I discovered a way to copy some podcasts onto my 5th gen iPod Nano without using iTunes, since I was not at the Mac I use to sync it. It utilizes the voice memos feature, so it probably won’t work on other iPod models. It probably will work on Windows, though.

Connect your iPod to the Mac, and turn on hard drive access in iTunes if it’s not already on.

You’ll need your music or podcast to be in AAC (.m4a) format. If you have an MP3, go into iTunes preferences → General → Import Settings… and set the “Import using” encoder to AAC. Then select the tracks and go to Advanced → Create AAC Version.

Copy the new .m4a file into the Recordings directory on the iPod, and give it a name like “20090101 120000.m4a”.

Eject your iPod and go to the voice memos feature. In your list of voice memos you should see something like “1/1/2009 12:00 PM” — it corresponds to the filename above — and press play. Voilà!

It’s not an elegant solution, but it’ll give you something new to listen to on your subway ride home when you’re desperate.