The Ambies

Audio awards

The closest thing podcasting has to a peer-voted industry awards show, run by The Podcast Academy. The 2026 sixth annual ceremony was held at Arlo Williamsburg on February 25 as part of On Air Fest — a permanent move announced this year. Wisecrack won Podcast of the Year; Pablo Torre won Vanguard Podcaster of the Year.

The Ambies are the annual Awards for Excellence in Audio, presented by The Podcast Academy. They function as podcasting's peer-voted industry award, with Academy members nominating and voting across categories spanning fiction, comedy, interview, business, news, society and culture, and more. The 2026 ceremony was the sixth annual event, held at the Arlo Williamsburg in Brooklyn on February 25 as part of On Air Fest — a permanent move announced in 2026 that links the awards to the festival weekend. Wisecrack, a true-crime/comedy series, won Podcast of the Year and three other awards, leading the night with five nominations and four wins. Pablo Torre, host of Pablo Torre Finds Out, won Vanguard Podcaster of the Year. Other winners included Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend (Best Comedy), Death, Sex & Money (Best Interview), and The Indicator from Planet Money (Best Business). Kara Swisher received the Governors Award and the late Reggie Ossé was honored with the Impact Award. The Ambies are useful if you're a podcaster looking for credible third-party recognition for awards bids, marketing assets, and trade press visibility. Be aware: entry fees are per-category, the Academy is heavily skewed toward US-based industry members, and international shows may be underrepresented unless they hire publicists.