@davew I think it is not only the problem, to find the podcast on the main directories, but that a lot of podcast are published using services, so that it is sometimes not even possible to simply follow their local sites RSS feed :(
I am currently trying to make Podcasts also a first class citizen of the Fediverse but it is not as easy as I thought. It seems that quite some sites do not even use local podcasting plugins any more, looking at the number of downloads.
@pfefferle@davew I know Castopods (https://castopods.com) by @Castopod is trying to make podcasting great again. 😉 Mocking the pumpkin joker aside, I do think there is value in podcasting, although it is surprising that YouTube has become the home of many podcasters nowadays.
i think the way to go is to start a new platform that supports all of the features of textcasting, does it as part of its stated mission, and then build from there. and let some of the features filter back into this layer of the social web.