I want to make sure that you are tranfeering podcasts that are audio and not video? If they are video, then you might be downloading a higher resolution than your iPod can decode. If it is audio, ensure that you have the latest version of iTunes, ensure that your iPod is setup to work with the operating system you are running (ie. iPod setup to a Mac computer is different than an iPod setup under a PC or Windows computer). Try synchronizing again and see if the problem persists. If not, I can honestly recommend searching on Apple as there are more detailed troubleshooting procedures. I hope I helped! Good Luck!