The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors have announced the nominees for the Radio/Podcast category. The nominees were chosen by a unanimous vote of 32 jurors from over 1,100 entries across podcasts, radio, television, and the web to represent the most compelling and empowering stories released during 2023.
The audio nominees include:
“The Big Dig” (GBH News)
Boston Public Radio station GBH takes on the humdrum subject of infrastructure and makes it riveting by going deep on Boston’s large-scale “Big Dig” project, a highway tunneling effort that became infamous for its ballooning price and ever-lengthening timeline, though in the end delivering on its promises. Produced by WGBH Boston and PRX.
“Borrowed and Banned” (Brooklyn Public Library)
Over a ten-episode podcast series, the Brooklyn Public Library traces the war against books in America by talking to those who are most affected by it — students, librarians and teachers whose livelihoods are threatened when they resist, and writers whose books are embattled.
“How the Far Right is Making Voting Fraud Easier” (NPR)
The ERIC system is one of the best tools states have to catch voter fraud. In a months-long reporting project, NPR uncovered the conservative movement working to sabotage the system, despite the Republican Party’s claims that it is dedicated to catching and rooting out voting improprieties.
“The COVID Tracking Project” (PRX)
The COVID Tracking Project, a massive volunteer effort to document tests, hospitalizations, and deaths in an effort to show where the virus was and who was dying, became a de facto source of data amid the chaos of COVID-19. The series addresses the crucial concerns the United States faces about why the nation had to rely on volunteerism, rather than federal and state public health institutions, to receive critical COVID data during the worst public health crisis in a century. Produced by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, and ACKO Productions.
“The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop” (The Washington Post)
A two-year investigation by The Washington Post uncovers new details in a long-running international mystery: When Maurice Bishop, the revolutionary leader of Grenada, was executed in 1983 alongside seven others, where did their remains go? Through more than 100 interviews and archival research, this podcast examines the evidence, including the role played by the U.S. government.
“Post Reports: Surviving to graduation” (The Washington Post)
Post Reports’ three-part series chronicles a year inside Huguenot High School in Richmond, VA, a school that experienced several shootings and deaths, to learn how the fallout is affecting students and teachers and what educators are doing to prevent future tragedies. But while the reporters were embedded at the school, a student was shot and killed behind the baseball fields, making this a real-time look at the ripple effects of gun violence.
“Prison Town” (Spotify)
In the midst of a federal investigation into civil rights violations in Georgia’s prisons, this podcast uses one prison in South Georgia as a case study, tracing murders on the outside back to inmates on the inside. With hitmen for hire, prison riots, a multimillion-dollar contraband circle, and a warden who has been charged with corruption, the episodes illuminate many of the complex problems that plague our criminal justice system. Produced by The Macon Newsroom and The Georgia Virtue.
“The Retrievals” (Serial Productions and The New York Times)
Serial Productions and The New York Times tell the story of how dozens of women seeking to get pregnant at a Yale fertility clinic endured excruciating — and, it turns out, unnecessary — pain during the egg retrieval process. The real story behind their pain touches on the intersection of the fentanyl epidemic in America, women’s health issues, and the ways female patients are routinely gaslit.
“The Uncertain Hour: Season 6” (Marketplace/American Public Media)
Many Americans have long believed that welfare recipients must get a job — or be preparing for one — to receive government assistance. This Marketplace production delves into the lucrative business that surrounds welfare-to-work policies, and the ways those businesses work to keep recipients dependent on their services.
“Unreformed: the Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children” (iHeartPodcasts)
Unreformed tells the story of how the state-run Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children derailed the lives of thousands of Black children in the mid-20th century and what happened when five girls escaped in 1968. Listeners hear of physical and sexual abuse, unlivable facilities and grueling labor in the fields surrounding the school, which led many former students to call it a “slave camp.” Produced by School of Humans.
“You Didn’t See Nothin” (Invisible Institute and USG Audio)
Formerly incarcerated journalist Yohance Lacour revisits the 1997 hate crime on the South Side of Chicago that inspired him to enter the world of investigative journalism before his own ten-year prison sentence. He looks at the ways crime shaped his own life and reinterprets its implications through a current-day lens.
“From exposing injustice to capturing the struggles and triumphs of inspirational figures across the world, these extraordinary nominees demonstrate the power and beauty of compelling storytelling,” said Jeffrey Jones, Executive Director of Peabody. “Within an increasingly diverse and constantly evolving media ecosystem, Peabody believes these nominees deserve special recognition for crafting bold stories that continue to inspire us, but also challenge us to do better.”
The Peabody Awards will be announced May 9 and then celebrated June 9 at a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. This will be Peabody’s first in-person ceremony since 2019, as well as the first time in its history the awards show will take place in Los Angeles.