From true crime to comedy, podcasts are all the rage right now. And unsurprisingly, the information they provide is sneaking into our writing. But, just like written sources, podcasts need to be properly cited in reference lists, notes, and bibliographies. This post explains how to cite a podcast according to three of our primary style guides:
1. The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago Style) and its student version, Turabian
2. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style)
3. MLA style from the Modern Language Association
If you don’t know which style to follow, see “Which Style Guide Is Best for You?” Note that all three styles are used in academic writing. However, Chicago style is the most useful for business writing and writing geared to traditional publishing.
The bonus section at the end of this post explains how to write the titles of podcast series and episodes in sentences.
(For simplicity, all the examples below feature fictitious podcasts.)
How to Cite Podcasts according to Chicago Style
The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago Style) has separate podcast formats for notes and reference lists. Both formats include the following information:1
- Host’s name
- Episode title
- Publication date
- Series title
- Producer’s name
- The word podcast
- File format (if intended for download)
- Episode length
- URL
Note Format
12. Bartholomew Wright, “Things I Have Eaten Off the Floor,” January 13, 2020, in Tiny Dog Diaries, produced by Peabody Wright, podcast, MP3 audio, 45:10, https://www.fakeurl.com/fakepodcast.
Reference List Format
Wright, Bartholomew. “Things I have Eaten Off the Floor.” Produced by Peabody Wright. Tiny Dog Diaries, January 12, 2020. Podcast, MP3 audio, 45:10. https://www.fakeurl.com.
Chicago style doesn’t provide a format for citing an entire podcast without identifying a specific episode.
In-Text Citation
If you are using Chicago style’s author-date system with a reference list, the in-text parenthetical citation should include the host’s last name and the year of production. There is no comma between the name and the date:2
Dogs eat approximately six billion biscuits per year (Wright 2020).
Style Guide Alert: Turabian
Chicago style’s student version, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turabian, follows a slightly different podcast citation format.3
Wright, Bartholomew, 2020. “Things I Have Eaten Off the Floor.” January 13, 2020. In Tiny Dog Diaries, produced by Peabody Wright. Podcast, MP3 audio, 45:10. https://www.fakeurl.com.
Turabian’s in-text parenthetical citation is identical to the Chicago-style in-text citation shown above. However, Turabian also gives you the option to include a specific time range.4
Dogs eat approximately six billion biscuits per year (Wright 2020, at 32:10–33:27).
How to Cite Podcasts according to APA Style
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style) provides separate reference entry formats for podcast series and individual episodes.
Podcast Series Format
The following information should be included for podcast series:5
- Host’s name followed by the word Host
- Years of production
- Series title
- The words Audio podcast or Video podcast
- Producer or publishing company
- URL
Wright, J. (Host). (2017–present). Cat Crimes: True Stories of Felines Gone Bad [Audio podcast]. Heckle Productions. https://www.fakeurl.com.
Podcast Episode Format
The reference entries for individual podcast episodes should include the following information:6
- Host’s name followed by the word Host
- Publication date
- Episode title
- Episode number (if available)
- The words Audio podcast episode or Video podcast episode
- Series title
- Producer or publishing company
- URL
Wright, J. (Host). (2020, October 14). I stole the cheese (No. 178) [Audio podcast episode]. In Cat Crimes: True Stories of Felines Gone Bad. Heckle Productions. https://www.fakeurl.com.
In-Text Citation
The in-text parenthetical citation should include the host’s last name and the year or years of production. Include a comma between the name and the date:7
According to the podcast Cat Crimes: True Stories of Felines Gone Bad, cats are responsible for three percent of all unsolved burglaries in the United States (Wright, 2020).
How to Cite Podcasts according to MLA Style
The MLA Handbook from the Modern Language Association doesn’t address podcasts. However, the MLA Style Center says podcast reference entries (which are called works-cited entries in MLA style) should include the following information:8
- Host’s name followed by the word narrator or host
- Episode title
- Series title
- Season and episode numbers (if available)
- Publishing company (if available)
- Publication date
- Website name (if the podcast is from a specific website)
- URL
Wright, Moses, narrator. “Old Dogs and Honky Tonks.” Canine Country Music Review, season 2, episode 5, Wailin’ Windy Productions, 21 Aug. 2019. Bluegrass Cairns, https://www.fakeurl.com.
MLA style also has a shortened citation format for podcasts accessed through specific apps. I caution against using that format because most podcasts are available through a variety of platforms, and your audience will be best served by complete citations. However, you can learn more about that shortened format through the link in the reference list below.
In-Text Citation
The in-text parenthetical citation should include the narrator’s or host’s last name and the time range containing the referenced information using an hour, minute, second format. There’s no comma between the name and the time.9
Listeners voted The Yelping Yorkies’ album Banjo Paws as the best Americana album of 2019 (Wright 00:10:01–57).
How to Write the Titles of Podcast Series and Episodes in Sentences
Within sentences, put the names of podcast series in italics and the titles of individual episodes in quotation marks.10
More than 50,000 fans of the hit podcast Poodle Parade streamed the final episode titled “How to Control Your Human in Any Situation.”
Further Reading: How to Capitalize Hyphenated Words in Titles and Headings
References
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017), 14.267.
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 15.57.
- Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018), 19.10.3.3.
- Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 19.10.3.3.
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2020), 10.13 (sec. 93).
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 10.13 (sec. 94).
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 10.13 (sec. 93–94).
- “How Do I Cite an Episode of a Podcast?” Ask the MLA, The MLA Style Center, accessed November 20, 2019.
- MLA Handbook, 8th ed. (New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2016), 56–57.
- The Chicago Manual of Style, 8.189; Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6.7, 6.22; MLA Handbook, 1.2.2.
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