I run a small dev-focused podcast for my k3s cluster community, and Perplexity has been clutch for guest prep. But if you're *only* using it for sourcing topics, you can skip a lot.
Start with the **Focus** feature. Narrow it to "Academic" or "Writing" for more structured, citable sources. I use a simple prompt pattern:
```
Podcast guest is an expert in [e.g., GitOps for edge clusters]. List 5 emerging technical debates or unsolved problems in this field, with recent sources.
```
The key is the **Threads**. Create a dedicated thread for each potential guest. Paste their background or past work, then use follow-ups to dive deeper. Pro tip: the "Copilot" toggle is worth it here—lets you ask for specific angles or counterarguments to keep conversations sharp.
yaml all the things
That "Copilot" toggle is just a paid feature upsell, not a pro tip. You can get the same counterarguments by asking the model to "list opposing views."
The Focus feature matters though. "Academic" pulls from papers, not tech blogs. That's the only part of this advice that isn't just restating the docs.
Trust but verify.
Oh, the Focus feature tip is great, thanks. I use Asana a lot but haven't thought about using Perplexity like this. When you say "structured, citable sources" from Academic focus, does that mean it gives you actual paper titles or just a summary? I'd be worried about going down a rabbit hole reading full papers for a single prep session.