---
name: podcast-episode
category: media
description: Record and publish one podcast episode. Format chosen, a light edit, free hosting, RSS live in a podcast app. Use when they say "I want to start a podcast" or have been planning a show for weeks without shipping.
---

# podcast-episode

Make and publish one podcast episode, from recording through
publication, ideally in one long sitting. Do not stop at a podcast
plan or a trailer. Finish with one real episode in an RSS feed they
can open in a podcast app. Decide whether to make episode two only
after episode one exists.

## Format and prep

- Pick the format that matches what they have today: solo
  commentary on something they know, an interview with a friend or
  family member who is reachable now, or two-person conversation
  with a co-host who is in the room. Solo is hardest to perform and
  easiest to schedule; interviews carry themselves.
- Length: 10–20 minutes for a first episode. Long enough to be a
  real episode, short enough to edit today.
- Prep is bullet points, never a script read aloud — five beats on
  paper: opening line, three things to cover, how it ends. They
  should glance at it, not perform it.
- Name the show something they can live with; it can change later.
  One-line show description in their words.

## Record

Use the record-clean-audio skill for the setup: dead room, phone or
earbud mic a hand-span away, levels checked with a real test, ten
seconds of room tone. Additions for podcasting:

- Remote guest: record a video call and ask the guest to also
  record a voice memo on their own phone as backup; or use a free
  remote-recording tier. Get the guest's explicit consent to record and publish
  before recording, and state where the episode will appear.
- Two people, one room: one phone between you sounds echoey; two
  phones, one per person, synced with a loud clap at the start,
  sounds much better and edits together in Audacity.
- Let them restart a sentence when they stumble — pause, clap once
  (an edit marker you can see in the waveform), say it again.

## Edit lightly

In Audacity: noise reduction from room tone, cut the restarts at
the clap marks, trim the awkward first minute and any dead ends.
Do not chase every "um" — a first episode that sounds like a person
beats one sanded to nothing. Loudness Normalization to -16 LUFS,
export MP3 at 128–192 kbps. Cover art: 3000x3000 JPG/PNG, show
name readable at thumbnail size — Canva free, ten minutes, their
words and colors (make-a-thumbnail thinking applies).

## Publish

1. Compare current hosting plans on official sites. Require a real RSS feed,
   export access, clear storage limits, and no unexpected payment-card
   requirement. They create the account themselves; do not handle credentials.
2. Show setup: name, description, cover art, category. All true.
3. Upload the episode: title says what the episode is about, not
   just "Episode 1"; description carries the two-sentence version
   and any links mentioned.
4. Publish, then open the RSS feed URL in a browser to see it is
   real, and add the feed to a podcast app on their phone. Some
   directories take hours to list; the feed itself is live now.

## Done

- One episode published, playing on their own phone from the feed
- RSS URL saved, plus the host dashboard login noted by them
- Raw audio and Audacity project kept
- Guest recording and publication consent recorded when another person appears
- They know the loop now — the only question left is whether
  episode two is worth their time, which is theirs to answer