diff --git a/app/worker.py b/app/worker.py
index 50ffec9..3bb8857 100644
--- a/app/worker.py
+++ b/app/worker.py
@@ -15,16 +15,35 @@ LIB = Path(os.getenv("LIBRARY_ROOT", "/library"))
 TRN = Path(os.getenv("TRANSCRIPT_ROOT", "/transcripts"))
 TMP = Path(os.getenv("TMP_ROOT", "/tmpdl"))
 
+
 # --- Runtime pause switch for CPU-heavy work (no rebuild needed) ---
 PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_FILE = Path(os.getenv("PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_FILE", str(TRN / ".pause_transcribe")))
 
-def transcribe_paused() -> bool:
-    """Return True if new transcription work should be paused."""
+# Redis-backed pause flag (podx-tools compatible)
+PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_REDIS_KEY = os.getenv("PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_REDIS_KEY", "podx:transcribe:paused").strip()
+
+def _pause_flag_redis() -> bool:
+    """Return True if a truthy pause flag is set in Redis under PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_REDIS_KEY."""
     try:
-        return PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_FILE.exists()
+        from redis import Redis as _R
+        val = _R.from_url(REDIS_URL).get(PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_REDIS_KEY)
+        if not val:
+            return False
+        v = val.decode("utf-8", "ignore").strip().lower()
+        return v not in ("", "0", "false", "no", "(nil)")
     except Exception:
         return False
 
+def transcribe_paused() -> bool:
+    """Return True if new transcription work should be paused (file flag or Redis flag)."""
+    try:
+        if PAUSE_TRANSCRIBE_FILE.exists():
+            return True
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+    # Fall back to Redis-based switch used by podx-tools
+    return _pause_flag_redis()
+
 def wait_if_paused(label: str = "transcribe", poll_sec: int = 10):
     """
     If the pause file exists, block this worker in a low-CPU sleep loop until it is removed.
@@ -889,10 +908,22 @@ def _save_partial(title: str, language: str, segs: list[dict]):
         print(f"[whisper] partial txt save failed: {e}", flush=True)
 
 def transcribe(media_path: Path):
-    model = get_model()
     print(f"[whisper] start transcribe: {media_path}", flush=True)
+    # If paused, abort before any heavy work (no ffmpeg, no model load)
+    if transcribe_paused():
+        print(f"[pause] transcribe: pause active before heavy work; aborting {media_path}", flush=True)
+        raise PauseInterrupt("pause requested before start")
     # 1) Robustly extract audio to 16k mono WAV (fixes pyAV/webm edge cases)
     wav = extract_audio(media_path, TMP)
+    # Check again after extraction to avoid loading the model if a pause was requested meanwhile
+    if transcribe_paused():
+        try:
+            if wav.exists():
+                wav.unlink()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+        print(f"[pause] transcribe: pause activated; stopping before model load for {media_path}", flush=True)
+        raise PauseInterrupt("pause requested after extract")
 
     title = media_path.stem
     base = TRN / title