle) BRONZE + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“What If World — Stories for Kids” (What If World LLC) BRONZE
Conversation Starter (Shows)
“Futurology” (Wavland) GOLD
“Hip Hop Can Save America!” (Manny Faces Media) GOLD
“Meet Me” (St. Louis Public Radio) GOLD
“Raising Us” (A Kids Co.) GOLD
“Outlawed” (Duke University Department of OBGYN) SILVER
“Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky” (the fwd. network) SILVER + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“Selective Ignorance With Mandii B” (Selective Ignorance With Mandii B) SILVER
“The Messy Parts” (The Messy Parts) SILVER
“Top Comment” (BBC Sounds) SILVER
“What’s Ray Saying?” (PRX) SILVER
“Public Health is Dead” (Public Health is Dead) BRONZE
“Super Sorry” (A Super Sorry LLC) BRONZE
News & Politics (Shows)
“Louis Blouin aux États-Unis de Trump” (Radio-Canada) GOLD
“None Of The Above” (Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group) GOLD
“Question Everything” (KCRW/Placement Theory) GOLD
“The Daily Beans” (MSW Media, Inc) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“America, Actually with Astead Herndon” (Vox Media Podcast Network) SILVER
“Rania Khalek Dispatches” (Breakthrough News) SILVER
“Start Here — How Trump Pushed a Ceasefire Over the Line” (ABC News) SILVER
“The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality” (TransLash Media) SILVER
“The Fifth Column” (Osprey Studios) SILVER
“The Weekly Show” (Paramount) SILVER
“White Picket Fence” (Acast) SILVER
“Apple News In Conversation” (Apple News) BRONZE
Best Co-Host Team (Shows)
“Two Girls One Ghost, Most Haunted Podcast in America” (Two Girls One Ghost) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“IMO Podcast” (Higher Ground) GOLD
“Great Chat” (LightningPod) GOLD
“Hold the Moment” (Dementia Australia) GOLD
“Awf The Record” (ICON PR) SILVER
“Decisions, Decisions Podcast” (AAWDP LLC) SILVER
“Locatora Radio” (Locatora Productions) SILVER
“Primary Technology” (Primary Technology) SILVER
“Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet” (Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet) BRONZE
“Unspooled” (Realm) BRONZE
Best Video Podcast Guest (Shows)
“Artist Friendly with Joel Madden: The Stories Chart-Toppers Don’t Tell Anywhere Else” (Artist Friendly Media Co.) GOLD
“The Mel Robbins Podcast” (The Mel Robbins Podcast) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“At the Brink with Erica Brinker” (At the Brink Media) SILVER
“The CARLOS Podcast: Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Explains the Part Everyone Missed” (ROSE Media) SILVER
“The Oprah Podcast” (Harpo) SILVER
“Daniel Radcliffe on Bustle’s One Nightstand with Charlotte Owen” (Bustle Digital Group (BDG)) BRONZE
Best Video Podcast Guest (Individual Episodes)
“American Masters: Creative Spark, Chris Fleming Embraces the Chaos” (American Masters) GOLD
“Artist Friendly: Joel Madden & Lionel Richie: Fifty Years of Hits, One Honest Conversation” (Artist Friendly Media Co.) GOLD
“The disruptHER: The Untold Truth About Libido, Menopause, & Aging with Stacy London” (Dr. Somi) GOLD
“The Moynihan Report: William Shatner Doesn’t Want to Die” (Osprey Studios) GOLD + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, And The Future Of America” (Hoover Institution, Stanford University) SILVER
“From the Top: Orli Shaham with Alexander Zhou” (From the Top) SILVER
“Sad Song Queens: Mumford & Sons ‘Conversation With My Son (Gangsters & Angels)’” (Sad Song Queens) SILVER
“The Secret Life of TradWives: Fear, Violence and Racism ft. Tia Levings” (The Who We Are Project) SILVER
“Women of Impact — ‘I Work with Psychopaths — This is What They Tell Me About How They Target Women’” (The Podglomerate) SILVER
“Jersey Sports Zone’s Beyond the Score Podcast: Adrian Wojnarowski” (Jersey Sports Zone) BRONZE
“Legally Goff” (Legally Goff) BRONZE
“The Creator of Dead Space on Horror, Creativity & 35 Years of Hit Games” (The Party is Full Podcast) BRONZE
Best Host (Culture) (Shows)
“Angie Martinez IRL” (The Volume) GOLD
“Khloé in Wonder Land” (Dear Media) GOLD
“Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky” (the fwd. network) GOLD
“Selective Ignorance With Mandii B” (Selective Ignorance With Mandii B) GOLD
“Here We Go Again with Kal Penn” (SNAFU Media & iHeartPodcasts) SILVER
“Many Faces of Jekyll and Hyde” (Imaginary Worlds) SILVER
“NowIncluded Unfiltered with Tiffany Whitlow” (NowIncluded, powered by Acclinate) SILVER
“Totally Booked with Zibby” (Zibby Media) SILVER
“Being Jewish with Jonah Platt” (Soul Evolution Media LLC) BRONZE + LISTENER’S CHOICE
“I Changed My Mind with Dan Souza” (America’s Test Kitchen) BRONZE
“Sacred Lessons with Mike de la Rocha” (Sacred Lessons Media) BRONZE