Turn Anything You're Studying Into a Podcast Worth Replaying
Scholarly's AI podcast generator turns a PDF, your lecture notes, a YouTube video, a slide deck, or a recording into a two-host audio episode grounded in your actual material — with chapters, a click-to-jump transcript, and citations back to the source.
Free to start · No credit card · 70+ languages
What is an AI podcast generator?
An AI podcast generator is a tool that writes and voices an audio episode from content you give it. Scholarly's version is built specifically for students: instead of producing a generic show, it reads your actual study material — a textbook chapter, your class notes, a recorded lecture — and scripts a conversation between two AI hosts who explain it, question it, and recap it. The episode comes with chapter markers, a transcript you can click to jump through, and citations that point back to the exact pages in your source.
Updated June 2026
How the AI podcast generator works
Three steps from a folder of course material to an episode in your headphones.
Upload your material
Drop in a PDF, slide deck, lecture recording, YouTube link, website, or your own typed notes — or just describe a topic. Scholarly reads the actual source, up to hundreds of pages per document.
Pick a style, AI writes & voices it
Choose Conversational, Exam Prep, Deep Dive, or Quick Summary, add custom instructions if you want, and pick from 70+ languages. The AI scripts a two-host conversation and generates the audio in a couple of minutes.
Listen, jump, reuse
Stream with chapters and synced captions, click any transcript line to jump there, download the MP3 for offline listening, or share the episode with classmates — then spin flashcards and a quiz from the same source.
One generator, every kind of study source
If it's part of your course, you can probably turn it into an episode.
PDFs & textbooks
Textbook chapters, journal articles, lab manuals, case studies — upload the file and the hosts work from the real text, not a summary of a summary.
Lecture & class notes
Typed notes, exported docs, even photos of handwritten pages. Messy structure is fine; the AI organizes the episode around the concepts, not your formatting.
YouTube videos
Paste a link to a recorded lecture or explainer video and get a tighter audio version you can replay on the bus without a screen.
Slides & presentations
PowerPoint and slide PDFs become a narrated discussion that fills in the words your professor said between the bullet points.
Lecture recordings & audio
Upload a recorded lecture and get back a shorter, structured episode — the 50-minute ramble distilled into the 10 minutes that will be on the exam.
Websites & articles
Paste a URL — course pages, documentation, news analysis — and the hosts discuss what it actually says, with the source kept alongside the episode.
Every episode is built for studying
A generic AI podcast maker gives you an audio file. Scholarly gives you a study object you can navigate, verify, and reuse.
Two-host conversation
A host and a guest talk through your material — explaining, asking the questions you'd ask, and challenging weak intuitions. It's a discussion, not a monotone read-aloud.
Four episode styles
Conversational for a first pass, Exam Prep for drilling likely questions, Deep Dive for the hard chapters, Quick Summary when you have ten minutes. Custom instructions let you steer further.
70+ languages
Generate the episode in your study language or your native one — natural AI voices in over 70 languages, useful when you study in English but think in something else.
Transcript & synced captions
A full transcript sits next to the player. Click any line to jump to that moment, or toggle captions to read along in a loud room or a quiet library.
Citations to your source
Claims in the episode are backed by references to your original document, with page pointers — so you can check anything that sounds off before it ends up in your exam answer.
MP3 download & sharing
Download episodes as MP3s for offline listening on any device, or send classmates a link. Your commute playlist can be this week's readings.
What a generated episode sounds like
A real-shaped example: a 28-page cardiology lecture PDF turned into an 11-minute Exam Prep episode.
The hosts frame why the cardiac cycle trips students up and name the three things the exam will lean on: the phases, the valve timings, and the pressure curves. A chapter marker drops here so you can return to the overview in one tap.
The host walks through systole and diastole phase by phase while the guest interrupts with the questions a student would actually ask — wait, which valves are open during isovolumetric contraction? Each phase gets its own chapter marker.
The hosts quiz each other on the classic confusions: when the AV valves close, what the dicrotic notch means, why the pressure-volume loop is drawn the way it is — citing the page in your PDF where each answer lives.
A sixty-second summary of the whole episode, then a pointer to the flashcards and practice quiz generated from the same chapter — because listening twice is worth less than testing yourself once.
Does listening actually help you study?
The honest answer first: listening alone will not get you a grade. Audio is recognition-friendly — it makes material feel familiar without proving you can retrieve it. If your entire study plan is podcasts on 1.5x, you will walk into the exam recognizing every question and answering few of them. We build flashcards and practice quizzes into the same product precisely because a podcast is a complement to retrieval practice, never a substitute for it.
What audio genuinely is good at: a different encoding pass. Hearing two voices reformulate your chapter — explaining it, questioning it, disagreeing about what matters — forces the material through a different representation than the one on the page. That's the practical end of dual-coding: meet the same idea in print and in conversation, and you have more than one route back to it under exam pressure.
