In Our Time transcripts: how to transcribe an episode
In Our Time is BBC Radio 4's long-running discussion programme on ideas, history, science, and culture, with a public archive reaching back to 1998. You can turn any episode from that archive into text you can read and search.
PodText is not affiliated with the BBC and does not host a library of In Our Time transcripts. Transcripts are generated by AI, may contain errors, and stay in your private workspace.
What you get for each episode
Searchable text
Find a name, date, or idea inside the episode without replaying the whole discussion.
Playback-linked timestamps
Jump from a passage back to that moment in the audio to hear how it was said.
AI summary and chapters
Get the main thread of a long conversation, with key points and quotes to review later.
Exports for your notes
Download Markdown or TXT for study notes, or SRT and VTT if you need subtitle files.
How to create an In Our Time transcript
- Find the episode in Apple Podcasts and copy its link.
- Paste the link into PodText and confirm the episode.
- Read and search the transcript, then export it as Markdown, TXT, SRT, or VTT.
What to expect
- You transcribe one chosen episode at a time; there is no batch import.
- Transcripts have no speaker labels, so a panel discussion reads as one continuous text.
- Your first 60 one-time minutes are free; after that, 1 credit covers 1 minute of audio.