Skip to content
The Best Interest » How to Record Twitter Spaces and Turn It Into a Podcast

How to Record Twitter Spaces and Turn It Into a Podcast

This article explains how to record Twitter Spaces conversations and then turn those recordings into podcasts. For the uninitiated, we’ll break down the following:

  • What is Twitter Spaces?
  • How can you record it?
  • How can you turn the recording into a podcast?
  • How can you upload the podcast and post it online?

I’m going to tell you exactly what I do, point by point.

What is Twitter Spaces?

Twitter Spaces is a new way to have live audio conversations through the Twitter app. One person acts as “Host” of the Spaces. Anyone else on Twitter can join as a “Listener.” The Host typically invites people to join them as Speakers on the Spaces.

Most Spaces are conversations between the Host and a panel of Speakers. Just this past week, I listened to Spaces between professional athletes, another between famous comedians, and a third filled with renowned investors.

But you can create your own Spaces session too. It’s so cool. Talk to your friends, your coworkers, or your followers. Let the world know what expertise you bring to the table.

But what if we want to record a Spaces conversation for posterity? Let’s break down exactly how to do that.

How to Record Twitter Spaces

There are a few clever ways to record Twitter Spaces. All you need is a phone and a laptop. I’m going to discuss my personal setup, using an iPhone and a MacBook. But Android and Windows setups work just as well.

First, you need software on your laptop that can record audio directly from Google Chrome. On my MacBook, I use Audio Hijack to do this. Audacity can do this on Windows, utilizing the “Windows WASAPI” feature. Or, you can try plug-ins directly in your browser (e.g., Chrome Audio Capture).

Next, start your Spaces session. You will need the Twitter app on your phone to do this. You cannot start a Spaces session from a computer or speak on a Spaces session from a computer as of this writing.

However, you can listen to a Spaces session from a computer. And that’s important! Do you see where this is going?

While you’re using your phone to participate (and possibly host) your Twitter Spaces, you can simultaneously find your Twitter Spaces session on your computer and join as a listener. Then, go to your recording software and start recording.

While you host and/or speak into your Twitter Spaces from your phone, you’ll be “listening” to that same Spaces session from your computer and recording the audio. This is how you record Twitter Spaces!

Here are a few tips/tricks I’ve learned.

  • While recording, you can choose whether your computer plays the audio out loud. My recommendation is to play the audio through a pair of headphones. You can check the headphones every few minutes to ensure the audio is still playing (and thus, recording), but most of your attention will be focused on the “live” conversation occurring through your phone.
  • Spaces through my computer are usually 5-10 seconds delayed compared to my phone. If you use the headphones method above, this is no problem (you won’t get distracted by the delay). It doesn’t affect the recording at all.
  • Finding the Spaces link on Twitter on your computer can be a huge pain. It will not appear at the top of your screen like it does on Mobile. So do this instead: on your phone, post the link to the Spaces in a Tweet. Then on your computer, find that Tweet and join the Spaces!
  • Don’t accidentally close out of Twitter on your computer! You’ll “kill” the source of your recording.

Once your Spaces ends, check the audio coming through your headphones. Once you confirm that your computer is caught up and that the audio feed has stopped, you can stop your recording.

Depending on your recording software, you should be left with a standard audio file (e.g. MP3, AIFF).

So, how do you turn the audio file into a podcast?

How to Turn Twitter Space Audio Into a Podcast

Turning audio into a “podcast” is straightforward. I use GarageBand on my MacBook. On PC, Audacity is a popular app.

A podcast is simply an MP3 file. GarageBand is great at taking audio file inputs and turning them into MP3 outputs. That’s what you need.

GarageBand is also great at editing the audio. You can snip out sections of silence, turn volumes up or down, add in “commercials” or intro music. I do all of that using GarageBand.

After this work, I’ve turned the “bare” conversation from Twitter Spaces into a “polished” MP3 file that’s ready to be a podcast.

But how do you actually get your Twitter Spaces podcast online?

How to Publish Your Twitter Spaces Podcast

Now that you have an MP3 file of your Twitter Spaces, how do you share it with the world? In short, this is the same answer as “how do you start a podcast?” Personally, I already had a podcast: The Best Interest Podcast. I share my groups’ Spaces recordings via my pre-existing podcast feed.

To start, you need a podcast host. A host is a service that stores your audio files and serves those files to various “podcatchers,” like Apple Podcast and Spotify. I enjoy working with the host called Transistor.

Your host should set you up with an RSS feed. Whenever you post new episodes, those episodes will get tagged onto the end of your RSS feed. No action needed from you to accomplish this. But what you do need to do is tell the podcatchers (Apple, Spotify, Google, etc) what your personal RSS address is.

This is easy to do, but will be slightly different for each podcatcher service.

In short, you’ll be telling Apple (or Google, or Spotify, etc.), “Hey – look at this RSS feed from my host. Whenever you see a new podcast show up on this RSS feed, share it with people subscribing to my podcast through Apple Podcasts!”

You’re ready for the final step: publication! Upload your podcast audio file to your host, include any show notes and a cover image or logo, and publish that sucker! Within a couple hours, your new podcast will propagate to the various podcatchers (via your RSS feed), and people will be able to listen to your Twitter Spaces whenever they’d like to.

That’s it. That’s how to record your Twitter Spaces and turn it into a podcast!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *