iTunes Update
Apple has upgraded iTunes to version 4.9. The biggest news of the upgrade is podcast support. Overall, this is a huge boost for podcasting. However, the iTunes implementation is not without its own quirks. It does not support BitTorrent. Perhaps Apple is one of the few players who could get away with podcasting without using BitTorrent, given their relationship with Akamai.
There is also an interesting quirk about how podcasts are used in playlists. Podcasts are listed in the left panel of iTunes like Library and Radio. The files downloaded through podcast subscriptions are not added to the library. This means that the files will not show up when using smart playlists. One of my favorite smart playlist is podcasts from the last ten days that I have not heard. In order to use this playlist, I have to add the files to the library manually. Hopefully Apple will address this shortcoming soon.