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

Start from Home, the New menu, a source's AI actions, or the first-run welcome picker. Podcast creation is then a two-step process.

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

• PDFs -- Upload or choose from your library. For long PDFs, use the page selector to pick exactly which pages the episode should cover.
• 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.
• Google Drive -- Pick files straight from your Drive, no downloading and re-uploading. See Connected Apps.
• Link -- Paste a link to a website or an online PDF.
• 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.
• Length -- Use the length slider to set a target duration for the episode, from a quick summary to a longer deep dive.
• 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, or leave it on Auto and let Scholarly choose distinct voices for you.
• AI model -- Pick which AI model writes the episode script. Free and Premium Auto use GPT 5.6 Luna. Frontier Boost on makes Auto (Laureate) use Claude Opus 5 with low reasoning; off uses GPT 5.6 Luna with high reasoning. The picker groups named choices under Recommended Models, Frontier Models, and More Models; anyone can browse, but choosing a specific model is a paid feature. This choice only affects the written transcript -- voices and audio generation are unchanged. See Choosing an AI Model for the full defaults table.
• Visual companion -- On by default. Generates one chapter slide per chapter alongside the audio. Turn it off for an audio-only episode.
• Language -- Choose from 70+ supported languages for the generated episode.

Free podcasts are capped at about 15 minutes — a commute-length listen. The length slider shows this limit and an Upgrade link right there. A paid plan removes the cap and lets you set a longer target length (up to 60 minutes). The target guides generation rather than guaranteeing an exact runtime. See Plans and Limits.

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 a host, a producer, and a guest. Speakers are named after the voice you hear -- for example, Cosmo, Ursa, or Sirius. By default Scholarly chooses distinct voices for the host and producer automatically; if you pick a Guest voice during creation, the guest speaker uses that voice's name instead, while the host and producer stay automatic.

Visual Companion

Every new podcast includes a visual companion by default: one chapter slide alongside the audio, which advances automatically to match the current chapter as you listen. Use the arrows on the slide to jump to the previous or next chapter's visual. You can turn the visual companion off in the customize step for an audio-only episode.

Video Mode

After the episode audio and chapter slides are ready, Scholarly creates a separate 16:9 MP4 in a secure rendering environment. The export matches each slide to its chapter timing and keeps the finished podcast playable even if the video step needs another try. It does not use another AI creation.

Use the Audio / Video switch above the visual companion. Older podcasts with chapter slides can start their MP4 from Video mode. Anyone with access to the podcast can watch or share the video version. MP4 downloads are a paid-plan export; on Free, Download opens upgrade and copying a share link stays free.

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 three-dot menu offers audio and, when ready, MP4 downloads. Downloads require a paid plan; on Free, Download opens upgrade and copying a share link stays free.

Interactive Questions

New podcasts come with built-in check-for-understanding questions. While you listen, a quick question appears right after the idea it tests finishes -- the audio never pauses. Answer it to get an explanation grounded in that part of the episode.

Every podcast has an Interactive questions panel under the player. From it you can:

• Revisit any question from the full list, not just the one that just played.
• See your Best and Last scores, plus a full history of past attempts.
• Retake the questions as many times as you like -- only completed attempts count toward your Best.

Prefer to just listen? Turn the toggle off in the questions panel at any time -- the setting is saved to your account, so future episodes follow the same preference until you change it.

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, then choose Create Podcast from the primary create tiles. 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.