Audio also wins on logistics. The 25 minutes on the bus, the walk between classes, the gym — none of that time is usable for a 40-page PDF, and all of it is usable for an 11-minute chaptered episode. Priming before a lecture (listen on the way in, and the lecture lands better) and refreshing before an exam (replay the Exam Prep episode the night before) are the two patterns students actually report using.
And because every Scholarly episode is grounded in your source, the podcast is a doorway rather than a dead end: the transcript links back to the document, the same upload becomes spaced-repetition flashcards and a scoped quiz, and the AI chat already knows what's in the chapter. Listen once, then test yourself — that's the loop that moves grades.
Where other AI podcast tools win, and where Scholarly wins
An honest map of the category — because the famous tool is genuinely good, and the creator tools solve a different problem entirely.
Where it shines: Google's Audio Overviews popularized AI podcasts, and they remain free, polished, and impressively natural. If you want a one-off audio summary of a document and you live in the Google ecosystem, it's a genuinely fine choice.
Built as a general research notebook — broad sourcing, generous free tier, excellent voice quality.
Conversation control is limited: essentially one style, with restrained customization and narrower language coverage than dedicated tools.
It's not a study system. No spaced-repetition flashcards, no practice quizzes, no exam-prep mode tied to the episode — the audio is the end of the road.
Where they shine: these are serious production suites for people publishing real shows — voice cloning, episode editing, intro music, RSS distribution to Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
If your goal is an audience, they're the right category and Scholarly is not.
For studying they're overkill in the wrong places: priced for creators, focused on production polish, with no grounding in your course material.
No citations, no transcript-to-source linking, no flashcards or quizzes — because none of that matters for a show, and all of it matters for an exam.
Where it shines: an AI podcast generator built for one job — turning your course material into audio you can study from.
Source-grounded with citations: episodes are scripted from your actual document, and claims point back to the pages they came from.
Four study-specific styles, custom instructions, 70+ languages, chapters, synced captions, click-to-jump transcript, MP3 download.
The episode feeds a full study loop: the same upload becomes flashcards, a practice quiz, and an AI chat that knows the material.
From an episode to your full study loop
A podcast is a great first pass, not a study plan. Every episode Scholarly generates is wired into the rest of the platform: the same source becomes spaced-repetition flashcards, a scoped practice quiz, and an AI chat tutor that has already read the document. Listen on the commute, drill the cards at your desk, sit the quiz before the exam — that's the loop.
Pick the tool that matches your source
These input-specific podcast tools all run on the same generator — start from whichever format is sitting on your laptop.
PDF to Podcast
Turn a textbook chapter or paper into a two-host episode.
Notes to Podcast
Class notes and exam outlines, replayable as audio.
Study Podcast Generator
Exam-prep audio from topics, notes, or files.
AI Podcast from PDF
The full guide to the PDF-to-audio workflow.
Podcasts Feature
Everything the podcast player and generator can do.
Audio to Notes
Going the other way: turn recordings into written notes.
AI podcast generator — frequently asked questions
What is an AI podcast generator?
It's a tool that writes and voices an audio episode from content you provide. Scholarly's version is made for students: it reads your study material — a PDF, notes, a lecture recording, a YouTube link — and produces a two-host conversation with chapters, a transcript, and citations back to your source.
Is Scholarly's AI podcast generator free?
You can start free with no credit card. Free accounts can generate podcasts with daily limits; paid plans raise the limits, support longer source documents, and unlock additional voices.
Can I make an AI podcast from a PDF?
Yes — this is the most common workflow. Upload a textbook chapter, journal article, or slide PDF and the hosts script the episode from the actual text. Long documents work; the generator handles hundreds of pages per source on higher plans.
Can I make a podcast from my class notes?
Yes. Paste typed notes, upload a document, or add photos of handwritten pages. The AI organizes the episode around the concepts in your notes, so messy formatting doesn't matter. There's a dedicated Notes to Podcast tool if that's your main use case.
How long are the episodes?
Most episodes land between 8 and 12 minutes — long enough to cover a chapter properly, short enough to finish on a commute. You can request a specific length in the custom instructions, from a 3-minute refresher up to a 12-minute deep pass.
What do the voices sound like? Can I change them?
Episodes use two natural AI voices in a host-and-guest format, with tone and pacing that sound like a real conversation rather than text-to-speech. Voices are matched to the language you choose, and paid plans unlock additional voice options.
What languages does it support?
Over 70 languages. You can study a source written in English and generate the episode in Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Portuguese, or your own language — the transcript and captions follow the episode language.
Can I download episodes and listen offline?
Yes. Every episode can be downloaded as an MP3 and played in any podcast or music app, no connection required. You can also share an episode with classmates via a link.
