When I am trying to put an audio podcast on my ipod, it will not work.

Hello there, ShipTheWhouffle.

The following Knowledge Base article has some pointers on making sure you get the podcast onto your iPod shuffle:

iPod shuffle: Playing audiobooks and podcasts

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1831

Specifically:

Adding Audiobooks and Podcasts to iPod shuffle

The Autofill feature of iTunes will not add audiobooks and podcasts to any iPod model. They can be manually added by dragging them to the iPod shuffle in iTunes.

For iPod shuffle (3rd generation), you must enable Manually manage music in the Summary tab to drag songs to iPod shuffle. Additionally, you can automatically sync audiobooks using the Music tab and sync podcasts using the Podcasts tab in iTunes.

iPod shuffle (3rd generation)

Playing Audiobooks and Podcasts on iPod shuffle

When using iPod shuffle (1st and 2nd generation), if iPod shuffle is set to shuffle songs it will play all the audio files on iPod shuffle except audiobooks and podcasts¹. To play an audiobook or podcast, set the switch on iPod shuffle to play in order .

When using iPod shuffle (3rd generation), podcasts and audiobooks will not be played when content is playedfrom All Songs. If content is played from a playlist synced from iTunes, audiobooks and podcasts will only be played if the iPod's switch is set to play in order . In addition to playlists synced from iTunes, iPod shuffle (3rd generation) will create a special playlist for each audiobook synced and one for podcasts. When accessing these special playlists, audiobook and podcast content will play whether the iPod is set to play in order or shuffle songs . Podcast are sorted by alphabetical order and then by episode date.

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

Cheers,

Pedro D.