Photo: Ismael Quintanilla III
Rotten Mango earned a special nod at the 2024 iHeartPodcast Awards presented by The Hartford on Monday evening (March 11). The true crime and spooky stories show — with its “seasoning of comedy/sweetness,” blended in — received the Innovator Award presented by YouTube. That honor, presented to Rotten Mango by Wilmer Valderama, spotlights voices breaking new creative ground in podcasting.
Rotten Mango offers a unique form of audio and visual storytelling. It’s “rotten but still a little sweet! Rotten Mango is a true crime + all things spooky podcast,” its description reads on iHeartRadio. “We love doing deep dives into the darkest crimes and we tend to not leave out any details - which can get a little rotten at times. If you want deep dives in the psychology of killers, no holding back storytelling of crimes, and stories of lesser known criminals from around the world this is the place for you. Welcome to Rotten Mango but don’t worry it all comes with a seasoning of comedy/sweetness.”
This year’s iHeartPodcast Awards took place live during the SXSW Conference and Festivals at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin, Texas. The show celebrates some of the best podcasts throughout the year across all genres, including crime, comedy, pop culture and many more. Other special honors included the Pioneer Award (Heavyweight), the 2024 Social Impact Award (Wrongful Conviction), the fan-voted Podcast of the Year presented by The Hartford (New Heights, hosted by Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, who included a special thank you to Taylor Swift’s “Swifties” during an acceptance speech), and others. See the full list of winners here.
Congrats, Rotten Mango!