Big Technology Podcast MCP

Search 488 episodes of Big Technology Podcast transcripts directly from Claude. Get instant access to tech insights, news, and commentary from Alex Kantrowitz and his guests.

Created by Ranjan Roy, co-host of Big Technology Podcast 🎙️

✨ What's Included

This repository contains everything you need:

• ✅ Complete MCP server code

• ✅ 488 podcast transcripts (13.9MB)

• ✅ Full documentation and setup guides

• ✅ Ready to use immediately!

No need to source transcripts separately - they're included with permission.

Related MCP server: YouTube Knowledge Base

Quick Start

Option 1: Local Setup (Claude Desktop / Claude Code CLI)

1. Clone and install:

   git clone https://github.com/ranjanroy/big-tech-mcp.git
   cd big-tech-mcp
   npm install
   npm run build

2. You're done! The transcripts are already included.

3. For Claude Desktop:

   • Open Claude Desktop settings

   • Go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

   • Add a local connector pointing to your installation

   • Or add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "big-tech-transcripts": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/path/to/big-tech-mcp/dist/index.js"],
         "env": {
           "BIG_TECH_TRANSCRIPTS_PATH": "/path/to/transcripts.json"
         }
       }
     }
   }

4. For Claude Code CLI:

   # From the big-tech-mcp directory
   claude mcp add -t stdio big-tech-transcripts "node dist/index.js"

   Then restart Claude Code.

Option 2: Remote Server (Hosting)

1. Set up for hosted deployment:

   # Copy transcripts to the project
   cp ../transcripts.json ./
   
   # Build the project
   npm install
   npm run build
   
   # Run in server mode
   npm run start:sse

2. Deploy to Render.com (or similar):

   • The included render.yaml provides configuration

   • Set MCP_MODE=sse environment variable

   • Upload transcripts.json to your server

3. Connect from Claude.ai:

   • Go to Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

   • Enter your server URL: https://your-server.com/mcp

   • Click Add and enable the connector

Option 3: ChatGPT

1. Deploy as a remote server (Option 2 above)

2. Go to Settings → Apps → Enable Developer Mode

3. Click Create App

4. Add a name and paste the URL: https://your-server.com/mcp

5. Save and start using it!

What You Can Ask

Once connected, try asking Claude things like:

• "What has been said about AI regulation on Big Technology Podcast?"

• "Search for episodes about OpenAI and Microsoft"

• "What are the latest discussions on antitrust and big tech?"

• "Find episodes featuring Mark Warner or other politicians"

• "What do tech leaders say about content moderation?"

• "Search for insights on the future of social media"

Available Tools

How It Works

The server loads your transcripts.json file, indexes the episodes using FlexSearch for fast full-text search, and exposes four MCP tools that Claude can use to search and retrieve content.

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build TypeScript
npm run build

# Run locally (stdio mode)
npm start

# Run as HTTP server
npm run start:sse

# Development mode (build + run)
npm run dev

Project Structure

big-tech-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts      # Main server and MCP tool definitions
│   ├── loader.ts     # Transcript loading and processing
│   └── search.ts     # FlexSearch indexing and search logic
├── public/           # Static files (icons, etc.)
├── transcripts.json  # Your podcast transcripts (not included)
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

Transcript File Format

The server expects a JSON file with this structure:

[
  {
    "podcast_title": "Big Technology Podcast",
    "episode_title": "Episode Title Here",
    "date": "2025-01-15",
    "episode_description": "Description here",
    "full_transcript": "Full transcript text...",
    "url": "https://podscripts.co/podcasts/...",
    "scraped_at": "2025-01-15T12:00:00Z"
  }
]

Environment Variables

• BIG_TECH_TRANSCRIPTS_PATH: Path to your transcripts.json file (local mode)

• MCP_MODE: Set to sse for HTTP server mode, omit for stdio mode

• PORT: Port for HTTP server (default: 3000)

Legal & Copyright

Transcripts Included with Permission

This repository includes 488 podcast transcripts from the Big Technology Podcast. These transcripts are shared with permission as Ranjan Roy is a co-host of the show.

Usage:

• ✅ Personal use and research

• ✅ Building AI tools and applications

• ✅ Sharing and forking this repository

• ℹ️ Transcripts remain property of Big Technology / Alex Kantrowitz

Credits

• Podcast: Big Technology Podcast by Alex Kantrowitz

• Co-host & MCP Creator: Ranjan Roy

• MCP Server Code: MIT License (open source)

• Transcripts: Included with permission

• Built with: Model Context Protocol

• Inspired by: akshayvkt/lenny-mcp

License

Code: MIT License - See LICENSE for details

Transcripts: Included with permission from Big Technology Podcast. Property of Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology.