For the brave: There is some side loading functionality now in my source at gitlab. It is not ready for all but if you are able to build it on your own from source you already can try. You now have an opt-in for external audio and downloading of favorites in settings. The podqast folder is now moved to the Music path (set by StandardPaths.music).

If you put an audio file to ~nemo/Music/podqast/external it is included into podqast - how is configured in settings - like new posts. This is done on start and often (!) in real time. Often because sometimes the inotify mechanism fails - hey, it is not prod ready yet.

I am just cleaning up so it takes some time for the next release. Can be a bit buggy...