Podcast episode to social media clips, show notes, and email newsletter in one go

You've just finished recording a 90-minute podcast episode. Your notes app is full of timestamps where interesting moments happened. You know this episode could become 15 or 20 social media clips, a detailed transcript with chapters, a 200-word newsletter summary, and a set of carousel posts for LinkedIn. The problem is that manually creating all of this typically takes 8 to 12 hours of work spread across several days, and you're already behind on next week's episode. What if that entire process ran while you slept? What if, the moment your recording hit cloud storage, a workflow automatically cut clips, transcribed the audio, wrote the newsletter copy, and generated carousel graphics, dumping everything into a shared folder ready for review and posting? This isn't science fiction. With five tools and an orchestration platform, you can build a workflow that handles 90% of the repurposing work with zero manual handoff between steps. For more on this, see Podcast episode transcription, chapters and social clips .... For more on this, see Podcast show notes, chapters and social clips generation.

The Automated Workflow

The orchestration engine here is n8n, which offers free self-hosting and strong file handling capabilities that Zapier sometimes struggles with. Here's how the workflow moves: 1. Your recording lands in a cloud folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, or S3).

2. n8n detects the new file and triggers the workflow.

3. The audio file goes to Shownotes AI for transcription and timestamps.

4. The transcript simultaneously feeds into Copy.ai to generate a newsletter summary.

5. Clipwing receives the original file and the timestamps from Shownotes to cut clips.

6. Each clip gets passed to Mirra to generate social media carousels and short video versions.

7. Everything lands back in a shared folder, neatly organised.

Setting Up the n8n Workflow

Start by creating an n8n instance. The free version works fine for this; if you handle multiple podcasts, their paid tiers are cheap. Your first node watches for new files:

CopyNode: Google Drive Trigger (or Dropbox, or S3)
Configuration:
- Watch folder: /Podcasts/Raw
- File types: .mp4, .m4a, .wav
- Trigger on: File created

Once triggered, the workflow needs to pass this file to Shownotes AI. Shownotes offers an API for transcription and summarisation:

CopyPOST https://api.shownotes.ai/v1/transcribe
Headers: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY Content-Type: application/json Body:
{ "file_url": "{{ $json.webViewLink }}", "include_timestamps": true, "language": "en"
}

The response from Shownotes includes the full transcript and an array of timestamps marking key moments. Store these in an n8n variable:

Copyjson
{ "transcript": "...", "timestamps": [ { "start": 245, "end": 523, "label": "discussing AI ethics" }, { "start": 1240, "end": 1680, "label": "guest's first business win" } ]
}

Now split the workflow into three parallel branches using n8n's "Split In Batches" node:

Branch 1: Transcription and Newsletter

Feed the transcript into Copy.ai. Copy.ai doesn't have a public API, but you can use Zapier's built-in Copy.ai integration or n8n's HTTP module to trigger a custom workflow within Copy.ai:

CopyPOST https://api.copy.ai/v1/workflows/execute
Headers: Authorization: Bearer COPY_AI_API_KEY Body:
{ "workflow_id": "podcast_newsletter_summary", "inputs": { "transcript": "{{ $json.transcript }}", "episode_number": "{{ $json.episode_number }}", "guest_name": "{{ $json.guest_name }}" }
}

Copy.ai will return a formatted newsletter summary (typically 150 to 300 words). Save this to a Google Doc or send it directly to your email.

Branch 2: Video Clipping

Clipwing's API accepts the video file and an array of cut points:

CopyPOST https://api.clipwing.io/v1/create_clips
Headers: Authorization: Bearer CLIPWING_API_KEY Content-Type: application/json Body:
{ "source_file": "{{ $json.webViewLink }}", "clips": [ { "start_time": 245, "end_time": 523, "label": "discussing AI ethics" }, { "start_time": 1240, "end_time": 1680, "label": "guest's first business win" } ], "output_format": "mp4", "quality": "1080p"
}

Clipwing returns clip URLs within a few minutes (depending on file size and your queue). n8n can poll for completion:

CopyGET https://api.clipwing.io/v1/job/{{ $json.job_id }}/status

Branch 3: Social Media Generation

Once clips are ready, pass each one to Mirra. Mirra specialises in turning video into carousel posts and short-form social content: For more on this, see Social media content calendar from blog posts and news feeds.

CopyPOST https://api.mirra.ai/v1/generate_socials
Headers: Authorization: Bearer MIRRA_API_KEY Body:
{ "video_url": "{{ $json.clip_url }}", "platforms": ["linkedin", "twitter", "tiktok"], "style": "professional", "transcript": "{{ $json.clip_transcript }}"
}

Mirra returns video edits, carousel slides, and suggested captions. These land in your output folder.

Final Assembly

Use n8n's "Merge" node to collect all outputs and organise them:

Copy/Podcasts/Output/Episode_123/
├── Newsletter_Summary.txt
├── Full_Transcript.md
├── Clips/
│ ├── Clip_01_AI_Ethics.mp4
│ ├── Clip_01_LinkedIn_Carousel.pdf
│ ├── Clip_01_Caption.txt
│ └── ...
├── All_Captions.csv
└── Workflow_Report.json

Send yourself a summary email with Zapier's email integration or n8n's Gmail node:

CopySubject: Podcast Episode 123 , Ready for Review
Body: All assets generated and waiting in your output folder.

- 18 clips created
- Newsletter summary: 287 words
- LinkedIn carousels: 18 files ready
- Processing time: 14 minutes

The Manual Alternative

If you want more control or need to review clips before social media generation, insert a manual approval step. In n8n, use the "Wait" node set to pause the workflow and send you a Slack message with preview links. You then approve or request changes before moving to the Mirra step. This adds 30 minutes of human review but lets you catch moments where the algorithm grabbed the wrong clip or where context is needed.

Pro Tips

Rate limiting and Clipwing queues.

Clipwing processes requests sequentially on free and low-tier plans.

If you're processing multiple episodes weekly, batch them overnight or upgrade to their concurrent processing plan. Monitor job status with a polling loop that checks every 30 seconds up to a 30-minute timeout.

Transcript accuracy.

Shownotes AI works well for clear speech, but background noise or heavy accents can cause errors. Always enable the "manual review" flag in Shownotes and spot-check the first two episodes. Most issues iron themselves out as the AI learns your voice.

Copy.ai cost creep.

Copy.ai charges per API call, not per word. A 90-minute transcript summarisation might trigger 3 to 5 calls if the workflow breaks it into sections. Check your usage weekly for the first month; it's usually £3 to £8 per episode.

Zapier vs n8n trade-off.

Zapier's pre-built integrations are simpler but sometimes lack deep file handling. n8n gives you finer control but requires you to write HTTP requests. Start with n8n if you're comfortable with JSON; use Zapier if integration speed matters more than customisation.

Keep a fallback folder.

If Clipwing or Mirra hits an error mid-workflow, files might not land in your output folder. Always set up a fallback logic that moves the original file to a "needs_review" folder. This prevents episodes from disappearing.

Cost Breakdown