Vox Podcasts Score Big On "Best Of..." Lists For 2021 and Awards

 'Tis the season to give out awards and make your "best of lists" for the year. Podcasts are no exception to that traditional holiday gift giving for excellence. 

Vox podcasts scored significant recognition for awards and "best of" lists. 

 For example, Vox's Nice Try! Interior, Unexplainable, and Land of the Giants were included on Mashable’s Best New Podcasts of 2021.

The New Yorker recognized Nice Try! in its 2021 round-up of the year's best podcasts for its “transporting” and clever focus on domestic appliances in its second season.

Nice Try!, Switched on Pop, Pivot and Criminal were all recognized by Town & Country as The Best Podcasts to Listen to Now

Vox Conversations was honored by Adweek as 2021’s Best Podcast Hosted by a Publisher for bringing listeners urgent dialogues that act as a “catalyst of current cultural change.” 

Unexplainable’s episode on the enormous potential of phages - viruses that find and destroy bacteria - was named one of the best podcast episodes of 2021 by Bello Collective.

Pocket Cast listed Unexplainable as one of the platform's Top 5 Podcasts of 2021 by subscriptions, with Today, Explained, Land of the Giants, Criminal, and Waveform also making the top 100 list.
 

Vox also announced a bog change to its flagship podcast, Today, Explained.

Noel King has joined Vox’s Today, Explained as Co-Host and Editorial Director.

King, who joins Vox from NPR, will partner with Today, Explained co-host and Vox Audio creative director Sean Rameswaram; the two will share hosting duties, allowing each to continue pursuing longer-term projects and growing Today, Explained’s ability to reach audiences across platforms.

Also beginning in 2022, Vox Media announced a partnership with WNYC Studios to distribute Today, Explained to public radio stations nationwide. This partnership marks the first major terrestrial radio distribution partnership for Vox Media, following an hour-long special edition of the Vox podcast Unexplainable distributed by American Public Media this fall.

In a recent Q&A, King explains: 

"I want a show that goes beyond what is happening, and offers some explanation as to why it's happening. Today, Explained has the luxury of focusing on only one story a day. There's room for context, and, in my favorite episodes, a bit of philosophizing. What's more, the show has a really distinct sense of humor: bone-dry, and never forced. And the sonic creativity that goes into each episode is extraordinary. 

"I find myself hitting the "rewind" button more often than I care to admit, to marvel at some precisely placed piece of audio that may only be a few seconds long, but takes the episode to a whole new level. I love the show because it makes me smarter, and, when the time is right, it makes me laugh. 

 When asked about his vision for the kind of conversations and stories he's most excited to cover and bring to listeners in 2022, King observes:

"I will interview anyone, at any time, in any circumstances. My neighbors, my in-laws, and people who have the misfortune to be seated next to me on Amtrak will testify to that. I'd love Today, Explained to expand its range and continue interviewing authors and leading cultural and political figures. I've also been deeply impressed to hear public radio reporters at both the national and local level get 25 minutes to tell their stories. 

"In my former job as an NPR host, we were limited by the "clock" which meant any story, no matter how remarkable, was limited to about 7 minutes, maximum. Hearing people with immense expertise be able to talk as long as they need is a gift. I'd like to see us continue to take advantage of that.

Check out Vox's podcasts here.