Listen up! The Podcast Academy announced the nominees for its third annual Awards for Excellence in Audio — a.k.a. The Ambies — comprising 185 nominees across 26 categories.
The 2023 Ambies will take place March 7, hosted by producer, writer, comedian, actor and podcaster Larry Wilmore. The ceremony will be streamed live from 6-7:30 p.m. PT on the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch from the International Theater at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Leading the 2023 nominations with a total of three nominations each were: “Bone Valley” (Lava for Good); “Direct Deposit” (Audible); “Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis” (Audible); “Last Known Position” (QCode); “Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley” (ABC News); and “Moriarty” (Audible). First-time Ambies nominees include CNN’s Anderson Cooper (“All There Is With Anderson Cooper”), Cecily Strong and Eric Austin (“Story Pirates”), Cole Sprouse and Sarah Yarkin (“Borrasca” Season 2), JB Smoove (“Funny My Way”) and Rory Culkin (“Outliers”).
The Ambies (ambies), per the Podcast Academy, “celebrate excellence in podcasting and elevate awareness and status of podcasts as a unique and personal medium for entertainment, information, storytelling and expression.” Organization members are eligible to vote for this year’s winners if they have submitted applications by Feb. 1 (more info at this link).
The Ambies 2023: Full List of Nominees
Podcast of the Year
- Chameleon: Wild Boys
- Design Matters With Debbie Millman
- Direct Deposit
- Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
- Gay Pride & Prejudice
- Moriarty
- Pink Card
- Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley
- The Outlaw Ocean Podcast
- The Prince
Best Business Podcast
- An Arm and a Leg
- Business Wars
- Lead Balloon – Public Relations, Marketing and Strategic Communications Stories
- The Heist Season 2: The Wealth Vortex
- The New Way We Work, featuring 4-part Ambition Diaries miniseries
- What’s Your Problem? With Jacob Goldstein
- Work Check
Best Comedy Podcast
- Funny Cuz It’s True
- I Love a Lifetime Movie
- Scam Goddess
- Summer In Argyle
- The Fckry With Leslie Jones and Lenny Marcus
- Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
- Why Won’t You Date Me? With Nicole Byer
Best DIY Podcast
- Allyship Is a Verb
- Poetry for All
- Proud Stutter
- Queer News
- Stitch Please
- Teddy Goes to the USSR
- They Knew Which Way to Run
Best documentary Podcast
- Bone Valley
- Collapse: Disaster in Surfside
- Finding Tamika
- I Will Not Grow Old Here
- Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary
- The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment
- We Were Three
Best Entertainment Podcast
- Even the Rich
- MUBI Podcast
- Object of Sound
- Pop Paranormal
- Queue Points
- Reality With The King
- Scamfluencers
Best Fiction Podcast
- Birds of Empire
- Bone, Marry, Bury
- Jane Anonymous
- Last Known Position
- Moriarty
- Newts!
- The Big Lie
Best History Podcast
- Against the Odds
- Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
- History Daily
- One Year: 1986
- Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley
- Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade
- Snafu With Ed Helms
Best Indie Podcast
- Blind Landing
- Ghosthoney’s Dream Machine
- Imaginary Worlds
- In Those Genes
- Inner West Icons
- SOL Affirmations With Karega & Felicia
- The Nocturnists
Best Interview Podcast
- 9 to 5ish With theSkimm
- Design Matters With Debbie Millman
- Direct Deposit
- Rethinking
- The Assignment With Audie Cornish
- The Lede
- Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast
Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast
- Climate of Change
- In Machines We Trust
- IRL: online Life Is Real Life
- TED Radio Hour
- Threshold
- Unexplainable
- Why It Matters
Best News Podcast
- Collapse: Disaster in Surfside
- Foundering: The Amazon Story
- Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff
- Post Reports
- Ukrainecast
- Vice News Reports
- What Next
