Choose Your Narrator

By now you should know lifelike voices are central to Podcast Later. But at Podcast Later we go beyond just having a voice that you appreciate. We have two AI voice actors / narrators: Dan Rutherford and Scarlett Whitfield. They each have their own style.

When you set up your account with us, you can choose who you want to read your articles, Dan or Scarlett. And we'll likely add more voices and characters in the future.

Narrator based on author

Choosing one or the other is not always the right choice. Imagine you're back in the NFL archives, reading an editorial by the famous American football announcer John Madden. He was a big booming character and people loved him for that. Having Scarlett, a woman, read his editorial is fine. But it feels a little out of place. It might be better to have Dan read that, since his voice and style is closer to Madden's. Similarly, having Dan read a portion of the biography by Taylor Swift is equally disconnected.

That's why the default narrator is to choose a narrator whose voice more closely matches the author's. When you save an article at Podcast Later, we look at many signals to see who the author is. And if we are certain it's a woman, we'll have Scarlett read that article to you. If we're certain it's a man, we'll have Dan read it.

Of course, if you'd rather always have Scarlett read your articles, you can set that setting. And you can always have Dan read your articles if you prefer his voice. But we think it's a nice touch to try to have our narrators match the author as closely as possible.

Narrators with a story and personality

You probably noticed that our narrators have names. Even though these are AI voices, I wanted to imbue the service with a personal touch. Instead of male voice, female voice, we have Dan Rutherford and Scarlett Whitfield. And I gave them a picture and a backstory.

Dan Rutherford

Dan has over decade of journalism under his belt. He has leveraged his love of immersive storytelling into bringing news articles, feature stories, and other compelling texts to life. His calm, confident delivery has made him a favorite among those who appreciate clear, trustworthy narration.

Scarlett Whitfield

Scarlett has built her reputation on meticulous attention to detail. Early in her career, she worked as a professional proofreader and editor, where she honed her keen sense for language and nuance. She eventually found her way into the world of voice-over work, discovering that her ability to pick up on subtle tonal shifts and linguistic precision could make the difference between a good narration and a great one.

When you see an article with one of their pictures next to it (web only for now, not in podcast players), you'll know they are the narrator / reader for that article.