The Ambies: the winners for 2025

• The winners of The 2025 Ambies were announced in Chicago - the fifth annual awards for excellence in audio, in a ceremony hosted by Tig Notaro ahead of Podcast Movement Evolutions. Hysterical won Podcast of the Year; Ira Glass was honored with the esteemed Governors Award; and Sam Sanders received the Impact Award. We link to all the winners.

• In a bold move, Magellan AI has announced a rebrand to Podgellan AI. The podcast advertising intelligence platform tells Podnews that the change reflects a deep commitment to the podcast space.

• iOS 18.4 is now available as an update for iPhone and iPad. Among many other improvements, the update offers two new home-screen widgets for Apple Podcasts: a “followed show” widget to directly place the Podnews Daily your favourite show’s latest episodes on your home screen; and a library widget to get to your most used sections, like latest episodes or Stations.

• Submissions are now open for the CrimeCon’s 2025 Clue Awards. The awards, recognising excellence and responsible true crime storytelling, include two podcast categories: “Outstanding Episodic Series” and “Outstanding Docuseries”

• In Spanish, the 100th edition of the AudioGen 3x3 newsletter has been published. The edition features three voices in the global spoken audio industry: Daniel Alarcón (co-founder of Radio Ambulante, USA and Latin America), Lucas Fridman (OLGA, Argentina) and Podnews’s Editor, James Cridland.

• Voices, a voiceover marketplace, has released a report saying that more than half of ad agencies have used an AI voice at some point in the creative process. However, the company suggests that they’re used for initial drafts, not final work.

• In Jul 2023, podcast host Podbean was running deceptive Google ads that looked as if they were the websites of their competitors. Sadly, Podbean is displaying a poor grasp of ethical behaviour again: with ads seen yesterday that are passing off as links to RedCircle, Transistor and Captivate. These ads are against Google ad policy and may be against US law. We have again contacted Podbean; and again, they haven’t responded.

• Further reading: Why are podcast ads so bad? asks Andrew Sanford.

Moves and hires

• Leah Reis-Dennis has been promoted to Head of Podcasts at Audacy. She’s been with the company since 2022.
  • Audacy is reported to be rolling out new podcast advertising tools based on Podcorn.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• How do you create a bingeable podcast? Podcast Discovery suggests you focus on the first sixty seconds; have a decent structure for every episode; and pre-promote the next episode to keep people listening.

• What’s the secret to ranking higher on YouTube? The Podcast Strategy newsletter talks hub videos, clusters, and long games.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Airwave congratulates: Airwave show The Ten News won the Best News Podcast in The Ambies. The show is a bite-sized podcast for kids and their adults that explains what’s going on in the world.

Airwave congratulates: Airwave show abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast won Best DIY Podcast in The Ambies. It guides listeners through immersive audio fantasies, and asks critical questions about American history, culture and community.

Mel Robbins, the host of The Mel Robbins Podcast, is profiled in the Wall Street Journal. The self-help podcast is frequently the #1 podcast in the US.

Unpacking Peanuts begins the final season of the Great Peanuts Re-read. The show has been reading all 17,987 strips of Charles M. Schulz’s masterpiece and taking a deep dive into his characters, story, and cartooning genius. In today’s episode, hosts Jimmy, Michael, Harold and Liz examine the first part of 1995.

Public Relations podcast Stories and Strategies is committing itself to 75% female guests, reflecting the makeup at junior and mid-levels of the PR industry. Season 4 starts today with a new co-host, Farzana Baduel, who joins Doug Downs. The new season will explore PR through a truly global lens - tackling industry challenges, leadership insights, and the evolving media landscape.