A couple of years ago I started the Podcast Peer Awards. I was tired of top ten lists that always featured the same shows. I was unhappy that the only other podcast award was structured so that the only winners would be those with huge audiances. I wanted a contest where other podcasters would select the best, a contest the public could trust to recommend the best shows anywhere.

No one else was doing it, so I did. Since then over 500 podcasters have signed up as judges.

Winners can be especially proud of their trophies, because winning a Podcast Peer Award is tough. A show can’t win by having a bunch of friends and listeners swamp some voting site. The first step, getting nominated, is easy, but then a show has to get enough votes to qualify for the finals. Since judges can vote for or against a show, only about a third of the nominees score high enough to qualify. Qualifying is no guarantee, though – only the top five qualifiers become finalists. Then the real difficulty begins. Finalists are competing with the very best shows in their category. At this stage the most common comment among judges is how difficult it is to select the best show.

The judges are five hundred of the best, most prolific podcasters in the world. They are not easily impressed. They only vote for the most entertaining, most informative, and best produced shows.

So a hearty “Congratulations!” to all the winners. There are tens of thousands of awards in the arts. Very few are as hard to win as a Podcast Peer Award. The winners should be extremely proud of their accomplishment.