You should be able to simply drag a Podcast episode into a Playlist. I've just confirmed this (even though I'm always doing it) and put two separate episodes into two separate Playlists containing music from my Music Library. You can also right-click any Podcast episode, or song in the Music Library, and scroll down to Add to Playlist.
However, there are a couple of things I'll mention in order that you may understand that it's not that iTunes is "so controlling", it's simply keeping things organised.
First, the definition of a Podcast. (I just know someone will argue with me about this defintion - it's been done before.);
- a Podcast is media (music, a radio programme, video or even a text file) that has been downloaded to your iTunes Library using the Podcast method of distribution. So (here in the UK) if I cannot listen to a BBC radio programme broadcast over the air (proper radio) because I am at work, then I have three options for listening to it after it was broadcast. Either, listen to it as "listen again" by going to the BBC website and playing the file on their website. This is known as streaming. Or, download the file by finding it on the BBC website and selecting the download/save file option, and adding it to my iTunes Library (where it will appear in the Music section). Or finally, by downloading the Podcast, either by finding the file in the Podcast feed and clicking download now or, by subscribing to the Podcast of that programme. It is then downloaded "as a Podcast" and added to the iTunes Podcast Library.
So in every case, it's the same content, but the method of delivering it to you determines whether it's a Podcast or not. Simply downloading something with the genre of "Podcast" does not make it a Podcast. (The Media Kind identifies this, not the genre. Note, identifies, not defines!)
And the point of a Podcast is that if you subscribe to a Podcast version of something, then every new episode of that programme will be automatically delivered to your iTunes without you doing anything at all (except starting iTunes!). Even if you manually select Get Episode from the Podcast list in your lIbrary, it will be added to the Podcast Library, thus keeping things organised for you.
There are several people who say that you can simply change the Media Kind of a something in the Music Library to Podcast and that "makes it a Podcast". It doesn't! It may well put the music in the Podcast Library, but it still isn't a Podcast and I believe that will make an iTunes Library more dis-organised. Why? Well, that brings me to the second thing I will mention, which may explain a possible issue you are experiencing.
When something is downloaded into your iTunes Library "as a Podcast" (using the Podcast method of delivery), iTunes will mark it with Skip when shuffling, which most people find very convenient because it will prevent (for instance, speech) Podcasts from playing when what you actually want to hear is music and not whatever happens to be in the Podcasts. So if you add Podcasts to a Playlist and then play that list in shuffle mode, the Podcasts will be skipped, not played. They will only play in non-shuffle mode.
Even that is useful though. Anyone who owns an iPod Classic will tell you of their frustration that the "Podcasts episodes list" on the Classic is (inexplicably) in reverse order which causes serial episodes to be played in the wrong order! One solution is to set the iPod Classic to play in shuffle songs mode and then start the one Podcast episode that you want to listen to, playing. When that episode finishes, the iPod stops because everything else in that Podcast list is "skipped when shuffling".
So if one of your issues is that you add a (proper) Podcast episode to a Playlist but it doesn't play in shuffle mode, select that episode and click on File/Get Info/Options>Skip when shuffling>off.
And if you decide that you really need to change something in the Music Library to a Podcast, then select it and click on File/Get Info/Options>Media Kind>Podcast. I have read of cases when this either doesn't work (the Podcast option is greyed out) or the file simply goes missing. This is usually because the "Song title" in Music is not the "Progamme name" in Podcasts.
Why (someone will be shouting) do I think I know all about Podcasts? Well, I'm a big fan of them, and here's an example of why.
I live in the UK (if you hadn't already noticed) but there is a music programme, broadcast on radio in Australia, that I like. Obviously I cannot get that broadcast here in the UK, so I subscribe to the Podcast of that programme. Although it's a regular weekly programme, the producers are very slack about posting the new episodes as a download. Sometimes many weeks pass before all the missing episodes become available at one time! So, subscribing to the Podcast of that programme means that I don't waste my time looking for episodes that they have yet to make available. I simply notice the "blue dot" indicating new episodes that have been downloaded automatically by my iTunes without my input. Very useful!
Message was edited by: the fiend
