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Jersey Indie Podcaster Showcases Signal Awards Finalists

adminOctober 1, 20267 Mins read3

Jersey Indie Podcaster Showcases Signal Awards Finalists

The people who run the Signal Awards define the awards competition as: “The Signal Awards recognizes the podcasts that define culture. Our awards body is mission-focused on uplifting the podcast medium by recognizing the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today. Setting this standard of excellence is The Signal Awards Judging Academy, an esteemed collective made up of the architects, instigators and trailblazers of the medium. Once a year, The Academy collectively listens closely to thousands of hours of audio, selecting the strongest work to be elevated to the status of award-winning.”

Signal accepts entries as Shows, Limited Series & Specials, Individual Episodes and Brand Storytelling across a broad spectrum of genre and craft categories including Best Host; Most Innovative Audio Experience; Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion; Best Video Podcast; News & Politics; Best Editing; and more. You can find a detailed breakdown of its award categories here.

Now in its fifth year, 2026 Signal Award Winners will be announced on October 20th, 2026 in Brooklyn, NY. The Signal Awards saw submissions once again surge 30% for a second straight season, underscoring the continued and rapid momentum of the audio industry.

All finalists are now competing for the Listener’s Choice Awards, which are voted on by podcast fans around the globe. Fans worldwide are invited to help crown winners in the Listener’s Choice Awards, which saw record participation in 2025, with more than 385,000 votes tallied. Voting is open now through October 15 at vote.signalaward.com.

The Signal Awards also recognize independent creators and emerging voices. Among this year’s standouts are Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, Bucket Podcast, Flightless Bird, More Muslim and Zero to Well-Read.

“Podcasting has become more culturally influential than ever before,” said Jemma Rose Brown, General Manager of the Signal Awards. “This year’s finalists are a true testament to the medium’s growth in both breadth and depth.”

Each fall, The Signal Awards present Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners, and the listening public votes for their favorite Finalists to take home the additional coveted honor of Listener’s Choice Award in each category. Garnering more than 385,000 public votes in just two weeks from nearly 128,000 fans around the world, 2025’s Listener’s Choice Awards drew the largest voting body in The Signal Awards’ history, affirming the growing significance that podcasts and their creators have in listeners’ life patterns and daily routines.

This year focuses on recognizing the risk-takers, with members of the invitation-only Signal Awards Judging Academy encouraged to celebrate the spirit of experimentation by honoring creators who lead with authenticity and lower their inhibitions in order to raise the bar.

Jersey Strong Indie Finalist

NaVell J. Lee is a Jersey guy who spends much of his time in Hollywood covering the Entertainment Industry. Lee is the creator/host of The Buzz – BuzzWorthy Radio, a long-running independent entertainment podcast. NaVell J. Lee has been named a finalist in the Solopreneur Podcast – Shows category at the 2026 Signal Awards.

The recognition arrives as The Buzz celebrates its 20th season and Lee approaches two decades at the helm of the independently produced program. Since beginning his podcasting journey in 2006 and launching BuzzWorthy Radio in 2007, Lee has built the show into a platform for conversations with actors, writers, producers, directors and other creatives across television, film and entertainment.

The Buzz

Here’s what NaVell J. Lee has been up to lately. In late August, he traveled to Hollywood. He told me, “I came to Los Angeles to cover Televerse 2026 for The Buzz — BuzzWorthy Radio, and I can honestly say this weekend exceeded every expectation. I was credentialed to cover the festival, secured multiple red carpet opportunities, and came away with nearly 30 interviews with actors, creators, and entertainment personalities.”

Some of the major highlights included:

🎙️ Michael Urie, Jessica Williams & Jason Segel — Shrinking
🎙️ Connor Paolo, Nick Wechsler, Gabriel Mann, Josh Bowman, Henry Czerny & Emily VanCamp — Revenge
🎙️ Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams & Janelle James — Abbott Elementary
🎙️ Justin Hartley — Tracker
🎙️ Tom Pelphrey — TASK
🎙️ Patrick Ball — The Pitt
🎙️ Richard Gadd — Half Man
🎙️ Kate O’Flynn — Widows Bay
🎙️ Brad Caleb Kane — Crystal Lake
🎙️ Colin Hanks, Jennifer Candy-Sullivan & Sean Stuart — John Candy: I Like Me
🎙️ Kareem Rahma — SubwayTakes

NaVell continues: “From the red carpets to the press rooms to the one-on-one interviews, I had the opportunity to connect with some incredible talent and bring those conversations back to the BuzzWorthy Radio audience. And to think, just days ago I was sitting at home wondering, ‘Am I actually going to get approved for Televerse?’”

