Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography)
How to cite a podcast episode in Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography)
A podcast episode is a part of a series, so it needs the same host/producer distinction as a book chapter — plus an episode number that is easy to miss.
THE FORMAT
A podcast episode in Chicago, at a glance
Last, First, host. “Title of Episode.” Podcast Name (podcast), episode N, Month Day, Year. MM:SS. URL.
Okafor, Ruth, host. “The Archive That Burned.” Slow Histories (podcast), episode 42, October 5, 2022. 41:18. https://slowhistories.org/episodes/42.
1. Ruth Okafor, host, “The Archive That Burned,” Slow Histories (podcast), episode 42, October 5, 2022, at 12:40, https://slowhistories.org/episodes/42.
In prose: 9. Okafor, “Archive That Burned.”
Okafor, Ruth, host. “Field Notes from Lagos.” Slow Histories (podcast), March 14, 2023. 38:02. https://slowhistories.org/episodes/field-notes-lagos.
In text: 3. Ruth Okafor, host, “Field Notes from Lagos,” Slow Histories (podcast), March 14, 2023, at 6:15, https://slowhistories.org/episodes/field-notes-lagos.
Copyeditor formats APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE automatically — cite a source once and the bibliography builds itself. See how citations work .
BEFORE YOU FORMAT
What Chicago needs from a podcast episode
Elements to collect
- Host or producer, with their role in parentheses
- Date the episode was released
- Title of the individual episode
- Episode number, when the series uses them
- Title of the podcast series
- Production company or network
- URL
Rules specific to this entry
- An episode is a part and the series is the whole, so the episode goes in quotation marks and the series in italics — the same logic Chicago applies to a chapter inside a book.
- Name the contributor’s role after the name: “host,” “producer,” “interviewer.” Chicago wants to know what the person did, not just that they were involved.
- The bibliography entry carries the total running time; the note carries the timestamp of the passage you are citing, introduced by “at.”
- Add the network or production company after the date when it matters to your argument or when two podcasts share a title.
Building the entry, step by step
Collect the details
Before you format anything, gather every element Chicago needs for a podcast episode: Host or producer, with their role in parentheses; Date the episode was released; Title of the individual episode; Episode number, when the series uses them.
Build the bibliography entry
Arrange those details in the Chicago order: Last, First, host. “Title of Episode.” Podcast Name (podcast), episode N, Month Day, Year. MM:SS. URL.
Add the in-text citation
In the body of your paper, cite it as 1. Ruth Okafor, host, “The Archive That Burned,” Slow Histories (podcast), episode 42, October 5, 2022, at 12:40, https://slowhistories.org/episodes/42. — or work the same reference into your sentence as 9. Okafor, “Archive That Burned.”.
Check it against the exceptions
An episode is a part and the series is the whole, so the episode goes in quotation marks and the series in italics — the same logic Chicago applies to a chapter inside a book.
Chicago RULES
The conventions behind every Chicago entry
The Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.) is the authority. Where a journal or department publishes its own house rules, those win — check your submission guidelines before the bibliography is final.
The rules that apply across every source — author order, capitalization, how the bibliography is sorted, and where Chicago entries most often go wrong — are collected on the Chicago 17th edition (notes–bibliography) guide.
The same podcast episode in another style
Switching styles late in a draft is normal. Here is the same source formatted five other ways.
Questions about Chicago and podcast episodes
What if the podcast episode has no author?
Move the title into the author position and alphabetize by the first significant word of that title — ignoring an initial “A”, “An” or “The”. In the text, use a shortened form of the title where the author name would go.
What do I need before I can cite a podcast episode?
Host or producer, with their role in parentheses, Date the episode was released, Title of the individual episode, and the rest of the elements listed above. A podcast episode is a part of a series, so it needs the same host/producer distinction as a book chapter — plus an episode number that is easy to miss.
Is there anything unusual about a podcast episode in Chicago?
An episode is a part and the series is the whole, so the episode goes in quotation marks and the series in italics — the same logic Chicago applies to a chapter inside a book.
What else catches people out here?
Name the contributor’s role after the name: “host,” “producer,” “interviewer.” Chicago wants to know what the person did, not just that they were involved.
Can I reformat this podcast episode in another style later?
By hand, you would retype the entry — the element order, punctuation and italics all differ between styles. In Copyeditor, sources are stored as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole reference list at once.
Cite it once
and never reformat it again
Copyeditor keeps sources as structured data, so switching between APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE reformats every citation and the whole bibliography at once.
