Your Favorite Podcast Is on YouTube but Not Spotify? Here's the Fix

March 30, 2026 · Updated regularly

You discover a great podcast on YouTube. Long-form interviews, deep conversations, new episodes every week. You search for it in your podcast app — and it's either not there, or the feed hasn't been updated in months. This is one of the most common frustrations in podcasting right now, and there's a simple fix.

Why This Keeps Happening

The shift to YouTube-first podcasting has been building for years, and in 2025–2026 it reached a tipping point. Here's why so many shows are on YouTube but missing or outdated on traditional podcast platforms:

• YouTube's algorithm does the marketing. On Spotify or Apple Podcasts, a new show is invisible unless listeners search for it by name. On YouTube, the algorithm recommends clips and episodes to millions of potential viewers. For creators, this is free distribution that no podcast platform can match.
• Ad revenue is better on YouTube. YouTube's ad system pays based on views and watch time. Podcast ads require manual sponsorship deals or dynamic ad insertion through a host. Many creators earn more from YouTube alone.
• Video is the default now. Audiences expect to see the hosts. Studios are built for cameras. The audio-only podcast feed is increasingly a byproduct, not the primary product.
• Publishing to podcast platforms is a separate workflow. Uploading to YouTube is one click. Distributing to Spotify and Apple Podcasts requires exporting audio, uploading to a podcast host (Anchor, Buzzsprout, Podbean, etc.), writing show notes, and waiting for approval. When teams are small, this step gets dropped.
• Spotify exclusivity deals ended. Some shows had deals with Spotify through Anchor. When those deals lapsed, the teams didn't set up a new distribution pipeline, so the feed went stale.

Shows You've Probably Noticed This With

This isn't a niche problem. Some of the biggest and most talked-about shows are YouTube-first with unreliable podcast feeds:

• Lightcone Podcast (Y Combinator)

  YC partners discuss startups, AI, and Silicon Valley. Active on YouTube, but the traditional podcast feed is often weeks or months behind.

• All-In Podcast

  Chamath, Sacks, Friedberg, and Calacanis on tech, politics, and markets. YouTube episodes drop first; the podcast feed sometimes lags.

• Lex Fridman Podcast

  Long-form interviews with scientists, engineers, and public figures. YouTube is the primary platform with millions of views per episode.

• The Colin and Samir Show

  Interviews with top YouTube creators about the business of content. YouTube-native, podcast feed availability varies.

• My First Million

  Business ideas and entrepreneurship with Sam Parr and Shaan Puri. YouTube clips often appear before the full podcast episode drops.

• Chris Williamson / Modern Wisdom

  Conversations on psychology, fitness, and culture. Huge YouTube presence, podcast feed sometimes trails.

• Huberman Lab

  Neuroscience and health protocols. YouTube is where most listeners discover and follow the show.

• Tech conference talks and keynotes

  Google I/O, WWDC, AWS re:Invent, and other conferences publish talks on YouTube but rarely as podcast feeds.

And there are thousands of smaller shows, university lecture series, interview channels, and niche creators who only publish on YouTube.

The Fix: Turn YouTube Into a Podcast Feed

Castify is a free desktop app that converts any YouTube channel or playlist into a standard podcast RSS feed. You paste a URL, Castify extracts the audio, and you get a feed that works in any podcast app. New episodes appear automatically.

Why a Podcast Feed Is Better Than YouTube

No screens required. YouTube needs your eyes. A podcast feed lets you listen while driving, running, doing dishes, or falling asleep. Most podcast content is conversations — you don't need the video.

Offline listening. Podcast apps download episodes for offline playback. No buffering, no data usage, no interruptions. Download on WiFi, listen anywhere.

Playback speed. Every podcast app lets you listen at 1.5x or 2x. YouTube has speed controls too, but podcast apps also have silence trimming, volume boost, and smart speed features that YouTube doesn't.

Queue management. Subscribe to 20 channels and let your podcast app manage the queue. New episodes from every show land in one place, in order, ready to play. No algorithm deciding what you see next.

Background playback. On most phones, YouTube pauses when you switch apps or lock the screen (unless you pay for Premium). Podcast apps play in the background by default.

No ads in the feed. YouTube injects pre-roll and mid-roll ads. The podcast feed from Castify contains only the episode audio — no platform ads. (Host-read ads baked into the episode audio will still be there, since they're part of the content.)

Works With Any YouTube Content

Castify isn't limited to podcasts. Any YouTube channel or playlist becomes a podcast feed:

University lectures — MIT OpenCourseWare, Stanford, Yale, Harvard. Turn a lecture playlist into a feed and study on your commute.

Conference talks — WWDC, Google I/O, Strange Loop, JSConf. Subscribe to the conference channel and get every talk as a podcast episode.

News channels — AP, Reuters, PBS NewsHour, BBC. Daily news as audio in your podcast app.

Music and DJ sets — Boiler Room, KEXP, Cercle. Background listening without keeping YouTube open.

Language learning — Channels teaching Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, or any language. Passive listening practice during your day.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I listen to a YouTube podcast in my podcast app? Use Castify to convert the YouTube channel into a podcast RSS feed. Subscribe in any podcast app that supports custom feeds.

Why isn't the Lightcone Podcast on Spotify? Many YouTube-first shows don't maintain their traditional podcast feeds consistently. The YouTube channel is always up to date. Use Castify to create your own feed from the YouTube channel.

Is Castify free? Yes. The desktop app is free for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Does this work with Spotify? Spotify does not support adding custom RSS feeds. Use any podcast app that lets you add feeds by URL — Pocket Casts, Overcast, Apple Podcasts, AntennaPod, Podcast Addict, Castro, and many others.

Do I get the video or just audio? Castify extracts the audio track only. This is intentional — audio files are smaller, use less data, and work in every podcast app. For most podcast conversations, the audio is all you need.

Is this legal? Castify is a personal-use tool. It extracts audio from publicly available YouTube videos for your own listening, similar to recording a radio broadcast. Always respect creators' rights and terms of service.

What if the show is already on my podcast app? Great — keep using it there. Castify is for shows where the podcast feed is missing, outdated, or incomplete compared to the YouTube channel.