The Wonder of Stevie, a podcast about music legend Stevie Wonder, won best entertainment podcast at the fifth annual Awards for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies). The awards were presented on Monday (March 31) at McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, with comedian Tig Notaro serving as host. The awards are voted on by members of The Podcast Academy.
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Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang won best comedy podcast. Bowen Yang has received four Primetime Emmy nominations for his work on Saturday Night Live.
Hysterical, which explores a mass psychogenic illness that occurred in 2011 to some cheerleaders in Le Roy, N.Y., won podcast of the year and best reporting (for Dan Taberski).
Ira Glass was honored with the Governors Award, which recognizes a podcast or individual for the influence they’ve had on the industry; and Sam Sanders received the Impact Award, which recognizes an individual or podcast that has made a significant, positive effect on its listeners.
Ronan Farrow, Jon Cryer, Matt Rogers, and Meena Harris were among presenters and guests at the event.
Here are the nominees for The 2025 Ambies in categories most relevant to the music and entertainment industry, with winners marked.
Podcast of the year
99% Invisible: Not Built for This
Beyond All Repair
Cement City
Dragon Age: Vows & Vengeance
Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Faraway
Fire Escape
Hot White Heist 2
WINNER: Hysterical, Wondery, Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios
Throughline
Best entertainment podcast
Infamous
Lemme Say This
Rattled & Shook
Scamfluencers
Split Screen: Kid Nation
The Road to Joni
WINNER: The Wonder of Stevie, Audible, Higher Ground, and Pineapple Street Studios
Best podcast host or hosts
Diallo Riddle and Blake ‘LUXXURY’ Robin – One Song
Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle – We Can Do Hard Things
Jon Stewart – The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
Rainn Wilson – Radio Rental
WINNER: Ronald Young Jr. – Weight for It, ohitsBigRon studios LLC
Sam Sanders – The Sam Sanders Show
Wesley Morris – The Wonder of Stevie
Best original score and music supervision
WINNER: Dan Leone – Ripple, Western Sound, APM Studios
Daniel Lloyd-Evans, Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong – Extrasensory
Deron Johnson – Dungeon Masters
Jonathan Pfarr, Carson Graham and Bobby Mota – Celebrity Pets
Peter Nashel, Ross Hopman, Gio Lobato, Dana Hom, Brad Fischer, Jordan Lieb, Lucas Villemur and Lindsay Dievert – Hammerless: A True Crime Podcast in a Fantasy World
Skyler Gerdeman, Martin Lynabel, Nicholas Alexander, Max O’Brien and Caroline Thornham – Kill List
Stro Elliot and Eric Gersen – Historical Records
Best production and sound design
Casandra Tinajero and Andrés Bahena – Nocturno: Tales From the Shadows
Jeremy S. Bloom – Hot White Heist 2
Kenny Kusiak and George Drabing Hicks – The Confessions of Anthony Raimondi
WINNER: Michelle Macklem – Girl v. Horse, ESPN Podcasts, 30 for 30 Podcasts
Realm – Narcosis
Sagafilm and Skybound Entertainment – Impact Winter Season 3
Ted Bonnitt – Hindsight: The Day Before
Best society and culture podcast
Hysterical
In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett
WINNER: Inheriting, LAist Studios
Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong’o
My Divo
Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)
Weight For It
Best podcast for kids
Culture Kids
Grimm, Grimmer, Grimmest
Historical Records
Mysteries About True Histories
PJ Library Presents: Beyond the Bookcase
Skylar & Bones – Funny Stories for Kids!
WINNER: Wow in the World Wondery, Tinkercast
Best Spanish language narrative podcast – fiction or nonfiction
¡No Vengan!
Greal: El Secreto de las Ocho Llaves
Hechos Reales
WINNER: HUMO: Murder and Silence in El Salvador, Sonoro
No quieren que sepas
Pantallas & Mentiras [Screens & Lies]
Pétrea
Best sports podcast
30 for 30 Podcasts
WINNER: Broomgate: A Curling Scandal, Kelly&Kelly, CBC Podcasts, USG Audio, and Pacific Electric
Good Game with Sarah Spain
Pablo Torre Finds Out
Shadowball: The Rise of the Black Athlete
The Raven
The Rich Eisen Show
Best comedy podcast
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
Hot White Heist 2
WINNER: Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, iHeartPodcasts, Big Money Player
Scam Goddess
SmartLess
We’re Here to Help
Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates
Best indie podcast
Sightings
The Insurgence: Sheriffs
The Man Who Calculated Death
The Nightingale of Iran
The People’s Recorder
The TMI Project Story Hour
WINNER: What Happened in Skinner, Mazama Entertainment
Best indie podcast host or hosts
WINNER: Dallas Taylor – Twenty Thousand Hertz, Defacto Sound
Deja Perkins and Purbita Saha – Bring Birds Back
Jill Jonassen – The Cost of Extremism
Kate McCoy and Kevin Corbett – Horrorwood: True Crime in Tinseltown
Lisa Phillips – From Now On
Lisa Woolfork – STITCH PLEASE
Susan Lambert Hatem and Sharon Johnson – 80s TV Ladies
Best interview podcast
American Masters: Creative Spark
Apple News in Conversation
Overlooked: Women’s Health Can’t Wait
WINNER: Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim, Headgum
The Assignment with Audie Cornish
The Integrated Schools Podcast
Tomorrow’s Cure
Best performance in audio fiction
Bowen Yang, Cynthia Nixon, Shannon Woodward, Jane Lynch, Jesse James Keitel, Sarah Steele, Ian McKellen, Raul Esparza, Sara Ramírez, Joel Kim Booster, Bianca Del Rio, Cheyenne Jackson, Abbi Jacobson, Stephanie Beatriz, Katya Zamolodchikova, Trixie Mattel, Yvie Oddly, Jane Krakowski, Sandra Oh, and Tony Kushner – Hot White Heist 2
WINNER: Caitlin Stasey, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, David Yow, Caroline Morahan, Guinevere Turner, Elizabeth Halpern, Travis Harmon, Brad Griffith, James Bacon, Jameson Cush, Jonathan Shockley, Ayla Glass and Chris Goodwin – The Skies Are Watching, Goldhawk Productions
Fredi Bernstein, Cody Wilkins and Dana Domenick – The Box
Mikki Hernandez, Toby Meuli, Geri-Nikol Love, Rachel Kylian – Ominous Thrill
Ruth Righi – Winnie Taylor’s 4th & Inches
Sanaa Lathan – The Justice
Tisha Campbell – Snoriezzz
