iHeartMedia Announces Nominees for The 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards Presented by The Hartford Live at SXSW on March 11

February 05, 2024 at 09:00 AM EST

Podcast of the Year presented by The Hartford nominees include “Crime Junkie,” “The Daily,” “My Favorite Murder,” “New Heights,” “Normal Gossip,” “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” “The Retrievals,” “Scamanda,” “SmartLess” and “Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus”

Maggie Freleng and Jason Flom of “Wrongful Conviction” and Jonathan Goldstein of “Heavyweight” to be honored with Icon Awards, and “Rotten Mango” as the recipient of the Innovator Award presented by YouTube

The event will also broadcast on select iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, digitally through the iHeartRadio app and video stream in partnership with YouTube

iHeartMedia, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, today announced the nominees for the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards presented by The Hartford live at SXSW. The awards, which will honor the very best in podcasting from 2023 and celebrate the most innovative talent and content creators in the industry, will feature 29 categories spanning podcast genres. This year, iHeartMedia teamed up with South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals to host the live and in-person ceremony in Austin, Texas at the Fairmont Hotel on Monday, March 11 at 8 p.m. CT. The ceremony will also broadcast on select iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide, digitally through the iHeartRadio app and video stream in partnership with YouTube on the iHeartRadio Channel. The event will additionally be available on demand following the initial live stream on YouTube.

“As the podcast industry continues to rapidly grow, this past year has clearly proven that podcasters are always innovating in the audio space and finding new ways to reach and engage new audiences,” said Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio Group. “The nominees for the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards reflect the results of honing that creativity and we’re thrilled to celebrate and once again empower these creators and elevate the podcast industry together live in person at SXSW.”

Nominees across categories include podcasts from all creators, distributors and platforms with a judging panel composed of blue-ribbon podcast industry leaders, creatives and visionaries who will determine the winners in categories including comedy, crime, news, tv and film, sports, food, business and more. Each year, podcast fans help decide the winner of the coveted Podcast of the Year presented by The Hartford award by voting online at iHeartPodcastAwards.com from Feb. 5 through Feb. 18. This year’s nominees include “Crime Junkie,” “The Daily,” “My Favorite Murder,” “New Heights,” “Normal Gossip,” “On Purpose with Jay Shetty,” “The Retrievals,” “Scamanda,” “SmartLess” and “Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.” Fan voting begins today and will run through February 18.

In addition, the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards presented by The Hartford will present industry Icon Awards to pay tribute to the creators, organizations and podcasts that have made groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture. Maggie Freleng, a Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter and producer, and Jason Flom, a former artists and repertoire (A&R) music executive, activist and Lava for Good CEO who works with The Innocence Project, will both be honored with the 2024 Social Impact Award for their work on the podcast “Wrongful Conviction.” Jonathan Goldstein, audio industry veteran, author and podcast host of “Heavyweight,” will be honored with the 2024 Pioneer Award.

The Awards will also honor the podcast “Rotten Mango” with the Innovator Award presented by YouTube. The Innovator Award celebrates the voices that are breaking new creative ground in podcasting, and “Rotten Mango” continues to show unique storytelling through both audio and video.

Last year, the virtual 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards, hosted by actor and comedian Brian Baumgartner, featured a variety of appearances by award nominees, celebrity presenters and special guests including Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Mayim Bialik, Alex Borstein, Zach Braff and Donald Faison, Nicole Byer, Charlamagne Tha God, Colin Cowherd, Bob Costas, Malcolm Gladwell, Draymond Green, Bethany Joy Lenz, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, Enrique Santos, Iliza Shlesinger, Questlove, Angela Yee and more. Click HERE for more highlights from the 2023 iHeartPodcast Awards.

The full 2024 category nominees are:

Podcast of the Year presented by The Hartford:

Crime Junkie
The Daily
My Favorite Murder
New Heights
Normal Gossip
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
The Retrievals
Scamanda
SmartLess
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Best Business & Finance:

Direct Deposit
How I Built This
MoneyWatch with Jill Schlesinger
Networth & Chill with Your Rich BFF
Planet Money

Best Comedy:

Baby, This is Keke Palmer
Handsome
SmartLess
This Is Important
Why Won't You Date Me

Best Crime:

Crime Junkie
The Girlfriends
The Retrievals
Scamanda
Something Was Wrong

Best Pop Culture:

Las Culturistas
I've Had It
Just B with Bethenny Frankel
Search Engine
Watch What Crappens

Best Food Podcast Award Presented by Planet Oat:

Cereal Killers
Hungry for History
Recipe Club
The Splendid Table
Sporkful

Best Wellness & Fitness:

Huberman Lab
Maintenance Phase
The Mel Robbins Podcast
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Therapy For Black Girls

