The Podcast Academy, a group of 1,000-plus industry creators and executives, awarded Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment’s Chameleon: Wild Boys with the top honor at this year’s 2023 Ambie Awards.
Wild Boys, which serves as the third season of Campside’s Chameleon series, uncovers the story of two young men who claimed to have been raised in the wilderness in British Columbia and proceeded to fool a small town. The eight-part series was led by Sam Mullins with producer Abukar Adan, senior producer Ashleyanne Krigbaum, editor Karen Duffin and ep Matthew Shaer.
“I had nothing happening in my career. I had two young kids, I was working in a taco restaurant, and I never made a podcast before. And Campside deserves so much credit because I cold-emailed these guys, and they just believed in the story, and they believed in me, and they changed my life, and I’ll never forget it,” Mullins said during his acceptance speech.
The ceremony was hosted by comedian Larry Wilmore in Las Vegas’ Westgate Resort and Casino and live-streamed on Twitch. Earlier in the evening, Lava for Good’s Bone Valley and Sonoro and Futuro Studios’ Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez both received two awards (Bone Valley in the documentary and reporting categories, Ídolo in the nonfiction scriptwriting and society and culture categories), making them tied as the most-awarded shows of the evening.
Though Audible entered the evening with the most nominations, the audio company was shut out at this year’s awards ceremony.
The Podcast Academy also honored Stuff You Should Know with the governors award in recognition of the show’s impact on the industry. Appearing onstage with producer Jeri Rowland and co-host Josh Clark, Stuff You Should Know host Chuck Bryant said it was “fun to see how far the medium has gone” since the show first launched in 2008.
See below for the list of winners.
Podcast of the Year (Sponsored by Tenderfoot TV)
Chameleon: Wild Boys (WINNER)
Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Direct Deposit
Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
Gay Pride & Prejudice
Moriarty
Pink Card
Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till Mobley
The Outlaw Ocean Podcast
The Prince
Best Business Podcast
An Arm and a Leg
Business Wars (WINNER)
Lead Balloon – Public Relations, Marketing and Strategic Communications Stories
The Heist Season 2: The Wealth Vortex
The New Way We Work, featuring 4-part Ambition Diaries miniseries
What’s Your Problem? with Jacob Goldstein
Work Check
Best Comedy Podcast
Funny Cuz it’s True
I Love a Lifetime Movie
Scam Goddess (WINNER)
Summer In Argyle
The fckry with Leslie Jones and Lenny Marcus
Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer
Best DIY Podcast
Allyship is a Verb
Poetry for All podcast
Proud Stutter
Queer News (WINNER)
Stitch Please
Teddy Goes to the USSR
They Knew Which Way to Run
Best Documentary Podcast
Bone Valley (WINNER)
Collapse: Disaster in Surfside
Finding Tamika
I Will Not Grow Old here (short series)
Imperfect Paradise: The Forgotten Revolutionary
The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment
We Were Three
Best Entertainment Podcast (Sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter)
Even the Rich
MUBI Podcast
Object of Sound
Pop Paranormal
Queue Points
Reality with The King
Scamfluencers (WINNER)
Best Fiction Podcast
Birds of Empire
Bone, Marry, Bury
Jane Anonymous
Last Known Position (WINNER)
Moriarty
Newts!
