In an award ceremony centered around honoring the best that contemporary film and television have to offer, a Best Podcast award may seem a little out of place. But at this year’s Golden Globes, podcasters got their time to shine.
Amy Poehler took home the inaugural award for her podcast, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, besting fellow podcasters Dax Shepard (Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard), Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy), Mel Robbins (The Mel Robbins Podcast), Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes (SmartLess), and NPR co-hosts such as Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin, and more (Up First).
“I have great respect for all the people that I am nominated with,” said Poehler in her acceptance speech. “I am [a] big fan of all of you. Except for NPR: just a bunch of celebs phoning it in, so try harder.”
Besides the SNL alum taking a jab at the star-studded contenders up for Best Podcast (except, well, NPR), the category in itself was one of the weirdest parts of the award show. There was Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser spoofing Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad to welcome the category (“Discourse feels good in a place like this!”), followed by Snoop Dogg getting censored while presenting the award (for those who didn’t quite catch it: “I’m high as a motherfucker right now.”)
Additionally, while more than enough airtime was given to podcast-related shenanigans during the telecast (did we really need to air clips from the podcasts themselves?), this meant the broadcast had to be trimmed down. Most notably, the Best Original Score segment was cut from the telecast, meaning that the winner’s acceptance speech (Ludwig Göransson for Sinners) was not shared live with viewers. Despite being a ceremony that has historically honored film and television production, the Globes certainly made a pivot by honoring podcasts this year, too.
But why introduce a Best Podcast category in the first place, I hear you ask? Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne gave her best answer to this in a statement introducing the award last year. “As the world of entertainment continues to evolve, we are excited to recognize new forms of storytelling,” said Hoehne. “Podcasts have emerged as a profound medium for sharing narratives and building communities across global borders and generations. By celebrating achievements in both audio and visual podcasts, we aim to honor our heritage categories while making room for new voices and formats to be heard.”
