Apple’s Podcast app is a good app., and getting new features soon (according to MacRumors), but what it really needs is the ability to remember playback speed on a per podcast basis.
I listen to news podcasts that I always listen to at 2x speed, and then music podcasts, that need to be listened to at 1x speed so the music is correct and it is annoying to change the setting every time. You already set podcast feeds to have individual controls to how they are shown (in what order, newest or oldest first. All I ask it to allow a setting to always playback at the speed you select.