Jon Stewart, Bowen Yang & More Are Nominated for 2025 Ambies, Presented by the Podcast Academy

The Podcast Academy, the professional podcast organization, has announced the nominees for its fifth annual Awards for Excellence in Audio (The Ambies). Hosted by comedian Tig Notaro, the Ambies will take place on Monday, March 31 at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. The ceremony will be livestreamed by Twitch from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CT.

The ceremony will highlight 199 nominees across 28 categories with winners to be selected by voting members of The Podcast Academy — in addition to a Governors Award. Eligible new members will be able to vote to determine this year’s winners if applications are submitted by Feb. 20. Go to: www.thepodcastacademy.com/join-the-community.

Jon Stewart, Rainn Wilson and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Wesley Morris are among the nominees for best podcast host or hosts. Bowen Yang, Jane Lynch and Tisha Campbell are among the nominees for best performance in audio fiction.

“As we celebrate the fifth Annual Awards for Excellence in Audio, we are excited to announce this year’s nominees, whose work continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and innovation in the audio space,” Christy Mirabal, chairperson of The Podcast Academy, said in a statement. “This milestone year for the Podcast Academy is a reflection of the incredible growth and creativity within the podcasting community.”

“I’m so excited to host The Podcast Academy’s fifth Annual Awards for Excellence in Audio,” exclaimed Notaro. “It’s like being at the Oscars, only it’s celebrating those of us who are good at talking into a microphone while wearing sweatpants in our closets with pillows on our windows. Take that Meryl. And Meryl, while I have your attention, would you be a guest on my podcast?”

Here are the nominees for The 2025 Ambies in categories most relevant to the music and entertainment industry.

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

Hysterical

Throughline

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

Ronald Young Jr. – Weight for It

Sam Sanders – The Sam Sanders Show

Wesley Morris – The Wonder of Stevie

Best original score and music supervision

Dan Leone – Ripple

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

Michelle Macklem – Girl v. Horse

Realm – Narcosis

Sagafilm and Skybound Entertainment – Impact Winter Season 3

Ted Bonnitt – Hindsight: The Day Before

Best entertainment podcast

Infamous

Lemme Say This

Rattled & Shook

Scamfluencers

Split Screen: Kid Nation

The Road to Joni

The Wonder of Stevie

Best society and culture podcast

Hysterical

In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

Inheriting

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!

Wow in the World

Best Spanish language narrative podcast

¡No Vengan!

Greal: El Secreto de las Ocho Llaves

Hechos Reales

HUMO: Murder and Silence in El Salvador

No quieren que sepas

Pantallas & Mentiras [Screens & Lies]

Pétrea

Best sports podcast

30 for 30 Podcasts

Broomgate

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

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

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

What Happened in Skinner

Best indie podcast host or hosts

Dallas Taylor – Twenty Thousand Hertz

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

Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim

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

Caitlin Stasey, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, David Yow, Caroline Morahan, Guinevere Turner, Elizabeth Halpern, Travis Harmon, Brad Griffith, James Bacon, Jameson Cush, Jonathan Shockley and Ayla Glass – The Skies Are Watching

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