How to Listen to Medium Articles Out Loud
7 min read
Medium is built for long-form reading, which is exactly why so many good stories end up sitting in an open tab. A twelve-minute essay looks reasonable when you find it and impossible when you are already late for work.
Listening gives that article somewhere else to fit. You can hear it during a walk, commute, workout, or any other part of the day when your eyes are occupied but your attention is available.
There are three practical ways to listen to a Medium story. The right one depends on whether you want to hear one article now or save several for later.
Option 1: Use Medium's built-in Listen button
Medium has its own text-to-speech player for eligible stories. Open the story and look below the title for a Listen button. Press it and a player appears with play, pause, rewind, voice, and playback-speed controls.
This is the cleanest choice because there is nothing to install and Medium already knows where the article begins and ends.
There are two important limitations. Medium currently requires an active membership to use its audio feature, and its help documentation says the feature supports English text. The Listen button may therefore be missing on non-English stories or accounts without access.
If the button is present and you only want to hear the current story, use it. There is no reason to add another tool to the process.
Option 2: Use Chrome Reading mode
Desktop Chrome can read text aloud from its Reading mode. This is useful when Medium's Listen button is unavailable or when you want a free, immediate reader.
- Open the Medium story in Chrome.
- Open Chrome's side panel and choose Reading mode.
- Let Chrome extract the article text.
- Select the Play button at the top of the reading panel.
- Adjust the voice and playback speed if needed.
Reading mode removes much of the page furniture and focuses on the story. It works well for a one-off article while you remain near the computer.
It is not compatible with every site or page format, and it is not really a read-later system. Closing the page, changing devices, or building a queue of several stories is where it becomes less convenient.
Option 3: Save the story as audio and listen later
If your real problem is a growing Medium reading list, immediate playback is not enough. You need to separate finding the story from listening to it.
On desktop Chrome:
- Open the full Medium story while signed in if it is member-only.
- Select the article text from the headline or opening paragraph through the end.
- Leave out the publication menu, responses, recommendations, and footer.
- Right-click the selection and send it to your listening library.
- Close the tab and play the saved audio when you actually have time.
With the Liso Chrome extension, the command is Listen with Liso. The selected story becomes a saved listen rather than audio tied to an open browser tab.
This route takes an extra moment at the beginning, but it is better for a commute or weekly listening queue. Your place is saved, and the article can wait in the same library as newsletters and other web reading.
How to select a clean version of the story
Text-to-speech sounds best when it receives the writing rather than the entire webpage.
Start with the title if hearing it will help you recognize the piece later. Include the subtitle and body, then stop before the responses, author recommendations, and related-story cards. Captions can be useful when they explain an image, but a long list of image credits usually is not.
Do not worry about removing every link. A few awkward phrases are less annoying than spending five minutes editing an article you saved to save time.
Stories that depend heavily on charts, code samples, photographs, or complex tables should stay visual. Audio is strongest for essays, reporting, commentary, tutorials with simple steps, and other writing that makes sense in a straight line.
What about member-only Medium stories?
Audio does not bypass a paywall. You need legitimate access to the complete story before Medium, Chrome, or another listening tool can read the full text.
If you are a member, sign in and open the complete story before selecting it. If you can only see the public preview, only that preview is available to convert. Saving audio for personal listening does not give you permission to redistribute the text or recording.
Medium's own Listen feature is particularly useful for member stories because it is already integrated with the subscription. A separate saved queue is useful when you want the story beside reading from other websites.
Pick the right method
| | Medium Listen | Chrome Reading mode | Saved audio | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Extra installation | No | No | Usually | | Medium membership required | Yes | No | No, but paywalls still apply | | Works beyond Medium | No | Yes | Yes | | Good for one article now | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Builds a cross-site queue | No | No | Yes | | Keeps the article after closing the tab | Within Medium | No | Yes |
Use Medium's player when it is available and you want the current story. Use Chrome Reading mode for quick desktop playback. Use saved audio when the article belongs in a queue for later.
Turn Medium into a listening habit
Do not convert every interesting headline. A giant audio backlog fails for the same reason as a giant reading list.
Choose two or three stories at a time. Put the shortest or most timely one first, listen during a repeatable part of the week, and delete anything that no longer feels worth your attention. Start around 1.1x or 1.25x speed and increase it only when the story remains easy to follow.
The goal is not to finish Medium. It is to make room for the best writing you already chose.
Where Liso fits
Liso turns selected web text into natural audio and saves it in a personal listening library. On a Medium story, highlight the part you want, right-click, and choose Listen with Liso. It will be ready to play later alongside your saved articles and newsletters.
This is most useful when you discover stories at your computer but want to hear them away from it. Capture them during the week, then turn the next walk or commute into a short, self-curated show.
Free to start, five listens a month, no card needed. Try it free.