Signal Awards Announce Esther Perel, Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang As Inaugural Recipients of Special Achievement Award, Honoring Where Should We Begin? & Las Culturistas As Two Podcasts Defining Culture

2024 Winners & Listener's Choice Awards Revealed Oct 29th: Finalists Include Anderson Cooper, Audie Cornish, Keke Palmer, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Giamatti, Penn Badgley, Sam Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Trevor Noah, Questlove & Series Such As 99% Invisible, Death, Sex & Money, Diaries of the War on Gaza, Hysterical, In The Dark: The Runaway Princesses, Lovett or Leave It, On Being with Krista Tippett, Popcast, The Nightingale of Iran, The Paris Review & Many More

Today, The Signal Awards announce the inaugural recipients of its Special Achievement Award: psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Esther Perel, and Las Culturistas' co-hosts and comedians, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Celebrating their impact and influence on the artform of audio, all three of the honorees embody the guiding focus of this year's third annual Signal Awards: the podcasts that define culture. Through her work as executive producer and host of the acclaimed Vox Media podcast,Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel (Magnificent Noise), Perel has brought therapeutic frameworks more prominently into the social dialogue, giving listeners a place to hear their own intimate, profound stories reflected in the lives of others. Similarly, amidst their endless journey into the beating heart of culture, Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang (iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell's Big Money Players) simultaneously explores and inspires the conversations that drive the zeitgeist, while rewriting the script for the modern parasocial relationship, and encouraging a new generation to re-excite the chat show genre. Week after week, both podcasts continue to change habits and sculpt new perspectives, and The Signal Awards is thrilled to celebrate them on Tuesday, November 12th, when Perel and Rogers will accept the honors in-person, during the 2024 Winners Party at Public Records (Brooklyn, NY). 

"When we first launched Where Should We Begin?, we wanted to lower the four walls of the therapist office," says Esther Perel. "I wanted people to hear the stories revealed in my office and the insights and transformation they experience. We are increasingly isolated, so to hear voices that sound completely different from one's own tell stories that reflect or mirror something back to the listener is a reminder that stories are the bridges that connect us to each other."

"In 2024, The Signal Awards are highlighting the voices and shows that have moved the needle in terms of how broader society thinks and behaves," adds Jemma Rose Brown, General Manager of The Signal Awards. "A Signal Award is also a metric of how a single podcast can change the medium. Where Should We Begin? and Las Culturistasare shows that have substantially moved the needle, leveraging the anonymity of an audio recording to create unparalleled intimacy with audiences. Esther Perel, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang have continued to innovate on format and topics, creating a platform to explore urgent conversations in nuanced, nourishing and framework-shifting ways."

As the only distinction that recognizes the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today, The Signal Awards represents a diverse and discerning range of storytellers across both the content spectrum and creator ecosystem.

In addition to Where Should We Begin? and Las Culturistas, The Signal Awards' 2024 Finalists include on-mic talent such as Anderson Cooper, Audie Cornish, Jess Hilarious, Keke Palmer, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Giamatti, Penn Badgley, Sam Smith, Shannon Sharpe, Trevor Noah and Questlove, as well as series like 99% Invisible, Death, Sex & Money, Hysterical, Diaries of the War on Gaza, Edge of Reason, Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, In The Dark: The Runaway Princesses, Long Shadow: In Guns We Trust, Popcastand The Paris Review, and independent productions including On Being with Krista Tippett, The Nightingale of Iran, Twenty Thousand Hertz and more. See The Signal Awards' complete list of 2024 Finalists HERE. 

All Finalists are eligible to win two of the podcast industry's prestigious awards: a Signal Award and The Listener's Choice Award, which will be announced on Tuesday, October 29th. With demarcations for Gold, Silver and Bronze, each Signal Award is selected by the Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed and newly expanded cohort of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium, who have together reviewed thousands of hours of audio submissions from the US, Australia, Canada, China, UAE, UK, Vietnam and beyond. The Listener's Choice Award is voted on by podcast fans from around the world, and drew more than 170,000 public votes in 2024. 

About The Signal Awards

The Signal Awards are mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Now in its third year, entrants to The Signal Awards are reviewed by The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium. The Signal Awards set a standard for editorial excellence by honoring the organizations, artists, mavericks, brands and storytellers who are shaping the podcast industry. 2024 Signal Award Winners will be announced October 29th, 2024.

Find The Signal Awards Online

Website: signalaward.com

Facebook: facebook.com/signalawards

Twitter: twitter.com/signalawards

Instagram: instagram.com/signalawards

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/signal-awards

About Esther Perel

Psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Esther Perel is recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on modern relationships. Fluent in nine languages, she helms a therapy practice in New York City and serves as an organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Her celebrated TED talks have garnered more than 20 million views and her international bestseller Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence became a global phenomenon translated into 25 languages. Her newest book is the New York Times bestseller The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity (HarperCollins). Esther is also an executive producer and host of the popular podcast Where Should We Begin? Learn more at EstherPerel.com or by following @EstherPerelOfficial on Instagram.

About Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by iHeartMedia and Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network and distributed by iHeartPodcasts. Listen to Las Culturistas on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.