Winners Announced At iHeartPodcast Awards
• Monday night, the 2026 iHeartPodcast Awards Live at SXSW brought together the most influential names in podcasting to honor the most entertaining and innovative podcasts of 2025, celebrating the incredible talent and wide variety of leaders across the podcasting industry live in Austin, Texas at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The show was hosted by comedian Ego Nwodim and streamed live exclusively on VEEPS. The event also streamed on select iHeartMedia radio stations at 11pm local time.
Will Ferrell kicked off the show in full Team USA speed skating gear as he joked to the crowd full of a “few of his peers and many of his admirers” that he almost made the team for the 2026 Winter Olympics. He then introduced host Ego Nwodim, who was also nominated in the Best Emerging category for her podcast Thanks Dad.
The winner of the coveted Podcast Of The Year award was Giggly Squad — comedian Iliza Shlesinger presented the award to Giggly Squad hosts Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo. Hannah joked about how Paige initially said no to their podcast because she “has a face for television.”
In addition to the fan-voted and category awards, iHeartMedia presented Icon Awards to three individuals who have made groundbreaking contributions to the podcasting medium — Jay Shetty, author and host of the acclaimed podcast On Purpose, was presented with the 2026 Social Impact Award; Terry Gross, the legendary host of NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross & Tonya Mosley, was the recipient of the 2026 Audible Audio Pioneer Award, and Hrishikesh Hirway, creator of Song Exploder, was honored with the 2026 Innovator Award.
The lengthy list of the 2026 iHeartPodcast Award winners is posted HERE.
