Podcast Transcript Fetcher
Fetch transcripts from 5 supported podcasts. Tier 2 (RSS+Groq Whisper) is the recommended approach -- fast, free, and the most reliable across all podcasts. Tier 1 free sources are best-effort (limited availability). Tier 3 Taddy API is the premium/commercial option.
Quick Reference
# Get latest episode transcript (auto-detects best method)
python scripts/get_transcript.py "Lenny's Podcast" --latest
# Search by episode title or number
python scripts/get_transcript.py 20vc --episode "Marc Andreessen"
python scripts/get_transcript.py dwarkesh --episode 15
# Force specific method
python scripts/get_transcript.py "cheeky pint" --latest --method whisper
python scripts/get_transcript.py a16z --latest --method taddy
# Save to file
python scripts/get_transcript.py lennys --latest --output transcript.md
# List all supported podcasts
python scripts/get_transcript.py --list-podcasts
Supported Podcasts
| Podcast | Tier 1 (best-effort) | Tier 2 RSS+Whisper [RECOMMENDED] | Tier 3 Taddy (premium) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lenny's Podcast | GitHub archive (269 transcripts) | ✅ Substack RSS | ✅ Covered |
| Dwarkesh Podcast | Website scrape + Substack PDF | ✅ Substack RSS | ✅ Covered |
| Cheeky Pint | (none) | ✅ Transistor.fm RSS | ✅ Covered |
| 20VC | Substack PDF | ✅ Libsyn RSS | ✅ Covered |
| A16z Podcast | Website scrape | ✅ Simplecast RSS | ✅ Covered |
Implementation
1. Install Dependencies
# Core (always required)
pip install requests
# Cloud transcription (recommended — fast, free tier)
pip install groq
export GROQ_API_KEY="your-key" # Get at https://console.groq.com
# Local transcription (free, needs ~5GB RAM)
pip install faster-whisper
# Audio compression (for Groq's 25 MB limit — Windows: winget/scoop)
# winget install ffmpeg or scoop install ffmpeg
# Taddy API (commercial, optional)
export TADDY_API_KEY="your-key" # Get at https://taddy.org
2. Get a Transcript
The script auto-selects the best method. Tier 2 is the default recommendation:
Tier 1 → Tier 2 (RECOMMENDED) → Tier 3
(best-effort) (Whisper) (Taddy API premium)
Tier 1: Free direct sources (best-effort, limited availability)
- Lenny's: Clones
ChatPRD/lennys-podcast-transcriptsand searches by title - Dwarkesh: Substack PDF scrape
- 20VC: Substack PDF scrape
- A16z: Website scrape
- Cheeky Pint: No Tier 1 sources available
- Note: Tier 1 sources are best-effort and limited. Tier 2 (RSS+Whisper) is the recommended approach.
Tier 2: RSS + Whisper transcription [RECOMMENDED]
- Downloads MP3 from podcast RSS feed
- Compresses if >25 MB (ffmpeg)
- Transcribes via Groq Whisper API (free tier, ~10s per hour of audio)
- Fast, free, and works for every podcast in the registry
- Default recommendation for all use cases
Tier 3: Taddy API (commercial/premium)
- Requires
TADDY_API_KEY($75/mo+) - Use for large-scale or production transcript needs
- Covers all 5 podcasts with auto-transcription
3. Analyze with AI
Once you have a transcript, pipe it to the agent for analysis:
I have this transcript from [podcast]. Can you:
1. Summarize the key arguments
2. Extract 3 actionable insights
3. Identify any controversial claims
4. Compare with [other podcast] on the same topic
Supported Workflows
Single Episode
| Scenario | Command |
|---|---|
| Latest episode | get_transcript.py "Lenny's Podcast" --latest |
| Specific episode by title | get_transcript.py 20vc --episode "Sam Altman" |
| Episode by number | get_transcript.py dwarkesh --episode 42 |
| Force Whisper transcription (Tier 2, recommended) | get_transcript.py a16z --latest --method whisper |
| Force Taddy API (premium) | get_transcript.py lennys --latest --method taddy |
| Save to Markdown | get_transcript.py cheeky-pint --latest --output episode.md |
| JSON output | get_transcript.py dwarkesh --latest --json |
Cross-Podcast Search & Batch
| Scenario | Command |
|---|---|
| Search all podcasts by keyword | get_transcript.py --search "Marc Andreessen" |
| Search by guest name | get_transcript.py --guest "Sam Altman" |
| Search within one podcast | get_transcript.py "Lenny's Podcast" --search "vibe coding" |
| Batch-transcribe last N episodes | get_transcript.py "Dwarkesh Podcast" --last 5 |
| Search + transcribe top matches | get_transcript.py --search "AI safety" --transcribe |
| Pipeline with custom count | get_transcript.py --search "scaling laws" --transcribe --transcribe-count 5 |
| Filtered search pipeline | get_transcript.py "A16z Podcast" --search "crypto" --transcribe |
Output Structure
Batch transcription saves to output/ with per-podcast subdirectories:
output/dwarkesh-podcast/Dwarkesh Podcast_2024-01-15_agi-is-still-30-years-away.md
output/20vc/20 Minutes VC (20VC)_2024-03-10_funding-round-analysis.md
Each file includes a YAML frontmatter header:
---
podcast: Dwarkesh Podcast
episode: AGI is still 30 years away
date: 2024-01-15
url: https://...
source: whisper
---
Podcast Registry
The registry at scripts/podcasts.json maps each podcast to its RSS feeds, transcript sources, and API endpoints. To add new podcasts:
{
"id": "new-podcast",
"name": "New Podcast",
"rss": "https://example.com/feed.xml",
"transcript_sources": {
"primary": {"type": "website_scrape", "url": "https://example.com"}
}
}
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| "No transcript found" | Tier 2 (RSS+Whisper) is the recommended approach. If auto mode fails, try --method whisper to force it. |
| RSS fetch fails | RSS feeds may change; check scripts/podcasts.json for current URLs |
| Audio download slow | Large MP3s can take minutes on slow connections |
| Groq rate limited | Wait or switch to local faster-whisper |
| Taddy not returning transcripts | Some episodes lack transcripts; try --method whisper |
| Podcast not in registry | Add it to scripts/podcasts.json |
| Unicode error on Windows | Fixed: script auto-reconfigures stdout to UTF-8; saved files use UTF-8 encoding |
| Audio > 25 MB for Groq | Install ffmpeg: winget install ffmpeg (Windows) or brew install ffmpeg (macOS) |
RSS Feed Status (as of 2026-06)
| Podcast | Old Feed (broken) | Current Feed |
|---|---|---|
| Cheeky Pint | feeds.transistor.fm/the-cheeky-pint (404) | feeds.transistor.fm/cheeky-pint-with-john-collison |
| 20VC | feeds.simplecast.com/3GxrMqOd (404) | feeds.libsyn.com/61840/rss |
| A16z | feeds.simplecast.com/0cJfpoz2 (404) | feeds.simplecast.com/JGE3yC0V |
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting API keys: Set
GROQ_API_KEYin your env or.envfile - Relying on Tier 1 free sources: Tier 1 is best-effort and limited. Always fall back to Tier 2 (RSS+Whisper) which is the recommended method.
- Not cloning the Lenny's repo first: The GitHub archive must be cloned locally for Tier 1 to work
- Using --method taddy without TADDY_API_KEY: Falls through silently; set the key or use auto mode