The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors has selected 35 winners to award at this year’s Peabody ceremony, including entertainment fare such as “Abbott Elementary,” “Atlanta,” “Better Call Saul,” “Severance” and “We’re Here.” Chosen by unanimous vote of 32 jurors from over 1,400 entries, the 83rd annual Peabody Awards landed on ten entertainment shows, eight documentaries, seven news programs, five from interactive and immersive content, three podcast/radio programs, and one each from arts and public service fare.
PBS led the winners circle with six, followed by Apple TV+ and Disney+ with three each, and HBO Max with two. For “Atlanta” and “Better Call Saul,” both shows recieved Peabody honors in their first season — and will receive another for their final seasons. The winners, announced on Tuesday, came out of previously announced 69 nominees in all categories.
Topics tackled by this year’s winners include the environment, mental health, women’s reproductive rights, transgender rights, the gun violence epidemic in America, women’s rights under the Taliban, the war in Ukraine, migrant stuggles and extremist threats to democracy.
“Representing a wide range of mediums, genres, and narrative approaches, this year’s winners continue to advance what it means to craft storytelling that is compelling, powerful, and prescient,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody, in a statement. “Whether capturing the lives of teachers in Philadelphia or young women in Afghanistan, these stories are powerful enough to make us laugh, cry, and learn. They are all deserving of this honor, and we are thrilled to shine a light on their amazing achievement. All citizens should seek out, watch, and engage these winners.”
Previously announced specialty awards including NBC News’ “Today” as an Institutional Award winner; Lily Tomlin was named this year’s Peabody Career Achievement Award recipient; Issa Rae won the Peabody Trailblazer Award; and Shari Frilot was named the winner of the Visionary Award.
The winners of the 83rd annual Peabody Awards will receive their honors at a Los Angeles ceremony, on Sunday, June 11, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel — the org’s first in-person ceremony since before the pandemic, in 2019, and also its first time here in Southern California. Bob Bain Productions will produce the event.
Here is a roundup of this year’s Peabody Award honorees:
ENTERTAINMENT
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
“A group of passionate Philadelphia public school teachers battle budget restrictions, a rival charter school, and their own (mostly) incompetent principal, forging friendships and an occasional love match in this sweet mockumentary sitcom from creator and star Quinta Brunson.”
Delicious Non-Sequitur Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios
“Andor” (Disney+)
“The ‘Star Wars’ franchise gets a new perspective, focusing on thief-turned-Rebel spy Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. Taking place during a time before the first ‘Star Wars’ film when a Rebel Alliance is forming in opposition to the fascist Galactic Empire, the series explores themes of Fascism and how resistance movements emerge from the strangling weight of authoritarian repression.”
Lucasfilm Ltd.
“Atlanta” (FX)
“Creator-star Donald Glover finishes his four-season masterpiece about a group of friends that includes rapper Alfred ‘Paper Boi’ Miles and his manager cousin, ‘Earn’ Marks, along with their friends Darius and Van. The final two seasons are particularly inventive as the characters find themselves in new situations and consider their relationships to each other and their hometown.”
FX Productions
“Bad Sisters” (Apple TV+)
“A blend of dark comedy and thriller from creators Sharon Horgan, Brett Baer, and Dave Finkel, ‘Bad Sisters’ follows the lives of the Garvey sisters, who are bound together by the premature death of their parents and a promise to always protect each other.”
Merman /ABC Signature in association with Apple
“Better Call Saul” (AMC)
“This ‘Breaking Bad’ prequel is much more than the sum of its parts, and that’s evident in its capstone season, which concludes the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, Jimmy McGill, played perfectly by Bob Odenkirk, into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.”
High Bridge, Crystal Diner, Gran Via Productions and Sony Pictures Television
“Los Espookys” (HBO Max)
“Eccentric friends turn their passion for horror into a peculiar business—scaring people for a fee— in this bilingual series that weaves together elements of magical realism and the absurd to create a comedy like no other.”
HBO in association with Broadway Video, Antigravico and Mas Mejor
“Mo” (Netflix)
“The title character toggles among two cultures, three languages, and a pending asylum request while hustling to support his Palestinian family in Houston, Texas, in this dramedy co-created by star Mo Amer, based on his own life, and Ramy Youssef.”
A24
“Pachinko” (Apple TV+)
“A sweeping American drama series based on Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel, ‘Pachinko’ starts with an intimate story about forbidden love but widens out to include epic journeys among America, Japan, and Korea, encompassing no less than war and peace, love and loss, and triumph and reckoning.
