I don't share your issues with Catalina [1] but I have to agree Podcast app's UI design is very strange. The primary interface should be the "Episodes" tab.

Just like Twitter's UI, app developers think they know what content is best for you with a 'feed' or 'featured'... they've completely abandoned chronological ordered lists of content unless you click 2-3 buttons.

[1] Catalina has been painless for me, not sure why my experience was different than everyone else