The Podcastgeek awards 2024

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again. The red carpet is unrolled (and suitably de-mothed), I’ve had my rather fetching gold jacket dry cleaned and the entirely virtual trophies are gleaming with all their digital glory.

It’s been a year of ups and downs, both in real life, and the podcastverse. The death of Westley Smith, host of As Yet Unexplained, was a sad loss indeed, and catching up on the final episodes recently made me miss him even more.

I had planned to do this next week, but this weekend is closer to the Dec 2nd anniversary of the blog, so here we are. But without further ado, let me welcome all my readers to the third annual podcastgeek awards 2024!

As usual, each category has 5 nominees. You may notice a few changes in these categories this year, that’s only because if one category only has one nominee, then it would be rather unfair. Also, I have linked to my reviews of the shows (If I have reviewed them). There’s also my rule of previous winners not winning again, apologies if some of you were working towards a hat trick!

Best Paranormal/Occult podcast

• Penny Royal
• The Haunted Objects Podcast
• Haunted Road
• Occult Experiments In The Home
• Some Other Sphere 

The winner is PENNY ROYAL!

This was a tough one right out of the gate. From the shortlist of five, I had narrowed it down to two that I loved equally. In an appropriate manner, I decided I’d leave the universe to decide and tossed a coin. Believe me, it was a close run thing, and it was only my indecision that led me to toss a coin.

Best True Crime podcast

• Your Own Backyard
• Scamanda
• Vishal
• LISK
• In The Dark

The winner is YOUR OWN BACKYARD!

True Crime is a genre I’ve only got into relatively recently, but one I am slowly becoming obsessed with. Again, it was a close run thing, but the award has to go to Your Own Backyard. This is the only true crime podcast that I have listened to every episode with skipping. This was supposed to be today’s review, but it will be out next week instead.

Best Comedy podcast

• Listen Very Carefully
• Last Podcast On The Left
• Athletico Mince
• Flight Of The Bucket
• Knowledge Fight

The winner is LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY!

LPOTL won last year, and well deserved it was too. This year, the winner is a hark back to my youth. A genuinely funny and interesting look at the production of a classic comedy. I gave them a glowing review recently, and I honestly can’t think of a more deserving win for this category.

Best Conspiracy podcast

• Some Dare Call It Conspiracy
• Who Replaced Avril Lavigne
• Swindled
• Redacted
• Things Fell Apart

The winner is SWINDLED!

As you know, a podcast can’t win twice. SDCIC is shortlisted again because they consistently produce excellent episodes, and are well worth another appearance here. This year though, Swindled have to take the crown. Despite my criticisms when I originally reviewed it, there is something compelling with the show. A well deserved win there.

Best Horror podcast

• The Witness Of Kitab Al-Azif
• The Silt Verses
• Re: Dracula
• Forbidden Cassettes: Consummation
• Modes Of Thought In Anterran Literature 

The winner is THE WITNESS OF KITAB AL AZIF!

Of all the podcast genres, horror fiction is my most listened to. What can I say? I’ve always been a weird kid. There was a long list of contenders this year, but there can be only one winner. This podcast is the most unnerving, psychedelic and in all honesty, the most realistic depiction of ancient interdimensional horror. 

Best Music podcast

• Class of ‘88
• Disgraceland
• Downbeat
• Miserable Metal Mind podcast
• The Fun House with Kid n Play

The winner is DISGRACELAND!

Despite playing in bands for 30 years, I don’t really listen to that many music podcasts. This shortlist represents the crème de la crème of those that I have stuck with. The winner has to be Disgraceland. This is a podcast that never ceases to amaze with the deep dives into the dark history of your idols. It’s also the only podcast I’ve reviewed twice. Well done Jake!

Best Production Company

• BBC Sounds
• Tortoise Media
• Wondery
• iHeart radio
• PRA

The winner is WONDERY!

A new category this year for the awards, and another hotly contested battle. Whilst all the entries are far and away the best companies out there, the winner has to be Wondery. All of the shortlist produce the best shows out there, but wondery wins by a nose. Well done guys!

Best Voice Actor

• Graham Rowat
• Karim Kronfli
• David Ault
• Sarah Golding
• Jana Carpenter

The winner is JANA CARPENTER!

Everyone on this list will make me automatically subscribe to a show, just because they feature in the cast. These guys are the A List of podcasts voice talent. Having said that, there is only one here, who is so skilled with accents that I’m not even sure where they are from! From the Lovecraft Investigations and the Aldrich Kemp tales, the winner is Jana Carpenter!

And that’s it for this year folks! Another batch of incorporeal awards have not been sent out in the post. Because they only exist in our imaginations though, they can be any size you like, and they don’t need polishing.

I would once again like to thank everyone who has supported me this year via ko-fi, the press offices who have sent me advance episodes to enjoy and Imran over at Greatpods for his invaluable advice. Normal service will resume next week with my review of Your Own Backyard. Now if you’d all like to make your way out, the national wainwright convention is booked in at 5pm, and they have to wheel in all the wonky wains to right. See you next year!