What is the best way to download podcasts to Apple Watch?

It really seems like downloading to the Apple Watch was just an afterthought. How can I guarantee that I download specific podcasts to the watch (I want to listen while running, but not bring my phone). I used to be able to get it to work (albeit clunky), but now I go in to the Watch app, and go to Podcasts (while the watch is on the charger) so it can download. But I never seem to get the new podcasts on the watch. It's frustrating to get out on the road only to find that the podcasts that are on the watch are 6 months old (when listening to news or sports podcasts this is particularly annoying). I've tried marking the ones on the watch as "listened to" but that doesn't make much of a difference. At this point, something that was once a major feature for me moving to Apple Watch is just broken. How hard would it be for Apple to just put a screen in the app that shows you what you have on the watch? Or even a button on the podcasts screen that you can hit to mark something to be sent to the watch? For a company that is supposed to be trying to make things simpler, this particular "feature" is just not it.