AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 327 – Final Oscar Nomination Predictions for the 98th Academy Awards

On episode 327 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to discuss their final Oscar nomination predictions for the 98th Academy Awards coming this week on January 22.

It’s been a long run of this phase of awards season, which truly starts all the way back at the Sundance Film Festival last January, where potential contenders debut, to summer blockbuster, big Christmas releases, and the critics awards, guild awards, Golden Globes and our gut instincts guide us to where we land today. From One Battle After Another to Sinners to Hamnet, and the abundance of international contenders from Cannes and Venice like Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, The Secret Agent, No Other Choice and more, we find some categories eerily settled on (like Supporting Actor) but more with so many possibilities and variables who knows who’s going to get it right.

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen to it on our AwardsWatch YouTube page.

This podcast runs 3h10m. We will be back next week to give our reactions to the 2026 Oscar nominations. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

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Ryan McQuade

Ryan McQuade is the AwardsWatch Executive Editor and a film-obsessed writer in San Antonio, Texas. Raised on musicals, westerns, and James Bond, his taste in cinema is extremely versatile. He’s extremely fond of independent releases and director’s passion projects. Engrossed with all things Oscars, he hosts the AwardsWatch Podcast. He also is co-host of the Director Watch podcast. When he’s not watching movies, he’s rooting on all his favorite sports teams, including his beloved Texas Longhorns. You can follow him on Twitter at @ryanmcquade77.

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