“Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang” takes home coveted Podcast of the Year Award

Special guest presenters included Annaleigh Ashford and Melissa Moore, Cam Jordan, Chelsea Handler, Dennis Quaid, Ed Helms, Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, Joe Manganiello, Kyle MacLachlan, Sarah Spain, Sophia Bush and more

Ceremony to air on AXS TV Today, March 11 at 8 p.m. ET

NEW YORK AND AUSTIN – March 11, 2025 – Last night, the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards Live at SXSW brought together the most influential names in podcasting to honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2024, celebrating the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the podcasting industry live and in-person in Austin, Texas at ACL Live at The Moody Theater.

The night featured a variety of appearances by award nominees, celebrity presenters and special guests including winners Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff from “My Favorite Murder”; presenters Annaleigh Ashford and Melissa G. Moore, Cam Jordan, Chelsea Handler, Dennis Quaid, Ed Helms, Joe Manganiello, Kyle MacLachlan, Social Impact Award winner Sarah Spain and Sophia Bush.

The 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards event highlights include:

• Hosts Jack O’Brien and Miles Gray of “The Daily Zeitgeist” podcast opened the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards with their signature humor, setting the tone for the evening.
• Joe Manganiello and his dog Bubbles presented the first iHeartPodcast Award of the night Best Overall Ensemble to “My Favorite Murder” and hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, who expressed their gratitude for being part of the podcast industry and the other nominees, saying, “it feels really cool to be in a club with you guys.”
• Melissa G. Moore, host of the “Happy Face” true crime podcast, and actress Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Melissa in the upcoming television adaptation on Paramount+, presented the Best Crime Podcast to “Betrayal.” Host Andrea Gunning accepted the award and recounted how the brave women who share their stories on the show are the ones to be admired.
• “SNAFU” host Ed Helms presented the Social Impact Award to Sarah Spain, host of the “Good Game” podcast and Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist, who thanked iHeart for trusting her “veteran voice” for the iHeart Women’s Sports Network and encouraged people to continue jumping on the women’s sports bandwagon without any shame for being late. “Join us, because even though we’ve been here for a long time, I’m pretty sure we’re just getting started,” she said.
• Ed Helms then returned to present the award for Best Overall Host to Mel Robbins from “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” who accepted her award via video and highlighted the versatility of podcasting and how at a time “where the world feels overwhelming and kinda dark, I think it’s cool that people are turning to positive programming.”
• Actors and “Not Today, Pal” hosts Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Robert Iler presented the Best Science Podcast to “Ologies with Alie Ward,” who started her speech by giving facts about racoons and possums “in case you’re on Hinge and need something to say,” before thanking the podcasting industry for letting her be exactly herself. “Everything is interesting if you give it enough context, everything is funny if you’re honest enough, and be nice to scientists – it’s a bad time,” she said at the end of her speech.
• Early winners Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark from “My Favorite Murder” returned to present Best Business and Finance to “Planet Money.”
• Actor and podcaster Kyle MacLachlan, who will be launching the new iHeartPodcast “What Are We Even Doing” on the Elvis Duran Podcast Network, presented the Audible Audio Pioneer Award to Dan Taberski, who reminisced on the full-circle moment of winning an award at SXSW early in his career and how that encouragement helped him have confidence to keep going.
• Social Impact Icon honoree Sarah Spain and eight-time Pro Bowler and host of “Off the Edge” Cam Jordan highlighted the versatility of international podcasting while presenting the Best International Podcast award to “The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett” from the United Kingdom.
• Host Miles Gray raised a glass of Wild Turkey bourbon to toast several winners of the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards, including Best Pop Culture Podcast “The World's First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster” and Best Ad Read “Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.”
• Actress and host of “Drama Queens” and “Work in Progress” Sophia Bush presented Best Travel Podcast to “JUMP with Traveling Jackie,” who reminisced on starting her podcast 11 years earlier and talked about what it takes to have an independent podcast.
• “Broken Record” host Justin Richmond and “Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF” host Vivian Tu presented Best Technology Podcast Presented by Lenovo® to “Hard Fork,” who expressed their love for technology with hesitation for where it’s going.
• “Happy Face” actor Dennis Quaid presented the Innovator Icon Award – and the Best Spanish Language Podcast Award -- to Daniel Alarcón, who expressed his thanks on behalf of the entire “Radio Ambulante” team.
• Filmmaker Payne Lindsey and “Wrongful Conviction” host Lauren Bright Pacheco presented Best News to “Pivot” with journalist Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway, which was accepted by a member of their team.
• “Dear Chelsea” host Chelsea Handler presented Podcast of the Year to “Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang,” who thanked their fans for voting, with Matt Rogers saying, “That’s really why we do it, to keep you guys laughing and hopefully inform you with our half-informed takes.”

The ceremony was also broadcast on select iHeartMedia Radio stations across the country, audio streamed exclusively via the iHeartPodcast Channel on the iHeartRadio app and video streamed on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook channel. The event is now available on demand and will air on AXS TV on Today, March 11 at 8 p.m. ET.

The full list of 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards winners are:

Social Impact Award: Sarah Spain

Audible Audio Pioneer Award: Dan Taberski

Innovator Award: Daniel Alarcón

Podcast of the Year:

• Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Best Business & Finance Podcast:

• Planet Money

Best Comedy Podcast:

• Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade

Best Crime Podcast:

• Betrayal

Best Pop Culture Podcast:

• The World's First Podcast with Erin & Sara Foster

Best Food Podcast:

• Be My Guest with Ina Garten

Best Wellness & Fitness Podcast:

• Huberman Lab

Best History Podcast:

• You're Wrong About

Best Kids & Family Podcast:

• Story Pirates

Best Music Podcast:

• Song Exploder

Best News Podcast:

• Pivot

Best Fiction Podcast:

• Hello From The Magic Tavern

Best Sports Podcast:

• New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

Best Science Podcast:

• Ologies with Alie Ward

Best Technology Podcast presented by Lenovo®:

• Hard Fork

Best Ad Read:

• Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend

Best Overall Host:

• Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast)

Best Overall Ensemble:

• My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

Best Political Podcast:

• The Megyn Kelly Show

Best TV & Film Podcast:

• How Did This Get Made?

Best Spanish Language Podcast:

• Radio Ambulante

Best Advice/Inspirational Podcast:

• Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Best Beauty & Fashion Podcast:

• Naked Beauty

Best Travel Podcast:

• JUMP with Traveling Jackie

Best Green Podcast:

• TED Climate

Best Spirituality & Religion Podcast:

• Oprah's Super Soul

Best Branded Podcast:

• You Can't Make This Up (Netflix)

Best Emerging Podcast:

• Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce

Best International Podcast:

• The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett - United Kingdom

Proud partners of this year’s iHeartPodcast Awards include Audible, Lenovo® and Wild Turkey® Bourbon.

Executive producers for the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman, Conal Byrne and Bart Peters for iHeartMedia. The 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards is part of iHeartMedia’s roster of nationally recognized events including the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the iHeartRadio Music Festival, the nationwide iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Concert Tour, iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, iHeartCountry Festival and iHeartRadio ALTer Ego.

For more information on the iHeartPodcast Awards, visit the website here.