How is this different from NotebookLM's Audio Overviews?
NotebookLM's Audio Overviews are excellent for a one-off audio summary, and if that's all you need, they're a fine free option. Scholarly's differences are study-specific: four episode styles including Exam Prep, 70+ languages, citations with page references, and a study loop — flashcards, quizzes, and AI chat generated from the same source as the episode.
Can it make a podcast from a YouTube video or a lecture recording?
Yes to both. Paste a YouTube link or upload a recorded lecture, and the generator produces a shorter, structured episode from it — useful for compressing a 50-minute recording into the 10 minutes you actually need to review.
Will the podcast make things up?
The episode is scripted from your uploaded source rather than from the model's general knowledge, and claims carry citations back to the document so you can verify them. No AI system is perfect, so for high-stakes facts — drug dosages, legal rules, exam-critical numbers — click the citation and check the page. That one-click check is exactly why the citations exist.
Do I need to upload a file, or can I just give it a topic?
You can start from just a topic description and get a solid episode. That said, source-grounded episodes are consistently better for studying because they cover what your course covers — your professor's emphasis, your textbook's notation — instead of a generic overview of the subject.
From the blog
Guides on studying by listening, minus the hype.
How to Make a Study Podcast From Your Notes
The step-by-step notes-to-audio workflow, with style tips.
NotebookLM vs Scholarly: The Deep Dive
An honest head-to-head between the two source-grounded tools.
Auditory Learning: Enhancing Study Material With Narration
What the evidence says about studying through your ears.
Listen to Textbooks Using Text-to-Speech
When raw TTS is enough — and when a podcast beats it.
Keep exploring
More ways to study with Scholarly
Pair your podcasts with the rest of the platform.
AI Podcasts Feature
The full tour: voices, styles, languages, chapters.
AI Podcast from PDF
The complete PDF-to-audio guide.
AI Flashcards
Spaced-repetition cards from the same source.
AI Practice Quizzes
Test yourself on what you just listened to.
Lecture Transcription
Record and transcribe live lectures automatically.
All AI Study Tools
Every Scholarly study tool in one place.
Start free. Upgrade when your library grows.
Your first podcasts are free with no credit card. Paid plans raise daily limits, handle longer source documents, and unlock additional voices.
Free
- 3 AI Chat messages per day
- 3 AI creations per day
- 1 file upload per day (8MB)
- 1 research report per day
- 5 quiz questions per day
- 1 exam attempt per day
- 15 voice minutes per day
- 32-page PDF to flashcards
- 500 autocomplete words per day
Use it to generate flashcards, improve a deck, make a podcast, create a video lecture, build slides, or process a recording.
Ultimate
$144 billed yearly
Everything in Free, plus:
- Unlimited normal chat & autocomplete
- Unlimited premium model messages
- Unlimited AI creations
- Unlimited file uploads (up to 300MB)
- Unlimited study sessions
- Unlimited exams & quizzes
- 1000-page PDF to flashcards
- Export to Anki
- Priority support
Pricing in USD. Local currency available in app.
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What students say
Scholarly has been a valuable tool for my studies. The AI-generated flashcards and intuitive features make organizing and retaining information much easier.
Briana
Student
This app is great for studying for big test. Drop your PDF's in the system and it'll do the trick. You can organize it specifically for your needs.
Kelvin
Student
I am currently preparing for a test that covers a substantial amount of material, and I've found that not having to physically write out my flashcards has been incredibly beneficia...
Isabelle
Student
Scholarly is great for students. I am enrolled in online university and my classes are all PDF based. All I do is upload the PDF and it creates flashcards decks for me. The greate...
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Your questions, answered
Is Scholarly free to use?
Yes! The free plan includes core study tools with daily limits: AI Chat messages, 3 AI creations per day, research reports, file uploads, quizzes, practice exams, and manual flashcard creation. Upgrade to Ultimate when you want unlimited AI creations and higher limits.
What uses my daily AI creation?
Generating flashcards, improving a flashcard deck, making a podcast, creating a video lecture, building slides, or processing a recording each use the same daily free AI creation allowance. AI Chat messages, uploads, quizzes, and exams have their own separate daily limits.
Can I cancel anytime?
Absolutely. There are no contracts or commitments. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings, and you'll keep access until the end of your billing period.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept all major credit and debit cards through Stripe. Pricing is displayed in USD by default, but local currency is available in the app.
Do you offer discounts for educators?
Yes, we offer special pricing for educators and educational institutions. Contact us at hello@scholarly.so for details.
What happens when I hit a free plan limit?
You'll see a prompt to upgrade. Your existing work is never lost — limits only apply to new daily actions like AI Chat messages, uploads, quiz questions, and new AI creations. Limits reset every day.
For Educators or Schools
Contact us for special pricing at hello@scholarly.so.