Tag: up first

Golden Week Nominees Night Celebrates a Podcasting Milestone

January 9, 2026

This year, podcasts are making their Golden Globes debut with a new category honoring the medium’s leading shows and creators. To mark the occasion, Spotify and The Hollywood Reporter hosted Golden Week Nominees Night in West Hollywood on Thursday, bringing together award nominees and industry leaders for an evening celebrating podcasting’s arrival on one of entertainment’s biggest stages.

The spotlight was on the inaugural Best Podcast nominees: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Call Her Daddy, Good Hang with Amy Poehler (from Spotify’s The Ringer), The Mel Robbins Podcast, SmartLess, and Up First from NPR. Together, they represent some of the most influential voices shaping the podcast landscape today.

More than just a party, Nominees Night reflected Spotify’s commitment to championing audio and video storytellers and creating spaces where their voices, creativity, and achievements can shine.

“This has been a huge year for podcasts, and we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the creators and nominees who made it so special,” said Roman Wasenmüller, VP, Global Head of Podcasts, Spotify. “Partnering with The Hollywood Reporter to bring everyone together ahead of the Golden Globes felt like the perfect way to kick off awards season and recognize how far podcasting has come.”

Attendees also enjoyed live performances from artists including Chaka Khan, John Legend, and Miles Caton, and DJ sets from Mark Ronson and DJ Kiss.

Podcast Lovers Around the World Can Now Play NPR Shows on Spotify

December 16, 2020

For almost 50 years, NPR has served as a daily source of wisdom and entertainment for its American listeners. Every day, millions connect with NPR and NPR Member stations across the country for everything from pop culture podcasts to the nightly news. In 2018 we announced that U.S. fans of NPR would also be able to stream select NPR shows on Spotify, making NPR’s offerings available in one convenient place. And starting today, some NPR shows will even be heard ‘round the world, as Spotify makes NPR podcasts available in most countries around the world.

This distribution deal between Spotify and NPR will allow us to distribute NPR’s content globally on Spotify, bringing NPR’s beloved podcasts to a global audience of 320 million Spotify users. Now, listeners outside of the U.S. can also stream:

To celebrate this partnership, we’re sharing the top 5 most popular NPR podcasts on Spotify to date. 

1. NPR News Now

2. TED Radio Hour

3. Up First

4. Short Wave

5. Planet Money

Not sure where to start? Check out this “Best Podcasts of NPR” playlist from NPR.