v2.n has a 'Podcasts - Close (CTRL-W)' option that minimised the app to the system tray so that it could run in the background downloading as per the update interval.
v3.2 doesn't have this option and i can find no way to have it running in the background - a somewhat fundamental function of a podcast downloader one would have thought.
It may be an issue with gPodder itself rather than the portable version, but any help greatly appreciated.