@streakmachine I was using Podcasts.app for a while and it has gotten substantially better over the years. The way it handles the playlist is somewhat problematic, which is why I ended up switching.
Castro is the only one that gets it close to right. Only one playlist and new episodes of a podcast either go "top or bottom" of the playlist. Their "inbox" also allows me to decide if I want to listen to particular episodes of a podcast before downloading.