diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/__init__.py b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32f7c3a72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""Celery tasks driving the podcast lifecycle across its user gates.
+
+One task per async phase: propose the brief, draft the transcript, render the
+audio. Each is enqueued by the API after it performs the guarded status
+transition, and each pushes its result onto the row for the frontend to observe.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from .brief import propose_brief_task
+from .draft import draft_transcript_task
+from .render import render_audio_task
+
+__all__ = [
+    "draft_transcript_task",
+    "propose_brief_task",
+    "render_audio_task",
+]
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/brief.py b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/brief.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f1e3f240
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/brief.py
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+"""Brief-proposal task: PENDING -> AWAITING_BRIEF.
+
+Runs the (cheap, token-light) brief graph to detect language and propose a spec,
+seeded with the user's last-used language/voice preferences. Pushes the result
+straight onto the row so the frontend sees the brief gate open via Zero.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+
+from app.celery_app import celery_app
+from app.podcasts.generation.brief.graph import graph as brief_graph
+from app.podcasts.generation.brief.state import BriefState
+from app.podcasts.persistence import PodcastRepository
+from app.podcasts.service import PodcastService, preferences_from
+from app.tasks.celery_tasks import get_celery_session_maker, run_async_celery_task
+
+from .runtime import mark_failed
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@celery_app.task(name="podcast.propose_brief", bind=True)
+def propose_brief_task(self, podcast_id: int, search_space_id: int) -> dict:
+    try:
+        return run_async_celery_task(
+            lambda: _propose_brief(podcast_id, search_space_id)
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - record and report, never crash worker
+        logger.error("Podcast %s brief proposal failed: %s", podcast_id, exc)
+        run_async_celery_task(lambda: mark_failed(podcast_id, str(exc)))
+        return {"status": "failed", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
+
+
+async def _propose_brief(podcast_id: int, search_space_id: int) -> dict:
+    async with get_celery_session_maker()() as session:
+        repo = PodcastRepository(session)
+        podcast = await repo.get(podcast_id)
+        if podcast is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"podcast {podcast_id} not found")
+
+        last_language, last_voices = preferences_from(
+            await repo.latest_with_spec(search_space_id)
+        )
+        state = BriefState(
+            db_session=session, source_content=podcast.source_content or ""
+        )
+        config = {
+            "configurable": {
+                "search_space_id": search_space_id,
+                "last_used_language": last_language,
+                "last_used_voices": last_voices,
+            }
+        }
+        result = await brief_graph.ainvoke(state, config=config)
+
+        await PodcastService(session).attach_brief(podcast, result["spec"])
+        await session.commit()
+        return {"status": "awaiting_brief", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/draft.py b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/draft.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8d461bf9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/draft.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+"""Transcript-drafting task: DRAFTING -> AWAITING_REVIEW.
+
+The expensive, LLM-heavy step, so it runs under ``billable_call`` exactly like
+the legacy generator. The API has already moved the row to DRAFTING and stored
+the approved brief; this task drafts the long-form transcript and opens the
+go/no-go gate.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+
+from app.celery_app import celery_app
+from app.config import config as app_config
+from app.podcasts.generation.transcript.graph import graph as transcript_graph
+from app.podcasts.generation.transcript.state import TranscriptState
+from app.podcasts.persistence import PodcastRepository
+from app.podcasts.service import PodcastService, read_spec
+from app.services.billable_calls import (
+    BillingSettlementError,
+    QuotaInsufficientError,
+    _resolve_agent_billing_for_search_space,
+    billable_call,
+)
+from app.tasks.celery_tasks import get_celery_session_maker, run_async_celery_task
+
+from .runtime import billable_session, mark_failed
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@celery_app.task(name="podcast.draft_transcript", bind=True)
+def draft_transcript_task(self, podcast_id: int, search_space_id: int) -> dict:
+    try:
+        return run_async_celery_task(
+            lambda: _draft_transcript(podcast_id, search_space_id)
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - record and report, never crash worker
+        logger.error("Podcast %s drafting failed: %s", podcast_id, exc)
+        run_async_celery_task(lambda: mark_failed(podcast_id, str(exc)))
+        return {"status": "failed", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
+
+
+async def _draft_transcript(podcast_id: int, search_space_id: int) -> dict:
+    async with get_celery_session_maker()() as session:
+        repo = PodcastRepository(session)
+        service = PodcastService(session)
+        podcast = await repo.get(podcast_id)
+        if podcast is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"podcast {podcast_id} not found")
+
+        spec = read_spec(podcast)
+        if spec is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"podcast {podcast_id} has no approved brief")
+
+        owner_id, tier, base_model = await _resolve_agent_billing_for_search_space(
+            session, search_space_id, thread_id=podcast.thread_id
+        )
+
+        state = TranscriptState(
+            db_session=session, source_content=podcast.source_content or ""
+        )
+        config = {
+            "configurable": {
+                "search_space_id": search_space_id,
+                "spec": spec,
+                "focus": spec.focus,
+            }
+        }
+
+        try:
+            async with billable_call(
+                user_id=owner_id,
+                search_space_id=search_space_id,
+                billing_tier=tier,
+                base_model=base_model,
+                quota_reserve_micros_override=app_config.QUOTA_DEFAULT_PODCAST_RESERVE_MICROS,
+                usage_type="podcast_generation",
+                call_details={"podcast_id": podcast_id, "title": podcast.title},
+                billable_session_factory=billable_session,
+            ):
+                result = await transcript_graph.ainvoke(state, config=config)
+        except QuotaInsufficientError:
+            await service.fail(podcast, "premium quota exhausted")
+            await session.commit()
+            return {"status": "failed", "podcast_id": podcast_id, "reason": "quota"}
+        except BillingSettlementError:
+            await service.fail(podcast, "billing settlement failed")
+            await session.commit()
+            return {"status": "failed", "podcast_id": podcast_id, "reason": "billing"}
+
+        await service.attach_transcript(podcast, result["transcript"])
+        await session.commit()
+        return {"status": "awaiting_review", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/render.py b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/render.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..04fb9ab9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/render.py
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+"""Audio-rendering task: RENDERING -> READY.
