Think Richard Hatch, the man who schemed his way to win the first season of the hit television show Survivor, is the ultimate survivor? Well, that title could very well go to Amanda Congdon, a video podcaster who will appear regularly on ABC’s online news channel, ABC News Now, and will host a weekly five-minute video blog appearing on ABC.com.

Amanda is best known for being the host of one of the most popular video podcasts called Rocketboom. In the spring of 2006, Amanda left (or was fired) from Rocketboom and although it was a messy “break-up,” the news surrounding her departure landed in the NY Times, Washington Post, PBS and MSNBC. After Amanda’s story hit the mainstream, she hosted a summer video podcast series called Amanda Across America, sponsored by Ford and blip.tv.

While some give Amanda flack for airing her grievances with Rocketboom’s producer on her blog (complete with 224 comments), she still holds a 49% stake in Rocketboom and stands to profit from its continued success, even while she thunders on to other creative opportunities.

For this reason, Amanda is one of my top 10 savvy women in podcasting for 2006.

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