Dr. Siri Colom, an associate sociology professor at Worcester State University, has won a Peabody Award for her podcast series When We All Get to Heaven. The project, which originated from 1,200 cassette tapes found in a San Francisco church basement, will be formally honored at the 86th annual awards presentation next month.
The Peabody Awards are considered the most prestigious honor in electronic media, recognizing stories that enlighten, invigorate, and evoke empathy. By winning, Colom joins an elite circle of 2026 honorees that includes the HBO drama The Pitt, the breakout series Heated Rivalry, and comedy icon Amy Poehler.
The award-winning 10-part podcast series, [1] released on Slate last fall, was produced by Eureka Street Productions – a creative collective consisting of Colom, host and lead writer Lynne Gerber, and podcaster Ariana Nedelman. The project began nearly a decade ago when Gerber salvaged a trove of recordings from the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in San Francisco, a queer Christian sanctuary that served as a lifeline during the darkest years of the AIDS crisis.
For Colom, the win is a testament to the resilience of the community the producers spent years documenting. “Winning a Peabody is a profound testament to the power of these voices,” Colom said. “It affirms that the stories of the Metropolitan Community Church aren’t just local history, but a vital part of our shared human narrative. The three of us are still stunned and deeply honored.”
The recognition of Dr. Colom’s work highlights the high-impact research and creative scholarship happening within the Worcester State faculty. “When We All Get to Heaven” highlights the courage, warmth, and joy of a community that refused to deny either their queerness or their faith. Colom hopes this series changes how people think about religion and queer life by showing a world where faith and identity are not in conflict, but are instead sources of mutual strength.
“Winning a Peabody is a monumental achievement that brings national recognition to our institution and our faculty,” Worcester State University President Barry Maloney said. “This award is a testament to the high quality of our faculty and proves they are operating at the very top of their game. To see Dr. Colom recognized on this global stage is a proud moment for the entire Worcester State community.”
“We are immensely proud of Dr. Colom’s achievement,” said Dr. Russ Pottle, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Worcester State. “This award underscores the depth of scholarship and storytelling our faculty bring to the global stage. Dr. Colom’s work amplifies the University’s values of engaging with history in ways that drive meaningful cultural conversation.”
The series has been praised by jurors for its immersive, sound-rich experience. By digitizing archival tapes, the team allowed listeners to hear the literal heartbeat of the sanctuary – the creak of floorboards, the fervent prayers, and traditional evangelical hymns recontextualized within a welcoming LGBTQ+ community.
For Colom, the work was also deeply personal. Having grown up in an evangelical environment that was not gay friendly, she found that producing the series offered a unique space for healing. “There is a specific kind of magic in those tapes,” Colom noted. “It reminds us that even in the face of death, there was an incredible amount of life being lived.”
The celebration continues next month when Dr. Colom and her collaborators will be formally feted during the Peabody Awards ceremony on May 31 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. As the Worcester State community celebrates this historic media milestone, the podcast remains available for streaming on Slate and all major platforms, serving as a definitive, award-winning record of LGBTQ+ history and resilience.
“This project was always about honoring the community at MCC San Francisco that made these 1,200 cassette tapes,” Dr. Colom said. “Winning a Peabody is a testament to the power of those voices and their spiritual defiance. We didn’t just want to tell a story; we wanted to provide a portal to that resilience. It is deeply moving to see this archive recognized on a global scale.”