Oscar history from the almost-winners' side.
And the Runner-Up Is treats Academy history as an ongoing argument, not a closed record. Recent bonus episodes focus on actresses who missed nominations, pairing close performance analysis with frank talk about consensus, genre bias, and campaigns.
PRESS PLAY
And the Runner-Up Is is an Oscar-history show with its attention fixed on the performances that nearly made it, should have made it, or outlived the categories that ignored them. Its recent A Woman Robbed bonus episodes narrow that mission to actresses who missed nominations. The structure is simple and useful. Kevin introduces a theme, brings in a guest with a clear affection for the films at hand, and builds a double feature around two overlooked performances. From there, the conversation moves patiently. A typical episode starts with awards context, then shifts into casting history, campaign momentum, genre bias, and the actual shape of the acting. The show is casual, but it is not loose in the lazy sense. Its best stretches sound like two film people talking through a case from several angles because the first answer is never quite enough. Why did a consensus form so quickly? Why does the Academy still hesitate around sci-fi, horror, action, musicals, or comic work? Why does one performance get treated as prestige while another gets dismissed as too loud, too genre-coded, too strange, or too commercially familiar? Recent episodes make those questions concrete through performers including Danielle Deadwyler, Margot Robbie, Chase Infiniti, Amanda Seyfried, Linda Hamilton, Charlize Theron, Renate Reinsve, Tessa Thompson, Bjork, Amy Adams, Mia Farrow, Meryl Streep, Shelley Duvall, Elizabeth Berkley, Julianne Moore, and Reese Witherspoon. The show also has a strong memory for the surrounding films: Till, Terminator 2 Judgment Day, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Shining, Election, Enchanted, and Dancer in the Dark are treated as more than trivia answers. They become evidence. The tone is warm and evaluative, with room for dry jokes, personal viewing history, and real frustration at awards patterns that keep repeating. It can be funny. It can also turn grave when the material calls for it, especially around racial violence, family trauma, psychological horror, or the toll placed on women in performance and production. What keeps it grounded is the constant return to the acting itself. A nomination may be the hook, but the real question is why a performance works and why people are still arguing for it years later.
Made for: For film fans who follow Oscar races, acting categories, and the long afterlife of nomination snubs. It especially suits listeners who like awards talk with close performance analysis rather than simple winner-and-loser scorekeeping.
What sets it apart: The show treats overlooked performances as full case studies, linking scene-level acting choices to campaign narratives, genre prejudice, and awards consensus. Its double-feature bonus format gives each episode a clear argument without flattening the conversation into a verdict.
"And the Runner-Up Is" is the Oscar history podcast that highlights past races at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Host Kevin Jacobsen and special guests break down why winners won, why losers lost, and which films and contenders were the likely runners-up, falling just short of taking home the gold.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Kevin Jacobsen connects overlooked performances to the tastes, biases and consensus-building that shape Oscar recognition.
And the Runner-Up Is turns Oscar omissions into close studies of performance, campaigning and Academy taste. Kevin Jacobsen pairs each installment of the "A Woman Robbed" series with a guest and a themed double feature, then moves from career and film context into the harder…
Linda Hamilton missed the Oscar ballot; Kevin Jacobsen gives you room to argue with the Academy.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear, respectful case for Danielle Deadwyler's dignified work as Mamie in Till.
The episode uses Danielle Deadwyler's Oscar omission as a way into her performance as Mamie in Till, focusing on grief, responsibility, and the public demand for justice.
A pointed awards conversation about why Chase Infinity's Willa still feels worth arguing for.
A Woman Robbed turns awards-season irritation into a focused look at how fast a Best Actress race can narrow. The discussion starts from the familiar complaint that critics and the industry tend to settle around a small cluster of contenders, then moves to Chase Infinity's Willa…
A clear, useful awards-and-genre discussion about why sci-fi action performances deserve to be treated as acting, not just spectacle.
