AI Podcasts

Scholarly can turn your study materials into multi-speaker podcast episodes. Upload PDFs, text files, images, or describe a topic from scratch -- and the platform generates a full audio discussion with transcript, chapters, and citations.

Creating a Podcast

Podcast creation is a two-step process.

Step 1 -- Pick your content. Select one or more sources:

• PDFs -- Upload or choose from your library.
• Text files -- Upload .txt, .md, or .csv files.
• Images -- Upload photos, diagrams, or screenshots.
• Videos -- Use existing video lectures as source material.
• Research sessions -- Use completed research reports.
• Prompt -- Use the Prompt tab to describe any topic and generate a podcast from scratch, no files needed.

Step 2 -- Customize settings. Before generating, you can configure:

• Style preset -- Choose from Conversational, Exam Prep, Deep Dive, or Quick Summary. Each preset changes the structure and depth of the discussion.
• Custom instructions -- Add free-text instructions to control the tone, focus areas, or what the speakers should emphasize.
• Guest voice -- Select a custom voice for the guest speaker.
• Language -- Choose from 70+ supported languages for the generated episode.

Once you confirm, generation begins. You can leave the page and come back later.

Generation Progress

Podcasts go through several stages:

1. Pending -- Queued for processing.
2. Generating transcript -- The AI writes the full script from your sources.
3. Generating audio -- Text-to-speech produces the audio file.
4. Completed -- Ready to listen.

You can track the current status on the podcast page at any time.

Voice Quality

Podcast audio is generated with natural, expressive text-to-speech voices that capture tone, pacing, and emphasis. Voices adapt their delivery to the content -- slowing down for technical explanations and picking up energy during engaging moments. All 70+ supported languages use the same high-quality voice generation.

Speakers and Format

Every episode uses a multi-speaker format with three roles:

• Alex -- The host. Drives the conversation and asks questions.
• Sam -- The producer. Provides context and keeps things on track.
• Guest -- Brings expertise on the topic. Uses the voice you selected during creation.

Chapters and Citations

Episodes are broken into chapters. Each chapter includes:

• A title and summary
• Time markers so you can jump to specific sections
• Speaker labels showing who is talking
• Citations that reference the original source material

This makes it easy to find the exact part of the discussion that covers a topic you need to review.

Transcript

A full transcript is available on every completed podcast. Each line is attributed to a specific speaker, so you can read along or search for particular content without scrubbing through audio.

Playback

The audio player supports chapter-based navigation. Click any chapter to jump directly to that section. The download option is available in the three-dot menu.

Captions

Every completed podcast comes with synced captions. Toggle the CC button on the player to read along while you listen — useful in noisy spaces, in a second language, or when you just want to skim the script.

Captions follow the speaker labels in the transcript so you always know who is talking. They're off by default; turn them on once and the player remembers your choice next time. See the full breakdown in Captions for Podcasts and Videos.

Renaming

Click the podcast title to rename it.

Sharing

Share any podcast with a link. Recipients can listen to the episode, read the transcript, and browse chapters without needing to create an account.

Creating from AI Chat

You can create podcasts directly from the AI chat. Just say something like "make a podcast about photosynthesis" or "turn this into a podcast" and the AI handles the rest. When the podcast is ready, it plays inline in the conversation -- no need to navigate away.

Creating from an Upload

You can also create a podcast when you upload files. Add your files, open the More menu, and choose Create Podcast. A customization panel lets you pick a style preset, guest voice, language, and custom instructions before generating.

AI Chat

Every completed podcast has a dedicated AI chat panel. Ask questions about the episode content, request clarification on a topic, or explore related ideas. The AI uses the podcast transcript and source materials to give grounded answers.