Media Res / Blue Marble Pictures in association with Apple
“Severance” (Apple TV+)
“This bold, topical sci-fi thriller series stars Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee at Lumon Industries, where employees have undergone a ‘severance’ procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. But he soon discovers a darker conspiracy behind this cutting-edge experiment.”
Fifth Season / Red Hour Productions in association with Apple
“We’re Here” (HBO Max)
In this uplifting and timely reality series, three drag queens spread love and connection across small-town America through the art of drag, putting on shows with local drag enthusiasts, queer people, and allies, and changing lives along the way.
HBO in association with House of Opus 20 and IPC
ARTS
“Fire of Love” (Disney+)
“Miranda July narrates this dramatic documentary about the doomed relationship between obsessive French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft and their shared passion for capturing spectacular imagery of stunning—and deadly—volcanoes.”
National Geographic Documentary Films presents A Sandbox Films Production / An Intuitive Pictures & Cottage M Production
DOCUMENTARY
“Aftershock” (Hulu)
“After the deaths of two young women from childbirth complications, their families galvanize activists, birth workers, and physicians to face America’s grave maternal health crisis in this eye-opening film.”
A Malka Films and Madstone Company Inc Production In Association with Good Gravy Films and JustFilms | Ford Foundation Impact Partners Presents
“Batata” (Various streaming platforms)
“This unprecedented film spans ten years in the life of Syrian migrant worker Maria, a Muslim woman, and her journey from days of farming potatoes to life in a refugee camp in Lebanon, demonstrating the spirit of a woman who puts family above all else.”
Saaren Films Inc., Six Island Productions Inc., Musa Dagh Productions
“Independent Lens: Missing in Brooks County” (PBS)
Migrants go missing in the rural area of Brooks County, Texas, more than anywhere else in the United States, and activist Eddie Canales is the one who helps their families find them. PBS’ documentary profiles Canales in this subtle, specific, and alarming take on U.S. immigration.
ITVS, Fork Films, Engel Entertainment
“Independent Lens: Writing with Fire” (PBS)
“Fearless journalists staff India’s only all-female newspaper in an intensely patriarchal landscape, painting a portrait of courage and hope. Filmmakers Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh spent four years in India’s Uttar Pradesh state capturing the women’s daily work lives as well as the larger context in which they operate: India’s caste system and its far-right religious movement.”
Black Ticket Films
“Mariupol: The People’s Story” (BBC Select)
“This terrifyingly crucial feature-length documentary tells the story of the essential coastal Ukrainian city of Mariupol through those who lived there as it was destroyed by Russia.”
Top Hat Productions / Hayloft Productions
“The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks” (Peacock)
“Rosa Parks was more than an ‘old’ lady who was too tired to go to the back of the bus, as this documentary demonstrates, delving deep into the Civil Rights icon’s historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott beyond her traditionally assigned role in school textbooks.”
SO’B Productions
“The Territory” (Disney+)
“This immersive, awe-inspiring documentary looks at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers.”
National Geographic Documentary Films Presents A Documist And Associação Jupaú Film in association with Time Studios, Xtr, Doc Society Climate Story Fund / A Production of Protozoa Pictures, Passion Pictures, Real Lava
“We Need To Talk About Cosby” (Showtime)
“Writer/director W. Kamau Bell weighs the life and legacy of Bill Cosby as a peerless groundbreaker and dominant cultural force against his crimes as a convicted sexual predator through difficult and candid conversations with comedians, journalists, and survivors in a potent examination of problematic artist versus art.”
Showtime Documentary Films Presents, A Boardwalk Pictures Production, In Association With WKB Industries
INTERACTIVE & IMMERSIVE
“ContraPoints” (YouTube)
“Through her YouTube channel, ContraPoints, Natalie Wynn defies the reductive quality that rules most of the internet, developing a following of more than 1 million subscribers by producing long, beautifully produced video essays that dissect trending topics and social phenomena. From ‘Canceling’ to ‘Cringe,’ ‘Incels’ to J.K. Rowling, Wynn explores all sides of an argument, treating different perspectives with equal parts seriousness and shade.”
Natalie Wynn
“Life is Strange: True Colors” (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Stadia)
“’Life Is Strange: True Colors’” is a game that follows a 21-year-old, bisexual Asian-American woman, Alex Chen, who has spent the last eight years in foster care and is investigating her brother’s death. Largely about grief and trauma, the game is also joyful, affirming the true importance of empathy through Alex’s supernatural ability to sense and manipulate others’ emotions.”
