‘The Wonder of Stevie’ Wins Best Entertainment Podcast at 2025 Ambies

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.

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