Podcast listeners selected Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang as the Podcast of the Year at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards Live on Monday. The show, which brought together creators and leaders from across the podcasting industry in Austin, was capped with the listener-voted category that honored the show that has been focused on pop culture since its debut nine years ago.
“Truly this is not something that we expected,” said Rogers. “That’s really why we do it, to keep you guys laughing and hopefully inform you with our half-informed takes. So thank you for tolerating us, putting up with us, and even enjoying us on a good day.”
The honor for Best Overall Host went to Mel Robbins from The Mel Robbins Podcast, who accepted her award via video. “I am so excited about podcasting,” the author said. “I think it’s so cool that as a 56-year-old woman I can not only be dominating the charts, but I can be here above my garage in southern Vermont or down in our studios in Boston — neither of which are big media outposts — and I can still reach a global audience and make an impact.”
Robbins also said that she believes podcasts have a role to play at a time when people are seeking out positive content. “That’s a huge opportunity for all of us to be a lighthouse when the world feels dark,” she said. Robbins said her show had 47.9 million downloads during February. “It tells you that podcast fans and listeners need you,” she told the industry.
The show at times embraced the “keep Austin weird” mantra, such as when actor Joe Manganiello and his dog Bubbles presented the Best Overall Ensemble award to My Favorite Murder 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.”
Actor and podcaster Kyle MacLachlan, who also embraced “weird” persona, brought ribs to the stage — and shared some with audience members — as he presented the Audio Pioneer Award to Dan Taberski. In his acceptable speech, Taberski recalled his start in documentary filmmaking — including a SXSW award he won eight years ago. “Encouragement is a really big deal. And when you tell someone that is trying to make creative things to keep going, it might not seem like a big thing, but I ran on those fumes for years,” he said.
Ed Helms, host of the SNAFU podcast, presented the Social Impact Award to Sarah Spain, host of the Good Game women’s daily sports podcast. She thanked iHeartMedia 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.
The 2025 Innovator Award honored Daniel Alarcón, a Peruvian-American journalist and novelist, for his work on The Good Whale, which was also nominated for Podcast of the Year. Alarcón also won for Best Spanish Language Podcast for Radio Ambulante, his third time winning the category. “We have people who bring us stories from all over Latin America and it really means a lot to be working with them every day,” said Alarcón, who said his work with podcasts has made him feel less Peruvian and more Latin American.
The awards show handed out trophies to winners across 29 different categories. Among the other winners were Betrayal, which won for Best Crime Podcast. 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. The prize for Best Technology Podcast was presented to Hard Fork, whose hosts expressed their love for technology with hesitation for where it’s going.
Here is the full list of 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards winners:
Podcast of the Year:
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Best Overall Host:
Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast)
Best Overall Ensemble:
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
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:
Hard Fork
Best Ad Read:
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
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 — UK
Social Impact Award: Sarah Spain
Audible Audio Pioneer Award: Dan Taberski
Innovator Award: Daniel Alarcón
“It’s been an amazing year in podcasting. It’s the year your parents, our parents, all parents pretty much learned what a podcast is,” said Jack O’Brien, co-host of The Daily Zeitgeist podcast, who hosted the show with show partner Miles Gray. “But one thing is clear. Podcasters are the single most influential geopolitical force on Earth — according to MSNBC,” he joked.
The ceremony was broadcast on select iHeartMedia radio stations across the country on Monday night, along with audio and video versions that streamed online. The AXS TV streaming network will also air the awards show tonight (March 11) at 8pm ET.
The event is also now available on demand on YouTube. Watch it HERE.