Yeah, it's not good like this. It was changed when Apple added a better search function a few version ago. I can't see them changing it any time soon since they added a "Podcast - True/false" option for smart playlists, but podcasts still play when you shuffle songs on your iPod. There is no way to change this as far as I know.
They should have separate "Music", "Podcast" and "Video" tabs on the left hand side. Then you can select those and find things easily enough without the need for a fancy search bar. 🙄 (Well, for podcasts and videos anyway ... unless you have hundreds)