How to Cite Podcasts, Interviews, and Social Media Posts

Modern research draws on far more than printed text. A podcast episode, a personal interview or even a social media post can be a legitimate source, and each has its own citation pattern. Here is how to handle the three most common non-traditional sources.

Podcast episodes

Treat the host as the author and the episode title like an article title, then name the podcast as the larger work.

Interviews

A published interview is cited by the person interviewed and the publication. A personal interview that you conducted yourself is handled differently. In APA, a personal interview is cited only in the text, not in the references, because it cannot be retrieved by readers. In MLA, you do include it in the Works Cited, listing the interviewee and the type of interview.

Social media posts

Cite the account author, the text or a description of the post, the platform and the date. Keep the post wording exactly as written, including unusual spelling.

The principle behind all of these is the same as for any source: identify who created it, what it is, where it lives and when it appeared. Once you have those four pieces, our citation tools can help you arrange them in the right order for your chosen style.