‘Wisecrack’, Pablo Torre wins the Top Ambies Podcast Awards

“Wisecrack,” an innovative true-crime podcast centered around comedian Edd Hedges, won the top prize of podcast of the year at the sixth annual The Ambies awards ceremony honoring excellence in audio content on Tuesday night in Brooklyn.

The iHeartPodcasts series, hosted by veteran documentary and true crime journalist Jodi Tovay, looks at the bizarre turn of events that engulfed Hedges after he returned to his hometown to perform at a charity event. According to iHeart’s description of “Wisecrack”: “What starts as a heartwarming homecoming quickly turns into a chilling true crime story about a downward spiral and a city rocked by murder.” “Wisecrack” also won additional trophies for nonfiction screenwriting, society and culture podcast and for production and sound design.

ESPN veteran Pablo Torre was named Podcaster of the Year for Meadowlark Media’s “Pablo Torre Finds Out” at the awards presented by The Podcast Academy. “Pablo Torre Finds Out” also received the nod for best sports podcast. The Ambies ceremony, hosted by comedian Wyatt Cenac, was held at the Arlo Williamsburg venue as part of the On the Air festival celebrating audio storytelling.

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Here’s a full list of this year’s The Ambies winners:

Vanguard Podcaster of the Year
Pablo Torre

Podcast of the year
Wisdom
Tenderfoot TV, iHeartPodcasts

Best ad read
Conan O’Brien needs a friend
SiriusXM

Best Brand Podcast
Sesame Street: Cookie Monster Mysteries
Audible Studios, Sesame Workshop

Best business podcast
The Planet Money indicator
NPR

Best Comedy Podcast
Conan O’Brien needs a friend
SiriusXM, Team Coco

Best DIY Podcast
Edited history
Dr. Andre White, Airwave

Best Documentary Podcast
The Con: Kaitlyn’s Baby
CBC, BBC World Service

Best emerging podcast
How is this better?
COURIER Newsroom

Best Entertainment Podcast
Twenty thousand Hertz
Defacto sound

Best Fiction Podcast
Red for revolution
Meta Mana Media

Best history podcast
Our ancestors were messy
Coco Hill Productions

Best indie podcast
Our ancestors were messy
Coco Hill Productions

Best indie podcast host or hosts
Jamie Feldman and Rachel Webster
Debt heads
Captain and the Fox

Best interview podcast
Death, sex and money
Slate

Best knowledge, science or tech podcast
Radio lab
Public Radio New York

Best news and politics
Reveal
Reveal and PRX

Best Original Score and Music Accompaniment
Marcus Bagala and Sam Ewing
DC high volume: Batman
DC Comics, Empire

Best Achievement in Audio Fiction
Maulik Pancholy, Murray Bartlett, Poorna Jagannathan, Karan Soni, Anna Camp, Adam Pally, Margo Martindale, Richard Kind, Conrad Ricamora, Iqbal Theba, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Padma Lakshmi, et al.
Murder at the Patel Motel
Broadway Video, Audible

Best podcast for personal growth/spirituality
Wildcard with Rachel Martin
NPR

Best podcast for kids
Earthly beings
WNYC Studios

Best podcast host or hosts
Rachel Martin
Wildcard with Rachel Martin
NPR

Best Production and Sound Design
Alex Vespestad, Steven Perez and Cooper Skinner
Wisdom
Tenderfoot TV, iHeartPodcasts

Best reporting
Robyn Semien
Ask everything
Placement theory

Best Screenplay, Fiction
Jana Naomi Smith
Red for revolution
Meta Mana Media

Best Screenwriting, Nonfiction
Charles Forbes and Edd Hedges
Wisdom
Tenderfoot TV, iHeartPodcasts

Best society and culture podcast
Wisdom
Tenderfoot TV, iHeartPodcasts

Best narrative podcast in Spanish – fiction or non-fiction
No, I provoke
Sonoro

Best sports podcast
Pablo Torre finds out
Meadowlark Media

Best True Crime Podcast
Sea of ​​lies
Produced by What’s the Story Sounds for CBC

Best use of video in a podcast
Stories unfolded
Sonoro

Best podcast about wellness or relationships
Embodied
WUNC

Podcast Advertiser Innovator Award
Charlie’s place
Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch, Visit Myrtle Beach, Pushkin

(Photo: Pablo Torre and Wyatt Cenac)