Re: iOS 17.5...Removed podcasts reappear and can't be removed again

My iPhone 13Pro was updated to iOS 17.5 (not the Beta version) on May 15, 2024. After this update, I noticed a few oddities in the Podcasts app, which I can't figure out how to fix.

Several times a day, I listen to a particular podcast called Marketplace. There are actually several different podcasts on it, including Marketplace All-in-One (e.g. Marketplace Morning Report, Marketplace Tech, etc., etc.), that are uploaded throughout the day. Below is what happened after the iOS 17.5 update...

1. The entire Marketplace podcast disappeared from my Podcasts list. The icon was gone. Since it's the podcast I listen to most often, I was confused as to why it was missing. To try to fix this, I rebooted my iPhone (which I do every Thursday morning anyway, and after updating something). The Marketplace podcast returned (phew!). So, that worked. However...
2. When the Marketplace podcast returned, so did all the old episodes I had already listened to and had removed. There is an option to remove played episodes by swiping right to left on each episode, then clicking on "Remove Download". However, clicking on "Remove Download" now only changes that option to "Download". It does not remove the old episodes anymore. I have not seen this happen with any of my other podcasts, but I haven't listened to any others today (May 16, 2024); so, I haven't tried to remove any others. I looked online to see if this was a problem other iPhone users are having, and if so, if there's a fix. I found it has been an issue for others, but the solutions I found were not for the iPhone, but rather for Mac computers. My Mac mini is so old (it's still on High Sierra, due to a legacy program I use daily), I don't even have the option to put podcasts on it. The Podcast app isn't in the Application list. I did have the Podcasts app on my MacBook Air, and I used it too, but that laptop took a bath a few weeks ago, so it's 100% dead. I haven't replaced it yet.
3. The latest thing I noticed is the Podcasts app on my iPhone does not always show the latest episodes for the shows. I also checked this bug out online and saw it was fixed, but then it happened to me on the iPhone today. I rebooted the iPhone again, and I think the latest show episodes are now showing, but I still can't remove the played ones. It not that big a deal, as I've got plenty of memory on the phone, but it would be nice to not have such a long list of played ones showing that I'll never listen to again. They are no longer relevant after a week, or even after a day sometimes.

Anyone know of a fix for these last two things?

UPDATE: I just remembered all my Podcasts on my old Mac mini are in iTunes. Will see if I can delete them from there. Might have to go to iCloud to do this, but not sure yet.