The Buzz creator/host NaVell J. Lee interviews Justin Hartley, star of the hit CBS TV show Tracker in late August as part of Televerse 2026.

The Buzz

As a solopreneur, Lee oversees nearly every aspect of The Buzz, including booking, research, hosting, recording, editing, production, distribution and promotion. That independent approach has remained at the heart of the program even as its coverage has expanded to television festivals, red carpets, press rooms and major entertainment events across the country.

“Being recognized in the Solopreneur Podcast category means so much to me because it represents exactly what The Buzz has been for nearly 20 years,” said Lee. “This has always been an independent production built through persistence, curiosity and a genuine love for conversations with the people who create the stories we connect with. To have that work recognized during our 20th season makes this especially meaningful.”

The finalist honor continues a growing period of awards recognition for The Buzz. The podcast earned a Silver Signal Award for Best Video Podcast: Guest in 2025, won Best TV Podcast at the 2025 Astra Podcast Awards, and received a 2026 People’s Telly Silver Award for its coverage of Apple TV’s Shrinking.

Lee also joined the Signal Awards Judging Academy in 2026, contributing to the evaluation of work from across the podcasting industry while remaining separate from the judging of his own submissions.

For Lee, becoming a finalist in the Solopreneur Podcast category is particularly meaningful as The Buzz enters its third decade of independent production.

“Independent podcasting has changed tremendously since I started,” Lee added. “But the heart of what I do hasn’t changed. It’s still about picking up the microphone, having a meaningful conversation and creating something I’m proud to share. Being recognized as a Signal Awards finalist for doing that independently is something I’m incredibly proud of.”

I’ll note three finalists in 2026 – Crow’s Feet, Grief And Light and Trapped History – which I’ve covered in the past. All three shows exemplify the best indie podcasting has to offer.

Oswin Baker, Founder and Co-Host with Carla O’Shaughnessy, of the Trapped History Podcast was a 2025 Signal Award Winner. Mr. Baker noted: “Winning a Signal Award has taken Trapped History to another level. Sharing stories of people we weren’t taught about in school, this season our small indie show has [been] featured in Forbes and The Guardian, pulled in 45K extra downloads and hit 50K Instagram followers.”

The 2026 Signal Awards finalists were announced September 29. Listener’s Choice voting runs September 29 through October 15, with winners announced October 20.

Below are the finalists by Signal Awards category:

2026 Finalist Highlights

Finalists for Best Video Podcast Host:

Wild Card with Rachel Martin, NPR
Better Future with Michael Mezz, Whalar Group
The Oprah Podcast, Harpo
Seen on the Screen with Jacqueline Coley, We Are Social
Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky, the fwd. Network
Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso, Higher Ground
On the Road with Jonathan Martin, POLITICO
At the Brink with Erica Brinker, At The Brink Media
The Why Files
The Wisdom Channel, The Happy Channel LLC
Dying to Ask with Deirdre Fitzpatrick, KCRA TV
All There Is with Anderson Cooper, CNN

Finalists for Best Comedy Podcast:

Straightiolab, iHeart Media
Take Your Shoes Off, TYSO Productions
Where There’s a Will There’s a Wake, Sony Music Entertainment
Only Bombs! Comedy Podcast
Erazno y La Chokolata, Total Market Podcast
The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi, Shark Party Media, LLC
Big Age, Audible

Finalists for Best New Podcast:

Zero to Well-Read, Riot New Media Group
Paper Trail, ProPublica
The Dan Buettner Podcast, Intuitive Content
Raising Us, A Kids Co.
SOUNDCHECK with Brandon Anthony, Now Influencing
Two Brothers, One Prostate
unPaused Podcast
Drug Story with Thomas Goetz
Are We Doomed?, Nuance Tales

Finalists for Limited Series: Documentary:

Operation Night Cat, New Hampshire Public Radio
Where the River Took Us, Texas Monthly
Birth of a Parent, Van Leer Foundation
The People’s Republic of Astoria
Scene on Radio: The News, Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University
Untold: Opus Dei, Financial Times
A Whole Other Country, Marfa Public Radio
Scandales Financiers – Norbourg, 20 ans apres (Financial Scandals – Norbourg, 20 Years Later), Radio Canada
The Palisades Fire: A Sandcastles Special, Wave Maker Media
The Obit Project, University of Montana School of Journalism
First America, First America & Pushkin Industries