This is an archived page from 2018. Find out more
The second annual Discover Pods Awards winners were announced Monday. Discover Pods Founder and Editor Kevin Goldberg tells PBJ the mission of Discover Pods is to help spread awareness of all podcasts – both mainstream and indie – and help listeners find their next favorite podcast. “In this same vein, we like to highlight podcasts through several ways – Podcast Spotlight series, Podcast of the Day, lists, recommendations, and more. Having yearly awards seemed like a natural fit to further this goal. There are a ton of excellent podcasts out there, many created by people in their spare time. Everyone could use some extra recognition.”
The 2018 awards started with a call for nominations October 8-October 26. There were over 6,000 nominations which were knocked down to 10 podcasts per category. From there a final round of voting was held November 17 to December 7 to determine the winners. Over 10,000 people voted in the finals.
Goldberg says he believes it’s extremely important to recognize podcasters like this. “While I want to express my sincere congratulations to all the winners, I still encourage everyone to view the complete list of finalists first. This list serves as a great, curated recommendation for listeners to discover new podcasts. I even challenge the readers to vote for their favorite in any given category. However, if you haven’t heard of another nomination in that category please give it a shot. For example, in the True Crime category many readers have likely heard of Criminal or Slow Burn, but might not have heard of Swindled or Criminology. If we can bring any of these podcasts new listeners we consider it a win. This American Life, Joe Rogan, Serial, and others don’t necessarily need an ego boost from a podcast blog. However, there’s a large majority of podcasters doing this in their free time for little or no money. As podcast fans, we get to consume their incredible content for free while the creator is too often siloed from any feedback. I just wanted to give props to the people who create cool shit.”
Here are the 2018 winners (you can also check them out on The Discover Pods website)
Best Overall Podcast 2018 Winner: My Favorite Murder Runner up: Ear Hustle
Best New Podcast of 2018 Winner: Dr. Death Runner up: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Most Innovative Podcast Winner: The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week Runner up: It’s Been a Minute
Desert Island Podcast Winner: Radiolab Runner up: The NoSleep Podcast
People’s Choice Winner: True Crime Obsessed Runner up: Uncover: Escaping NXIVM
Best Podcast Production Company Winner: NPR Runner up: Wondery
Category Awards True Crime Winner: Small Town Murder Runner up: Swindled
Sports Winner: ESPNs 30 for 30 Podcast Runner up: The Fantasy Footballers
News Winner: Pod Save America Runner up: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
History Winner: Stuff You Missed in History Class Runner up: Hardcore History
Interview Style Winner: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard Runner up: Conversations with People Who Hate Me
Comedy Winner: Last Podcast on the Left Runner up: My Dad Wrote a Porno
Kids & Family Winner: Varmints Runner up: Story Pirates
Society & Culture Winner: Ear Hustle Runner up: The Hilarious World of Depression
Entertainment Winner: The Hamilcast Runner up: Pop Culture Leftovers
Technology & Science Winner: Radiolab Runner up: Darknet Diaries
Audio Drama Winner: Girl in Space Runner up: The Bright Sessions
Business Winner: Freakonomics Runner up: How I Built This