+
+Synthesises and merges the approved transcript, stores the MP3 in the object
+store, and marks the podcast ready. The working directory is stable per podcast
+so a re-render (e.g. after a voice change) reuses the segment cache.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from app.celery_app import celery_app
+from app.podcasts.persistence import PodcastRepository
+from app.podcasts.rendering import PodcastRenderer
+from app.podcasts.service import PodcastService, read_spec, read_transcript
+from app.podcasts.storage import store_audio
+from app.podcasts.tts import get_text_to_speech
+from app.podcasts.voices import get_voice_catalog
+from app.tasks.celery_tasks import get_celery_session_maker, run_async_celery_task
+
+from .runtime import mark_failed
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+_WORKDIR_BASE = Path(tempfile.gettempdir()) / "surfsense_podcasts"
+
+
+@celery_app.task(name="podcast.render_audio", bind=True)
+def render_audio_task(self, podcast_id: int) -> dict:
+    try:
+        return run_async_celery_task(lambda: _render_audio(podcast_id))
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - record and report, never crash worker
+        logger.error("Podcast %s render failed: %s", podcast_id, exc)
+        run_async_celery_task(lambda: mark_failed(podcast_id, str(exc)))
+        return {"status": "failed", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
+
+
+async def _render_audio(podcast_id: int) -> dict:
+    async with get_celery_session_maker()() as session:
+        repo = PodcastRepository(session)
+        podcast = await repo.get(podcast_id)
+        if podcast is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"podcast {podcast_id} not found")
+
+        spec = read_spec(podcast)
+        transcript = read_transcript(podcast)
+        if spec is None or transcript is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"podcast {podcast_id} is missing brief or transcript")
+
+        renderer = PodcastRenderer(
+            tts=get_text_to_speech(), catalog=get_voice_catalog()
+        )
+        workdir = _WORKDIR_BASE / str(podcast_id)
+        workdir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        rendered = await renderer.render(
+            spec=spec, transcript=transcript, workdir=workdir
+        )
+
+        backend_name, key = await store_audio(
+            search_space_id=podcast.search_space_id,
+            podcast_id=podcast_id,
+            data=rendered.data,
+        )
+        await PodcastService(session).attach_audio(
+            podcast, storage_backend=backend_name, storage_key=key
+        )
+        await session.commit()
+        return {"status": "ready", "podcast_id": podcast_id}
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/runtime.py b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/runtime.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..349aeffb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/podcasts/tasks/runtime.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"""Shared plumbing for the podcast Celery tasks.
+
+Each task runs its async body via :func:`run_async_celery_task` and, on any
+failure, records the reason on the row through the lifecycle service. Marking
+failed is best-effort: a podcast that already reached a terminal state is left
+untouched rather than forced.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+from contextlib import asynccontextmanager
+
+from app.podcasts.persistence import PodcastRepository
+from app.podcasts.service import PodcastError, PodcastService
+from app.tasks.celery_tasks import get_celery_session_maker
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@asynccontextmanager
+async def billable_session():
+    """Session factory for ``billable_call`` inside the worker loop."""
+    async with get_celery_session_maker()() as session:
+        yield session
+
+
+async def mark_failed(podcast_id: int, error: str) -> None:
+    """Best-effort: move a non-terminal podcast to FAILED with ``error``."""
+    async with get_celery_session_maker()() as session:
+        repo = PodcastRepository(session)
+        podcast = await repo.get(podcast_id)
+        if podcast is None:
+            return
+        try:
+            await PodcastService(session).fail(podcast, error)
+            await session.commit()
+        except PodcastError:
+            # Already terminal (e.g. cancelled): nothing to record.
+            logger.info("Podcast %s already terminal; not marking failed", podcast_id)