‘Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas’ Wins Podcast of the Year at The Ambies

“Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas” took the honor for Podcast of the Year on Tuesday night at the fourth annual The Ambies awards recognizing excellence in audio.

The awards were handed out in 27 categories at a ceremony held Tuesday night at downtown Los Angeles’ J.W. Marriott LA Live Los Angeles and live streamed on The Podcast Academy’s YouTube channel. The ceremony was hosted by Trixie Mattel, Season 3 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Trixie Mattel.

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“This is amazing,” said Joel Anderson, host of Slate’s most recent season of its “Slow Burn” podcast. “Becoming Clarence Thomas” follows the Supreme Court justice’s life story and his journey from youthful radical to conservative icon.

“Weight For It,” hosted by Ronald Young Jr., earned the most wins, with three Ambies including Best Indie Podcast, Best Indie Podcast Host/Hosts and Best Society and Culture Podcast.

“I can’t even lie — this feels good,” Young said on his third trip to the lectern. “I’m so grateful to be here. I’m grateful to do what I love mostly for a living.” Season 2 of “Weight For It,” in which Young explores the nature of body image and other weight-related topics, is bowing Aug. 15, Young was quick to mention.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for interview podcast for her “Wiser Than Me” series. The “Seinfeld” alum was not on hand but her producer noted that Season 2 bows March 27.

Best business podcast honors went to Bloomberg’s “Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried.” Host and producer Hannah Miller noted that the crypto wunderkind is due to be sentenced on March 28. “We’d like to think we played some small part in seeing justice get served,” Miller told the crowd.

Troian Bellisario of “Pretty Little Liars” and Josh Close were the winners for scriptwriting in fiction for the drama “Ad Lucem” for QCODE Media.

Winners in other top categories included Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas’ “How Did This Get Made?”(comedy), “Ghost Story” (documentary) “50 Years of Hip Hop” (entertainment) and “PREVIA: A Tech Heist” (fiction). The winner in the best host or hosts category was Martine Powers for “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop,” an investigative podcast from The Washington Post that explores the missing remains of Grenada’s revolutionary leader, Maurice Bishop and seven other people.

The ceremony highlighted 192 nominees across 27 categories with winners selected by every voting member of The Podcast Academy.

Additionally, Malcolm Gladwell was honored with the Governors Award, which recognizes a podcast or individual for the compelling influence they’ve had on the industry. Podcaster Ira Madison III received the Impact Award, which recognizes an individual or podcast that has made a significant, and positive effect on its listeners.

See the full list of winners below.

Podcast of The Year:
Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas

Best Business Podcast:
Spellcaster: The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

Best Comedy Podcast:
How Did This Get Made?

Best DIY Podcast:
STITCH PLEASE

Best Documentary Podcast:
Ghost Story

Best Entertainment Podcast:
50 Years of Hip-Hop

Best Fiction Podcast:
PREVIA: A Tech Heist

Best History Podcast:
Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children

Best Indie Podcast:
Weight For It

Best Indie Podcast Host or Hosts:
Ronald Young Jr. – Weight For It

Best Interview Podcast:
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast:
Darknet Diaries

Best News Podcast:
Today, Explained

Best Original Score and Music Supervision:
Lindsay Jones – Othello

Best Performance in Audio Fiction:
Sam Richardson, Method Man, Langston Kerman, Punkie Johnson, Richard Kind, Laci Mosley, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Heidi Gardner, Tichina Arnold, Tim Meadows, Rachel Dratch and Chris Parnell – Yes We Cannabis

Best Personal Growth / Spirituality Podcast:
Dear Alana,

Best Podcast for Kids:
The Cat In The Hat Cast

Best Podcast Host or Hosts:
Martine Powers – The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop

Best Politics or Opinion Podcast:
The NPR Politics Podcast

Best Production and Sound Design:
Ramtin Arablouei, Rund Abdelfatah, Lawrence Wu and Julie Caine – Throughline

Best Reporting:
Lauren Chooljian – The 13th Step

Best Scriptwriting, Fiction:
Troian Bellisario and Josh Close – Ad Lucem

Best Scriptwriting, Nonfiction:
B.A. Parker – Code Switch

Best Society and Culture Podcast:
Weight For It

Best Sports Podcast:
New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce

Best True Crime Podcast:
The Girlfriends

Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast:
Embodied

(Pictured: Joel Anderson, host of “Slow Burn: Becoming Clarence Thomas”)

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