Apple Names Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ ‘Wiser Than Me’ Its Podcast of the Year

The interview series from Lemonada Media was recently picked up for a second season.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus can add another award to her trophy case: Apple‘s podcaster of the year.

Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast, Wiser Than Me, which she launched in April, has been named Apple Podcast’s show of the year for 2023, and the recipient of the Apple Podcasts Award.

The award is given out every year by the tech giant “to honor a show that demonstrates quality and innovation in podcasting.” It is not given to the year’s most popular or listened to show, though its chart position is one of the factors considered alongside the quality of the program.

Wiser Than Me spent 29 days on Apple Podcasts’ U.S. chart, and ranked number 5 on Apple’s top new shows list. Previous recipients of the Apple Podcasts Award include Slate’s Slow Burn, Pushkin’s A Slight Change of Plans, and NPR’s Code Switch.

The 10-episode series sees the actress interview guests who are, well, wiser than her. Among the interviewees during the first season were Carol Burnett and Jane Fonda.

“All of these women have demonstrated how to live a life,” Louis-Dreyfus says of her guests. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t make mistakes, but there’s something about being older where perhaps you feel not as protective in terms of sharing. And so I’ve taken advantage of the intimacy that offers. That availability to be real and to be open is a great gift.” 

Wiser Than Me’s producer, Lemonada Media, announced a second season last month, and will debut next spring.

The decision by Apple comes a week or so after Spotify unveiled its lists of the top podcasts and music for the year. Based on popularity, The Joe Rogan Experience and Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy were the most popular podcasts, with Hot Mess with Alix Earle named the year’s most anticipated podcast.