Podcasts in playlists

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Q: I used to use iPodder for getting podcasts in iTunes and onto my iPod. This was quite satisfactory, except that the temporary podcasts clogged up my (more permanent) music library. So when iTunes 4.9 provided podcast support I deleted iPodder and used iTunes 4.9 to subscribe to my podcast feeds. One problem solved. iTunes keeps podcasts separate from the music library. But another problem is created. I cannot find a way to mix podcasts and music in a playlist. Is this some kind of “feature” or am I being obtuse?

- Nick

A: At first, it seems incredibly easy: simply open the “Podcasts” window, and drag any individual podcast track into an existing playlist (or to the “Source” column’s whitespace to create a new playlist).

Down the road, however, you may discover something slightly annoying - that this podcast now appears in your music library under the genre “Podcast.” The file itself was not duplicated, as it is still stored in the “Podcast” directory, but its presence in the list is likely to be an annoyance reminiscent of your iPodder days. Also, if you delete the podcast entry from the library, the reference will be deleted from the “Podcast” menu as well, regardless of whether you instructed iTunes upon deletion to “Keep File” or not. Perhaps this will satisfy you, but we’d be willing to bet you will still be rather disappointed.

Jerrod Hofferth is an iLounge Contributing Editor, with frequent contributions to our iPod 101 and 201 tutorials, plus occasional hardware and software product reviews. As “azdude_40gb,” he also serves as an Administrator of the iLounge Discussion Forums.

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