How to Cite a Podcast in MLA, APA & Chicago
A podcast episode is one of the more structured sources you will cite: it has a host who acts like an author, an episode title that behaves like a chapter, a show that behaves like a book or journal, a release date, and a URL. Get those five pieces in the right slots and the citation falls into place in any style. This guide walks through citing a single episode — the unit you almost always quote — in MLA 9, APA 7, and Chicago 18, with one correct worked example per style.
The shortest answer: the host is the author (with a role label — “(Host)” in APA, “host” in MLA). The episode title goes in quotation marks; the show is the container. Cite the release date and the URL. To point at a specific moment, add a timestamp to the in-text citation, never to the reference list entry.
Episode versus whole show
Decide first which one you are citing. An episode is a single installment — the thing you actually heard a claim in. A whole podcast is the series as an ongoing work. Cite the whole show only when your point is about the series itself; otherwise cite the episode, which is what readers need to find your evidence.
The structural difference is the same one that separates a book chapter from a book. For an episode, the show is the container: APA writes “In Show Title,” MLA italicizes the show after the episode title, and Chicago names the show after the episode. For a whole podcast, the show title moves into the title slot and the host stands alone as author.
Information to collect before you cite
Open the episode’s page on the podcast’s website (more stable than an app deep link) and copy:
- Host name and role — the person responsible for the episode, plus their function (host, producer).
- Episode title — exactly as shown, including any colon or subtitle.
- Episode number — only if the show numbers its episodes.
- Show title — the name of the series, which becomes the container.
- Production company / network — the studio or network that makes the show (APA requires this).
- Release date — the date the episode was published, not the date you listened.
- URL — the canonical episode page, including
https://.
The generator at / handles most podcast URLs and fills these fields for you. Check the host-versus-show field — that is the one most often miscategorized.
The same episode, formatted in three styles
The source: Sofia Alvarez (host). “How Memory Forms While You Sleep,” episode 47 of the podcast Cognition Today, produced by Cognition Media, released June 10, 2024. URL: https://www.cognitiontoday.com/episodes/47
| Style | Reference list entry |
|---|---|
| MLA 9 | Alvarez, Sofia, host. “How Memory Forms While You Sleep.” Cognition Today, episode 47, Cognition Media, 10 June 2024, www.cognitiontoday.com/episodes/47. |
| APA 7 | Alvarez, S. (Host). (2024, June 10). How memory forms while you sleep (No. 47) [Audio podcast episode]. In Cognition Today. Cognition Media. https://www.cognitiontoday.com/episodes/47 |
| Chicago 18 (author–date) | Alvarez, Sofia. 2024. “How Memory Forms While You Sleep.” Cognition Today, podcast audio, June 10, 2024. https://www.cognitiontoday.com/episodes/47. |
Three details separate the styles. The first is how the host’s role is recorded. APA appends the label in parentheses after the name — Alvarez, S. (Host). — and MLA appends it after a comma — Alvarez, Sofia, host. Chicago author–date leaves the host as a plain author and signals the medium with the inline podcast audio note instead.
The second is case and the type designator. APA puts the episode title in sentence case and tags the medium with [Audio podcast episode]. MLA uses title case with the episode title in quotation marks and the show italicized as the container. Chicago uses title case and the inline podcast audio descriptor in place of a bracketed label.
The third is what counts as the container. In all three, the show Cognition Today is italicized and the episode title is not. APA prefixes it with “In” and follows it with the production company as publisher; MLA threads the publisher (Cognition Media) and date through its container slots; Chicago keeps the entry lean, letting the show title and date carry identification.
The in-text citation for a specific moment at 14:32:
- MLA: (Alvarez 14:32)
- APA: (Alvarez, 2024, 14:32)
- Chicago author–date: (Alvarez 2024, 14:32) — Chicago drops the comma between author and year
The timestamp lives only in the in-text citation. The reference list entry above is identical whether you cite one moment or discuss the whole episode.
When your podcast is different
No episode number. Drop it. Omit APA’s (No. 47) and MLA’s episode 47 entirely — the title and date are enough.
No named host. Use the producing organization in the author slot (APA: Cognition Media. (2024, June 10).), exactly as you would for a website with no author.
A guest or interview episode. When the episode is built around an interview, the styles disagree on whose name leads. See our interview guide for the full split.
A video podcast on YouTube. If you watched it as a video on YouTube rather than as released audio, cite it as a YouTube video with the channel and upload date.
A final principle: a podcast citation should get a reader to the same episode and, when it matters, the same minute. The release date and URL find the episode; the timestamp finds the moment. Include both only when both are relevant.
Frequently asked questions
Do I cite a whole podcast or a single episode?
Whose name goes in the author slot for a podcast?
How do I cite a specific moment in a podcast episode?
m:ss under an hour, h:mm:ss over).