How to cite a podcast in MLA
To cite a podcast episode accessed online in MLA style, list the host of the episode as the author, followed by the episode title, podcast name, the season and episode numbers if available, the publisher, the date, and the URL.
If you need to highlight a specific quote in an in-text citation, use a timestamp.
Format | Host last name, First name, host. “Episode Title.” Podcast Name, season number, episode number, Publisher, Day Month Year, URL. |
---|---|
Works Cited entry | Vogt, PJ, and Alex Goldman, hosts. “On the Inside.” Reply All, episode 64, Gimlet, 12 May 2016, https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/brho4v/64-on-the-inside. |
In-text citation | (Vogt and Goldman 11:34) |
Citing an entire podcast series
If it’s not a specific episode but a whole podcast series that you need to cite, the format is slightly more straightforward.
Format | Host last name, First name, host. Podcast Name. Publisher, year range, URL. |
---|---|
Works Cited entry | Adumbrad, Jad, host. Radiolab. WNYC, 2002–present, https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab. |
In-text citation | (Adumbrad) |
Citing a podcast from an app
If you accessed the podcast not from a website but from an app like iTunes or Spotify, list the app as the container and include whatever information you have access to.
Details like the publisher and season and episode numbers might be unavailable on the app; just omit them if they aren’t listed.
Format | Host last name, First name, host. “Episode Title.” Podcast Name, season number, episode number, Publisher, App Name app, Day Month Year. |
---|---|
Works Cited entry | Barbaro, Michael, host. “Hacked, Again.” The Daily, iTunes app, 16 Dec. 2020. |
In-text citation | (Barbaro 18:13) |
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Labeling the author of a podcast
The host of a podcast is generally listed as the author, unless you focus on someone else’s contribution—a guest, a narrator (i.e. when the podcast just tells a story, with no guests), or a producer.
Regardless of who you list as author, a label identifying their role should follow their name. Feel free to be flexible with these labels to describe the person’s role as clearly as possible.
- Glass, Ira, host.
- Gladwell, Malcolm, narrator.
- Sanger, David E., guest.
- Lechtenberg, Suzie, producer.
1 comment
Jack Caulfield (Scribbr-team)
January 4, 2021 at 3:14 PMThanks for reading! Hope you found this article helpful. If anything is still unclear, or if you didn’t find what you were looking for here, leave a comment and we’ll see if we can help.