On this page
Updated . Example details checked against serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi, released October 3, 2014.
The MLA format
Pattern
Last name, First name, host. “Episode Title.” Podcast Name, season #, episode #, Producer, Day Month Year, URL.
- Host leads, with the role “host.”
- Episode in quotation marks, podcast in italics.
- Producer or network as the publisher.
- App: if you listened in Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can add it as a second container in italics.
A real example
Works Cited entry
Koenig, Sarah, host. “The Alibi.” Serial, season 1, episode 1, This American Life, 3 Oct. 2014, serialpodcast.org/season-one/1/the-alibi.
In-text citation
(Koenig 00:12:10)
When details are missing
- No host named: start with the episode title.
- No numbers: leave season and episode out.
- A quotation: time stamp in the citation.
Common mistakes
- The podcast in quotation marks. The podcast is italic; the episode is quoted.
- Leaving out “host.” MLA labels the role.
Or let Format do it.
Choose Podcast episode and fill in the host, episode, podcast, numbers, producer, date and link. Format writes the Works Cited entry and the in-text citation in MLA 9, exactly as shown above, and builds the Works Cited page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
Do I cite the app I used?
Optional. Give it in italics after the episode details, with its link.
How do I cite a guest?
Cite the episode under the host, and name the guest in your sentence.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in MLA
Every source kind is on the MLA page, and every style is on How to cite.