Over 120 podcasts have made the shortlist for the third year of the Publisher Podcast Awards. From hundreds of entries, this shortlist represents the very best in publisher podcasts, and the Media Voices team have been amazed by the quality of entries.
New categories for this year include Best Books & Literature Podcast and Best Investigative Podcast. These have given publishers the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity in creating informative content for their audiences, as well as highlighting those publishers forging a path to financial sustainability through podcasting. We are also delighted to announce the shortlist for the first Best Student Podcast category, highlighting the work of the next generation of media and audio talent.
The winning podcasts will be decided by a line-up of more than 40 judges from around the world. The Chair of Judges is Terri White, a Manchester-based editor, journalist and author best known for her most recent role as Editor-in-Chief of Empire Magazine.
The winners will be revealed in an in-person celebration at Proud Cabaret City in London. The Awards will be streamed live, so you can join us from wherever you are in the world. As we’re working to plan the event safely due to Covid, in-person tickets will be strictly limited. They will go on sale this coming Wednesday 16th February firstly to our email subscribers, and then for general sale.
Esther Kezia Thorpe: I’m beyond thrilled at the quality of entries we’ve received this year. The audio and production values on each is flawless, and the way stories are being planned out and executed make for compelling listening. The shortlist is of an exceptionally high standard, and I don’t envy our judges the job of trying to choose the winners from them. Our attention is now on planning another successful night to celebrate the Awards in April. We hope to see you there!
Chris Sutcliffe: The standard of the entries this year is testament to the investment podcasters have put in over the last twelve months. While the sky-high valuations for exclusive podcasts are a great indication of the health of the podcast ecosystem, podcasts like those included in the shortlist are the engine that drives the industry forward. This year we had to pinch ourselves to make sure we weren’t imagining the entries, from the compelling consumer-facing shows in categories like Lifestyle to the gripping entries for Limited Series. Most importantly of all – the dedication with which each of the entries applied to serving their audiences has never been more evident. It’s a genuine pleasure to be able to shout about the sheer quality of each of our shortlisted entries this year! Everyone on the shortlists should feel incredibly smug, frankly!
Peter Houston: If anyone has any doubts that publishers are committed to podcasting, they just need to take a look at these shortlists. From global brands that have been household names for decades to specialist business titles and brand new startups, podcasting has clearly become an integral part of the modern publishing portfolio. I’m especially excited that we’ve added a student category this year to recognise the work that is being done in universities to establish podcasting as a skill for the future.
See the full shortlist below or on the Publisher Podcast Awards website.
STRATEGIC AWARDS
Publisher Podcast Hero of the Year
1 – Corinne Podger, The Digital Skills Agency
2 – Mark Packard, GracePoint Publishing
3 – Indira Birnie, Penguin Random House
4 – Andrew Musgrove, Reach PLC / Chronicle Live
5 – Ross MacPherson, Reby Media
6 – Jack Meegan-Vickers, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
7 – Duncan Jarvies, British Medical Journal
Best Commercial Strategy
1: Walk To Wellbeing – DC Thomson Media
2: FT Weekend – Financial Times
3: The New Statesman podcast & World Review from the New Statesman – The New Statesman
4: Africa Calling – France Medias Monde, Radio France Internationale
5: Energy Voice Out Loud – DC Thomson Media
Best Podcast Launch
1: The Radio Times podcast – Radio Times, Immediate Media
2: In Conversation – Medical News Today
3: Brummie Mummies – Reach PLC, Laudable
4: The Conversation Weekly – The Conversation
5: FT Weekend – Financial Times
6: HERO or The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women – Foreign Policy
7: Mysteries of Science – Future PLC
8: Walk To Wellbeing – Grow Your Own, DC Thomson Media
Best Student Podcast
1: Mapping Paris – Pauline Blanchet and Sumayyah Sheikh, University of London Institute in Paris
2: In the Gray Zone – Mithil Aggarwal, Chloe Ching and Teele Rebane, The University of Hong Kong
3: Sharp Scratch – Pat Lok, Anglia Ruskin University, British Medical Journal
4: Under Review – Matteo Wong and Olivia Oldham, Harvard University
CONTENT AWARDS
Best B2B Podcast
1: ASHRAE Journal Podcast – ASHRAE
2: The Global Franchise Podcast – DC Thomson Media
3: Policing Matters – Lexipol
4: The WTiN Podcast – World Textile Information Network
5: Engineering Matters – Reby Media
6: COP26 Covered – edie – Faversham House
7: Journalism.co.uk podcast – Journalism.co.uk
8: Energy Voice Out Loud – DC Thomson Media
Best Books & Literature Podcast
1: Author In Your Classroom – DC Thomson Media
