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Podcasts are now routine sources for interviews, expert commentary and reporting. They lack page numbers and the person responsible for them is not always obvious, so the two things to get right are the contributor you list first and the timestamp you give for a quotation.
What to Collect
- Host or hosts (and the executive producer, if that is the main credit)
- Episode title and episode number, if there is one
- Podcast name
- Production company or network
- Full release date of the episode
- URL of the episode's page
- Timestamp of anything you quote
The main worked example is episode 443 of This American Life, "Amusement Park", hosted by Ira Glass and first released on 12 August 2011. The programme is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago. The timestamps in the examples show the form only.
Quick Reference by Major Style
APA (7th Edition)
Episode:
Host, A. A. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (No. xx) [Audio podcast episode]. In Name of podcast. Production Company. URL
Glass, I. (Host). (2011, August 12). Amusement park (No. 443) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life. WBEZ Chicago. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park
In-text: (Glass, 2011) or, for a quotation, (Glass, 2011, 12:45)
Whole series:
Meraji, S. M., & Demby, G. (Hosts). (2016–present). Code switch [Audio podcast]. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
In-text: (Meraji & Demby, 2016–present). This is the example on APA's own podcast references page.
Leave out the episode number if the podcast doesn't number its episodes. Use "[Video podcast episode]" for a video podcast.
MLA (9th Edition)
Host Last, First, host. "Title of Episode." Name of Podcast, season x, episode x, Publisher, Day Mon. Year, URL.
Glass, Ira, host. "Amusement Park." This American Life, episode 443, WBEZ Chicago, 12 Aug. 2011, www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park.
In-text: (Glass 00:12:45-13:10)
MLA gives time ranges in hours, minutes and seconds. The pattern follows the MLA Style Center's own podcast example: Gladwell, Malcolm, narrator. "The Lady Vanishes." Revisionist History, season 1, episode 1, Slate Group, 2016, revisionisthistory.com/seasons?selected=season-1. If you listened in an app, the Style Center puts the app's name in the version slot and leaves out the URL: Gladwell, Malcolm, narrator. "The Lady Vanishes." Revisionist History, iTunes app, 16 June 2016.
Chicago (18th Edition)
The Chicago Manual's own example:
Footnote:
- Lauren Ober, host, The Loudest Girl in the World, season 1, episode 2, "Goodbye, Routine; Hello, Meltdown!," Pushkin Industries, September 13, 2022, 41 min., 37 sec., https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/loudest-girl-in-the-world.
Shortened note:
- Ober, "Goodbye, Routine."
Bibliography:
Ober, Lauren, host. The Loudest Girl in the World. Season 1, episode 2, "Goodbye, Routine; Hello, Meltdown!" Pushkin Industries, September 13, 2022. Podcast, 41 min., 37 sec. https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/loudest-girl-in-the-world.
Author-date in-text: (Ober 2022)
Chicago puts the podcast name before the episode title and records the running time. To point to a moment in a recording, the same Quick Guide adds a timestamp to a shortened note for a video: Cowan, "Green Hydrogen," at 6:09–17.
Harvard (Cite Them Right)
Host Surname, Initial. (Year) 'Title of episode', Name of podcast [Podcast]. Day Month. Available at: URL (Accessed: Day Month Year).
Glass, I. (2011) 'Amusement park', This American life [Podcast]. 12 August. Available at: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park (Accessed: 21 September 2026).
In-text: (Glass, 2011)
Cite Them Right is a subscription service, so this template could not be checked against it. It follows the pattern the Cite Them Right-based university guides use, and university guides differ: the University of Leeds Harvard guide, for example, gives "Mantel, H. 2017. Adaptation. The Reith lectures. [Podcast]. [Accessed 24 August 2017]. Available from: URL". Use the form in your own institution's guide.
IEEE
The IEEE Reference Guide has no podcast format. The closest model is its online video format: creator, title, release date, accessed date, medium and URL.
[1] I. Glass, Host. "Amusement park," This American Life, no. 443. (Aug. 12, 2011). Accessed: Sep. 21, 2026. [Online Audio]. Available: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/443/amusement-park
In-text: [1]
Because this is an adaptation, check whether your journal or instructor has a preferred form.
Quoting and Timestamps
A timestamp tells the reader where in the recording the quoted words begin.
APA: (Glass, 2011, 12:45) MLA: (Glass 00:12:45-13:10) Chicago note (the Quick Guide's video example): 1. Cowan, "Green Hydrogen," at 6:09–17. Harvard: (Glass, 2011, 12:45)
Podcasts often insert different advertisements for different listeners, so the same episode can run longer or shorter and a timestamp may not match exactly. Timestamps are still the accepted locator. If an official transcript exists, quoting from it is more reliable.
Interviews and Guests
Many podcast citations are really citations of something a guest said. APA, MLA and Harvard keep the host or the episode title at the front of the reference and expect you to introduce the guest in your sentence:
In a 2023 interview on Fresh Air, computer scientist Joy Buolamwini discussed bias in facial recognition technology (Mosley, 2023).
Chicago treats a broadcast interview as the interviewee's work. Its own example:
Buolamwini, Joy. "'If You Have a Face, You Have a Place in the Conversation About AI,' Expert Says." Interview by Tonya Mosley. Fresh Air, NPR, November 28, 2023. Audio, 37:58. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/28/1215529902/unmasking-ai-facial-recognition-technology-joy-buolamwini.
For more on this, see how to cite an interview.
Other Edge Cases
No URL (app only). APA: omit the URL. MLA: name the app in the version slot. Chicago and Harvard: name the platform, for example "Spotify".
Several hosts. List them all in the order credited. APA gives the role once, in the plural, after the last name: Meraji, S. M., & Demby, G. (Hosts).
No episode title. Use the date or a description in square brackets (APA) or a plain description (MLA).
Radio programs released as podcasts. If you listened to the podcast feed, cite it as a podcast. If you heard the live broadcast, cite a radio broadcast: [Radio broadcast] in APA.
Video podcasts on YouTube. If you watched on YouTube, cite the YouTube video. See how to cite online videos.
Common Mistakes
- Citing the series when you used one episode
- Giving only the year. Episodes need the full release date.
- Listing the guest as the author in APA, MLA or Harvard
- Omitting the "(Host)" role or the "[Audio podcast episode]" description in APA
- Linking to a podcast app's share link that only opens for subscribers
- Quoting without a timestamp
Sources for These Formats
- APA Style, "Podcast References" (apastyle.apa.org)
- MLA Handbook, 9th ed., and the MLA Style Center, "How do I cite a podcast episode?" (style.mla.org/how-do-i-cite-a-podcast-episode)
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed., Citation Quick Guide, "Video or Podcast" and "Interview" (chicagomanualofstyle.org)
- Pears and Shields, Cite Them Right (subscription; not consulted), and the University of Leeds Harvard guide, "Podcast" (library.leeds.ac.uk/referencing-examples/9/leeds-harvard/527/podcast)
- IEEE Reference Guide, version 3.28.2025, section K, "Online Video" (adapted)
Full style rules: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, IEEE.
