diff --git a/publish_episode.py b/publish_episode.py
index 15fd1f5..951b17a 100755
--- a/publish_episode.py
+++ b/publish_episode.py
@@ -974,6 +974,31 @@ def sync_episode_media_to_bunny(episode_id: int, already_uploaded: set):
             Path(tmp_path).unlink(missing_ok=True)
 
 
+def regenerate_website_pages() -> bool:
+    """Rebuild the static episode pages and sitemap after a publish.
+
+    Never fatal. By the time this runs the audio is already live on Castopod
+    and the RSS feed has been rebuilt, so a generator failure must not abort
+    the publish — it just means the new episode's page lands on the next run.
+    """
+    script = Path(__file__).parent / "generate_episode_pages.py"
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.run(
+            [sys.executable, str(script), "--sitemap"],
+            capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=300,
+        )
+    except (subprocess.TimeoutExpired, OSError) as e:
+        print(f"    Warning: could not run episode page generation: {e}")
+        return False
+
+    if result.returncode != 0:
+        print(f"    Warning: episode page generation failed: {result.stderr[-300:]}")
+        return False
+
+    print("    Episode pages and sitemap regenerated")
+    return True
+
+
 def generate_social_image(episode_number: int, description: str, output_path: str) -> str:
     """Generate a social media image with cover art, episode number, and description."""
     from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFont
@@ -1817,7 +1842,9 @@ def main():
     shutil.copy2(str(transcript_path), str(website_transcript_path))
     print(f"    Transcript copied to website/transcripts/")
 
-    # Sitemap is regenerated wholesale by generate_episode_pages.py --sitemap
+    # Build this episode's static page and regenerate the sitemap wholesale.
+    # generate_episode_pages.py is the only writer of sitemap.xml.
+    regenerate_website_pages()
 
     # Sync any remaining episode media to BunnyCDN (cover art, etc.)
     print("    Syncing remaining episode media to CDN...")
diff --git a/tests/test_publish_regenerates_pages.py b/tests/test_publish_regenerates_pages.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41da4b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_publish_regenerates_pages.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+"""Publishing must rebuild the static episode pages and the sitemap.
+
+Before static pages existed, publish_episode.py appended one entry to
+sitemap.xml itself. That appender is gone — generate_episode_pages.py owns the
+sitemap now — so the publish has to invoke it, or a newly published episode
+would have no page and never reach the sitemap.
+
+A generator failure must never abort a publish: by the time this runs the audio
+is already live on Castopod and the RSS feed has been rebuilt.
+"""
+
+import subprocess
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent))
+
+import publish_episode
+
+
+class _Result:
+    def __init__(self, returncode=0, stderr=""):
+        self.returncode = returncode
+        self.stderr = stderr
+        self.stdout = ""
+
+
+def test_invokes_the_generator_with_sitemap(monkeypatch):
+    calls = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run", lambda cmd, **kw: calls.append(cmd) or _Result())
+
+    assert publish_episode.regenerate_website_pages() is True
+
+    assert len(calls) == 1
+    cmd = calls[0]
+    assert "generate_episode_pages.py" in " ".join(cmd)
+    assert "--sitemap" in cmd
+
+
+def test_uses_the_running_interpreter(monkeypatch):
+    """Must not shell out to a bare 'python' that may not have the venv."""
+    calls = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run", lambda cmd, **kw: calls.append(cmd) or _Result())
+
+    publish_episode.regenerate_website_pages()
+
+    assert calls[0][0] == sys.executable
+
+
+def test_generator_failure_is_not_fatal(monkeypatch):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run",
+                        lambda cmd, **kw: _Result(returncode=1, stderr="boom"))
+
+    assert publish_episode.regenerate_website_pages() is False
+
+
+def test_generator_timeout_is_not_fatal(monkeypatch):
+    def _boom(cmd, **kw):
+        raise subprocess.TimeoutExpired(cmd, 300)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run", _boom)
+
+    assert publish_episode.regenerate_website_pages() is False
+
+
+def test_missing_generator_is_not_fatal(monkeypatch):
+    def _boom(cmd, **kw):
+        raise OSError("no such file")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(subprocess, "run", _boom)
+
+    assert publish_episode.regenerate_website_pages() is False
+
+
+def test_publish_flow_calls_it_after_copying_the_transcript():
+    """Guards the wiring, not just the helper."""
+    source = Path(publish_episode.__file__).read_text()
+    copy_at = source.index("Transcript copied to website/transcripts/")
+    call_at = source.index("regenerate_website_pages()", copy_at)
+    assert call_at > copy_at