A slew of celebs and influential podcasters will join the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards to celebrate the best creators, organizations and shows of the year.
The kudocast, to be livestreamed and broadcast Jan. 21, will feature special guest appearances from Will Ferrell, Aaron Mahnke, Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Baratunde Thurston, Blake Anderson, Bowen Yang & Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas, Charlamagne Tha God, Dan Patrick, Gwen Stefani, Hillary Clinton, Holly Frey, Jill Scott, Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, Kyle Newacheck, Laverne Cox, Nikki Glaser, Obamas Other Daughters (Maame-Yaa Aforo, Ashley Holston, Yazmin Monet Watkins and Shakira Ja’nai Paye), Questlove, Roy Wood Jr., and Tenderfoot TV (Donald Albright and Payne Lindsey).
The awards event will livestream on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and Facebook pages on Thursday, Jan. 21, starting at 9 p.m. ET (available for 24 hours) and will broadcast across iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide and on the iHeartRadio App at 9 p.m. local time.
The virtual ceremony will present Amena Brown, spoken-word poet, performer and host of “HER with Amena Brown,” with the all-new Seneca Women Podcast Award, which honors a woman who is using her voice to amplify the voices of other women. The award will be presented by Gwen Stefani along with Seneca Women’s Kim Azzarelli and P&G chief brand officer Marc Pritchard.
See the full list of the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards nominees here.
This year’s Podcast of the Year nominees are “Bunga Bunga,” “Dolly Parton’s America,” “Nice White Parents,” “Office Ladies,” “Reply All,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “The Breakfast Club,” “The Daily,” “The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos” and “Wind of Change.” As in previous years, fans decided the winner of the Podcast of the Year by voting on Twitter through Dec. 31, 2020.
In addition, the 2021 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards will present three Icon Awards to pay tribute to the creators, organizations and podcasts that have made groundbreaking contributions to podcasting’s expanding role in today’s popular culture. Baratunde Thurston will be honored with the 2021 Social Impact Award, Serial Productions’ Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder will receive the 2021 Audible Audio Pioneer Award and QCODE will be honored with the 2021 Innovator Award.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, the third annual event, will be recorded from multiple locations.
Select category winners will be announced during the virtual show, including the winner of the Next Great Podcast Award, a months-long competition from iHeartRadio in partnership with Tongal, which will be announced by Dan Patrick.
Executive producers for the iHeartRadio Podcast Awards are John Sykes, Tom Poleman and Conal Byrne for iHeartMedia and Deviants Media Studio founder Ivan Dudynsky and Buzz Chatman.
More information on the show is available at iHeartPodcastAwards.
