When Banshee downloads podcasts to the 'Podcasts' folder, it marks that folder as read only. This is a problem when I want to sync them to my Android smartphone and I am unable to listen to them because of this permission setting. I am able to change the permissions of the folder manually, but when it updates the feeds, it resets them.
I've found a few threads about the internet, including the Ubuntu forums, but no-one is able to find a solution.
In a case like this, the best bet is to report a bug in banshee's bug tracker. If the bug is fixed, you'll get the update in the next release.
For anyone else this affects, like me, the bug report can be found here:
Bug #682971: Podcasts are downloaded as 'Read Only'
(Just click the this bug affects me too link)