Podcasts keeps opening on watch—I want Now Playing to open

Before the watchOS 8 update, I would use Now Playing to control audio playback for Music, Podcasts, Patreon. The only time the Podcasts app would ever open on my watch is if I tapped it by accident.

Now... Podcasts opens alongside Now Playing, and I can't figure out how to stop Podcasts from loading. If I close Podcasts, it reopens. I did find the setting under Display & Brightness > Auto-Launch Audio Apps, which would presumably stop Podcasts from opening (but would also stop Now Playing. Not ideal).

If I tap the little Now Playing icon at the top of the watch face, it inexplicably opens Podcasts.

Now Playing also seems stuck on defaulting to controlling what's on the watch. My content is always coming from the phone.

There don't seem to be a way to configure settings for Now Playing.

I'm going to turn off Auto-Launch Audio Apps for now, but if anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them. Thanks!