On August 11, 2025, we got an email we never expected: “Congratulations on Making the 2025 Podcast Awards Slate.”
Excuse Us had been nominated in two categories at the People’s Choice Podcast Awards: People’s Choice and Fiction. As part of the process, nominees were asked to submit an acceptance speech video. This is ours.
Less than a month later, on September 8, 2025, the founder and host of the Podcast Awards, Todd Cochrane, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 61. The awards were postponed indefinitely, and this speech was never shown.
We’re sharing it now as a thank-you to our listeners, and to Todd.
In memory of Todd Cochrane (1964–2025)
Todd was a podcasting pioneer, entrepreneur, and champion of open RSS. He founded Blubrry Podcasting and its parent company RawVoice, and he created the People’s Choice Podcast Awards. For more than twenty years he advocated for independent audio creators, and his work helped shape the medium we get to make today. Thank you, Todd.
