Discover the 2023 International Women's Podcast Award Winners
Assembled by: Devon DiComo
This year marked the third annual International Women’s Podcast Awards, and what a great celebration of feats in podcasting it was!
The International Women’s Podcast Awards is a celebration of the work of women and diverse genders in audio and podcasting. The IWPAs were founded by Naomi Mellor and are now presented by her company, Everybody Media. Their goal is to bring more attention to diverse podcasts and create more equity in the podcast space — and they highlight so many podcast creators, from producers to editors to podcast hosts to writers.
There are so many great shows out there, and with opportunities like the International Women’s Podcast Awards, we can learn about a ton more incredible shows that are worth a listen. EarBuds is the place for podcast recommendations, so we recommend you check out all these awesome shows…
Antarctica Day: A celebration of the only continent dedicated to peace and science
Click on the images to listen
Moment of Behind-the-Scenes Brilliance
Winner: Sarah Stolarz — Spygate
Spygate covers the controversial 2007 Formula 1 season. F1 is a highly-technical sport, dominated by aerodynamics engineers – so it can get very dry. But thanks to the producer Sarah Stolarz, the Spygate saga is incredibly dramatic, full of twists and turns. Sarah was hugely successful in bringing this story to life.
Runner Up: Jaime Albright — Freeway Phantom
Moment of Raw Emotion
Winner: Linda Marigliano & Amelia Chappelow — Linda Marigliano's Tough Love
Guided by their passion for innovative storytelling and music, Linda Marigliano and Ameli have created a show that highlights tough love lessons on all the shit that counts. Recorded in the Tough Love style of multiple microphones, locations, and meticulous editing, they’ve created a unique audio project that entertains, inspires and invites women to reflect on their own lived experiences. It’s a real-life audio journal as Linda navigates her toughest love lessons during the most challenging period of her life; from career and identity, fertility and egg freezing, to long distance relationships and her loyalty to her Italian Chinese Malaysian family.
Runners Up: Laurel Morales — 2 Lives, Tina Nole & Andrea Dunlop — Nobody Should Believe Me
Moment of Comedy Gold
Winner: Karley Sciortino, Emilia Brock & Edeliz Perez — Sanctum Unmasked
Sanctum Unmasked explores the story of SNCTM – the secretive Hollywood club that became known as the “most elite sex party in the world” – and its founder, Damon Lawner. With women at the helm, Sanctum Unmasked avoids the kink salaciousness typical to SNCTM coverage. Instead, the 8-part series is a nuanced and comedic journalistic inquiry into money, power and sex, amid the glitz and glamor of L.A. At its core, the show asks: what happens when you shed societal expectations and just unapologetically pursue sexual freedom?
Runner Up: Katie McNamara — Single Sounds
Moment of Compelling Storytelling
Winner: Josie Duffy Rice, Taylor Vaughn Lasley, Sherri Scott, Florence Barrau Adams, Gabbie Watts — Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children
In 1968, five Black girls dressed in oversized military fatigues were arrested in Montgomery after escaping from the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children in Mount Meigs, Alabama, where they endured appalling abuse. UNREFORMED delves into the school's dark history and its impact on thousands of Black children. Despite the initial six-month projection, the podcast ultimately took about a year and a half to produce due to the extensive interviews, deep archival research, and the meticulous organization of a substantial audio archive.
Runner Up: Cathy Edwards & Caroline Steel — In Search of Stardust
Moment of Dramatic Tension
Winner: Sophia Yan, Venetia Rainey, Joleen Goffin, Louisa Wells — How to become a dictator
How to Become a Dictator is a four-episode limited series that looks at the rise of Xi Jinping and how he has shaped China. But it’s also the story of our award-winning China Correspondent Sophia Yan’s attempt to get back home and report what should be a simple story - or so we thought.
Runner Up: Alice Levine — British Scandal
Moment of Entrepreneurial Inspiration
Winner: The Mayda Creative Co. and Wieden + Kennedy NY — The Black Kitchen Series: Innovators
The Black Kitchen Series: Innovators brings you all over the country as it attempts to find the chefs, farmers, healers, artists, organizers, historians, writers, and other brilliant Black innovators changing the face of food as we know it. This podcast was started to shed light on the Black talent innovating in the culinary world and covers topics like Black veganism, farming as a tool for liberation, the planet-saving powers of an underrated West African grain, and so much more. Through amplifying the stories and voices of numerous exceptional Black individuals, the podcast serves to broaden the reach of their remarkable culinary contributions and narratives within their communities.
Runner Up: Beata Nazem Kelley and Bita Arabian — Modern Persian Food
Moment of Insight From a Role Model
Winner: Leigh Fondakowski — Feminist Files
This is the story of how Title IX came to pass and how the women behind the scenes in Washington, D.C. created the academic sex revolution. The Feminist Files is a series that digs down into the nitty-gritty of change and mobilization: how it actually happened, how women organized and how the opposition organized against them. The blood, sweat, and tears of that movement. The revolution which led in 1972 to the passage of Title IX: 37 words that changed the world.
Runners Up: Amy Martin — Threshold, Genevieve Hassan — Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did
Moment of Podcasting Panache in a Language Other Than English
Winner: Cami Scher — Costa Nostra
Costa Nostra reveals the captivating tale of the mafia in Southern Spain, showcasing the alluring yet violent underbelly of one of the world's most glamorous destinations. Follow journalist Antonio Pampliega as he delves into the dark secrets of the Costa del Sol, a place embroiled in a fierce conflict between law enforcement and over 199 criminal groups from 59 nationalities. Uncover the lesser-known side of this tourist paradise, often referred to as the "mafia's co-working space" or the "United Nations of organized crime," offering an immersive exploration of its intriguing and perilous dynamics over the course of ten gripping episodes.
Runners Up: Adelie Pojzman-Pontay & Iris Ouedraogo — Reparations
Moment of Touching Honesty
Winner: Kwesia aka City Girl In Nature; and Peanut & Crumb — Get Birding
Helping everyone, anywhere, discover more about the birds on our doorsteps. Kwesia and the Get Birding team believe that nature should be for everyone, and that it is essential for wildlife broadcasting to become more diverse.
Runner Up: Natasha Miller — Bitter/Sweet
Moment of Visionary Leadership
Winner: Tracy Kaplan — The Ten News
The Ten News podcast is a bite-sized podcast for kids and their adults that explains what’s going on in the world. Tracy’s original goal in creating the show was to give kids a place where they could learn more about the world around them in an age appropriate way, and wouldn't talk down to them. Each episode explores topics that kids care about most including events, sports, science, gaming, pop culture, entertainment, and more!
Runner Up: Laura Rosbrow-Telem — The Negotiators
Award For Changing The World One Moment At A Time
Winner: Eva Tenuto — The TMI Project Story Hour
With social justice movement building as the main focus, The TMI Project Story Hour features stories from more than a decade of live performances, profiling the brave souls who stepped on stage and shared the stories they were most afraid to tell. This podcast takes a deeper dive and shares the stories behind the secrets, and what happened next. Each season is paired with a listening and discussion guide that leads organizations, groups, and businesses through our true stories and explores why they're a launchpad for brave communication, meaningful discussion, and impactful action.
Runner Up: Bairbre Flood — Wander
Congratulations to all the International Women’s Podcast Awards winners! It’s so cool to see so many podcasts recognized from all over the world, with shows created by large companies and independently made podcasts acknowledged too.
The IWPAs make it known that anyone can create an incredible moment in podcasting, and that people of all experience levels and backgrounds can be recognized. You can learn more information about the International Women’s Podcast Awards by going to the Everybody Media website here. Happy listening!