diff --git a/app/rss_ingest.py b/app/rss_ingest.py
index bb3e999..decfcfd 100644
--- a/app/rss_ingest.py
+++ b/app/rss_ingest.py
@@ -42,6 +42,35 @@ OUT_INDEX.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 PODCASTS_ROOT.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
 
+# --- Helper to resolve Apple Podcasts URLs to direct RSS feeds ---
+def _resolve_feed_url(u: str) -> str:
+    """
+    Accepts a URL that may be an Apple Podcasts show/episode page and tries to resolve it
+    into a direct RSS feed URL using the public iTunes Lookup API.
+    For unknown hosts or failures, returns the original URL.
+    """
+    try:
+        parsed = urlparse(u)
+        host = (parsed.netloc or "").lower()
+        if "podcasts.apple.com" in host:
+            # Apple Podcasts URLs typically end with .../id<digits>
+            m = re.search(r"id(\d+)", parsed.path)
+            if m:
+                pid = m.group(1)
+                lookup = f"https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id={pid}"
+                r = requests.get(lookup, timeout=TIMEOUT, headers={"User-Agent": "podx/1.0"})
+                if r.ok:
+                    data = r.json()
+                    for res in data.get("results", []) or []:
+                        feed = res.get("feedUrl")
+                        if feed:
+                            return feed.strip()
+        # otherwise return unchanged
+        return u
+    except Exception:
+        return u
+
+
 def _text(el):
     return (el.text or "").strip() if el is not None else ""
 
@@ -403,6 +432,8 @@ def load_feeds_list():
         print(f"[rss] feeds file not found: {FEEDS_FILE}", flush=True)
     # unique, keep order
     feeds = sorted(list(dict.fromkeys(feeds)))
+    feeds = [_resolve_feed_url(u) for u in feeds]
+    print(f"[rss] resolved {len(feeds)} feed URL(s) (after normalization)", flush=True)
     print(f"[rss] parsed {len(feeds)} feed URL(s)", flush=True)
     return feeds