Pocketcasts Latest Downloader

I wrote this script to download the latest number (default 10) podcasts from your Pocketcasts Plus "New Releases" feed, sequentially name them, put them in a folder and create an M3U playlist file for them.

This is written to simplify stuffing podcasts onto dumb sports MP3 players, that are waterproof or similar for swimming and exercise.

Requirements

Python 3.10 or later.

An understanding of how to run a Python script from the command line.

Installation

  1. Clone this repository Github
  2. Install the requirements with pip install -r requirements.txt (you should use a virtual environment)
  3. Create a .env file (see example) or set the environment variables in your shell for Username/Password

Usage

Run the script with python main.py

The files and playlist are contained in the output folder. This can be changed by editing the script.

Copy the files from there onto your player. I've included the script I use as transfer.sh

Configuration

You can change the following constants in the script.

DB_FILE = "pc_play.db" # The sqlite database file to store the auth token
CACHE_DIR = "cache" # The cache directory to store the podcast files
OUTPUT_DIR = "output" # The output directory to store the playlist and files
EPISODES_TO_GET = 10 # The number of episodes to get
M3U_FILENAME = "playlist.m3u" # The name of the playlist file
TOKEN_EXPIRY_SECS = 7200 # The number of seconds the auth token is valid for (2 hours). It will be automatically refreshed