The Big Lie
Best History Podcast
Against The Odds
Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
History Daily
One Year: 1986
Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till Mobley
Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade (WINNER)
SNAFU with Ed Helms
Best Indie Podcast (Sponsored by Stitcher)
Blind Landing (WINNER)
Ghosthoney’s Dream Machine
Imaginary Worlds
In Those Genes Podcast
Inner West Icons
SOL Affirmations with Karega & Felicia
The Nocturnists
Best Interview Podcast
9 to 5ish with theSkimm
Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Direct Deposit
Rethinking
The Assignment with Audie Cornish (WINNER)
The Lede
Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast
Best Knowledge, Science or Tech Podcast
Climate of Change
In Machines We Trust
IRL: Online Life is Real Life
Ted Radio Hour (WINNER)
Threshold
Unexplainable
Why It Matters
Best News Podcast
Collapse: Disaster in Surfside
Foundering: The Amazon Story
Imperfect Paradise: The Sheriff
Post Reports
Ukrainecast
VICE News Reports
What Next (WINNER)
Best Original Score and Music Supervision
Culpable Podcast – Dirt Poor Robins, Dayton Cole
Disgraceland – Jake Brennan, Matt Beaudoin, Ryan Spraker, Bryce Kanzer (WINNER)
Fed Up – Scott Velasquez
Gay Pride & Prejudice – Chris Ryan, Jonathon Roberts, Liz Fulton
Kabul Falling – Arson Fahim
Last Known Position – Deron Johnson, David Levita
Spark & Fire – Ryan Holladay, Hil Jaeger
Best Performance in Audio Fiction
#Matter – Amin Joseph
Borrasca (Season 2) – Cole Sprouse, Sarah Yarkin (WINNER)
Dark Sanctum – Bethany Joy Lenz, Clive Standen, Michael O’Neill
Moriarty – Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, Phil LaMarr, Lindsay Whisler
Outliers – Rory Culkin
The Madness of Chartrulean – Aud Andrews
The Story Pirates Podcast – Cecily Strong, Eric Austin
Best Personal Growth/Spirituality Podcast
A Slight Change of Plans (WINNER)
Allyship is a Verb
Back From Broken
How God Works
How To Be A Better Human
In the Arena with Leah Smart
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Best Podcast for Kids
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
Forever Ago
Million Bazillion
Pinkalicious & Peterrific
Smash Boom Best
Tai Asks Why (WINNER)
The Arthur Podcast
Best Podcast Host or Hosts
Anderson Cooper – All There is with Anderson Cooper
Casey Wilson – Fed Up
Chad Sanders – Direct Deposit
Gilbert King, Kelsey Decker – Bone Valley
Heather McGhee – The Sum of Us
JB Smoove – Funny My Way
Leah Wright Rigueur – Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till Mobley (WINNER)
Best Politics or Opinion Podcast
Crossing The Line
It’s Political with Althia Raj
Post Reports
Strict Scrutiny (WINNER)
Teaching Texas
The Prince
The State of: Women
Best Production and Sound Design
Batman: The Audio Adventures – Chris Gibney, Julie Larson
Birds of Empire – Randy Torres, Ben Milchev, Ryan Walsh, David Tatasciore, Gabe Burch
Cupid – Randy Torres, Ben Milchev, Ryan Walsh, David Tatasciore, Sarah Ma
Maejor Frequency – Richard Riegel
Marvel’s Wastelanders: Doom – Mark Henry Phillips
The Big Burn – E. Scott Kelly
Twenty Thousand Hertz – Jai Berger (WINNER)
Best Reporting
Bone Valley – Gilbert King, Kelsey Decker (WINNER)
Chameleon: Scam Likely – Yudhijit Bhattacharjee
Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan – Habiba Nosheen
Taking on Putin – John Sweeney
The Greatest Menace: Inside the Gay Prison Experiment – Patrick Abboud
The Outlaw Ocean Podcast – Ian Urbina
Who Killed Daphne? – Stephen Grey
Best Scriptwriting, Fiction
American Hostage – C.D. Carpenter
I Hear Fear – Jenny Deiker Restivo, Nathalie Chicha (WINNER)
Impact Winter – Travis Beacham
Last Known Position – Luke Passmore
Power Trip – Mary Hamilton, Cara Horner
The End Up – Will Weggel, Danny Luber
The Story Pirates Podcast – Minhdzuy Khorami, Mike Cabellon, Meghan O’Neill, Peter McNerney, Lee Overtree, Rachel Wenitsky, Ned Riseley
Best Scriptwriting, Nonfiction (Sponsored by Castbox)
12 Years That Shook the World – Erin Harper
Chameleon: Wild Boys – Sam Mullins
Death of an Artist – Helen Molesworth
Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez – Erick Galindo, Alejandro Mendoza (WINNER)
Into America – Trymaine Lee, Aisha Turner, Isabel Angell, Max Jacobs, Josh Sirotiak
MUBI Podcast – Rico Gagliano
We Were Three – Nancy Updike
Best Society and Culture Podcast
Fiasco: The AIDS Crisis
Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez (WINNER)
In Those Genes Podcast
Into America
Love Right Now
The Sum of Us
Truth Be Told
Best Sports Podcast
Choosing Sides: F1
Deep Left Field
Pink Card
Sports History This Week
The Lead (WINNER)
The Longest Game
Torched
Best True Crime Podcast
Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan
Dateline: Missing in America
Death of an Artist
Queen of the Con
The Paddlefish Caviar Heist
Up and Vanished – The Trial of Ryan Duke (WINNER)
Wrongful Conviction
Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast
Are You Sleeping?
Back From Broken
Chiquis and Chill
Come As You Are (WINNER)
Dear Headspace
Navigating Narcissism
Room 5
