POD BIBLE POLL WINNERS 2020 – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

HAPPY NEW YEAR POD FANS! It’s time to announce the winners of our second annual Pod Bible Polls!

At the start of December we asked listeners to vote for their favourite podcasts of the year within a number of categories. All nominees had featured in Pod Bible Magazine or on the Pod Bible Podcast in 2020 but the final Independent Podcast category was open to all.

The polls were open for the whole of December and we were once again blown away by the number of votes received. Podcasts have been an integral part of people’s 2020, with the format making it easy to adapt to the various restrictions we’ve all endured. Not only were people finding more time to listen to podcasts, many were purchasing microphones and starting their own shows too.

Voting in the polls closed at midnight on the 31st of December and all votes have now been counted and verified.

Pod disciples, we present to you, your Pod Bible Poll Winners for 2020!

INTERVIEW & CONVERSATION

WINNER: THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST

2nd – DISTRACTION PIECES PODCAST WITH SCROOBIUS PIP

3rd – HAPPY PLACE WITH FEARNE COTTON

The Adam Buxton Podcast is our Best Interview podcast for the second year running! A fan favourite, and a staff favourite, from the cheery singing in the intro to his insightful and considered opinions in his conversations with his guests. Dr. Buckles popped up throughout the year, providing a comforting distraction when we needed it most and with guests from Zadie Smith to Paul McCartney, Adam’s back catalogue continues to go from strength to strength. Congratulations to Adam and here’s to many more ramble chats in 2021!

Listen to The Adam Buxton Podcast on Acast, or via Adam-buxton.co.uk.

COMEDY

WINNER: OFF MENU

2nd – SH**GED MARRIED ANNOYED

3rd – FRENCH & SAUNDERS: TITTING ABOUT

As one of our Editor’s go-to podcasts, and a leader in the world of podcasts featuring a genie and a magic restaurant, Ed Gamble and James Acaster’s Off Menu has been crowned Best Comedy podcast for the second year running!

Each week guests are invited to the dream restaurant where they are asked to describe their ideal meal. Choices can come from any place and any time, from Michelin starred restaurants to Nan’s Sunday lunch and everything in between. As they approach 100 episodes the show continues to provide regular belly laughs, particularly when guests order something contrary to James or Ed’s philosophy of good food. Another well deserved win for a podcast that kept many of us smiling during such a difficult year.

Listen to James & Ed discuss the show on episode #012 of the Pod Bible podcast. Visit the Off Menu website or listen via Apple Podcasts, Acast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

WINNER: THE GUILTY FEMINIST

2nd – HOMO SAPIENS

3rd – TALK ART

It’s back to back wins for Deborah Frances-White and her team as The Guilty Feminist wins best Lifestyle & Culture podcast for 2020! In each episode Deborah and her guests discuss topics ‘all 21st century feminists agree on’ whilst confessing the insecurities, hypocrisies and fears that underlie their principles. This time last year, The Guilty Feminist was formatted as a live show, often recording in front of a live audience. Whilst 2020 saw a lot of Deborah’s live shows cancelled, it has not been a washout – as well our becoming a Pod Bible Poll Winner, The Guilty Feminist also won Gold at the British Podcasting Spotlight Award and continues to adapt with ease to these strange times we’re experiencing.

Listen to The Guilty Feminist on Acast or visit the show’s website.

FILM & TV

WINNER: FILMS TO BE BURIED WITH

2nd – KERMODE & MAYO’S FILM REVIEW

3rd – HOW DID THIS GET MADE

After coming in second place in 2019, Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein has switched places with national treasures Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo to become this year’s Best Film & TV Podcast. Based on the fact that we are born and we die, and in between we watch a lot of films, Films To Be Buried With is funny, interesting and surprisingly philosophical. Host Brett Goldstein asks his guests to discuss their lives via the films that mean most to them with his 2020 lineup including an amazing variety of film fanatics including Edgar Wright, Sharon Stone and Romesh Ranganathan.

You can listen to Brett discuss the show on episode #033 of Pod Bible Podcast before checking out his extensive back catalogueon Acast. 

MUSIC

WINNER: JAMES ACASTER’S PERFECT SOUNDS

2nd – HIP HOP SAVED MY LIFE

3rd – LIFERS WITH ED GAMBLE

It’s time to crack open the Cawston Press as James Acaster has made his way to the top spot in another category! Perfect Sounds launched in April this year and has a simple premise: James tries to convince comedians that 2016 is the greatest year for music, ever. Although 2016 may seem like a random year initially, it is meaningful – at the start of 2017 James had a mental crisis, and listening to music from the year prior went a long way in helping him get through it. After listening to so much from that year, he became convinced it was the best year for music of all time. We’re still not entirely sure, but the fact that David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’ album and Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ both came out that year is a solid argument.

Listen to James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds on Acast or wherever you get your podcasts.

SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

WINNER: SEX POWER MONEY

2nd – GRIEFCAST

3rd – OUT WITH SUZI RUFFELL

Sex Power Money is this year’s Best Social Conscience Podcast! In it, comedian Sara Pascoe turns her attention to things that really matter to humans – sex, power and money. The series is an accompaniment to Sara’s book of the same name, and includes interviews people who have experience around sex work, stripping and pornography. The great thing about this series is how it allows people who are so often talked about to speak for themselves, while exploring the history of subjects like ‘whore stigma’ and the ramifications of our current laws around selling sex.

The Griefcast topped this category last year, but whilst votes were extremely close, it just lost out to Sara’s brilliant podcast in the final days of voting.

Listen to Sex Power Money on Acast or wherever you listen to podcasts.

SPORT & LEISURE

WINNER: SOCIALLY DISTANCED SPORTS BAR

2nd – TAILENDERS

3rd – FOOTBALL RAMBLE

We couldn’t get to the end of this list without a podcast produced in response to the pandemic. With so many events cancelled this year, and regular pub chats about sports impossible, it is no surprise that the Best Sport & Leisure Podcast is The Social Distant Sports Bar. And it’s also no surprise that a sports podcast in a year with so much sport cancelled offers listeners much more than sport commentary. Elis James, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero get together remotely and try to talk about sports clips from the past over some drinks, which mostly leads to them getting distracted by most things and talking about everything else.

You can read more about The Socially Distant Sports Bar inour Have You Heard? article then listen on Acast or their website.

OH. MY. POD. INDEPENDENT PODCAST

WINNER: MONKEY TENNIS – THE ALAN PARTRIDGE FAN PODCAST

2nd – SCRIPT SIRENS PRESENTS: SIREN SCREAMS

3rd – THE BRUISED BANANA – AN ARSENAL PODCAST

By popular vote, the Oh. My. Pod. Best Independent Podcast 2020 is Monkey Tennis – The Alan Partridge Fan Podcast. The definitive Partridge fan podcast has been running for four years now, and in that time has received acclaim from places such as The Daily Telegraph. Hosts and guests analyse the entire Alan Partridge universe – including (in quite a meta way) the new Alan Partridge – From The Oasthouse Podcast.

In this category we opened up the polls for listeners to submit any independent or amateur podcast they felt deserved recognition. It’s a real testament to the love for this fan podcast that having an official Alan Partridge podcast has not made this one less popular. Listen to Monkey Tennis on Acast.

You voted for over 400 different podcasts in this category so a massive thank you and congratulations to every podcast mentioned! 

—

Congratulations to all our winners, runners up and nominees and thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for their favourite shows. We have no doubt that 2021 will be another incredible year for podcasting and look forward to celebrating it with another set of Pod Bible Poll’s at the end of the year!