2: Amplify! With Karen Curry Parker – GracePoint Publishing
3: The Penguin Podcast – Penguin Random House
4: Reading Between The Lines – DC Thomson Media
Best Entertainment & Culture Podcast
1: Urban Legends with the Ghost Brothers – Discovery, Inc
2: The Radio Times podcast – Immediate Media
3: Film Stories with Simon Brew – Film Stories
4: FT Weekend – Financial Times
5: A brush with… – The Art Newspaper Ltd
Best Food & Drink Podcast
1: The English Wine Diaries – The Southern Quarter
2: Scran – JPI Media, Laudable
3: olive magazine podcast – Immediate Media
4: Radio Cherry Bombe – Cherry Bombe
5: The Cocktail Lovers Podcast – The Cocktail Lovers magazine
Best Health & Wellbeing Podcast
1: In Conversation – Medical News Today
2: Bryony Gordon’s Mad World – The Telegraph
3: Life Before Birth – Reby Media
4: Walk To Wellbeing – DC Thomson Media
Best Hobbies & Special Interest Podcast
1: Travel Tales by AFAR – AFAR Media
2: History Extra – Immediate Media
3: A brush with… – The Art Newspaper Ltd
4: BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast – Immediate Media
Best Investigative Podcast
1: Deep Dive: Exploring Organized Crime – Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
2: Art Bust: Scandalous Stories of the Art World – USG Audio
3: Smoke Screen – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Auddy
4: Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials – BBC History Magazine, Immediate Media
5: Seventeen Years: The Andrew Malkinson story – The Times & Sunday Times
6: Bed of Lies – The Telegraph
7: Thinking Straight – The Times & Sunday Times
8: Under Review – The Harvard Crimson
Best Lifestyle Podcast
1: Growing Up With gal-dem – gal-dem
2: The Plodcast – Immediate Media
3: Biscuits & Jam – Meredith
4: The Reset Room – JPI Media, Laudable
5: Working It – Financial Times
6: Imposters – The Telegraph
7: Brummie Mummies – Reach PLC, Laudable
Best Limited Series
1: Nature Podcast: Starting up in science – Springer Nature
2: Stories of our Times: The legacy of Penrhyn Castle – The Times & Sunday Times
3: The Anthill: Climate Fight – The Conversation
4: COP26 Covered – edie – Faversham House
5: Hong Kong Silenced – The Telegraph
6: Behind the Money: Inside ESG – Financial Times
7: Westminster Reimagined, with Armando Iannucci – The New Statesman
8: Energy Voice Out Loud: 10 Point Pod – DC Thomson Media
9: Bed of Lies – The Telegraph
Best Local & Community Podcast
1: Weird Norfolk – Archant
2: The Moldovan Coffee Break – The European Network
3: News Engine – Times-Shamrock Communications
4: Epicenter NYC – Epicenter NYC
5: Election West – BBC Radio Bristol
6: The Door County Pulse Podcast – Peninsula Publishing & Distribution
7: Brummie Mummies – Reach PLC, Laudable
Best News Podcast
1: The Week Junior Show – Future PLC
2: New Statesman World Review – The New Statesman
3: Stories of our times – The Times & Sunday Times
4: The Conversation Weekly – The Conversation
5: News Briefing – Financial Times
6: Planet Normal – The Telegraph
Best Political Podcast
1: Election West – BBC Radio Bristol
2: New Lines Podcast – New Lines Magazine
3: The New Statesman Podcast – The New Statesman
4: Chopper’s Politics – The Telegraph
5: The Stooshie – DC Thomson Media
Best Science & Medical Podcast
1: Curiosity Daily – Discovery, Inc
2: Nature Podcast – Springer Nature
3: Stereo Chemistry – American Chemical Society
4: New Scientist Weekly – New Scientist
5: eLife podcast – eLife Sciences Publications
6: Mysteries of Science – Future PLC
7: The Jab – The Economist
8: Sharp Scratch – British Medical Journal
9: All Things Photonics – Laurin Publishing Company
Best Sponsored & Branded Podcast
1: Engineering Matters – Reby Media
2: All to Play For – JOE Media
3: olive magazine podcast – Immediate Media
4: A brush with… – The Art Newspaper Ltd
5: Mysteries of Science – Future PLC
6: Energy Voice Out Loud – DC Thomson Media
7: American Metamorphosis – The Atlantic
Best Sport Podcast
1: Halcyon Podcast – Halcyon Publishing
2: The Everything is Black and White Podcast – A Newcastle United Podcast – Chronicle Live, Reach PLC
3: Equestrian Voices – NOËLLE FLOYD
4: The Greatness with Kareem Maddox – USG Audio
5: Kings of Anglia – Archant Suffolk
6: The bunkered Podcast – DC Thomson Media
Best Technology Podcast
1: In Machines We Trust – MIT Technology Review
2: PC Pro – Future PLC
3: Engineering Matters – Reby Media
4: Science in Parallel – Krell Institute
5: Tech Tonic – Financial Times
For tickets to the ceremony, see our website publisherpodcastawards.com
About Media Voices:
Media Voices is a weekly look at all the news and views from across the media world, featuring leading figures from media and publishing businesses. The team behind the podcast take a common sense approach to media analysis, from the practices of journalism to deep dives into publisher business models.
The Media Voices team have recorded live at media events, featured in numerous roundups of the best industry podcasts, and have interviewed an impressive roster of guests from top organisations such as WIRED, The Economist, Facebook, CNN, The Times, Refinery29, the FT, and more.
For more information about the Publisher Podcast Awards, please contact team [at] publisherpodcastawards [dot] com.
