Amy Poehler took home a Golden Globes award for her podcast. Image courtesy Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia Commons
What you probably already know: Podcasting is everywhere. It’s intimate, yet increasingly prestigious — so much so that this year, the Golden Globes introduced a Best Podcast category. Earlier this week, Amy Poehler took home the inaugural award for Good Hang With Amy Poehler, a show that’s just 10 months old and already beating out legacy giants such as SmartLess, Call Her Daddy and Up First. If podcasting was once a scrappy, democratized medium, that moment seemed to confirm it: anyone with a mic, a point of view, and something to say could join in. But new research suggests the story is more complicated.
Why it matters: In November 2025, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released “Inequality in Popular Podcasts,” a comprehensive look at who hosts — and who gets heard on — the most popular podcasts in the U.S. The topline finding is hard to ignore: Across the top 100 podcasts, just 35.9% are hosted by women. That gap widens in genres that shape public opinion — business, tech, sports and comedy — where men dominate by margins as large as 12-1. And when it comes to race, podcasting mirrors the same inequities seen across film, TV, and music: More than three-quarters of top podcast hosts are white, with women of color making up fewer than 7% of hosts overall. One of the most jarring takeaways was that women accounted for just 27.2% of podcast guests, and nearly two-thirds of episodes didn’t include a single woman at all. Even in a format built around dialogue, the conversation tilts male — 2.7 men for every one woman.
Image courtesy USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative / @inclusionists
What it means: This isn’t about “not enough women podcasting.” It’s which shows are amplified, funded, promoted and rewarded. One of the most encouraging findings in the report is also one of the simplest: Podcasts with female hosts feature dramatically more female guests — nearly at parity. Representation changes the conversation because it changes who gets invited in.
What happens next? Momentum only matters if it spreads. We’re always paying attention to women building platforms that reflect the world as it actually is, not just who’s historically held the mic. In fact, it’s one of the reasons Formidable was created. A few to have in your feed:
Formidable — hosted by Emily Parkhurst
Shameless plug! In case you didn’t know, we have a podcast that has a female host and all female guests. Our founder, Emily Parkhurst, interviews women leaders tackling timely, complex issues.The Space Between — hosted by Leigh Morgan
Thoughtful, expansive conversations for listeners tired of hyper-polarized takes. Formidable member Leigh Morgan explores leadership, culture, and societal issues with nuance, curiosity, and care.The Exit Interview | On Air — hosted by Shana Ayabe & Kisha Imani Cameron
Where money, work, and identity meet real life. The Exit Interview | On Air blends finance and storytelling to unpack what success actually looks like today.
