Turn research papers into an audio show
Upload arXiv, bioRxiv or journal PDFs to Lissin and get an explainer you can follow while walking. How to handle several papers at once and what to ask for.
The short answer
Download the paper’s PDF and upload it, then ask for the level you want: the result and why it matters, the method in detail, or the argument against it. Several papers uploaded together produce a comparison episode, which is the version worth making.
How to do it
Take the PDF, not the abstract page
Point it at the PDF rather than the arXiv listing page — the listing is an abstract and a set of links, and a show made from it is a show about a webpage. The link works; so does uploading the file. Journal PDFs behind a paywall are the case where the link will not: download those through your own institutional access and upload them.
Pick a level in the prompt
Three that work: ‘explain the result to someone in a neighbouring field’, ‘walk me through the method as if I might replicate it’, ‘what would a hostile reviewer say’. The third is the most useful and the least often asked for.
Upload the set, not the paper
Four papers on the same problem, uploaded together, with ‘where do these disagree and what would settle it’, is an episode that does not otherwise exist. Reading one paper aloud is a service; synthesising four is the reason to bother.
At a glance
- Sources it takes
- A link, pasted text, or a PDF — scanned and multilingual go through OCR
- Multiple papers
- Upload together for a comparison episode
- Typical episode length
- 10–20 minutes
- Transcript
- Included, synchronised to the audio
Hear what comes out
Shows already published on Lissin, free to play in the browser.
Questions
- Does it read the equations?
- It reads them as text, which is rarely useful aloud. A good script talks about what an equation does rather than reciting it, and that is what you should ask for.
- Can it keep up with a preprint feed?
- Not from uploads — those are snapshots. A recurring show described by subject is the mechanism for that: Lissin researches the area fresh each run, which covers new work without you uploading anything.
- How accurate is it on technical detail?
- Good enough to orient you, not good enough to cite. Treat an episode as a way to decide whether to read the paper, and check any specific number or claim against the PDF before you repeat it.
What this does not do
Figures carry a large share of the meaning in most papers and audio cannot carry them. Supplementary materials are separate files and have to be uploaded separately. Anything paywalled has to come through your own access.
Try it on something you already have
Upload a PDF, a deck or a document and describe the show you want from it. Or press play on anything in the library first — no account, no app.
Last reviewed 9 September 2026 by Lissin Editorial.