A Woman Robbed uses its 30th episode to make a clean awards-season case for sci-fi performances that never quite entered Oscar conversation. The setup is simple: a patron poll of 12 unnominated genre turns, followed by a conversation with Next Best Picture editor Lauren LaMagna…
Shelley Duvall's Razzie recognition prompts another look at Wendy Torrance.
Shelley Duvall's Razzie recognition for The Shining gives this A Woman Robbed episode a sharp question: why did her Wendy Torrance draw such a harsh judgment? Guest Chris Feil joins the host in looking back at Duvall's work in 3 Women and the exhausting shoot the host describes.
A warm Oscar what-if built around Geena Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, and early-1990s comedy affection.
This bonus episode finds a tidy hook in an overlooked-Oscar premise, looking at two 1992 turns by Geena Davis and Whoopi Goldberg as lead work from best supporting actress winners that missed the final lineup.
Kevin and Matt Duffy consider how Deborah Kerr keeps The Innocents open to more than one reading.
Deborah Kerr's performance in The Innocents gives Kevin and returning guest Matt Duffy plenty to work through in this A Woman Robbed discussion.
A sharp, uneasy look at Julianne Moore's overlooked Safe performance and the terror of being dismissed.
And the Runner-Up Is turns its A Woman Robbed bonus-series frame toward Julianne Moore's near-miss for Safe, looking at Carol White as a lead performance that was passed over before Moore's eventual Oscar win.
Bad media, carefully exhumed.
Film lists with rules, vetoes, and taste.
Boston repertory listings with critic-banter momentum.
Oscar math meets cinephile argument.
Long conversations about the movies worth finding.
Fan-literate pop culture, argued out loud.
This bonus episode of 'And the Runner-Up Is' explores two Oscar-winning actresses who were overlooked for their best performances.
A podcast episode discussing two overlooked Oscar-nominated performances from the 1970s: Ruth Gordon in Harold and Maude and Gena Rowlands in Opening Night.
This episode of A Woman Robbed discusses two Oscar-near-miss performances by Sally Field and Kristen Wiig, analyzing why they were overlooked and why they deserved nominations.
This episode of A Woman Robbed discusses overlooked past performances from this year's Best Actress nominees, Annette Bening and Sandra Hüller, with guest Chelsea Eichholz.
This episode of 'A Woman Robbed' examines two Oscar-overlooked performances from the 1960s: Deborah Kerr in 'The Innocents' and Joan Crawford in 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?' Host Kevin Jacobsen and guest Matt Duffy analyze why these actresses, selected from a list of 15 notable contenders, missed nominations despite critical acclaim.
And the Runner-Up Is marks its 32nd episode with a bonus double feature on Danielle Deadwyler in Till and Margot Robbie in Barbie, chosen from a patrons’ poll of 15 lead-actress performances in films directed by women.
And the Runner-Up Is centers this bonus A Woman Robbed episode on Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another and Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Anne Lee, after patrons voted them the two most notable lead-actress snubs.
And the Runner-Up Is’s bonus series A Woman Robbed turns to Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Charlize Theron in Mad Max Fury Road after patrons ranked them above 10 other un-nominated sci-fi performances.
Kevin and Sofia discuss overlooked Oscar-nominated performances from actresses Renate Reinsve and Tessa Thompson, analyzing why they deserved recognition but were snubbed.
Kevin and guest Dan Baer discuss actresses in musicals who were overlooked for Oscar nominations, focusing on Björk in Dancer in the Dark and Amy Adams in Enchanted.
Mia Farrow’s most affecting work comes when Hannah narrates her parents’ failed dreams and family history.
And The Runner-Up Is frames A Woman Robbed as a double feature about Razzie-nominated performances, with Shelley Duvall in The Shining and Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls at the center.
This episode discusses two Oscar-winning actresses, Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon, who were overlooked for lead performances before or during their winning years.
Kevin welcomes returning guest Chelsea Eichholz, co-host of the Anna Rewatch and Q Division podcasts, for a preview episode of A Woman Robbed covering two 1992 films.
Kevin and guest Dan Baer discuss two 1930s performances by Myrna Loy and Judy Garland that were overlooked for Oscar nominations.