Shuffle skips podcasts

Is your iPod shuffle the current 4th gen (or 3rd gen) model? If so, podcast episodes are played by selecting the podcast from the playlist menu. Each podcast (that is synced to the shuffle) is considered a separate playlist, with the episodes of that podcast as items on that playlist. The playlist menu is accessed by using the VoiceOver. This document explains how to enable and use VoiceOver on the shuffle.

iPod shuffle (4th generation): Enabling and using VoiceOver - Apple Support

Are you using VoiceOver to select the podcast you want to hear? When you turn ON the shuffle to play it, you are using the default All Songs list. This list is "all songs" so unless you use VoiceOver to select a podcast from the playlist menu, you should not hear any podcasts at all.

NOTE: You can also sync (and play) podcast episodes by putting them on a playlist in iTunes, and selecting that playlist to sync to the shuffle; you can then select that playlist on the shuffle by using VoiceOver, to hear episodes of different podcasts, in any desired order, consecutively.

If your shuffle is older (1st or 2nd gen), it works differently; please post back.

I would first do a Restore on the shuffle using iTunes, in case there is data corruption on the shuffle causing those episodes to not play. This erases the iPod, reinstalls its software, and sets it to default settings.

Use iTunes on your Mac or PC to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

After the Restore, sync those podcast episodes, as before. Try it again.

I am experiencing the same problem with syncing The Moth podcast to my iPod shuffle, but all my other podcasts sync without any problem. So strange. Restoring the iPod did not solve the problem.

If the problem only occurs with certain podcast episodes (most others play fine), and they play fine in iTunes on the computer but continue to have the same problem on the shuffle (even after doing a Restore), my guess is that there is something unusual about those specific audio files that the shuffle cannot handle.

You can convert them to a different format using iTunes. Do a (right-click) Get Info on the podcast episode, and go to the Info window's File tab. Note the Kind and Bit Rate used for this podcast. Most podcasts seem to use MP3 ("MPEG audio file") format. Open iTunes preferences General pane, and click Import Settings. Choose AAC Encoder (if original is MP3). For Setting (bit rate), you should choose High Quality (128 kbps). OR if the podcast is purely spoken word, you can choose Spoken Podcast, which gives you a smaller size file that is mono (not stereo). Remember to change these settings back after you are done, because they are also used for music, like when you import ("rip") a music CD into iTunes.

Select the podcast episode (or episodes) with this problem in iTunes. From the menu bar, File -> Create New Version -> Create AAC Version. The new AAC version ends up in your iTunes Music library (as a song). Show your iTunes Music library sorted by Date Added or Album (to find the new AAC version). The Album is name of podcast; the Date Added is now. You should update the episode Name slightly, so you can distinguish it from the original; you can add "(AAC)" to the end of episode Name. Right-click it and select Get Info. In the Info window's Options tab, change Media Kind to Podcast.

The new AAC version of the podcast episode should now appear in your Podcasts library, alongside the original version. Try syncing it to your shuffle.