Best Original Score and Music Supervision
- Culpable Podcast – Dirt Poor Robins, Dayton Cole
- Disgraceland – Jake Brennan, Matt Beaudoin, Ryan Spraker, Bryce Kanzer
- Fed Up – Scott Velasquez
- Gay Pride & Prejudice – Chris Ryan, Jonathon Roberts, Liz Fulton
- Kabul Falling – Arson Fahim
- Last Known Position – Deron Johnson, David Levita
- Spark & Fire – Ryan Holladay, Hil Jaeger
Best Performance in Audio Fiction
- #Matter – Amin Joseph
- Borrasca (Season 2) – Cole Sprouse, Sarah Yarkin
- Dark Sanctum – Bethany Joy Lenz, Clive Standen, Michael O’Neill
- Moriarty – Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Phil LaMarr, Lindsay Whisler
- Outliers – Rory Culkin
- The Madness of Chartrulean – Aud Andrews
- Story Pirates – Cecily Strong, Eric Austin
Best Personal Growth / Spirituality Podcast
- A Slight Change of Plans
- Allyship Is a Verb
- Back From Broken
- How God Works
- How to Be a Better Human
- In the Arena With Leah Smart
- The Mel Robbins Podcast
Best Podcast for Kids
- A Kids Book about: The Podcast
- Forever Ago
- Million Bazillion
- Pinkalicious & Peterrific
- Smash Boom Best
- Tai Asks Why
- The Arthur Podcast
Best Podcast Host/Hosts
- Anderson Cooper – All There Is With Anderson Cooper
- Casey Wilson – Fed Up
- Chad Sanders – Direct Deposit
- Gilbert King, Kelsey Decker – Bone Valley
- Heather McGhee – The Sum of Us
- JB Smoove – Funny My Way
- Leah Wright Rigueur – Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley
Best Politics or Opinion Podcast
- Crossing the Line
- It’s Political With Althia Raj
- Post Reports
- Strict Scrutiny
- Teaching Texas
- The Prince
- The State of: Women
Best Production and Sound Design
- Batman: The Audio Adventures – Chris Gibney, Julie Larson
- Birds of Empire – Randy Torres, Ben Milchev, Ryan Walsh, David Tatasciore, Gabe Burch
- Cupid – Randy Torres, Ben Milchev, Ryan Walsh, David Tatasciore, Sarah Ma
- Maejor Frequency – Richard Riegel
- Marvel’s Wastelanders: Doom – Mark Henry Phillips
- The Big Burn – E. Scott Kelly
- Twenty Thousand Hertz – Jai Berger
Best Reporting
- Bone Valley – Gilbert King, Kelsey Decker
- Chameleon: Scam Likely – Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
- Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan – Habiba Nosheen
- Taking on Putin – John Sweeney
- The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment – Patrick Abboud
- The Outlaw Ocean Podcast – Ian Urbina
- Who Killed Daphne? – Stephen Grey
Best scriptwriting, Fiction
- American Hostage – C.D. Carpenter
- I Hear Fear – Jenny Deiker Restivo, Nathalie Chicha
- Impact Winter – Travis Beacham
- Last Known Position – Luke Passmore
- Power Trip – Mary Hamilton, Cara Horner
- The End Up – Will Weggel, Danny Luber
- Story Pirates – Minhdzuy Khorami, Mike Cabellon, Meghan O’Neill, Peter McNerney, Lee Overtree, Rachel Wenitsky, Ned Riseley
Best scriptwriting, Nonfiction
- 12 Years That Shook the World – Erin Harper
- Chameleon: Wild Boys – Sam Mullins
- Death of an Artist – Helen Molesworth
- Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez – Erick Galindo, Alejandro Mendoza
- Into America – Trymaine Lee, Aisha Turner, Isabel Angell, Max Jacobs, Josh Sirotiak
- MUBI Podcast – Rico Gagliano
- We Were Three – Nancy Updike
Best Society and Culture Podcast
- Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
- Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez
- In Those Genes
- Into America
- Love Right Now
- The Sum of Us
- Truth Be Told
Best Sports Podcast
- Choosing Sides: F1
- Deep Left Field With Mike Wilner
- Pink Card
- Sports History This Week
- The Lead
- The Longest Game
- Torched
Best True Crime Podcast
- Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan
- Dateline: Missing in America
- Death of an Artist
- Queen of the Con
- The Paddlefish Caviar Heist
- Up and Vanished- The Trial of Ryan Duke
- Wrongful Conviction
Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast
- Are You Sleeping?
- Back From Broken
- Chiquis and Chill
- Come as You Are
- Dear Headspace
- Navigating Narcissism
- Room 5
