How to cite a podcast episode in MLA 9

In MLA the episode is the source and the podcast is the container. The host goes in the author’s position.

Works Cited format

Last, First, host. "Title of the Episode." Podcast Name, season and episode number (if any), Publisher, Day Month Year, URL.

Okafor, Tobi, host. “Why We Procrastinate.” Mind Matters Weekly, episode 42, Northbridge Audio, 8 Jan. 2025, example.org/mind-matters/42.

• Host. In the author’s position, with the word “host” after the name. A narrator is labeled “narrator.”
• Episode title. In quotation marks.
• Podcast name. In italics. This is the container.
• Season and episode. Give the numbers if the podcast uses them.
• Publisher. The network or organization behind the podcast.
• Date. The date of the episode. If the page gives no date, MLA’s guidance is to use the website’s copyright date.
• URL. The address of the episode.

Special cases

• You listened in an app. Put the name of the app in the version position and give the other details your device shows.
• A guest host. If a guest hosted the episode, name the guest host in the author position. Don’t add the regular host.
• The podcast sits on a larger website, such as a news program’s site. List the larger website as a second container after the podcast.

In-text citation

Use the first element of the entry. With the host as author, use the host’s last name: (Okafor). A podcast has no page numbers, so give none.

Check before you submit

• The episode’s own page. It usually gives the date, the episode number and the publisher.
• Which version you heard. Some episodes are edited or re-released. Use the date of the one you listened to.
• For APA, see citing a podcast episode in APA.