Deck Nine Games & Square Enix External Studios
“Lucy and the Wolves in the Walls” (Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest)
“Through the endearing and earnest narrative of Lucy and her quest to find the source of mysterious happenings in her house, this wonderful interactive VR fable based on the book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, which continues in Lucy’s extended life across platforms, invites us along to explore the fine line between imagination and reality and reminds us of that liminal space of possibility that we occupy as children.”
Fable Studio, Third Rail Projects, Sound+Design, Story Studio & Experiences
“Reeducated” (Oculus, Mobile, Desktop)
“China’s systemic detention of Uyghurs and other minorities is well-documented, but there exists no photographic evidence from inside the camps, which limits journalistic coverage. This New Yorker VR project combines the testimony of three brave survivors, hand-drawn illustration, and immersive video technology, showing the conditions inside prison cells, classrooms, torture rooms, and a makeshift operating room, and illuminating the atrocities of harrowing life.”
The New Yorker
“The Uncensored Library” (Minecraft)
“Meticulous and artistically-rendered, this Minecraft build serves as a monument to press freedom and an innovative back door for censored content. Because Minecraft is often freely accessible in countries where other media is blocked, more than 20 million gamers in 165 countries have been able to access information about threats to press freedom in their own countries as well as censored articles from independent journalists from oppressive countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, and Vietnam.”
Media.Monks, Reporters without Borders, DDB Germany
NEWS
“Frontline: Michael Flynn’s Holy War” (PBS)
“Truly terrifying in its implications, this Frontline episode asks how Michael Flynn went from being an elite soldier overseas to waging a ‘spiritual war’ in America, emerging as a leader in a far-right movement that puts its brand of Christianity at the center of U.S. civic life and institutions, attracting election deniers, conspiracists, and extremists around the country.”
Frontline (PBS) with The Associated Press
“Frontline: Ukraine: Life Under Russia’s Attack” (PBS)
“Frontline provides a dramatic and intimate look inside the Russian assault on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, following the displaced families trying to survive underground, civilians caught in the war, and first responders risking their lives.”
Frontline
“The Gap: Failure to Treat, Failure to Protect” (KARE-TV)
“A year-long investigation by local Minneapolis-St. Paul’s KARE 11, revealed systemic failures to treat people with mental illness who were declared incompetent in court and resulted in state-wide reforms that were deemed lifesaving by the mental health community and lawmakers.”
KARE-TV
“Guns in America” (PBS)
“Faced with repeatedly reporting on the endless cycle of mass shootings across America, ‘PBS NewsHour’ raised the bar, providing context while also telling empathetic stories across different segments throughout the year dealing with victims, survivors, and their communities in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.”
PBS NewsHour
“No Justice for Women in the Taliban’s Afghanistan” (Vice)
“Women’s lives drastically changed after the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. Vice takes viewers inside a justice system tipped against women facing physical and sexual abuse and the underground shelters where women turn to escape violence at home for a devastating look at the country’s inequality.”
Vice News
“One Day in Hebron” (Direct From)
“American Al Jazeera host Dena Takuri returns to Hebron, the once-vibrant Palestinian city where her father was born and raised to see what Israel’s military occupation has done to his hometown: segregated streets, traumatized residents, shuttered businesses, and the remaining Palestinians erecting nets to catch the trash thrown at them by settlers.”
AJ+
“Shimon Prokupecz: Unraveling Uvalde” (CNN)
“After the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012, the CNN team led by Shimon Prokupecz relentlessly pursued the glaring, unanswered questions about the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas school shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers. A gut-wrenching interview with one surviving teacher underscores the horrific question, ‘Why didn’t anyone help sooner?’“
CNN
PODCAST/RADIO
“The Divided Dial” (New York Public Radio)
“’On the Media’ presents this thorough five-part series about how one side of the political spectrum came to dominate talk radio, and how one company, Salem Media Group, is launching a right-wing media empire.”
On the Media/New York Public Radio
“Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s” (Spotify)
“Investigative journalist Connie Walker delves into her own family history and uncovers the trauma passed down through generations as part of one of Canada’s darkest chapters, the residential school system for indigenous children, showing the ways that personal secrets and national shame reinforce one another.”
Spotify & Gimlet Media
“This American Life: The Pink House at the Center of the World” (This American Life)
“On the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, public radio’s seminal storytelling program had exclusive access inside the clinic at the center of the legal case, Mississippi’s last abortion clinic, showing what happened as patients and staff received the news.”
This American Life
PUBLIC SERVICE
“Frontline: The Power of Big Oil” (PBS)
“The fossil fuel industry has sowed doubt about climate change in America and stalled climate policy, even as scientific evidence grows more certain, all as part of a concerted effort, as documented by this three-part series.”
Frontline (PBS)
