The podcast Folktales from Sudan, created by award-winning Sudanese-American public radio journalist Hana Baba, won Gold for Best Kids Podcast and Bronze for Best Roadtrip Podcast at The Signal Awards 2026.
The 5th Annual Signal Awards announced its winners virtually on 20 October 2026, and will present the awards to their winners at The Signal Awards Winners Party on 9 November 2026 at 501 Union in Brooklyn, New York.
“I am honoured to announce the Winners of the 5th Annual Signal Awards: a cohort of storytellers, reporters, creators and producers who exemplify this year’s editorial theme, ‘recognising the risk takers.’ The podcasts shared below were made by people who bent formats and took bets. They tested ideas out loud and let their audiences in on the process. Our medium is richer because of their tenacity,” said Jemma Rose Brown, the General Manager of The Signal Awards.
“Folktales from Sudan” is a series of sound-designed audio stories that revives the cherished oral storytelling traditions of Sudan. This first of its kind series is a translation of stories originally told in Sudanese Arabic, and is an invitation to global listeners, children and adults alike, to experience a culture they may have only heard about through news headlines.
“Folktales from Sudan” first launched on 1 April 2025 and launched its second season on 20 June 2026, featuring brand new audio stories from Sudanese folklore for children and their families. New stories include a clever girl named Filayfla whose bright ideas save her family, a mean Sultan with a secret who learns a big lesson, fairies, ghouls, princesses, queens, and, by popular demand, more animal tales with sly foxes, tricky jackals, and a very spoilt frog diva named Bantar. As is customary in Sudanese folktales, there are also plenty of fun chants and songs to sing along with.
The Signal Awards celebrates creators and innovators shaping the podcast industry. It chooses gold, silver and bronze prizes for each category, including best host, documentary, video podcast, indie podcast, writing, comedy, true crime, health and wellness, science, sports, music, kids, news and politics, and more. Winners are selected by either a panel of judges or by listeners’ choice voting. This year, more than 94,000 unique voters cast 260,000 votes for the listeners’ choice prizes.
The awards regularly attract major mainstream names and top networks. “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” “Reclaiming With Monica Lewinsky” and “Khloé in Wonder Land” are among the dozens of shows that have received a gold medal this year. Others winning top prizes include “All There Is With Anderson Cooper,” “Served With Andy Roddick,” “Songwriter: Isabella Rossellini + Sharon Van Etten,” “The Mel Robbins Podcast,” “Artist Friendly With Joel Madden” and “Angie Martinez IRL.” In addition, iHeartPodcasts has been named company of the year, while iHeartMedia’s Ruby Studios was recognized as the agency of the year.
“Criminal” host and co-creator Phoebe Judge will receive the Audio Icon Award, and Pablo Torre, host and executive editor of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” will receive the Special Achievement Award.
The Signal Awards judging panel features notable audio professionals, media hosts, and creators (such as Jay Shetty and Latif Nasser), and major publications like Variety and Forbes routinely cover the results.
For more information on The Signal Awards 2026, visit www.signalaward.com/winners. For more information on “Folktales from Sudan”, visit www.folktalesfromsudan.org.
