Meghan Markle's hit solo podcast Archetypes has landed a "major win" by being nominated in the "Pop Podcast of 2022" category of the People's Choice Awards, an entertainment expert has told Newsweek.
The duchess' 12-episode podcast series launched in August to examine and discuss the labels applied to women in society that can often hold them back.
Archetypes sits in the podcasting categories of society and culture, and has been produced in collaboration with Spotify. Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, signed a multi-million-dollar content creation deal with the streaming giant in 2020 after stepping down as working royals and moving to the U.S.
The duchess faces tough competition in the People's Choice podcasting category with nominations also going to shows including Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain, Why Won't You Date Me? With Nicole Byer and Call Her Daddy.
Another hit podcast to be nominated is Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, on which Prince Harry made a guest appearance in 2021.
The nomination signals a clear boost for the duchess and her media projects, Mark Boardman, an entertainment expert and the CEO of MarkMeets, told Newsweek.
"Meghan Markle has some great news to celebrate having been nominated for a People's Choice Award," he said.
"Archetypes opens up a whole range of taboo subjects in an open, thoughtful and clever way of being able to air some of her innermost feelings in a whole new way with ever growing listener numbers. It must be like therapy with the positive feedback from her friends, fans and the press."
Despite this, he concedes that the nomination by no means signals a clear win for the royal, who faces stiff competition.
"Due to the popularity of other nominations in the category it will likely mean Meghan Markle not taking home the award," he explained.
"Meghan's fellow nominees have better engagement levels with the public and other platforms, though just being nominated is already a major win, as her goal was to highlight the labels that try to hold women back."
The public are able to vote for the People's Choice Awards until November 9. The winners will be announced in a star-studded ceremony on December 6.
Newsweek approached representatives of Meghan Markle for comment.
What Is Archetypes?
In March 2022, Meghan Markle announced her first large-scale solo media project since marrying Prince Harry in 2018, in the form of a podcast with Spotify.
In the project's announcement she said that Archetypes would "dissect, explore, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back."
The first episode was released on August 23, titled "The Misconception of Ambition" and guest-starred close friend and tennis player Serena Williams.
Subsequent episodes centered around the labels of: "Diva," with Mariah Carey; "Singleton," with Mindy Kaling; "Dragon Lady," with Margaret Cho; "Crazy" with Constance Wu; "Bimbo" with Paris Hilton and, most recently, "angry black woman" with Issa Rae.
Two days after the release of the first episode, it overtook podcasting veteran Joe Rogan to hold the number one spot on the Spotify top podcast charts. It has remained consistently within the top 10 since.
The series took a four-week hiatus in September out of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Meghan's grandmother-in-law.
People's Choice Awards 2022: Pop Podcast Nominees
There are eight shows nominated in the "Pop Podcast of 2022" category at this year's People's Choice Awards, including Meghan's Archetypes. Many sit in the same society and culture genres. These include:
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain
This solo podcast sees internet personality Emma Chamberlain record a continuous stream of consciousness each week from the comfort of her bedroom. This is Chamberlain's third nomination, having previously won the People's Choice pop podcast awards in 2020 and 2021.
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
This podcast hosted by actor and comedian Shepard "celebrates the messiness of being human" with in-depth interviews exploring the multi-faceted issues that come up in everyday life. Shepard cites "more than a decade of sobriety, a degree in Anthropology and four years of improv training," as his qualification to host the podcast, adding: "I will attempt to discover human 'truths' without any laboratory work, clinical trials or data collection."
Call Her Daddy
This comedy advice podcast hosted by Alex Cooper was started in 2018 with the help of former co-star Sofia Franklyn, and has since become a Spotify original production, exploring the challenges of sex and relationships in the modern age.
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
After 25 years as a late night host, O'Brien discovered he had not made any lasting friendships with his celebrity guests, so through his podcast he engages in deeper, in-depth interviews revealing oftentimes hilarious and meaningful conversations.
Not Skinny But Not Fat
This podcast hosted by social media star Amanda Hirsch explores hot takes on entertainment and pop-culture while interviewing some of the world's biggest celebrities.
SmartLess
SmartLess sees celebrity hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett engage in world class comedic back-and-forth while interviewing a number of high profile guests resulting in what the show calls "genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge."
Why Won't You Date Me? With Nicole Byer
Presenter and comedian Nicole Byer interviews a different guest on each episode of her podcast to discuss their dating lives and discover why she herself has remained single.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
