Ask Ray: the answers are in the audio

Some of the most authentic and insightful conversations are happening on podcasts. Doctors explain new drugs, strategists argue about elections, and founders say things they would never put in a press release. Those conversations are spread across countless hours of audio, and tracking down the right moments has meant a lot of searching before the real work could begin.

Today we're introducing Ask Ray in Radar. Ask a question, and Ray researches across more than 160,000 podcasts. It answers with the exact moments it found, so you can press play and hear them for yourself.

What Ray can do

Ray does the listening, the searching, and the note-taking for you. Here's what that looks like.

• Ask the way you'd ask a person. No keywords or filters to learn. Type a question like "What are cardiologists saying about GLP-1 drugs?" and Ray works out who to look for, which shows to check, and what time frame matters.

• Ray does the digging. Behind each answer, Ray searches transcripts, finds every mention of a person or company, reads full episodes, and checks guest credentials, chart rankings, and listener reviews. You can open the research trail to see each step it took.

• Hear it for yourself. Each answer cites the podcast moments it's based on. They collect in a Moments panel as Ray works, and you can play any of them right there, keep listening past the clip, or jump to the full episode.

• Keep the conversation going. Ask a follow-up, and Ray builds on what it already found. Your recent chats are saved and easily accessible.

• Get it in the shape you need. Ask for a summary, a list, or a side-by-side comparison. Add "Put it in a table" to any question and Ray will.

• Share what you find. Share a whole chat or a single answer, either with your organization or with anyone who has the link (no sign-in required). You can also download a PDF.

Questions to ask Ray

The best questions are the ones where you want to know what real people are saying, not just the headline. Here are a few to get you started.

The midterm elections

Ask Ray to focus on pollsters, political scientists, or campaign strategists, and the research narrows to guests with that expertise. Ray then lays out the outcomes those experts see as most likely, the reasons behind them, and where the experts disagree.

• Who will come out on top after the midterm elections? What are pollsters and political scientists predicting on podcasts? (click for the full response)

GLP-1s

• What are cardiologists saying about GLP-1 drugs on podcasts?

Cost of living

• What do personal finance podcasts say about buying a home right now?

Kids and screen time

• What are pediatricians saying about kids and screen time on podcasts?

For work: brands and advertising

• Which shows does Progressive sponsor, and how brand-safe are they? Put it in a table.

Sign up

Ask Ray is available now in Radar. If you're new to Radar, you can create an account and get your first month free on Individual plans (first 100 signups) with code ASKRAY. Then choose Ask Ray in the sidebar, and ask your first question.

Ray is built on the same transcripts, speaker identification, and podcast data that power the Particle API, which developers can also use to build their own podcast research tools.

Want to use your own agent? Get started with the Particle MCP here.