Comedy remains one of the staples of podcasting around the world, and few countries are as accomplished at it as Australia. While there’s no shortage of side-splitting antipodean podcasts, this category rewards the best in the field, setting the standard for audio humour and delivering for listeners week on week.
Winner: A Rational Fear
In the decade it's been running, A Rational Fear has gone from strength to strength. It helps that the whole premise of the show is laughing in the face of the scariest news stories and the news has kept on delivering, but it takes skill and talent to find the funny side, and A Rational Fear consistently does.
The show offers a wonderfully cathartic arena for comedians to find the funny in depressing news cycles, from climate change to politics. It’s proved an irreverent way for listeners to keep abreast of the news that it’s all too easy to hide away from.
This year not only saw high-profile guests from whistleblowers and Australians of the Year to attorney generals and federal ministers, but also involved the podcast hitting the road for live performances in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, while squeezing in a ten-year-anniversary show at the Sydney Opera House.
