The Golden Globes Podcast Race Gets Bigger This Year

The Golden Globes podcast race is back for a second year, and the starting line just moved. Thirty shows are eligible to compete for Best Podcast at the eighty-fourth Golden Globes, up from twenty-five in the category's inaugural year, according to Inside Radio, which reported the expanded field. The eligibility list was compiled by the Golden Globes' data partner Luminate, the same firm that built the list last year.

Joe Rogan is in this time. The Joe Rogan Experience failed to secure eligibility last year, Inside Radio reported, but the show now sits near the top of a much more crowded field. Rogan commands more than eighteen million followers on Spotify and a YouTube audience past twenty-one million, which gives him a scale advantage few rivals in the Golden Globes podcast race can match. He also just renewed his Spotify partnership in a deal the industry is watching closely, so his awards eligibility arrives at a moment when his business position is stronger than ever.

Who made the cut

The list reads like a who's who of mainstream podcasting. Call Her Daddy, Crime Junkie, The Daily, SmartLess, The Mel Robbins Podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, Pod Save America, Pardon My Take and This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von all appear, according to Inside Radio. Several shows from the category's opening year return, including Dateline NBC, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, Morbid, the MrBallen Podcast, Rotten Mango, Stuff You Should Know, The Bill Simmons Podcast, The Shawn Ryan Show and The Tucker Carlson Show.

The expansion also pulled in a wave of debut contenders. Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend, New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, This American Life, Revisionist History, My Favorite Murder, Las Culturistas, Bad Friends, Behind the Bastards, Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, The Toast and Love Trapped join the eligible pool this year. Barrett Media reported that a trio of sports shows made the cut, Pardon My Take, New Heights and The Bill Simmons Podcast, and noted that sports audio now has a real foothold in a Hollywood awards race. Netflix has been bidding for sports podcasts too, which suggests the format's biggest money is circling the same shows.

Getting on the list is a data decision. Luminate determined eligibility using audience reach and engagement, revenue and chart rankings, according to Inside Radio. That methodology explains why the Golden Globes podcast race tilts toward established commercial hits rather than critical darlings, and why a show as big as Rogan's can go from ineligible a year ago to a frontrunner now.

The deadline is the part that matters

Eligibility does not equal a nomination. Every show on the list must formally submit by October 30 to be considered by voters, and submission is mandatory. A show that skips the paperwork sits out no matter how big its audience is, which turns the next few weeks into a quiet administrative sprint for every publicist in the Golden Globes podcast race.

Nominations for the awards will be announced December 7. The ceremony takes place January 10, 2027, with Nikki Glaser returning as host after a well-received turn last year. Glaser also hosts The Nikki Glaser Podcast, an iHeartPodcast weekly that launched in 2021, which means the ceremony's host is herself a podcaster this cycle. The Golden Globes podcast race has an emcee who understands the assignment firsthand.

The all-American problem

One thing the bigger field did not fix is geography. The list remains dominated by American shows, and the Golden Globes podcast race could face the same criticism it drew in its first year. The inaugural eligibility list was called out by the UK podcast industry over its all-American makeup, according to Inside Radio. A podcast prize presented by an organization that describes itself as celebrating the medium worldwide keeps nominating almost nobody outside the United States.

The tension is hard to miss. Podcasting is a global medium, and some of its fastest-growing audiences are outside the US, yet the Globes' eligibility math keeps rewarding the American commercial giants. Until Luminate's criteria change or international shows break through on reach and revenue, the category will keep looking like a domestic chart with a trophy attached.

Amy Poehler's Good Hang with Amy Poehler won the inaugural Golden Globe for Best Podcast, setting the benchmark every new contender now chases. The category's return has higher stakes: a permanent seat at one of Hollywood's biggest nights, a crowded field, and a submission clock already ticking. For podcasters used to fighting for chart positions, the fight in the Golden Globes podcast race is now for a statuette. The bidding wars for top shows already treat podcasters like stars; the Globes are just catching up.