Best History:

Mobituaries with Mo Rocca
Revisionist History
Slow Burn
Throughline
You're Wrong About

Best Kids & Family:

Good Inside with Dr. Becky
Kids Short Stories with Mr. Jim
Sound Detectives
Story Pirates
The Suga

Best Music:

Disgraceland
Million Dollaz Worth of Game
Popcast
Questlove Supreme
Song Exploder

Best News:

The Daily
Pivot
Pod Save America
Today Explained
Up First

Best Fiction:

Ad Lucem
Full Body Chills
The Mantawauk Caves
Radio Rental
The Space Within

Best Sports:

Around The NFL
Club Shay Shay
The Dan Le Batard Show
New Heights
Pardon My Take

Best Science:

Hidden Brain
Inner Cosmos
Ologies
Radio Lab
StarTalk

Best Technology:

All-In
Hard Fork
Lex Fridman Podcast
TED Radio Hour
Vergecast

Best Ad Read:

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Heavyweight
How Did This Get Made?
Say More with Dr. Sheila
SmartLess

Best Overall Host:

Joe Budden (The Joe Budden Podcast)
Jonathan Goldstein (Heavyweight)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Wiser Than Me)
Laci Mosley (Scam Goddess)
Nicole Byer (Why Won’t You Date Me?)

Best Overall Ensemble:

The 85 South Show
Handsome
New Heights
SmartLess
Today, Explained

Best Political:

The Ben Shapiro Show
CNN Inside Politics
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
NPR Politics Podcast
Pod Save America

Best TV & Film:

Drama Queens
Films to be Buried With
Give Them Lala w/ Lala Kent
How Did This Get Made?
Pop Culture Happy Hour

Best Spanish Language:

La Brega
Cassettes
Duolingo Spanish
Leyendas Legendarias
Transportista: Who Murdered Captain Coral? (Spanish version)

Best Advice / Inspirational:

Getting Curious
Dear Chelsea
Michelle Obama: The Light Podcast
This Keeps Happening with Vienna Pharaon
We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle

Best Beauty & Fashion:

Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak
Articles of Interest
Fool Coverage with Manny MUA and Laura Lee
The Goop Pursuit: Healing in a Sick Society
Lipstick On The Rim

Best Travel:

As Told By Nomads
Atlas Obscura
The Travel Hacking Mom Show
Travel With Rick Steves
Women Who Travel

Best Green:

Climate of Change
Discarded
Living on Earth
TED Climate
Sea Change

Best Spirituality & Religion:

The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz
The Bible Recap
Elevation with Steve Furtick
On Being with Krista Tippett
Women Evolve

Best Branded Podcast:

Crimson Hearts Collide (Hallmark Media)
Love In Gravity (ViiV Healthcare)
Mind the Business (Intuit Quickbooks)
Symptomatic (Novartis)
Townsizing (HGTV)

Best Emerging:

Classy
Handsome
How to Destroy Everything
I’ve Had It
The Really Good Podcast with Bobbi Althoff

Best International:

CTV Question Period with Vassy Kapelos (Canada)
Dichosa Sexualidad (Mexico)
The Fold (New Zealand)
The Imperfects (Australia)
Rocio Cordova (Mexico)

The 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards is part of iHeartMedia’s roster of nationally recognized events including the iHeartRadio Music Awards, iHeartRadio Music Festival, the nationwide iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Concert Tour, iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, iHeartCountry Festival and iHeartRadio ALTer Ego. Additional information including guest hosts, presenters, celebrity appearances and more will be announced soon.

Proud partners of this year’s iHeartPodcast Awards include presenting partner The Hartford, a leading small business insurer, YouTube and Planet Oat with more to be announced.

For more information about the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards, click HERE.

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia, Inc. [Nasdaq: IHRT] is the leading audio media company in America, reaching over 90% of Americans every month. iHeart’s broadcast radio assets alone have more consumer reach in the U.S. than any other media outlet; twice the reach of the next largest broadcast radio company; and over four times the ad-enabled reach of the largest digital only audio service. iHeart is the largest podcast publisher according to Podtrac, with more downloads than the next two podcast publishers combined and has the number one social footprint among audio players, with seven times more followers than the next audio media brand, and the only fully integrated audio ad tech solution across broadcast, streaming and podcasts. The company continues to leverage its strong audience connection and unparalleled consumer reach to build new platforms, products and services. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

About SXSW

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film and television, music, education, and culture. An essential destination for global professionals, the annual March event features sessions, music, and comedy showcases, film and television screenings, exhibitions, professional development, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2024 will take place March 8–16 in Austin. Learn more at sxsw.com. To register for the event, please visit sxsw.com/attend.