Ditch the Apple podcast app. It sucks. I'm using Castbox for now.
Apple Podcast
Crap app
​Castbox​
My current player
​Spotify Podcasts​
Doesn't have all players
Even with Spotify Premium, podcasts may have their own ads
I don't blame Spotify Premium or the Podcast, it's sad because I expect having "Spotify Premium" there should be no ads whatsoever