"Slushno" celebrates 5 years: who was awarded at the main audio award of Ukraine

On October 1, 2025, the National Cultural Center "Ukrainian House" hosted the award ceremony of the fifth anniversary podcaster award "SLUSHNO" from the MEGOGO media service. Over the years, the award has become the main event of Ukrainian podcasting, which annually brings together the best audio projects in the country and proves that it is such initiatives that create the industry. The media partners of the award were 1+1 media and the TET TV channel.

The host of the evening has traditionally been actor and presenter Zhenya Yanovich. The evening was opened by a performance by Danylo Haliko from the Blooms Corda band, and among the guests were representatives of the cultural sphere, media professionals, creators and devoted podcast listeners.

The award voting system remained unchanged: the winners were determined based on the results of the listeners' and expert jury's ratings in equal shares (50/50). In 2025, the jury included 20 leading experts in media, culture, science and business: Lena Chichenina, Valeria Tolochyna, Serhiy Kostya, Tetyana Mykytenko, Bohdana Neborak, Tetyana Vodotyka, Olesya Pavlyshyn, Viktor Kishchak, Anastasia Yevdokimova, Anna Khaetska, Tymofiy Brik, Dmytro Volkovynskyi, Sofia Telegina, Oleksiy Kushnir, Oleg Shcherbakov, Serhiy Lukyanenko, Halyna Vinichenko, Kateryna Kotvitska, Tetyana Lukynyuk and Yura Marchenko.

This year, 168 podcasts are presented in the long lists of the award, of which 62 projects were shortlisted in 12 nominations. In total, listeners cast about 20 thousand votes — a record for all the years of the existence of "SLUSHNO".

“Five years ago, we were just launching the award, when there weren’t as many authors and formats as there are today. During this time, 670 Ukrainian podcasts have participated in “SLUSHNO”, and more than 70 projects have already received awards in various nominations. Now it is a real community of authors, listeners and partners, which develops market despite all the challenges. For MEGOGO, the award has always meant more than awards - it is about space for development and a chance for proper recognition. The team working on this event discovers new names and projects in different genres and formats every year, in Ukrainian podcasts you can now find a show on any topic and easily close your request for Ukrainian-language audio content,” said Valeria Tolochyna, Global Chief Marketing Officer of MEGOGO and producer of the award.

Winners of the main nominations:

• Best independent podcast - F1Podcast. Author: Max Podzigun - Formula 1 commentator.
• Best podcast about culture and art - UNZIP from Public Broadcasting. Host: Albert Tsukrenko - host and researcher of Ukrainian musical identity.
• Best Information Podcast — Chronicles of Economy from Ukrainian Pravda. Hosts: Dana Hordiychuk and Yaroslav Vinokurov — journalists from Economic Pravda.
• Best Interview Podcast — Not Recorded. Authors: Anya Davydenko and Oleksandra Pohorila — PR agent and founder of the strategic communications agency UAGENCY.
• Best Historical Podcast — Section from Sebto Media. Host: Olga Fokaf — researcher of Ukrainian history and doctors at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Best Business Podcast — Closed the Round. Authors: Ilya Kabachynskyi and Anton Poleskov — experts in Ukrainian technology business.
• Best Literature and Reading Podcast — The Smell of the Word from hromadske. Hosts: Yevheniy Stasinevych and Serhiy Chirkov — researchers of Ukrainian literature and culture.
• Best Entertainment Podcast — UNZIP from Public Broadcasting. Host: Albert Tsukrenko — host and researcher of Ukrainian musical identity.
• Best Podcast about Health, Relationships and Self-Development — Podcast of a Healthy Person from Radio SKOVORODA. Host: Tetyana Vdovichenko — host and expert on medical topics.
• Best Podcast about Science and Technology — You Will Have Science from Kunst. The podcast team promotes science and technology in Ukraine.
• Best Podcast about Sports — F1Podcast. Author: Max Podzigun — Formula 1 commentator.
• Best Podcast about Professions — Man in a Pixel from Radio SKOVORODA. Host: Vitaliy Kyryliv — active serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Weapons Development and Innovation Unit of the National Defense University.

Winners of special awards and cash prizes:

• The Grand Prix was won by the podcast “Terrorist attack near the Palace of Sports” from the Suspilne Kharkiv team. The authors received 100 thousand hryvnias for the development of the project from the MEGOGO media service. The winner was determined by the MEGOGO AUDIO editorial team.
• “Podcast of the year according to the listeners’ version” — F1Podcast. Author: Max Podzigun, Formula 1 commentator.
• A cash prize of 50 thousand hryvnias from the nomination partner — the MEGOGO online bookstore — was awarded to the podcast “Smell of the Word” from hromadske, which was recognized in the category “Best podcast about literature and reading”. Hosts: Yevheniy Stasinevych and Serhiy Chirkov — researchers of Ukrainian literature and culture.
• 50 thousand hryvnias from the official partner of OMD Optimum Media Ukraine were received by the team of the podcast of the SKVOT pop culture school and the design directors of Spiilka Nastya Zherebetskaya and Volodymyr Smirnov “Sound recording of Ukrainian design”.
• A grant for the production and recording of 10 episodes from the general partner of the Maincast award was received by the podcast “The Power of the Bold”, authored by independent podcaster Olena Vorobyova - an entrepreneur and creative leader.
• Another grant for the production and recording of 10 episodes from Maincast was received by the podcast “And where are the oars?”. Author: water sports brand ambassador Konstantin Salov.
• A special award from the “SLUSHNO” award team for a necessary project during the war was received by the podcast “When he left” by Andriy Gotsulyak and the TWR UA studio. The authors received a cash award of 20 thousand hryvnias from MEGOGO.

Over the five years of the SLUSHNO award, 670 Ukrainian podcasts have participated, and over 70 projects have been awarded in various nominations.

The media partners of this year's award are the TET TV channel, a family entertainment channel that creates and broadcasts high-quality Ukrainian content and makes you fall in love with life, as well as 1+1 media, one of the largest media businesses in Eastern Europe. The information partner is the media about the life of the capital - TyKyiv.